this is the second time i've failed.
the first time was because i didn't have enough iron floating around in me that day (i'm borderline anemic)
this time it's because my vien burst! now i have a huge nastyass bruise developing. it's great.

this should teach me to try to get over my fear of needles to do some good for humanity.

do your veins usually 'come up' quickly? they can wrap that thing around my arm as tight as possible and i never have a single usable vein, they have to jab me with those tiny butterfly needles like 6 times.

yeah, that's the other problem, i am *always* hard to get a vein on - when i went to the hospital in labor, one of the worst parts was getting stuck in both arms, 8 times total to end up having them put the IV in my wrist. fucking hell.


btw i'm posting a picture of the bruise in a moment, i will not fail you!

that sucks, i would have thought the actual birth was the thing you would be most painful!

babies arent sharp though

:(

just take some blood out of your child, it's your body and your choice



actually the blood bank calls our house like twice a week because my sister donated once. i just hang up on the guy before he finishes his sentence. the vampires have their caller id blocked too

that sucks, i would have thought the actual birth was the thing you would be most painful!


i said one of the worst. i was coherent for the needles, not so much 12 hours later for the baby..

now i have a huge nastyass bruise developing. it's great.

[/color]



they stuck the needle in wrong once for me and my bruise enveloped my whole arm after a few days, so be warned. my arm was like some zombie arm, all blue and black and yellow, it was fucked. dont put any pressure on it or anything

Regardless of being a vegetarian, i always have a ton of iron...but the sight of blood makes me pass out everytime, so I don't give blood anymore.

:(

Wow that nurse (or phlebotomist) really sucked.

the rather large lump of ow on my arm is a HEMOTOMA

much like the gentleman on the far right here, after a beating.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hematoma

You should donate more money to Netphoria, I don't discriminate against types or conditions of money.

i'm through with donating!

eeeeUUggfgdgkk

ammy has a heroin problem

can we have another intervention? I really like those small sammiches without crust. cucumber, yo.

it looks cooler today.

fuck... you can tell they did quite a bit of digging with a 14 guage needle...penetrated the vein and then blew it. Jesus what a rookie


PS...veins "bursting" is bullshit in a healthy young person. When they say that it means they pushed the needle too far blowing out the other side of your vein. It's a rookie mistake and the verbage makes it sound like it was through no fault of their own.

that reminds me of the time when i got antidepressant directly into the vein

hey, at least he got it the firs try - usually it takes them a few pokes..
wait, no maybe that would have been better...

did they actually draw blood before the vein "burst" or did he just get into the vein and then denounce the vein for failing him?

i also vividly remember how the nurse made a mistake one time when they were inserting the drip feed thing and sort of made my blood squirt out all over my new white shirt.

he got it, and then realized it was swelling, he said he'd wait and see if it was ok. it didn't stop, and i got warm and fuzzy, so they leaned the chair thing down and gave me a cold pack for my neck (?)


oh he also said "man, you're gunna have a humdinger of a bruise"

sounds like he either pushed the needle to far and out the other side or got cold feet and didn't advance it in far enough. in any case you got a raw deal. use ice packs at night to help knock down that hema-tomato

Something similar happened to me, ammy. I was a senior in HS and I gave blood to get out of class. Fucking vampire woman. I told her that my veins were deep and they rolled.

She either didn't believe me or was too dumb to understand. She tried the right arm, and missed the vein. Then she tried the other arm. She missed the vein the first time, and then POKED AROUND WITH THE NEEDLE INSIDE MY ARM. I just stared at her. Finally, she gave up and was going to head back to the FIRST arm (that was already bruising) when I stopped her. She said, "I'll get the Team Leader over here to try. I've never had this problem before".

So she got the team leader guy over and he got the needle in on the first try.

Both of my arms were bruised and hurty for a few days.

Everyone is new at it at some point. When I learned how to start IVs we had to practice on each other. I was a waiter at the time and had to wear long sleeves for a month because of my bruised junky arms :erm:

I get so nervous when I get blood taken that they seem to disappear [as in, you suddenly can't see them on the surface] and then i pass out. Otherwise my veins stick out a bunch and are all healthy. Ugh I can't stand that part of the arm so I always get it from my hand or the side of my wrist

can't you just look away when they take the blood?

no. you know it's coming and that's all it takes for me to get that way. it's not even the pain of it. there's pretty much no pain involved at all. it's just that.. violated feeling. how dare they take my blood. i need that!

i fainted last time i had a blood sample taken. it takes very little to make me faint, but it must be some subconscious thing because i'm not scared of it at all

told you it would get worse. if it is like mine was, all you have to do is poke any part of your arm with some force and a nasty technicolour bruise will develop in a day or so. i slept on the arm wrong and i had a bruise the pattern of crumpled up sheets on one side

more than once when giving blood ive had the person tell me i have "lovely veins," which is probably the creepiest, most morbid compliment you can get, in context or out. yet i still always blush when i hear that for some reason

No one's ever taken my blood. I hope

great to read fellow 'phorians donating blood.

