A grandmother is a mother who has a second chance

Monday, January 14, 2008

I'm guessing at some point I have to stop being a wimp!

Today I had to go have some labs done as part of my annual physical. Labs that involve needles and vials of blood. Not my favorite thing. I've always been very needlephobic. At work, if I even type the words "hypodermic needle" I get sweaty palms. Which is interesting since I was Polio Pioneer back in 1954 at the ripe old age of 8. This was a program that was in place to test Dr. Jonas Salk's polio vaccine and my parents "lovingly" let me be part of the program. There I was, this scrawny little girl bravely standing in line for the shot, pulling my shirt sleeve up and smiling through the whole thing. I even have the Polio Pioneer card to prove my heroics.

But somewhere along the way I realized, HEY, that hurts! They're like sticking something sharp into my body and causing pain!!

So this morning I slunked to the lab in a cowardly fashion. Of course, the wait was 45 minutes so I had plenty of time to anticipate the horrors. Everybody else in the waiting room seemed so calm - they were probably faking it.

Finally they called me in. I sat in the pink chair and the lab tech said, "Which arm do you prefer?" I said, "Yours!!" Apparently she didn't see the humor in that remark because she just raised her eyebrow (yes, she's one of those who can raise only one eyebrow), took my left arm, and proceeded to tie the giant rubber band on it and slap my veins (I guarantee if my daughter is reading this her face is turning a little white - that apple didn't fall far from this tree when it comes to needles). At the chair next to me there was a woman holding her 6 year old son on her lap while he got his blood test and she was saying all kinds of soothing things to him. I had only me and the humorless tech. Then she jabbed the needle in and drew out at least 4 quarts of blood. Of course, this was one of those fasting tests so in addition to the trauma of the needle, my stomach was growling. As soon as she was done I bolted out of there with a huge wad of cotton taped to the invasion site and headed to work and breakfast.

So, here's to you, Dr. Salk. You got the last ounce of bravery that I had!

5 comments:

Unknown said...

I hate needles. Just reading about this made me a little queasy. I passed out the last time I had lab work done two years ago and haven't gone back since. ;-) I promised myself I'd go this year. I'm dreading it already.

Anonymous said...

Aww, that is mostly what my job entails, all day long...stickin' it to people. Heehee. Sorry that you are afraid. You lived though, right? You are still here. ;)

icanseeclearlynow said...

i don't think there's anything worse than a medical professional, be it nurse, tech, dr., or aide- who is a SOUR-PUSS!

i'm glad you got it over and done with. now breathe easy, girlie.

Melissa said...

did ya ever try holding your breath while they put the needle in?

Sharon said...

What a fun post to read and I do understand how you feel about the needle thing. I do ok with the needle but I can not look when she is doing the removing of the blood.......been there done that and do not like it........