My first blood donation!

Hey guys!

Earlier in the year one of my friends from work, Hayley, messaged me asking if I'd be interested in donating blood!

I had always wanted to, but always been to scared to do it alone.

Hayley organised for a group of us to be driven from work, to the Red Cross blood donation center. I thought this was a great idea and I knew several of the people who also put their names down so I thought it was a great opportunity!

So today was the day that the blood donation was organised for and I was starting to grow nervous.

I met with my friend Bec before hand who was also going and we consoled each other through our nerves.

The scariest thing for me was not knowing what the process was. There was a lot of formalities, forms, blood pressure and blood tests to ensure we were prepped and good candidates to donate.

One of the girls we were with - Michelle had low hemoglobin - this basically translates to low iron. I was worried because in the past I havd trouble with my iron, but I did the blood test and I was spot on and ready to go!

So I get on the chair, and I am asked which arm I'd rather donate from. Naturally I went with my opposite arm - left. They again tested the blood pressure and tried to find a good vein. Alas, only one on the side of my arm appeared which they weren't confident on. So we tried my right arm. Yay! A vein was found! But I had a small amount of dermatitis - a small skin irritation - where they needed to put the needle in, so was a no go! Back to the left arm we go, with the side vein.

IN POPS THE NEEDLE! Golly I was nervous but it was only a very small pinch! I was relieved as I had just watched Bec get hers in and she squirmed quite a lot and her legs shot in the air. Haha.

Unfortunately my blood flow was very slow and I had to keep clenching a stress ball and tensing my leg muscles to help. I was a real drama patient as I just couldn't get it pumping and my machine was constantly beeping at me to tell me I was too slow!

What felt like eternity only really translated to 10 minutes. The only discomfort I felt was from continuesly having to tense my body. The needle itself was absolutely fine. Even the dismantle of the needle from my arm didn't bother me.

I was super stoked to be able to give blood for the first time and I think I could definitely go back and do it again on my own.

With one 10 minute session of donating blood, i donated 500ml which can save up to 3 people! It is well worth it for the small amount of pinching and discomfort!

I also got this sweet sticker and tasty treats afterwards!

If you're not sure whether you want to give blood, I definitely recommend it to anyone! It was very rewarding to know I could be making a difference to someone's life, better yet, saving someone's life !!

Thanks for reading!
Stay excellent!
Natt