Sunday, April 29, 2007

the truth is...
















i have terrible veins!

i have a disease called Hypothyroidism. it is something that i have had for years and without medicine, for me, is life threatening. because of this lovely disease, i have to get my blood tested once a year to make sure my prescription levels are accurate.

i really am lucky right now, because i used to have to get my blood tested every few months. once a year is great! especially when i have terrible veins!

i just don't draw well for blood. when i was first diagnosed with this the doctor's office attempted to get the blood samples they needed. after 4 nurses and 6 pokes (and no blood samples!) they sent me up to infusion therapy (iv therapy) at the hospital. iv therapy draws blood from cancer patients, so they are the pros!

unfortunately, the staff in iv therapy know me by name! when they see me coming they grab the warm blankets to wrap around my arms. they know not to poke me by the elbow... the veins just roll away! they just know! my 2 favorite are jane and valoy.

well, it was time for my annual poking fest... my usual nurses weren't in that day and i had to break in a newbie! she was nice enough... just not the warm and fuzzy that i was hoping for or used to! i even tried to make jokes and laugh... trying to make her feel better!

her feel better? did i really try that?!?! yes... i did!

here are my results:

5 vials to be filled per doctors orders

5 pokes

3 1/2 filled vials

4 lovely bruises

1 patient, grateful this only happens once a year!

hope your week is good!

2 comments:

MaryRuth said...

Jennie I'm SOO sorry! I didn't know you had this disease. I'm so sorry!!

And your poor little arms. I'm so sorry! My veins suck too... not as bad as yours though.

Uberly Ewe said...

I am one of MaryRuth's Friends and I just surfed over to your site after reading MaryRuth's Blog about getting to see you for a weekend. I had to find out who this great person was....and I read this entry and I had to make a comment....on how sorry I am you have this disease! Ouch. I hope that by the time you get this comment that you are feeling better.