Glucose tolerance tests are awful

[cjsmith]

The bad news: the orange drink is so nasty I gagged. Twice.
The bad news: bruises on both arms.
The sort-of-good news: only one bruise on each arm, after multiple pokes.
The good news: it's over and I'm at work now!

I think I lost about a cup of blood.* The glucose tolerance test wasn't the only thing the doctor ordered; the first draw was something like seven vials... and she forgot one, so the second draw wasn't two, it was three... and the other two draws were two. I need a steak.

*edit: that's an exaggeration.

Comments

[recordersmith.livejournal.com]

Ugh, no fun. So far I've never had to have one of those. Tho, when we started the IVF stuff, the number of vials for various tests they did beforehand was truly stunning. Something like 12 tubes (at least that was only one needlestick, tho!).

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

Isn't it nuts? At what point will they not do the draw if you haven't had breakfast? They won't let you donate blood fasting; that's a pint. They'll take seven or eight tubes fasting without blinking an eye. Somewhere in between, there must be at least a fuzzy boundary.

[recordersmith.livejournal.com]

I'm sure there's a legal limit, and then they'll have you come back the next day or something. Problem is they really do need fasting for a lot of tests.

I worked in a lab that was playing with platelet activation for a while. They needed fresh platelets for that (about three hours after draw, the activity was low enough not to be useful for the experiments). The scientist doing the work was on a drug that depressed platelet activity (theofilin, for asthma). My platelets worked great. So I donated 10cc a couple times a week for several months. Usually fasting, but one day she forgot and ended up drawing me right after I had lunch. It was really interesting--you could actually see the globs of fat in the blood. Really amazing.

[recordersmith.livejournal.com]

Also, a pint is 400 cc. A tube for testing is generally between 2cc and 10cc. So even 10 tubes is at most a quarter of a pint.

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

Ah, that gives me a sense. So I didn't lose a cup of blood today; it was maybe half a cup.

[just-cyd.livejournal.com]

but you're a small person - that's a lot to give up at once with nothing to bolster you. i'm pretty good with giving up blood, but 7 vials fasting has me clammoring for water and the nearest edible substances.

Waiter! a cow for the lady, please.

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

They did let me have water, at least, which was most welcome after drinking the sugarbarf. As soon as I got to work, though, I was stuffing things into my face!