bad blood

I donated blood at the company blood drive yesterday. I hadn't donated since college and it felt almost like the first time. I'd tried a couple years ago but got turned away cuz i'd been to Costa Rica (risk of malaria) so i was a little worried about how they'd take my extended stay in Taiwan cuz I vaguely remember the nurse recommending some vaccinations for some mosquito when i was leaving for Taiwan! But it was fine. whew!

So after I passed the interview questions, they had to poke my finger to test the iron levels in my blood. But the first try failed so they poked another finger and it passed with flying colors. It was kinda weird how there could be such a huge difference in the blood of a different finger (granted, it was on my other hand). After passing all the prelims (yeah, it's kinda like a test...or a privilege or something), I was finally set to pump out that pint of blood. First, the lady tried my left arm, but apparently i have "rolling veins" (which she pointed out to be several times afterwards and it seemed to annoy her) and basically what i gathered that to mean is that my vein moves away from the needle (it doesn't like to be poked...i understand the feeling!). But the result was that blood started leaking out and formed a bruise, so they wouldn't be able to get the blood from there. So next we tried my right arm and this time she was prepared, so it went fine. It's really freaky when they stick you with the needle though so I had to turn away both times. Now I've got an ugly bruise on my left arm..it's all splotchy and dark. But it seems to be healing pretty quickly. When i got back to my desk, i had 4 bandages on my arms and an ice pack. i created quite a stir. :)

Next time I donate, I'm supposed to ask for a small needle & inform the needle-sticker of my problematic veins. Not sure how soon that's gonna be, but it feels good to do something that helps others.