So it was my birthday

as in my previous entry, i was on-leave =)

other than the sleep-till-my-heart's-content-fix-meal-eat-bath-nua-in-front-of-computer, i did something which i've been wanting to do but somewhat been procrastinate:

I WENT FOR MY FIRST BLOOD DONATION.

when i was a lil younger -ahem-, i wasn't eligible for blood donation coz i was underweight. (ah, those days..)

and when i think i might be eligible for blood donation (as in the weight factor), work is always too busy, and i have to impression that i must get one day mc after donating blood, which given the work load, impossible.

[read: excuses]

since it was a totally spontaneous decision made (alright i'll just admit it, i was bore to max) - no time slot is available at HSA when i made the call for registration at about 2pm- i went to NUH blood donation centre. it feels funny that even if i was on leave, i was still taking the same route as if i'm going to work.

the whole process was okie. far better than what i speculate. except the intradermal local anesthesia is more than just 'ant's-bite'. i could even see the bump formed - which somehow reminds me of those cute little mice of mine (more on this later)- and so when the very gentle nurse push in the 16G needle, i feel totally nothing.

according to the nurse, my vein is big- so it takes just a while to get the bag of 450ml filled.

my first blood donation experience, i would say it's really great. nothing too stressful, nothing too painful. and the most important, you feel great after the process, and most likely you don't mind donating again.

sidetrack:
1) i feel complately okie after the process and things are just as normal. i still stay up late (like now).

2) i was wondering about blood stock and did some simple googling. to my astonishment, A group blood is running low! i thought that suppose to be some common blood group and they will have gallon of such blood. so, i was wrong.
link here.

3) then i wonder again, if one was to donate blood at hospital instead of HSA, will be blood collected be send to HSA, or the individual hospital have access to that blood? and thus, the indicator thingy on Point 2 only indicates the blood stock in HSA, or the whole singapore?

4) back to the issue of mice, i once accidentally perform an intradermal injection to a mouse (instead of intramuscular injection) 'coz i didn't push the needle deep enough. now that i really know how's an intradermal injection feels like, i will try to be more careful in the future.

5) i asked bmbo* about Point 3 'coz i thought he might know since he worked in SGH before (somewhat nearer to HSA). but my question remained unresolved. =( i shall wait until my next visit to blood donation centre.