Anyhoo... my new guy (of the last 4 years or so) basically has his nurse take my vitals and record my medications. He comes in to talk about 5 minutes, look in my ears, listen to my lungs, and say he'll see me in 6 months. He's personable enough, but I'd really prefer having those lab results to discuss, like my old doc did during the appointment. This way I rarely even hear about the results, because I can't seem to get into the online circus to check for myself.
Anyhoo... I went upstairs for my blood draw. There was only one person ahead of me, since the other two people waiting were having different tests. The worst part of going to the doctor is riding in the elevator after people who get off hacking up a lung.
Anyhoo... the good news about my blood draw was that the phlebotomist gave me a stretchy wrap in my favorite color:
There I am, showing it off in the third floor restroom! She could have used more gauze, I think. It was a single tiny square. She acted like she bought it out of her own pocket.
The bad news about my blood draw was that when the phlebotomist said, "You're going to feel a little stick..." she wasn't a-woofin'! I definitely felt a little stick. Sometimes, the phlebotomist is so good that I don't feel it at all. Not this one. I guess they're on a rotating schedule. Maybe so the same one isn't always on call to creep around in the middle of the night sucking people's blood after surgery or a heart attack.
Normally, getting my blood drawn doesn't bother me. I used to even watch every detail, from the needle going in, to the tube filling up, to the needle coming out. That was until I had a really bad stick. I don't know if the gal was just learning or not. It's not like I flinched. I've always had easy-to-see veins that stick out, even before tying that stretchy rubber band thingy around my bicep. So good were my veins that many a phlebotomist has complimented me on them! Yeah. You bet I'm proud.
Anyhoo... this one time, the phlebotomist must have done something wrong. It wasn't evident to me as I was watching, but I sure felt it! Not sure if she went all the way through the vein and then pulled the needle back in, or what. Maybe someone with nurse's training could tell me (Kampground Kathy?). Maybe she just didn't put enough pressure on the hole after taking out the needle. I don't think that's all, though, because if hurt like son-of-a-gun before she even took out the needle.
Anyhoo... way back then, I immediately got a big knot on my arm over the vein. I felt SICK to my stomach from the pain. Faint. Lucky for me, my mom had come with me that day. We often did that. Made a little outing of a sick day. I didn't take them often, even working all day while fasting for that blood test, then going after school. But if I'd missed a day already that year, I'd take off for an appointment. Especially when I had accumulated 100 sick days, and had to use my 10 for the year or lose them.
Anyhoo... that knot stayed there for a few days, turning purple. When it healed, I could no longer see my really good vein. Dang it! That meant that in the future, those phlebotomists were going to use my right arm, instead of the left.
Here's the thing. I think that on Thursday, that phlebotomist jabbed me off center.
Like I said, it didn't hurt a LOT, but it hurt, when normally it doesn't. And my vein isn't as sticky-outy as it was. I don't know if you can tell from this angle, once I got home and slipped into my lair wear. It didn't leave a bruise or anything.
I hope I don't get that same phlebotomist in six months.
6 comments:
It is a rare talent to be able to hit a vein and cause no pain! That rhymed! Sounds like she did blow the good vein. Sometimes the needle will hit a nerve and that's why it hurts so bad. Can't see those nerves. My veins are hard to find and once found they want to roll away and hide. When I encounter someone who can stick with ease, I remember them and ask for them on my next blood letting. Another thing that stings is the alcohol swipe. A good phlebotomist will dry the area swiped with alcohol before sticking. I hate the stretch bandage they apply now. Sometimes it is so tight my fingers start to tingle!
Kathy,
I rarely see the same one twice, but most are relatively painless with their sticking. If that bad one had hit a nerve, it would certainly explain the pain. Maybe that also happened, unrelated to the big hematoma. It DID feel kind of sickening, like when you pinch your funny bone between two lawn chair arms, although in a different location. That's a good trick with the alcohol wipe. I've never noticed them doing that, but maybe I just don't notice an alcohol sting.
Genius gave blood when the Red Cross came to school for a blood drive. They had his bandage on so tight that his forearm turned purple, and caused him pain. They said he should get to an ER, apparently in denial about the tight bandage (or refusing to admit fault). He had gone back to ask them a couple times, and they kept saying to leave it on for an hour. Once the bandage was off, his arm didn't pink up like you would assume.
The ER people told him it was Reynaud's Syndrome, even though there is no family history of it, he's not a smoker, and he's never had it since. Funny how they refused to consider that he'd just been nearly tourniqueted with that bandage after giving blood a couple hours before. Let the record show that his circulation returned by the next day. Of course I think I know more about the cause than trained ER professionals...
I used to give platelets to the Red Cross. However, the needle work was so horrible (sometimes they'd have to dig around with the needle... several times I got a horrible bruise and my arm would swell up), I switched to a local hospital. The final straw: a woman dug and dug around, my eyes were watering with pain, and she never apologized or said anything sympathetic. (One comment would have been all I needed.)
I've gotten lax. Your post reminded me I should get back to donating. My veins are extremely wily. It's time to start challenging those nurses again.
Looks to me like she got into a smaller vein next to the main one, so that might hurt a bit and I've noticed it hurts if they go into the vein from the side. When they slide the needle in along the length of the vein, directly in the middle, you hardly feel a thing. I'm about six months overdue for a fasting blood test, I'm putting it off because at this point it might come out looking more like melted chocolate...
Now I have to Google Reynaud's Syndrome. My last decent doctor suggested I might have that while I insisted it was just carpal tunnel and strapped on a couple of wrist/hand supports.
Sioux,
I am taking credit for sending you back to the needle, much like one might take credit for a big salad that he handed to somebody, yet did not buy. I used to give blood at the school blood drives, and they never hurt me. I'd watch the whole procedure, and even challenge the person next to me to a race. My blood runs out really fast, even before I was taking any medicine or an aspirin a day.
***
River,
I think she was in the big vein, but went in from the side. That makes sense, and explains the sensation. Something about her angle was wrong. I'm pretty sure your chocolate blood would be frowned upon, yet a welcome respite from the daily routine of a phlebotomist.
***
River 2,
I've had carpal tunnel (also self-diagnoses), and it was miserable. My only relief was plunging my wrists into a bowl of ice water when I woke up in the night with throbbing pain. I don't know how that worked, or why I thought of it, but it kept me going until I left that job of handwriting prices on items in a junk store.
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