The Vampire Palace Part II
Well, I finally did it. Zoe and I, after a disgustingly frantically dreadful day at work, headed off to the blood bank to donate blood. Being my first time, they insisted on lying me back in the chair a bit more just in case I went white as a ghost and fainted, which meant that I couldn't read my book properly! It took all of 9 minutes and 8 seconds to drain 470ml of blood out of a juicy vein in my left arm. And the needle? Well, maybe I shouldn't be telling you all since it might put some people off the idea of donating, but I will anyway! =P (You can have a topical local anaesthetic) It was so thick (16fr. guage), just imagine the barrel of your pen... that now I know my patients have no excuse to be such whooses! (is that how you spell that?!!) But honestly, it didn't hurt much at all. This was after I got the go-ahead in the interview room, where they FINGER PRICK you AS WELL (that hurt more than the big needle!!!!!) to check your Hb beforehand to make sure you're not already anaemic. Mine was 130 yesterday, a great improvement on 110 when I was in Darwin! (The minimum is 115) Those two iron tablets and juicy steaks I've had have paid off!
Then we went out to dinner in Balmain at The Mango Room - YUM! I will have to remind Zoe not to make me walk up any stairs right afterwards next time!!!
Well, I finally did it. Zoe and I, after a disgustingly frantically dreadful day at work, headed off to the blood bank to donate blood. Being my first time, they insisted on lying me back in the chair a bit more just in case I went white as a ghost and fainted, which meant that I couldn't read my book properly! It took all of 9 minutes and 8 seconds to drain 470ml of blood out of a juicy vein in my left arm. And the needle? Well, maybe I shouldn't be telling you all since it might put some people off the idea of donating, but I will anyway! =P (You can have a topical local anaesthetic) It was so thick (16fr. guage), just imagine the barrel of your pen... that now I know my patients have no excuse to be such whooses! (is that how you spell that?!!) But honestly, it didn't hurt much at all. This was after I got the go-ahead in the interview room, where they FINGER PRICK you AS WELL (that hurt more than the big needle!!!!!) to check your Hb beforehand to make sure you're not already anaemic. Mine was 130 yesterday, a great improvement on 110 when I was in Darwin! (The minimum is 115) Those two iron tablets and juicy steaks I've had have paid off!
Then we went out to dinner in Balmain at The Mango Room - YUM! I will have to remind Zoe not to make me walk up any stairs right afterwards next time!!!
