I donated blood for the first time today!
I ate a little breakfast at 6 AM. My appointment was at 8:30 AM... but something broke down and they couldn't take me until nearly 2 PM. I sat there waiting the whole time and didn't eat anything. Finally, they called me in and tested me to see if I was eligable, and then they took me back the the donating place and stuck the needle in me. The needle part hurt for a second, but as soon as it broke the skin, I no longer felt the slight pain. I was okay for a while, or so I thought. I must've gotten really pale or something. The nurse kept asking me if I was okay and kept glancing at me oddly. Now, I had just been talking with the nurses (one guy liked to joke around and all of the nurses were friendly) and alert. Then a little while passed (she kept adjusting the needle) and I start to feel really dizzy. It was really weird what happened next... I managed to mumble, "I don't feel well" and then suddenly my hearing wasn't right (it sounded as if my head was under water) and my vision went kind of haywire, everything was blurry and not very bright/colorful, and the edges of what I could see got darker. It was really hard to keep my eyes open; I threw up at one point, and they kept shaking me and putting ice on me and poured water all over my head/face and sprayed something horrible smelling up my nose that made me cough and kept asking me questions to keep me awake. It stopped after a little while, but it was so hard to stay awake. I don't know how much blood I was able to give before they pulled it out... When I was stable, she fed me soda and Goldfish crackers and told me to sit for a while and then slowly walk and then kept me for another 45 minutes or so to watch me. It wasn't scary, just weird.
I really hope they allow me to donate blood again - and this time, I'll eat an hour before I do.