So I donated blood today. Its a happy moment in life because I am VERY afraid of needles. I once had kidney problems and during that time I got poked and prodded like needles like I was a pin cushion. I had 18 viles of blood taken in one day. I hate looking back on those days, but today I decided to be fearless. And fearless I was. My work is lucky enough to have people come to us for donations... not only that...but since they are on location and we work for the people who are associated with the Kaiser Blood Bank...we get paid to be out there and don't have to work! lol...So, I walked out there. I am a pretty social person so I am all talking to the nurses, joking around and stuff. I was the only one out there at the time so they were pretty personable. I go to lie in the bed and one of the nurses started wiping my arm with the alcohol and I got real serious and said, "Hey, I gotta admit... I am pretty scared of needles." She looked at me and saw the look of fear in my eyes and said, "have you donated blood before?" I replied, "no." and told her the story of the 18 viles of blood and always having to give blood every few weeks to run more tests to figure out what was wrong. And I said this story with an even sadder look on my face. She said, "Well heck, you walked in here like you were a pro at this. You looked like you knew exactly what you were doing!" I responded. "No..thats just my demeanor. I am VERY confident in myself and the choices I make." So she jumped up and got me this ball and said, "are you willing to give your right arm to save a life?" I laughed and said, "yeah, but can I look the other way?" she agreed. So then they made fun of me the rest of the time. I gotta admit, it wasnt' that bad. I am a whimp though so that didn't stop me from being scared of the needle in my arm. And they enjoyed every second of teasing me while I was there.... SOOOooo... Since she loved me, she let me choose what color of tape I wanted on my arm. I chose purple to be a true Laker girl. So there I was....proud... Until I was about to pass out cuz she then said, "wow. You have a good bleed. It only took you 4 minutes to give a pint..." Apparently it should take about 10 minutes for most people. So I went and got my v8 juice and my trail mix and didn't pass out.... And they let me keep my grip ball and gave me a t-shirt for being so brave! lol.. brave I was. A brave dork who just made the day of a couple nurses much better. But seriously...who says, "you got a good bleed?!?!" You gotta be a sick person to enjoy someones bleed! Vomit...so now I'mma go pass out....
Anyways...Be proud to know this purple tape Lifesaving Blood Donor!!! (and please don't think about that bleed... In fact, NEVER mention that to me again....)
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