Ok, I have been very sick this year. I shall not say why yet ...
My entry is about taking blood test. You know , the one that involves a needle being poked into your arm (on the other side of the elbow - what do you call that part?) for about 30 seconds , just to draw out blood to send for lab test.
The procedure always looks scary but it is even more so when I have to go through it.
So far , I have taken the blood tests 9 times this year!
1st time was at Clinic C. They could not find my veins (this fact was known to me when I tried donating blood once. FAIL), no matter how many times the clinic assistant slapped the intended area. But still, she tried. It was painful and unsuccessful.
They tried on the arm.... still cannot. In the end, the doctor confirmed that only the finest needles (they call it baby needle) should be used on me for any future blood tests. They tried again with the little one and blood was drawn in less than 30 seconds, with no pain.
And so , that happens for the next 4 times at the same clinic.
A couple of weeks back, I was sent to SGH A&E and they had to do blood tests on me THRICE that day. OMG! I told the doctor he must use the fine needle or I would just die.
But of course, the ones who were supposed to carry out the jab were nurses. One tried with normal needle although he could not locate my veins. The excuse given was that they did not have the baby needle.
As expected, it was bloody painful and nope, he did not succeed. They called the doctor.
What was the solution? Well, I was on a drip so the doctor just used the same tube inserted for the drip - he took my wrist, tilted it and let the blood flow out (imagine pouring tea from a teapot). Blood flow was really slow so the whole process took a minute or two, with the doctor squeezing my hand every now and done.
Pain level: Still tolerable
However, the nightmare came last Friday! I had to go for a few more tests at SGH and the first one was (sigh) again , the blood test.
Husby was with me and I told him I wanted the baby needle, but I was also very sure the nurse would be too stubborn or think she was too smart to listen to what I would have to say.
I was never far from the truth.
Me: Nurse, I have very fine veins. For all the previous tests, baby needles were used for it to be successful.
Nurse: Okay..... * taps taps my arms for veins*
Me: Cannot find , right? Normal needles won't work.
Nurse: *Ignoring me and took the normal needle*
Let's try.....
It was F&%*&^%##**^ painful lah! She literally forced her way in and because she could not find whatever she wanted, she twisted the stupid needle in different directions. SUPER OUCH! To make it worse, she was talking to her colleague at the same time... so I could feel the tiny jerks caused by her muscles movements.
Husby: It never works. She needs the finest needle.
Nurse: Yah ah.... her blood doesn't flow ... *continues poking around for quite some time*
Is she stupid or what? By this time, I was already crying ...I have never cried for any blood tests in my entire life but I really could not take it!!! The nurse totally ignored my tears and after about 3 minutes (yes, it was that long! I saw the digital clock ), she pulled out the needle and said,
"Oh, I think I must use the fine syringe.."
DUMB DUMB DUMB!
I mean , I was the one suffering here and you could be so nonchalant about it! Luckily, it is the fasting month or I would have shown her my bitchy self.
Because of what she did, this was how the skin on my arm looked like .....
Two purplish spots where she poked and prodded.
Very sore and painful when I moved.
There was no mark of the fine needle.
I took another photo after five days ...
The colour has turned darker , probably because of
much movement.
And it is all because the nurse was way over-confident of her own skills, to the extent of ignoring what the patient said.
The next person who refused to use baby needle on me when drawing out my blood - I am going shove the stupid syringe down his/ her throat!
1 comments:
ouch!
speedy recovery ya! =)
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