I was wondering when someone would get it.
Well, I did it. I was the first person in line Saturday morning because I knew I would chicken out otherwise. It was not bad, but the people were not quite as friendly as the last time I gave. I tried to make jokes and told them how scared I was but they were not really interested, but overall they were nice.
I was almost finished when another girl got in the chair next to me, there was only one girl doing the sticks, and one guy doing the pre-work.
The blood-taker-lady got my needle in fine, but the girl that donated next was not so lucky.
Her vein rolled. :eek:
I almost threw up hearing all of this going on 2 inches from me. The blood-taker-lady had to get Pre-work guy to come over, but they got the needle in.
(oh gosh I am getting weak just TYPING this story)
Then blood lady looks over and me and almost screams, “stop squeezing!” So I am thinking, I have filled my bag and my blood is about to spew horror movie style all over the place. I guess she was distracted by the rolled vein and forgot about me.
Anyway, I got through it, and it was not that bad, However…Now I am HORRIFED of going agin because of the rolled vein drama.
I really wish I had not seen that.
We all got it, we were just too polite to mention it. 
Good for you, Mint Julep. Um, your blood donor people don’t sound very professional to me - if you would like to continue to donate, may I suggest you try a different location next time? They should be a little more careful about traumatizing someone who has already admitted to being terrified with something as common and innocuous as rolling veins. Frankly, if the lady doing the sticks couldn’t deal with a rolling vein, she was either new or incompetent. Veins roll all the time - you just plaster the little suckers down, and stick the very sharp needle in.
Rolled vein? 
Featherlou, I think she must have been new. It was one of the mobile bus type things, and I have to say the whole thing was a bit less professional that the other 2 times I gave. They were late getting set up and just not very organized.
I am glad to hear that rolling veins are not too common with a skilled tech. The girl whose vein rolled was a nursing student herself and said he did not mind and was not scared of giving blood, so better that it happened to her than me…but she said it really hurt quite badly!
I know stuff like that is bound to occur, but man, why did it have to happen in front of me?
I am sure I will talk myself into donating again sometime though…it just may take a while.
Good for you Mint Julep. Someone will be helped in the next few days by what you’ve done.
I’ve been donating every couple of months for years now - first in Indiana, and now here in Seattle. I’m O negative - the universal donor - so the moment I’m eligible to give again the blood bank is practically knocking down my door.
I guess I’m fortunate that I have a big vein right near the surface on the inside of my left elbow, so they’ve never had trouble getting the donation needle in. I scar easily though, so sometimes I look at all the little marks and wonder if I’ll be mistaken for a junkie. Thinking of getting a tap put in 
On a related note: Does anyone else think that the little stick they do to get the sample (during the mini-physical that’s done before you’re allowed to donate) hurts worse than the actual donation itself?
I don’t know why they have to use a fingertip to get the blood sample (“Hey, lets stick a sharp object into the part of the body with the most nerve endings per square inch!”). Once, years ago, I went in to donate and they took the sample from my earlobe. Didn’t hurt at all.
Much applause for Mint Julep!
I agree. The needle sticky in the fingertip was not pleasant.
Good for you, Mint Julep! Even though the donation wasn’t as smooth as the ideal, you still donated. Besides, that big ol’ needle doesn’t hurt near so much as the little razor they use on your fingertip to test your iron. Ouch!
Btw, where in Mississippi are you from?
Thanks to all for your kind words.
I was really surprised by how few people are willing to donate blood. They were having a party at my apt complex swimming pool to encourage people to donate blood and almost everyone I spoke to said they had never and would never donate.
I thought that was kinda sad?
But I certainly do understand the fear of it!
You’re doing a wonderful thing. I’m not allowed to donate anymore, because I have Hepatitis C.
Yes, I think the needle stick is much worse than the actual donation. Especially since the tech squeezes your finger. Argh! Makes me feel slightly ill, but I always recover by the time I sit down on the donation lounge chair.
I sympathise. I went over 20 years between my second time and my third because I could not rid myself of the mental image of having a panic attack while the needle was in me. Do I ever get panic attacks? No. :smack:
I bit the bullet last year. I donated again yesterday, my fifth in total. I wish I had not looked at the needle before she stuck it in, but apart from that, no worries: my unit took almost literally three minutes to extract, and I could have hurt myself worse by treading on a Lego brick. (I have two small boys and wot whereof I speak.)
Go for it, dude. Even the needle stick is barely perceptible. Also I get a laugh out of the line “Have you ever been given money or drugs for sex?” - how can you pass up a straight line like that?
That really is sad. All those healthy young people running around with huge veins and more blood than they know what to do with…I think part of the reason people don’t donate is because of an extremely misguided misperception that you can catch a disease from the needles. People hear “get AIDS from dirty needles”, and equate all needles with getting AIDS.
In case you didn’t already know (and I’m sure all Dopers know this), needles used in hospitals and blood banks are sterile and used only once. The same needle isn’t even used on the same person twice, if the first stick misses the vein or something.
As for the rolling veins, some people have tough little round veins that tend to roll a little instead of the needle just going into them. Very common, and no big deal.
Do it. For one thing, it will help you overcome your fear of needles. For another thing (possibly the most important) - you WILL save someone’s life.
SWMBO is O negative. She is most assuredly A Cherished Person by our local blood bank. She donates every time she is eligible and is up over 8 gallons donated so far. She was terrified shitless of needles when she started. Now it’s just a minor annoyance to her.
Okay after speaking to all 10 of my office co-workers, not one of them has ever donated. I am really finding this hard to believe.
I had no idea so few people donate blood.
Dont they realize that they may need it someday too?
Were you able to ask people why they don’t donate? I’m curious about the reasons people give.
Yes featherlou I did ask some of them. One guy said he used to be in the military and after all the poking and prodding that they did to him, he was threw with doctors and needles? Sounded stupid to me, but he was drinking a Bud Light while wearing Corona swim trunks. When I tried to make a joke about the conflict of interests he just stared blankly at me.
One lady said she had 2 children and she was done with needles. Wonder what she would think if one of those kids needed blood, was my thought?
Most of the younger girls said they were just way too scared, and looked at me like I was a leper for going against grain.
The guys in my office drink and smoke alot, so maybe that factors into their decision, but mostly, I think they simply cant be bothered.
Alot of people, I think, are just too selfish to inconvenience themselves for the sake of others in any way.
I went in a week ago to donate, and the vein “blew.” I don’t know exactly what that means, but they couldn’t get any more from me that day and I got a big bruise on my arm a few days later. It didn’t hurt any more than the normal small prick of the needle.
Meh. I went back yesterday and donated. Everybody seemed so surprised that I had come back after that. No fewer than three nurses thanked me for coming back, and the nurse who stuck me last time apologized several times (she did it again this time, and it was fine).
I hope you don’t let the slight bad experience you had keep you from giving blood again. It seems that all too many people do. I’ve given blood many times before, and even the one time that it was painful, it’s not like it was unbearable or scarring. It was just 10 minutes of discomfort. And afterward, I look at my bandage (or this time, my bruises), and think “there’s someone alive because of that who might have been dead.”
It’s a pretty cool feeling.
Great going, Mint Julep. I’ve been bummed ever since they changed the rules that disqualified me from donating (early 90s). Before that, I was donating once a quarter.
Blood Donation Eligibility Guidelines
I wish I could still donate. 
They won’t let me – I don’t weigh enough – or I would. I owe somebody a unit that I got back in 1986, at the very least.
I did donate for myself for surgery once, so I can say that it wasn’t bad at all (though they made me come in twice because they didn’t want to do a while unit at once) and I’d do it again if I were allowed.