I read their chart once that said 95% (IIRC) of people say donating blood is a good thing (assume religious context or something similar would be the reason why the other 5% or so would say it's not right) but that less than 5% of the Canadian population actually donate. I can't even get any of my friends to donate but they have no problem getting blood work done...

I have large, visible veins too so the staff always like that as it's easy to get the needle in the right place and donation doesn't take as long. Only one time have I had a staff member basically stab a needle into my vein (needle entry hurt like hell and I flinched but crazy bitch didn't notice) and the donation that time was mild pain throughout (didn't want to tell the crazy chick to remove it & stab me again).

I also bled once post-donation because I guess I didn't put enough pressure on the 'wound' after donation & the open wound didn't congeal...so i'm eating my cookie & drinking my juice when someone next to me notices all this blood coming out of my arm and all over the floor so staff went crazy to stop the bleeding & clean up the mess, then they gauzed me afterwards....pretty embarrassing.

For me, I find it better personally just to not look at the needle AT ALL during the whole process. I just watch the TV and squeeze the paper towel and leave it at that.

In Canada you get cookies & juice afterwards but I saw TV shows & stuff growing up where I was under the impression you get $$'s for donating...is that a USA thing ?

Last time I went I also asked the medical staff there if homosexuals are allowed to donate (because they have a lot of questions pertaining to your sexual activity & a lot geared toward homosexuals) and at least here in Canada she said they still mostly don't accept blood from homosexuals but that in certain areas they do (forgot which one's she mentioned)...she said they are still considered to be in high risk/infection demographic. The Questionnaires are always funny to read.

Last time I went I also asked the medical staff there if homosexuals are allowed to donate (because they have a lot of questions pertaining to your sexual activity & a lot geared toward homosexuals) and at least here in Canada she said they still mostly don't accept blood from homosexuals but that in certain areas they do (forgot which one's she mentioned)...she said they are still considered to be in high risk/infection demographic. The Questionnaires are always funny to read.

Seems ridiculous doesn't it? They are often starving for blood and are going to turn away a demographic because it is "high risk." If you are going to scan the blood for bugs anyway why is it a big deal? I'm curious if they are afraid a tiny viral load of HIV or Hepatitis may be present that doesn't trip the test. In any case, seems dumb to turn people away that are willing to donate.

They won't take my blood - damn Azerbaijan.

<font color=red>mirrar</font>

In Canada you get cookies & juice afterwards but I saw TV shows & stuff growing up where I was under the impression you get $$'s for donating...is that a USA thing ?



the donation program here gives you cake and juice (it's *always* carrot cake), and you can keep the foam squeezy if you want - they're fish and penguins here (cute), and then they have those rubber band bracelet things like the livestrong campaign - i got a sticker that said "be nice to me I <i>tried</i> to donate blood today" - if you donate 4 times in a year you get a shirt or something (the "four seasons club") - at work, the "bloodmobile" (large rv fitted out for the purpose) comes by four times a year

no money. i think that's if you donate plasma, which requires more time and twice as much blood or something. i only know this because of eVe's posts from the past...

Donating plasma sucks balls. It's a fucked up experience because while you are donating a substance that will help people you are also making crazy money for the company that procures your precious juice. It also takes at least an hour each time and leaves you with a honker of a bruise.

no good deed goes unpunished

:(Requiem for a Dream?

I can usually donate with no problem but a couple times my hemoglobin is too low. It's not to the point where I am anemic, only just below the female average or whatever.

i fainted last time i had a blood sample taken. it takes very little to make me faint, but it must be some subconscious thing because i'm not scared of it at all

Is it just around blood?

i used to donate for the pepsi and food. i did 3 times last year but missed the 4th which would have netted me a 'donors for life' card. i really wanted that for moral superiority, show it off and talk down to people.

great to read fellow 'phorians donating blood.

I read their chart once that said 95% (IIRC) of people say donating blood is a good thing (assume religious context or something similar would be the reason why the other 5% or so would say it's not right) but that less than 5% of the Canadian population actually donate. I can't even get any of my friends to donate but they have no problem getting blood work done...

I have large, visible veins too so the staff always like that as it's easy to get the needle in the right place and donation doesn't take as long. Only one time have I had a staff member basically stab a needle into my vein (needle entry hurt like hell and I flinched but crazy bitch didn't notice) and the donation that time was mild pain throughout (didn't want to tell the crazy chick to remove it & stab me again).

I also bled once post-donation because I guess I didn't put enough pressure on the 'wound' after donation & the open wound didn't congeal...so i'm eating my cookie & drinking my juice when someone next to me notices all this blood coming out of my arm and all over the floor so staff went crazy to stop the bleeding & clean up the mess, then they gauzed me afterwards....pretty embarrassing.

