Got out of the Blood Gas test!

I am already post op but I thought I would share this info. When I went for my pulmonary funtion test I did the breathing machine thing and I guess my breathing was a little off. He asked if I was nervous about anything and I told him I was petrified of the blood gas test (the needle and such) and I also told him that I have a very queasy stomach and more than likely would be vomiting during or after the test. He quickly assured me there was a different breathing test he could do, and he put the pulse ox on my finger and did that instead of the test. Apparently Dr. Harrington had no issue with me not having the original blood gas done, and I made out without having to go through that!! Just an FYI!! And, another FYI, when i had the 23 vials of blood drawn I made it to vial 11 before I threw up!!!! That's pretty good!!! Lol.

I'm glad you got through it OK, but hopefully it won't scare others who have yet to make it to those tests. I found the blood gas painless and I was also really nervous about getting it. The tech said that I could get the pulse ox instead just like you did, but that if the doc wanted the blood gas, I would have to come back...so I let him do it and it was fine. Plus, you want to get all the pre-op you can to make sure everything is OK going into the OR. I hope I don't sound preachy, I don't mean to - I was really, really scared of all the pre-op testing but I took each test as it came, and it was really OK......