finger pain

On Thursday the mobile blood bank came to RCH. I dropped in to see if they had any appointments and the lady said I could do it right then. I'd had lunch before, and I was bored, so I happily agreed. I filled out all the enrolment and history forms, and proceeded to the cubicle where the Red Cross worker would put me on the system and test my haemoglobin levels.

*Prick*

A quick jab to the side of the tip of my left ring finger. Ouch. I chatted briefly about the glucose test we did in first year uni as she squeezed out a few droplets of bright-red lifejuice, the final drops onto a cute little glass slide.

One to two minutes after the initial prick, it was still very painful, and I told her this. It was then that a foreboding fist of nausea began to burn in my belly. "Oh SHIT," I thought.

"Do you need to lie down?"
"I don't think so."
"Are you sure?"

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And, naturally, I rise, my vision begins to fuzz over, like TV static, and I'm lowered to the floor, legs elevated, and there are three or four people looking down at me, one pressing a cold towel to my head, the other wiping one around my neck, the other saying "I don't think you should give blood today..."

After a few minutes, I get up, and am directed to "Go! Eat Cheese! Biscuits! Cheese! Eat Cheese!" I do so (well, I eat biscuits but not the cheese... it was that cute little wrapped stuff that I loved when I was a kid).

Sigh.

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The strange thing is, the pin-prick point is still extremely sensitive when I touch it or fully extend the finger, even 2 days after the event. Explanations, anyone?