Elliott donating blood, on Friday afternoon.
At first, it was Elliott's way to get community service hours for graduation last year...then we were determined to get the coveted "gallon donor" award, or maybe it was all the goodies and soda you can drink when you are all done...but in the end, we do it because we feel it is important. Elliott and I donate blood together every two months.
The needle looks huge, and it kinda is...because I can donate my pint pretty rapidly. Actually, what hurts more is when they prick your finger to test you for anemia..ouch, I hate that part. When you first get there, you have to answer all these questions...some about diseases I cannot even pronounce, if you have lived outside of the United States (Lee cannot donate blood for a while longer because of this) and the usual ones about drug use and such. Elliott and I kinda race to fill ours our...he always wins...turns out he has less questions than I do...the race was rigged from the start.
Here is the first little pouch that gets filled before the bigger ones.....I am intrigued by the color of the blood when it comes out..it is not red like the movies it is more of a dark brick color. It only takes about 20 minutes to do our donation, it takes longer to fill out the questionnaire and go through the quick screening...then you are supposed to relax for 4 hours afterwards. I like that part. I do not like taking off the weird tape they use to hold down the gauze they put on you after they remove the needle...I am bad and remove it earlier than I am supposed to.
So, they always tell us we helped save a life when we are done donating...as we leave a little tired, but deep down we kinda feel like superheroes!!!
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