little scared
on 10/2/11 1:12 am
"Our ultimate freedom is the right and power to decide how anybody or anything outside ourselves will affect us." Stephen Covey
Don't litter! Spay or neuter your pet
Before my DS even anesthesia docs sometimes had issues. I had general anesthesia through the thumb-side vein because I was such a hard stick. LOVELY bruising on that one.
Another time after a surgery, I developed my typical post anesthesia fever and they were running blood draws about every three minutes, it seemed. They got desperate enough for a vein that they got a doc to nab me in the groin.
So I have experience :-). Now, no problem at all. I hold out my arm, flick, flick, poke, done.
on 10/1/11 1:07 pm
It's amazing what one can do when one thinks things through. I had my knee replaced on August 1st. The doctor prescribed 20 shots of anticoagulants that I had to inject into my belly. My first thought was, "No way in hell, thankyouverymuch!" Then I remembered that I was at high risk for developing a blood clot in my legs that could travel to my lungs and kill me. Did I like shooting myself in the belly 20 times? Absolutely not. Did I do it? Yes. Would I do it again? Yes. I might whine and moan, but when it's all over, I realized it wasn't nearly as bad as I thought it would be.
If I (the world's biggest wuss) can endure getting poked, so can you. OK?
"Our ultimate freedom is the right and power to decide how anybody or anything outside ourselves will affect us." Stephen Covey
Don't litter! Spay or neuter your pet
I basically "pass the **** out" EVERY DAMN time they try to take my blood! I have been doing it for 35+ years....started when I was 8 and my father swore there was something wrong with me cuz "he can't have a fat kid"................... I swear it SUCKS!! I know it doesn't hurt.....I know that needle is TINY..........I can get shots all day long......but that damn needle in the middle of my arm puts me on the floor every time!
Now, I posted this not long ago and got some very good advice as I believe was already posted here:
From now on I am gonna make sure I am "hydrated"...........i tend to always be dehydrated anyway...........and after that I am just gonna "suck it up" and try to "overcome" that syndrome. And when all else fails, I can lay down which keeps me from falling down or out of the chair........and I have sometimes been "successful" with "butterfly needles" in the top of my hand..........but I think that vein must be alot smaller cuz it takes FOREVER to get one vial that way let alone 12 or 14!!
That seems so odd to me - the draw from the inner arm is SO much LESS painful than the back of the hand! I am a hard stick, and after the third unsuccessful try, the phlebotomist usually goes for the back of the hand, and that hurts!
What I now usually get, and what usually works, is butterfly needle in the inner arm. I get my iron infusions the same way.
I don't mind watching the blood draw, but I always look the other way when they are sticking me - it hurts less that way.