Fainting Fiasco

Okay...so on Thursday I had to go to the doctor's for a general yearly physical!! Everything was great...I got in quickly, the doc checked me over quickly, and I was almost done when he informed me where to go to have my blood taken!! So I went back to this little corner room and sat down!! The nurse came back and asked if I had problems giving blood and I informed her that I have had trouble in the past but thought I should be okay!?!! I looked over at the table to see not just one empty tube but...FIVE EMPTY TUBES...that they were going to fill with MY BLOOD!! This thought did not settle well with me!! But I decided to suck it up and be tough!! So, she got the needle in quickly and things were going great until...my vein collapsed and she had to switch arms! I felt fine, which I confirmed to the nurse when she asked!! Unfortunately that "fine feeling" left me rather quickly! I thought I was going to vomit, my vision seemed funny, and my head felt like lead. I started tipping over in the chair and I heard the young nurse saying loudly, "SALTS...SALTS...where are the salts??" Another nurse came running over (whom, might I add, also didn't know where the smelling salts were) and caught me, quickly informing me to put my head in between my legs. So, with my head down and a cold cloth on my neck...I regained some of my composure. I am completely unsure as to why none of the nurses knew where the smelling salts were...but anyway?!The nurses then walked me back to a bed where I laid down while they got the rest of the blood they needed from the other arm!! I stayed laying down for quite awhile before feeling like I could get up!! It was an INSANE experience!! The moral of the story...

It's always a "fainting fiasco" when I give blood!!