Hey guys
Ack! I am giving blood tomorrow and I am very nervous! Have you guys ever given before? Any stories?
K peace

i've never given blood before, but i do know that you need to eat the cookie and drink the juice they give you afterwards. if you don't, you might faint. :P

i wish i could give blood, but i lived in the UK while the whole mad cow thing was going on so until they find a conclusive test to detect the disease, or a cure for it for that matter, i will never be able to give blood:(

okay, so you've probably already given blood....how'd it go?
I have a friend that gave blood for the first time too and he passed out.... but it was funny. hope it all went well.
later,
liz

yeah, i wouldn't mind giving blood. wonder what type i am. i'll have to ask.

yeah, that would be weird... "look at all that red stuff coming out of my arm... mmm... i feel light headed" *faints*

You want a story? Well, okay...

My father once told me a story of him giving blood. The woman with the needle couldn't get it into his vein on his arm correctly, and kept having to prod and twist his arm to do it right. It took mutliple attempts to get the needle into his vein. He said it was pretty painful...

I've never given blood. I probably should, it is definetely a good deed.

i've never given blood either. i need to find out what my blood type is.

I've given blood before. It's really a great experience if all goes well; make sure you eat a lot of food rich with protein and iron. Also, drink plenty of fluids, more water than you would normally do before giving. And don't eat right before. Try to eat a few hours before you give.

Don't worry about it. I have only had problems giving blood once. And that was the last time I went. The people were a bit inept and they missed my vein. It hurt a bit, but they finally reached it. And I clotted early. My blood likes to do that.

But I still think, even if there might be a chance of pain (and it isn't painful if all goes well!), giving blood is definitely worth it. There are many people who are in desperate need of blood and I think that it's a wonderful thing to get in the habit of doing.

Hey Kerry

I guess by now its over and i hope it went well.....I just want to say THANK YOU!!to you and all others who give blood.

If it wasnt for ppl like you i'd prolly be gone now....back in 1989 i started bleeding internally and was given 16 units....they thought it was healed but in 1991 it started again and i had surgery and still needed another 12 units.

Thanks to God and ppl who gave that blood i am still here....so i really apprecate ppl who give blood.....i always gave before my tranfusions but now i am not able to give because of them....but i encourage everyone to give because it really does save lives.

once again i hope it went well....God bless you

J3

yeah. You just need to relax and then eat something sweet when you are done. Some people faint! One person I know did. But then it makes you feel better.

Thanks for the encouragment john316 and to everyone who gave advice! So here's my story of giving blood today:

K yeah so I definitely fainted! I was the first fainter of the day and it was actually really scary. Everything was going fine, she pricked my finger and they put the needle in me fine and so I'm sitting there and the nurse goes "ok so whats your name and what grade are you in?" and so I tell her and then she says "Oh so what are you planning on doing after you graduate?" an I started to tell her and then I got kinda dizzy really slowly and I said "I feel light-headed" and Bam, that's all I remember. But it was so weird, it felt like I was at home sleeping and when I woke up I didn't know where I was and there werel like 4 nurses standing around me and one was like 'You're at the blood donor clinic" and I remember thinking "what? Already?" cause I seriously thought I was at home. Anyways, oh yeah and I was boiling hot and they had cloths on my face and neck and my friends said I convulsed and she was really scared.
Then I rested on the bed thing for 30 minutes and they moved me to another bed where I rested for an hour and a half and the nurse kept taking my blood pressure and it was down and wouldn't go back up to normal level so I had to wait. And she sent my friends to get me some food to help bring it back up.
I tell you it was a very scary experience and it was also embarassing. But I just kinda feel bad that I wasn't able to give alot of blood. Like I think I almost started crying like 5 times when I saw people come in and getting to hold their sack of blood. But I really hope they can use the blood I did give. I just feel almost stupid for passing out. Ah well, as of right now I don't really wanna give blood ever again, but maybe I will in a few years...?

But it was fun watching my blood come out of me, as gross as that sounds.

heh, I can't wait till I turn 16, then I can finally give blood, my Dad faints, I don't though, cuz I've been stuck with so many nails, it doesn't hurt much anymore :D

Well, that's an advantage to being over 16 or 15 you get to do more stuff! That's the only good thing about it! Really.

I've had blood drawn for the purpose of a med I was taking, I had that done like 4 times, ya, I really don't care to see my blood go out of my body, lol,but, I think its funny when people are freaked at needles, cause like, I don't have a problem with them.

I'm not freaked of needles, but I was nervous that I was not able to give blood, or that I'd faint ::] but the needle they use to suck your blood, its like a freakin' straw!
k peace

yeah, it is. that's why i can't watch them stick it in me. i'm getting better tho. :)

i've given 3-4 times. tho, one of those times they missed the vein and had to wiggle it around. funny because i have really good veins. :-\ whatever. but now i'm happy to give blood. i went on a mission trip to India a couple years ago and one of the layovers was in Seoul, South Korea so every time i gave blood they had to get one of their binders out and look up. and it took forever. i wish i coulda just told them (after the first time) that it was fine for me to give blood. but they need to look for themselves.

but now it's a whole lot easier giving blood 'cause i don't have to wait around for them to find it. the 2 years is up. :D

lol, what you said reminded me of what our music director for our youth group said, who is in college, and he had to have surgery for his hurnia(or howevery you spell that), and when they tried to give him the IV, and like, the woman who tried the first time,she missed, like 2 times, and, then the doctor came in and said that he could do it, and he missed the vein like 2 times, then he hit an artery, and blood started coming out like crazy, hes thinking "and these people are giving me surgery?" ya, so he was a little creeped out.

*whines* I WANNA GIVE BLOOD!!! Sighs...gotta be 18 thou...*thinks* 18th b-day...*tries to count days*....

18? In my state you have to be 17, or 16 with parental consent, so, I gave blood for the first time back in November, it was really easy and painless. So, I shall give blood again the next time I can.

Ya, you have to be 17 here. I gave blood this past november. It was cool. I was a little nervous because I have small veins and when I had a blood test done the nurse missed my vein and had to dig around for a while to find it. But the lady that stuck me this time was awsome, she got me on the first try and that's never happened before.

The thing is that I'm about 120 pounds so I'm barly over the mark (you have to be 110 pounds) so, according to those around me, I was dead pale and I looked like the living dead. I felt kind of light headed for a bit and they had to put a cloth on my head, but I was ok. The weird part was that for the whole day I couldn't stand for very long or i'd get really light headed and lose vision like I was going to pass out. I was fine though.

Also, since I'm a runner, my blood came out really fast and I filled half the bag in a minute or so. But then, it slowed down and it took like 10 more minutes to get the rest of the bag. I had to squeeze the squishy ball they gave me so hard and when I was done my hand was completly numb. So, the moral of the story is: I worked for that bag so the lucky reciever better be thankful! ;)

><sarah><

Hey guys
Ack! I am giving blood tomorrow and I am very nervous! Have you guys ever given before? Any stories?
K peace
No, I'm going to within the next few weeks though. They're having a blood drive, and it goes to the children's hospital. I can't stand to see a child in pain, and any pain that I experience will help me understand another persons.

So, yes. I will do my part.

I would if I could but I'm not 17. ::]

I'm going to go do it next time they offer it.