my saga of the labs

I know the drill...fasting for 12 hours or more...I did it and it was hard. It's always hard. Then I showed up at the lab this morning at 7 am. Second in line. I figured it was gonna be a breeze and I'd be out of there by 7:30 but NO!

The lady informed us all that she was the only one there and it was going to be an hour. I still figured being second in line was cool. The kid in front of me had just a couple of vials. No sweat, right? Nope. The kid took 20 minutes, trouble with his vein. Still...it's early, I'll be okay it's still only 7:30!  Then they called (by now she'd called for back up) the third and forth person in line. Another lady (checked in behind me) gave me a funny look like she was getting irritated for me. I wasn't yet. Maybe it was a shorter list of labs but they didn't know what mine were cuz they hadn't even taken my paperwork yet...The magazines are 6 months old here. Nothing but food articles. I'm hungry. Getting bored.

Then they called the fifth person in line and now I jumped up and waved my paperwork. Yes, I was signed in, right here, second from the top. Okay? So they took my paperwork and my insurance card. Give me a minute. Now it's 10 minutes to 8.

I called work and said it's taking a while, I'll be late, I think.

8:15 they call me in and lay out the vials. 14 of them. I'm laughing. At least I'll be out of there soon. Then the first problem. My vein gives up after 9 vials. jiggle that thing, undo to the band...re-position the band and drip some more...see if we can top off some of the 2/3 full vials...drip drip...damn it..my arm is turning blue!

Do I need a cotton ball to stop the blood? Hell no! there's no more blood left in that arm for crying out loud. Instead of the small vials they are taking the 5 inch ones this time...I feel like I've given a pint of blood already! I stumble out of there and go to work and fix a breakfast, take my vitamins...I feel much better...

Then I get the call. Guess what? They processed one of the vials wrong and I have to do it all over again tomorrow...Do I wanna kill someone? Probably too weak to do much damage but, yes...I'll be back in line tomorrow morning to give my 15th vial of blood...

My labs better be perfect this year...cuz they'll wanna take more and I'll be really ticked if they do. LOL.

So? How was your day?

wow!  How frustrating is that!  I'd be irritated too.  You seem to have put up with it well!!  they should take you to the front of the line tomorrow for all the trouble!!

i hope the rest of your day is better :)

hugs,

Jackie

My day went better..It's just a minor set back, actually..dh made it sound much worse than it was (a dead family member or something...) LOL. They assured me they will take me in ahead of everyone so we'll see what happens tomorrow. Thanks!

My gosh, who runs this lab? The DMV? Awful. I would have been throwing a fit. Luckily my lab visit on Monday was fast and everyone was great.  Sometimes it doesn't happen that way.  I say when you go to the lab tomorrow, tell them first thing about your experience from the day before and hopefully they will try hard to make the experience much better. 

LOL...maybe the DMV hires from there or visa versa...They did assure me that they would take me in as soon as I walk in tomorrow. dh was sure I'd end up sick if I fast two nights in a row. It's more of a mental thing, really. You really WANT to eat as soon as you know you can't..

Oh I HATE the blood work . . . I'm one of the people with the collapsing/rolling veins and it is a drams of 2-3 people to try to get it usually . . . I have to make sure I drink at least 32 oz of water before I go in there!

So sorry they "missed" you though . . . that is not acceptable . . . sure hope you are the 1st tomorrow!

Hugs
Chris

My veins, since surgery, are much easier. I mean they wrap that band and my veins basically stand up and yell "suck blood out HERE!" But I sure got concerned when the blood stopped after the 8th vial...those vials seemed alot bigger than the last time. The girl even said she'd taken 16 vials once before...then she said, "I think it was you I took them from!" LOL...She did ask me if I'd had some water that morning...I had but I think tomorrow, I'll make sure I've had more than enough, even for the single re-do vial. Thanks!

OMG!!! How aweful. Do you think they were in the wrong vein to begin with?

Pretty sure they got the right vein but the vials seemed to be bigger than usual. Just so much blood can come out of my skinny arm, I guess. LOL.

Thanks!

Health care in the Antelope Valley!!

I hope it goes better today.