The how-to guide to...

Donating blood for the first time and having it go wrong.

DO try and relax and remain calm.
DO appreciate all of the people that are trying to make you feel better.
DON'T let this be the deciding factor in never trying to donate blood again.
DO cancel any plans that you had for that evening.
DO stop and get your favourite comfort food on the way home.
DO change into your pyjamas as soon as possible. And not the every day zebra print one's. This definitely calls for the special, fuzzy zebra print one's.
DON'T freak out and panic when you rummage through your purse for 5 minutes and can't find the bandaid
that they gave you. Chances are, you will see it as soon as you actually stand up and survey the area.
DO silently swear under your breath because your arm still hurts so much an hour and a half after the appointment.
DON'T worry about plates, or cutlery, or normal manners. You grab that take-out box and head straight for bed.
DO take a moment to cry it all out when you have finally settled in bed. Crying is a great release of all your emotions.
And last but not least, DO spend the rest of your evening having a relaxing time of reading, and watching light comedies in bed. Oh, and blogging about your experience of course.


Now, folks. Before you become too alarmed, maybe I should explain the situation better.

"Having it go wrong" MAY not be the best term for it. But, since it didn't go "right", I had no other choice.

Today I went to donate blood for the first time.
Why did I do it?
I. have. no. clue.

Not only does the sight of blood make me VERY queasy, but I am deathly afraid of needles.
BUT it's the right thing to do. And I had this strange conviction to do it.

I went through all the steps and process, and everything was going great.
And then they put me in the chair, and I started getting nervous, but thats perfectly normal.

I won't go into the gory details, since thats not when it happened.

But after sitting there for a couple minutes, maybe 5-7, I started getting lightheaded, and not feeling so good. But I didn't want to quit! Or seem like a baby. So I didn't say anything. I just turned my head to the side, and maybe closed my eyes? I don't really remember any details. The next thing I know, there are people all around me, stopping the machine, putting cold cloths on my arms, and neck, and head, and chest. And I felt sick, and chills, and fever, and dizzy and all those other random fun symptoms.

So because of that I got the special treatment, and my two(!) juiceboxes and my cookies were delivered to me in my chair.

The good news is they still use the blood, even if it's not a full portion. So it wasn't all in vain.

All in all, it was a bit of a terrifying experience, but I will go back again.
Turns out I probably just hadn't had enough to eat in the last two hours.

Don't let this story convince you not to go. Let this story make you feel better when your trip to the donor clinic is so much easier.