For me, I find it better personally just to not look at the needle AT ALL during the whole process. I just watch the TV and squeeze the paper towel and leave it at that.

In Canada you get cookies & juice afterwards but I saw TV shows & stuff growing up where I was under the impression you get $$'s for donating...is that a USA thing ?

Last time I went I also asked the medical staff there if homosexuals are allowed to donate (because they have a lot of questions pertaining to your sexual activity & a lot geared toward homosexuals) and at least here in Canada she said they still mostly don't accept blood from homosexuals but that in certain areas they do (forgot which one's she mentioned)...she said they are still considered to be in high risk/infection demographic. The Questionnaires are always funny to read.

the questionnaires are a blast. "have you ever had sex with a man for money or drugs, even once?" (the "even once" is great). "have you ever handled or come into contact with monkeys or their bodily fluids?" i can imagine the look of shock on the womens face if you actually answered yes to any of those questions.

you have the same questions where you live right? where in canada do you live?

i hope everyone has signed up to have their organs donated after theyre dead. its the most common fucking sense thing in the world, i cant even think of any legitimate reason why somebody wouldnt sign up (superstitions dont count). its almost downright malicious not to, considering how little effort it takes and how much good it does.

if any ontarians are looking for the right form
http://www.forms.ssb.gov.on.ca/mbs/ssb/forms/ssbforms.nsf/AttachDocsPublish/014-3750-84~1/$File/3750-84E_.pdf
it takes like 2 seconds


i also signed up for bone marrow donations and i recommend it. you just fill out a form and make an appointment to have some blood taken for a test. after that youre on the registry and can be called pretty much at any time to have some marrow taken. apparently only like 1 or 2% of people on the registry actually give, probably because there are thousands of different bone marrow types.

the actual donation sounds prety decent though for what it is. they numb your hip and stick a needle in it and through this they somehow get your marrow. the marrow comes back in like a fortnight and you can give again as quickly too.

Is it just around blood?

no. though i've recently discovered that i find blood (that isn't mine?) very gross and sickening. i think i just faint easily overall. my mom and my sister too.

post/av

Last time i was at the hospital they asked if i had a needle phobia and i asked if they would give me valium or something if i had a needle phobia and they said no so i said no.

I really dont like needles but if they handed out drugs i think they would get more takers. The end.

organ donation is a form of cannibalism. im not saying it's right or wrong, but it's the moral equivalent of one man volunteering his buttocks to be eaten by another upon death

i also signed up for bone marrow donations and i recommend it. you just fill out a form and make an appointment to have some blood taken for a test. after that youre on the registry and can be called pretty much at any time to have some marrow taken. apparently only like 1 or 2% of people on the registry actually give, probably because there are thousands of different bone marrow types.

the actual donation sounds prety decent though for what it is. they numb your hip and stick a needle in it and through this they somehow get your marrow. the marrow comes back in like a fortnight and you can give again as quickly too.

My mom actually got called when they had a match for her marrow type. She said the extraction hurt like a bitch ("10x worse than giving blood" -actual words) but not so much that she wouldn't donate again if someone needed it.

yeah, i signed up for the bone marrow registry too. and i have an organ donor card in my wallet. that's a good reminder, mark.

i really wonder if they'll let me donate blood this Thursday (i have an appointment) also because of iron levels and stuff. but it should be fine

I don't envy the job of the organ procurement teams. They have to face someone at the worst moment of their lives and delicately ask them to make a quick decision over whether they can slice and dice their recently departed loved one.

For rational people it wouldn't be a problem as the dead body is now just a useless vessel. However the majority of the population still holds onto the notion that the body is somehow sacred even after life has slipped from it.

they should have better campaigns about how many people die each year waiting for an organ transplant

no they should make it so everyone\s an organ donor by default and you have to register to not be

My mom actually got called when they had a match for her marrow type. She said the extraction hurt like a bitch ("10x worse than giving blood" -actual words) but not so much that she wouldn't donate again if someone needed it.

i didnt know this. i read that it aches afterwards, but thats it. why would it hurt if they numb the area? i guess they can only numb a certain bit and not right down to the bone or something i dont know.

still, a small price to pay considering that it saves someones life. it would have to like leave you paralyzed or something to justify saying no

no they should make it so everyone\s an organ donor by default and you have to register to not beI think so too but it goes against many years of a certain belief and the concept of ceremonial burial and that's why I don't think it'll happen.

I think so too but it goes against many years of a certain belief and the concept of ceremonial burial and that's why I don't think it'll happen.

its already the case in a few european countries, as i recall

good mornin', sleeps

no they should make it so everyone\s an organ donor by default and you have to register to not be

yes. that is a much better idea.