thick bloOd

I am officially a blood donor!

hah!

yupz.. i went for my first blood donation yesterday at masjid ghufran. dari woodlands ke tampines.. sanggup! sebab tak nak miss the opportunity.

sebenarnye, mase 1st year nak donate, during AS club blood donation drive. tapi tak eligible sebab weight kurang dari 45kg.

Alhamdulillah... ternyata, kali ni Allah izinkan.. coz on the way to tampines, rasa nervous jugak, takut2 tak eligible lagi, sebab low haemoglobin ke ape ke.. tapi, nekad jugak. klw tak elegible, hmm.. takpe lah..

bila sampai kat multipurpose hall tu, a senior told me kak maryam AR ade kat situ.. tgh donate blood. tercari2 jugak. hmm.. ade jugak teman =)

filled in the form... was given a cert of appreciation (padahal belOm start donate blood pon!).. checked by a doctor (the doctor himself was sick sey.. tak pakai mask! and he never took temperature reading, main letak 37degrees je!).. my left middle finger pricked (oh my Allah~ sakit uh.. i think it's because the needle is thicker than the one i used during TP Open House. kinda jakun+"ohh..ohh..guLp" when i saw my own blood. haha), to check for plasma iron level.. then waited for my turn to donate blood..

bila tgh tunggu tu, sempat jugak berbual dgn kak maryam.. dia ceritakan jugak camne feelingnyer derma darah.. alahai.. tibe2, semakin nervous plak diri nih~ mcm nak gi confront something Big.

yang tak bestnyer, i was seated beside seorang rajul melayu uh.. haiz~ tak boleh nak pusingkan kepala ke kanan..

k, anyway.. the nurse covered my legs with selimut.. ntah kenapa, takut sejuk kot! then... dia check my blood pressure.. the strap tu (i dunno what it's called. aiyo~ dah dua tahun jadi biomed student pon masih tak tahu! eeks~) dia tak tanggalkan, tapi dia suruh me picit2 the raindrop-shaped stress ball.. sebab nak naikkan lagi blood flow kat arm tu..

oh, yes, the victim was my left arm~

1st, the nurse cari my vein. i couldnt see the vein yang dia nak tu. i asked her (santai2 je) how many years of experience does she have. 3, she said. waah~ lama tu.. nampak sgt the art of phlebotomy dia dah master uh. oh, and she said, tak nampak vein pon, tapi boleh feel.

dah tu............





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ape dia buat?
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she injected anaesthesia.

where was i looking? i looked at my arm alright. nak tengok camne dia masukkan jarum. and memang boleh rasa saNGAt.. bila dia push the fluid into my vein.. rasa sakit uh..

bedek ah klw orang kata tak rasa ape2 pon!

i was told to keep clinching and unclinching the stress ball.

then... i waited. sebab the nurse gi ambil the blood bag. (or transfusion bag??)

rase mcm tak selesa jugak ah, sebab my left arm bare je.

oh, i remember, ade lagi satu nurse shared/advised that if i was scared, tak usah tgk kat lengan bila the blood is drawn. hmm.. nak tgk jugak! yes, inilah yang dinamakan jakun, plus, facing the teeny-weeny bit of fear yang dah cukup menyesakkan klw dilayan.

selepas beberapa minit.. the ultimate challenge finally came~ (hah! macam betOl je!). the nurse gantung the bag kat bahagian bawah tempat rest tangan.. check the position of my vein.. cari the small hole where the 1st injection was made, and masukkan the boleh-tahan-tebal needle into my vein.

waduh~~ rasa sey jarum tu cucuk my flesh. dah tu, boleh rasa the needle 'poke' my vein. tak sakit??? mane ade! sakit~ tapikan, bukan sgt2 sakit tau. cuma, the feeling tu, mcm 'oh-my-god!-the-needle's-in-me'.. saat dia dah masukkan tu, terus mcm terduduk.

ntahlah, tak tahu camne nak describe lagi. yang penting, bile masuk vein je, terus nampak darah flow inside the tube into the blood bag. waaah~ my blood.. *double jakun*

tak boleh nak duduk diam ah mase tgh derma darah tu. mcm nak duduk straight and look at my arm closely.. tapi tak leh, kena sandar kat 'stretcher' tu (or whatever you call it) and tak leh angkat tangan.

paham2 je lah.. jarum tu panjang gak. (eh, setengah depa tu berapa panjang?) silap2, tertembus the other side of the vein, parah plak.

hmm... so what did i do masa the blood was being drawn? baca leaflet yang nurse bagi.. tgk sana, tgk sini.. nampak nyzah jugak.. and one sister, knew her from RR'07.. she was in safety from NYP.. tak ingat ah namanye.. dia pon cam kite jugak.

oh, and i did imagine: camne agaknye klw orang kena stab? mesti rasenye lebih maha dahsyat dari apa yang kite rase. fuh~ seram sejuk bila terpikir perkara tu..

around 7-10minutes, dah selesai. oh, mase tgh draw blood tu, kena keep picit the stress ball.. jenuh dan lenguh dibuatnyer! the nurse then clipped around the middle of the tube. i think untuk stopkan flow into the blood bag. i was ready for another stinging feeling bila dia nak keluarkan jarum. tapi, tup tup, tahu2 je, the jarum was out. i think it's automatic or something.

put pressure.. kena tunggu lagik... at one point, the nurse placed the filled blood bag on my arm. alahai~ time ginilah, klw ade cameraphone kan bagus. boleh capture that moment sey..

alhamdulillah~ overall, i felt happy that i finally did what i wanted.. satisfied knowing my blood will save someone, inshaAllah.. 300mL je (or 450mL).. tapi dah cukup byk.. and i wish more people will donate. our blood bank ni sering kekurangan tau. mcm kidney jugak. kesian orang2 yang meninggal kerana menunggu kidney yang baru. as for myself, masih tgh pikir2 samada nak opt out of HOTA ke tidak..

selepas tu, the other nurse (yang kasi advice tu) balut lengan dgn.. hmm.. tak tahu what the thing is called. she gave me iron tablets, ferrous fumarate, to be consumed for 3 to 5 days.. to replenish my body iron. and fyi, this medicine causes constipation.

ok, it's done.

took a rest, had a drink and a bite, the nurse (the one who drew my blood) called to me asking if i was alright, coz i looked pale.. but maybe it was the lights.. after that, i stepped out of the multi-purpose hall.