big.bruise

I got a huge bruise on my arm today. It's not as exciting as it sounds- I went in to donate, and had a new girl who missed my draw line. *l*, who regularly pokes me, set up a new machine and tried for my inner vein. She'd only had to try this once before, and got it with no problem, so she thought she could get it again. Unfortunately, she nicked the vein, and with the pressure on the cuff all the way up, and with me squeezing the ball, blood bubbled up under the skin and made a huge bump. It looked like a golf ball- no kidding. She said that she never bruises people (which she doesn't- she's really good) and that this was the worst she'd seen in a while. She stuck half a squeezy ball on her arm under her shirt sleeve, and walked around showing everyone what my arm looked like. It was better to have it happen to me (since I really don't care) than a new donor who might not come back. The only bad news is that this likely means that I won't be able to meet the limit of 24 donations per year. Today would have been 23, but that didn't happen, and since I have to wait until this bruise goes down, I probably won't be back in before the end of the year. Bummer.


(So that's it up there. The beginnings of a nice, big bruise. You can't really tell, but there's a huge bump sticking out the side towards the camera. Pretty soon that will settle down, and all that blood will spread throughout my arm. It's exciting to think of what it will end up like. I'll put another picture up once it reaches its peak.)