donating blood for the first time

is my first time donating blood so i thought i should blog about it so that i can remember this special day.... actually wanted to donate in oct, the day i submitted my thesis but was busy then after that got sick then lazy then scare... so in the end, dragged till today then finally fulfill my own promise that to celebrate the submission of my thesis, i will donate blood....

let me just sidetrack a little, the reason i want to donate blood was because of a documentary show that i saw some time ago... the blood bank do need more blood as many patients are suffering from those blood diseases and they do need blood transfusion to survive... then i saw those poor people trying so hard to survive, whats the big deal for a healthy individual like myself to just donate 400mL of my blood.... just 1 pack of blood, it can be used to save up to 3 lives... how meaningful is that man..... it may sound very cliché but really thats what i think so that sparks me to seriously go take action

i mean to many people, donating blood is no big deal, but it is to me cause i very scare of pain... when i was young, i cry & scream & refuse to let the doctors to draw my blood.... i was so violent till i think about 5 adults have to pin me down just to poke my finger to take a few drop of blood... really pathetic but i am that scare of pain.... i am not afraid of the sight of other people blood but i find it very gross to see my own blood flowing out... as if like part of me is leaving my body... literally it is since the blood is indeed leaving my body.....

ok... so i went to the NUH blood donation center, filled up the form, measured blood pressure, jab the finger to test iron content & finally seated on the crouch...... THE crouch.... i was like almost hyperventilating.... the nurse told me just to relax... i tried but nah.... NEVER!!!!! but i am so much older now, so of cause dont need people to pin me down to poke the needle.... the first jab was the local anesthesia, ok... quite painful but still managable... then come the BIG needle... but hey... the anesthetic effect was quite good, can feel the needle poke in but no pain.... then have to pump the ball so that the blood wont clog... i thought that would be one of the longest & most painful  5-10min of my life... but nope... actually not that bad... of cause still worried & scared & nervous but really was not as bad as i imagined......

the bandage

 some of my friends asked why no colourful bandage... i was like "er... does that matter?".... i thought the purpose of blood donation was to save more lives? who cares about colourful bandage!!!! i think i am consider quite healthy and young so after resting about 10min & had a cup of milo, i felt quite normal... but of cause the arm is still numb

the needle hole

after about 3hr, i took off the bandage...the needle hole was about 1mm diameter but can feel abit of pain....

really proud of myself for donating blood.... as this experience was not as bad as i imagined... i might consider doing this as an yearly activity.... should not be so ambitious to donate every 3months... afterall, i am still afraid of pain.....