I donated blood for the first time!
Follow-up to this post
(Summary: previously ineligible to give due to US FDA rules aimed at gay/bi men which were changed last year, then subsequently ineligible due to anemia which was resolved with an iron supplement)
I gave my first ever pint of blood this weekend!
The appointment went fine. I was a little nervous about the needle going into my arm, but I barely felt it. Taking the bandage off afterwards hurt way more! Even the finger prick at the beginning was worse. The actual blood donation part of the whole thing was painless and effortless.
I had no idea that the machine rocks your blood bag back and forth while it’s filling. As I sat there killing time during the donation, I watched my blood in its little cradle. It felt cute in a weird way?
Once my donation is processed, I’ll finally learn my blood type. My husband and I plan to start doing this regularly. There’s a donation center near(ish) us that’s easy to get to, and the staff were great. I might even try a platelet donation eventually, though that one intimidates me a bit. The idea of 2-3 hours with no use of either of my arms makes me nervous.
Anyway, I know donating blood is not a huge deal or anything, but I wanted to share a little mini-milestone of mine. As a gay guy, I spent a big portion of my life assuming I’d never be able to donate blood, so it feels really cool to finally get to do it!
Congrats! I love blood day, because I treat it as a "spoil myself" day. Buy a kebab and a vanilla coke? Sure. Maybe some baklava too! What budget, it's blood day 🎉
Congrats!!! I actually have an appointment a couple of days after my birthday next week because of that thread too! Good to know more about the process a bit, kinda excited to do it too!
Congrats! Donating blood is a big deal! You don't see it, but people's lives are saved by these donations. It's definitely something to be a little proud and happy of
Woo congrats! I cannot watch or even perceive my blood as it comes out of my body or afterwards. One time they set the bag o' blood on the bed against my leg and some deep lizard part of my brain realized it was my blood and not inside me and decided to try to be unconscious.
I have zero problems the rest of the time. Even less the more often I've donated (And the less I've done stupid things like larping right after which entails lifting, physical activity and inherently dehydration) as apparently your body kind of gets used to it? Also tis good for the blood sugar :)