Smile

It’s kind of funny knowing all of the phlebotomy techs by their first names when going to the lab. Even worse when they all know mine…. worse yet when they come out saying, “I drew the short straw today, come on back”, or “Hey, it’s the human pin cushin!”

 I’m a tough stick. Meaning no matter how many glasses of water I’ve had, whether I’ve worked out just before showing up, whether I’ve ran hot water over my veins before their attempt (all of those are supposed to make it easier to draw blood). I’m a touch stick. The problem is, earlier in life I always donated blood. A-negative is somewhat rare, so they’d always call for more. Then when I got sick I stopped donating blood and actually had to pay to have it drawn. Go figure. Now because of the numerous sticks, much like a junkie, my veins are full of scar tissue. Making it difficult to find one. When they do find one, the viens jump around on them. Probably one out of every 3 draws I will end up with a “blown” vein. Which means I end up with a welt the size of a small egg. What should take only minutes, is usually 30 minutes to an hour. When they are done both arms have been punctured numerous times, as have my hands. And for the next week, my arms look like that of a heroine addict.

So now the 6 pages of lab results have been sent in to my endocrinoligist for his review. Hurry up to wait.

I’m a tough stick.

I’m also a stickler for being tough.