A few months ago, after never having done it, I gave blood. The process was fine, I felt like they were safe at the American Red Cross donation facility which is close to where I live, and so I did it again six weeks later, and then again yesterday.
The first two times, no issue. Yesterday, no issue. But after I was home for awhile, I took off the red wrap (I think they said I could take it off after wearing it an hour), and figured I'd pull off the band-aid, too. I did, walked out of the bathroom, and my wife's face told it all.
My arm was red. For some reason, it was pumping blood out like crazy. When I say my arm was red, it was literally covered, and it looked, well, red. Coated with paint. Except it was my own blood.
She told me to hold my arm under the shower and grab something to stop the bleeding like I was going to pass out or something. In the meantime, she grabbed some gauze bandages and dried the area, and put on gauze. It darkened the gauze, but stopped bleeding, thankfully.
I went back and read, and apparently you're supposed to leave the band-aid on at least 5 hours. So...I guess you should either read what they give you, or listen to what they tell you. Who knew?
I was kinda cautious, and just took off the gauze bandage. Don't remember it looking like that before.
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