I'm basically over it

[cjsmith]

I got blood drawn yesterday morning - SEVEN TUBES thank you very much - and I did not feel one iota of wooziness.

Granted, I didn't watch, but it's not as if I didn't feel every bit of it. I wasn't coasting through by being blissfully unaware. I think I'm finally cured of my phlebotomy squeamishness!

(I blame my diabetic cat and a year of Saturdays working at a vet clinic. And the B12 self-injections, I guess.)

Comments

[rfrench.livejournal.com]

Impressive!

Now how are you on surgeries?

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

Still back at the bottom of the ladder on that task. I haven't seen a single one yet!

[ladycelia.livejournal.com]

I got over it after I had hepatitis--weekly blood draws will get you used to it.

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

Wow, yeah, I can see how that would do it. *sigh*

(You're OK now, yes? It was one of the recoverable forms?)

[ladycelia.livejournal.com]

Yeah, it was "A". I was sick for a couple of months, then another year or so to actually recover. I just can't give blood or anything. Happened a long time ago.

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

Gotcha. (Phew.) I know it can be bad, but in the best case, the only permanent side effect is that you'll never get A again. Glad to hear your liver is fine.

[ladycelia.livejournal.com]

Well, I can't drink worth a damn. I get really sick, really fast if I drink to excess. So, I don't drink to excess.

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

Ugg. Yeah. :-/

[elgecko.livejournal.com]

I got blood drawn yesterday morning - SEVEN TUBES

*remembering your shape and size*

Um... that's like 12% of your entire body mass isn't it?

*hugs*

Glad it went well. =)

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

Hee! I joked that I'd lose weight in there. (One of the other patients in the waiting room, seeing the pile of tubes destined for me, said "I would walk out of here RIGHT NOW.") My arm did feel cold for a good hour afterward, but I'm not sure that's related.

[composerjk.livejournal.com]

Funny thing: that doesn't seem like a large number to me. But, then, I'm used to it and get fairly regular draws. That reminds me: I'm overdue for a set of tests.

Yay for being cured of squeamishness.

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

It seemed big to me, but then, this is my first dietary / digestion-related test. (Seven BIG tubes, too! None of those little wimpy things!) Are your draws like that all the time? Many tubes?

[composerjk.livejournal.com]

Hmm. Then, maybe that was a big draw. Though, I do recall thinking there were a lot of tubes early on. So, maybe my perspective is skewed. ;) Right now, I'm down to once a month or so. But, there are still a bunch of tests.

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

For me, I'm not sure it makes much difference how much blood they're taking; I care more about how long the process lasts. All of mine this time were vacuum, which is awesome - it's fast! (Though there is the weird sensation when they pull off a tube or put on the next one.)

[billeyler.livejournal.com]

So you didn't scream any epithets in Japanese?

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

No, I didn't, more's the pity! If I had, I could have listened to me and learned something! :-) (I don't know any epithets in Japanese.)

[iridium.livejournal.com]

Woohoo!

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

This is a HUGE difference for me! Three years ago, all you'd have had to do was SHOW me a needle and my color vision would start to go.

[hopeforyou.livejournal.com]

When I was on warfarin, I had to go get my blood drawn 2x-3x a week at first, and got more blood draws done in the ER when that same week, I had to get tested after having a bad reaction to the warfarin.

As a result, I have lost track of just what my total maximum vial count is per sitting. It is higher than seven.

Don't go where I did. Don't make it a goal. I ended up with one scarred section of my vein that to this day they can't get blood from, and have had to had needles inserted using ultrasound.

Wooziness? Never got that. Except when I donated plasma in college.

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

You win.

[mactavish.livejournal.com]

I've known phlebotomists who have been queasy about their own blood, but indeed, I'll bet exposure still helps. :)

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

My phlebotomist admitted she didn't like getting her blood drawn. (I'm not sure that she meant there was any queasiness, though; when you get right down to it, not many people LIKE getting their blood drawn.) Exposure sure helps me!