What Happened To Me Today At The VA Clinic...

[High_Plains_Drifter]

... so they always draw blood. First, the display counter above the lab door said "45," and the ticket dispenser had ticket #44 to pull. I wondered how they could be on number 45 when number 44 hadn't even been pulled yet so I tried to point it out to the woman in the lab. She appeared too dense to understand what I was saying and blew me off because she was "literally, right in the middle of something," her words. So then she says that if I needed labs done to just come in and have a seat. OK... we'll overlook that. So she wants to draw blood from my right arm even though I told her they NEVER use my right arm because my left arm is the strong one. So she decides she'll use the left. She feels around for five minutes until I convince her to use the vein illuminator. She gets that set up in a holder and finally sticks in the needle. Nothing. So she proceeds to jam the needle in and out going all directions, far deeper than any vein would be until I tell her THAT'S PAINFUL. So she finds another person to try. The other person says ya, I can get it. Well, different place, SAME THING. Hit's nothing and just rams the needle in and out also far deeper than any vein. So she gives up. So these two geniuses tell me that's it, they're only allowed to try twice at blood draw, unless I give them permission to TRY AGAIN. Well why in the HELL would I do that? So they ask me to drive clear over to the main hospital JUST TO GET BLOOD DRAWN. Aaaaaah.... NO. If you can't do the damn job HERE, I'm not driving 20 miles out of the way through Madison to make up for YOUR INABILITIES. That is the FIRST TIME IN MY LIFE that no one has been able to get blood from me. So now I'm PISSED, and I go in to see my Doc, who I do like, and I tell him of this experience and he's visibly aggravated and made note of it. He says the lab pulls this shit where someone will call in sick or something else and they won't have a TRUE PHLEBOTOMIST in there to draw blood, so they'll just have an LPN or someone "fill in," who's job ISN'T to draw blood, so he was going to have a talk with the head nurse and pitch a bitch. Judging by my doctor's reaction, I wasn't the first one that this has happened to. So to top that off, they take my blood pressure and it's way up to 149 over something. Well DUH, of course my blood pressure is up because I'm PISSED. So my appointment at the VA today was a real FARCE.

[Drummond]

... so they always draw blood. First, the display counter above the lab door said "45," and the ticket dispenser had ticket #44 to pull. I wondered how they could be on number 45 when number 44 hadn't even been pulled yet so I tried to point it out to the woman in the lab. She appeared too dense to understand what I was saying and blew me off because she was "literally, right in the middle of something," her words. So then she says that if I needed labs done to just come in and have a seat. OK... we'll overlook that. So she wants to draw blood from my right arm even though I told her they NEVER use my right arm because my left arm is the strong one. So she decides she'll use the left. She feels around for five minutes until I convince her to use the vein illuminator. She gets that set up in a holder and finally sticks in the needle. Nothing. So she proceeds to jam the needle in and out going all directions, far deeper than any vein would be until I tell her THAT'S PAINFUL. So she finds another person to try. The other person says ya, I can get it. Well, different place, SAME THING. Hit's nothing and just rams the needle in and out also far deeper than any vein. So she gives up. So these two geniuses tell me that's it, they're only allowed to try twice at blood draw, unless I give them permission to TRY AGAIN. Well why in the HELL would I do that? So they ask me to drive clear over to the main hospital JUST TO GET BLOOD DRAWN. Aaaaaah.... NO. If you can't do the damn job HERE, I'm not driving 20 miles out of the way through Madison to make up for YOUR INABILITIES. That is the FIRST TIME IN MY LIFE that no one has been able to get blood from me. So now I'm PISSED, and I go in to see my Doc, who I do like, and I tell him of this experience and he's visibly aggravated and made note of it. He says the lab pulls this shit where someone will call in sick or something else and they won't have a TRUE PHLEBOTOMIST in there to draw blood, so they'll just have an LPN or someone "fill in," who's job ISN'T to draw blood, so he was going to have a talk with the head nurse and pitch a bitch. Judging by my doctor's reaction, I wasn't the first one that this has happened to. So to top that off, they take my blood pressure and it's way up to 149 over something. Well DUH, of course my blood pressure is up because I'm PISSED. So my appointment at the VA today was a real FARCE.

The blood pressure reading you've reported is my 'normal', has been for many years (the upper reading). And that's after medication to lower it.

What you have described, happens to me regularly. Here, the rule is a maximum three attempts, then they give up and ask you to reschedule for further attempts on another day.

A local hospital had a nurse who was always determined never to be defeated. One jab from her ... she got her blood sample. My arm was painful for a full month afterwards ....

[High_Plains_Drifter]

The blood pressure reading you've reported is my 'normal', has been for many years (the upper reading). And that's after medication to lower it.

What you have described, happens to me regularly. Here, the rule is a maximum three attempts, then they give up and ask you to reschedule for further attempts on another day.

A local hospital had a nurse who was always determined never to be defeated. One jab from her ... she got her blood sample. My arm was painful for a full month afterwards ....
Last time I was at the clinic six months ago, an older gal felt my veins once or twice, grabbed the needle, one little poke and hit it right off. No feeling and feeling, no vein illuminator, no nothing, just bam, there it is. THAT was a phlebotomist though, someone TRAINED in lab and blood draw. These two... whatever they were... were obvious AMATEURS. They stuck the needle almost in STRAIGHT, when it should have been almost parallel to your arm. I swear I could have done it MYSELF and got the vein.