One Fish, Two Fish, Red Cross, Blackout

As some of you know, or read on my previous post, one of the things I didn't accomplish this last year was donating blood. I'm not a big resolution person considering I seldom keep them, so I decided this year instead of doing "resolutions" I would make a list of things to get accomplished. An actual list that I could check things off of. I'm a big list person. I could write out my whole life just to have that satisfying feeling of crossing something out.
Yesterday, I told mom that the only day I could donate blood was tomorrow because we are going skiing next Monday and after that I'll be starting college again soon so unless I did it that next day I probably wouldn't be able to do it until summer. Mom wasn't thrilled with going to town so she hooked me up with a ride with Tina Vestal "that" day. It was around 1ish and I was happily lazing around in my home clothes when mom said Tina would pick me up in about a half an hour to take me. Wow, I was like "OK, are you sure?". I got ready really quick and even though I hadn't expected to go that day, still I got in the car and left.
Tina dropped me off at the Red Cross and I went in read their forms, got checked to see if I was anemic (I wasn't), answered their questions on the computer, and sat down in the chair. I'm a little squeamish around needles so I wasn't sure how I would do with the whole thing. I'm the type who asks allot of questions (my inner five year old coming out). He rubbed this yellow gunk over my arm, and when I asked about it he said it was iodine. I was supposed to squeeze this foam ball to I think keep my vein up or something, and when he was sticking the needle in I just looked away, and after a quick poke I was fine. I'm good around blood, so I was just watching it fill my little blood bag down below me. I was surprised on how well I was doing I asked the man questions about like how much blood I could lose without dieing, how long is average for it to take, and other stuff like that. I tried not to be annoying, but I think I just came that way. Tina came to see how I was doing and how long I would be and decided she had time to run to Costco. Not too long after she left I started feeling a little woozy. Like kind of sick, but not too bad. I started hearing/feeling my heartbeat and then the world started imploding around vision and I was enveloped by blackness.
I had a dream I don't remember of what though, something green and white and boxy, and then the nurses or whatever they are were around me. If you have ever passed out you know what I'm talking about when I say waking up is the weirdest experience ever. I had to literally convince myself that going to donate blood was not a dream and that I was actually there, and willed myself to wake up. My forehead was really sweaty and I felt woozy. They handed me a puke bucket even though I didn't feel the need too, and put a screen around me. I saw the man taking the needle out of me and even though I could barely see I was pretty coherent. I asked if he got enough and he said no, and that they couldn't use it. That made me sad, but there was nothing I could do about it. After laying in the chair for a few minutes they asked if I thought I was good enough to sit at the table and I honestly did feel good enough. I sat at the table and drank a bottle of water. The people were really nice and kept asking me if I was OK like every 30 seconds. About two minutes later when the one lady asked if I was doing OK, I almost answered yes, when I didn't feel too hot anymore. They came over to lay me down in the chair again and halfway there I started to go. I told them that I was going under, and that I was almost gone. By the time they got me to the table they were three black creatures guiding me over. They told me to stay awake I think I replied with a "Ahh". They said to keep my eyes open and move my feet around. I did and the world started to materialize again. After a few moments I stated that my ears felt funny, and they did, like water pressure when you swim too deep.
It took awhile before I moved back to the table and felt good enough to leave. They said the reason I passed out was my body hyper reacting to having it's blood taken away, like "Help, I'm dieing here!". If I drink a lot of water and fill up with protein before I go next time, I should be fine. The more I give blood the more immune my body will become to loosing that much.
Overall even though I wasn't able to actually donate blood, I'm still glad I did it. I might have to wait until the Summer to do it again, but now I know what to expect and how to prepare, so I will be ready.