Bloodwork.
What an annoying reality of the chronically ill.
It is one of the least invasive tests and can provide information on virtually anything that is going on in the body, especially if you know what you're looking for and the exact tests needed.
We all know that pretty much every single person has to get bloodwork done at some point in his/her life and is considered no big deal.
When I was young, I was absolutely TERRIFIED of needles. I always remembered getting my shots in a building that looks like a train station. I must have been about four years old... And every single time we would pass by that building, I would point it out and refer to it as 'The Needle Place'.
So, as you can imagine, when I first got sick and bloodwork became a standard, routine, test, I was not thrilled. Now with that said, I quickly became used to it. After a while it didn't seem to be all that frightening (although I still rarely ever watch the needle actually entering my arm.)
When things were particularly bad in high school, I had to get bloodwork done twice a week to keep a VERY close eye on my pancreatic and liver enzymes. This went on all through grade 10 and most of grade 11. I used to schedule any spares to coincide with procedures and trips to Calgary for appointments, and I would go get my bloodwork done at lunch hour at the clinic a couple of blocks away.
There were actually several great things about this:
1. I didn't have to ever really worry about where to sit at lunch hour or what to do. I was either in a band or choir or play rehearsal, in the gymnasium or the weight room, or getting poked with needles. Because of this, I avoided a potentially awkward, yet normal, high school routine. Awesome!
2. The phlebotomists at this clinic ended up getting to know me and were always friendly.
3. There were three seats in the lab facing a cork board, which was filled with cartoons and jokes and comic strips that were usually cut out of the newspaper. (This would be the equivalent of today's memes).
4. They ended up using the children's butterfly needles - which hurt FAR less. In fact, sometimes I couldn't feel the needle prick at all! Those were great days.
Now, because of so much bloodwork that I have had to get done over the years, I am back to being terrified of needles. Bloodwork itself doesn't scare me TOO much, but it does hurt ALL THE TIME now because of all of the scar tissue that is built up in every single available vein.... The needles that frighten me are intra-veinous lines. Due to so much trauma to all of my veins, the ones in my hand are no longer viable, the ones in my forearm are all scarred, they sometimes roll, and are all extremely tough, and the ones in the crook of my arm are so overused that you can actually see visible scarring on the outside and you can even feel some of the tiny scars that now live inside of my veins, making it more and more difficult to get an open line. Even when the needle is out of the vein and the plastic tube is all that remains, it is still painful.
I mean, trust me, it's MUCH better than when nurses accidentally miss the veins, puncture THROUGH the vein, or when the veins roll or collapse. And let's not forget the pain of when the nurse THINKS it's in when it's not, starts to run the saline solution, and this massive unnerving bubble of saline builds up on the inside of your arm in the tissues. Now THAT is massively painful, pretty terrifying, and can make me turn white pretty quickly.
These days, when going in for a procedure like a sigmoidoscopy, or having to go to the emergency room for a major episode, I am actually MOST terrified of them having to start an IV.
I finally found a system of making sure the arm is relaxed by focusing all of my tension and anxiety into the opposite arm. One of my biggest pet peeves, however, is when I have explained which veins are good/bad and which specific veins tend to roll or collapse or be difficult, and my explanation falls on deaf ears - followed by difficulty with the veins, my tears starting to flow, then having the nurse tell me that it's MY fault because I am tense. I realize that tension absolutely makes it harder, but most of the time my tension is derived from me specifically saying that a certain vein doesn't work and the nurse trying to fork a needle into it anyways. I cannot tell you how frustrating and painful it is to be a live pin cushion and then be blamed for the difficulty of my veins. :(
Back to the topic:
I used to be terrified.
Then bloodwork was a piece of cake for several years.
Now my veins are finnicky and scarred - all because of thousands of needles that have punctured into overused veins.
I am just happy that it's only once or twice a month now instead of twice a week.
Could you imagine the internal scars if the last 14 years I had had to have bloodwork twice a week?? That's over 1400 needles JUST for regular monitoring.
Crazy!!