One of the things I hate most is to have needles stuck into me. Yesterday I had to do a medical check that included a blood test. I was already nervous enough about it, but seeing how the doctor operated scared me even more. All throughout the medical check, he was OK. He asked me a series of health questions, took my blood pressure and made me read some coloured numbers to check if I'm colour blind. Then, he came to the final part - drawing my blood.
He adjusted his glasses and squinted to have a look at my right arm to find a vein. I have to admit it was quite hard to see the vein. I offered him my left arm, saying that it was much clearer and from past experiences, I normally had blood drawn from that arm. He took a look and said "No la, it's the same".
So he began wrapping up my right arm and I turned away. I felt the prick of the needle and wished he could hurry up and finish. It felt like an eternity. I could feel him drawing the syringe and I tried to think of what pleasant things I could be doing after that examination. But it wasn't enough to take my mind off the sharp pain.
After a while, he said it's done BUT...it wasn't enough blood. He showed me the tube that held my blood and it wasn't even a quarter filled. I was horrified when he said "You need to do this again, not at the same place. Somewhere else". He looked at me quizzically from head to toe, as if looking for a body part he could draw blood from! He totally freaked me out.
I quickly offered him my left arm again and tried to convince him it'll work. Having not much choice, he agreed. I turned away again and felt the prick in my other arm. This time, I heard him say "Ahh, this arm is very good. So always remember ah, next time do blood test must do on left arm". In my heart, I was thinking "I told you but you didn't believe me!!"
Finally, it was over. I don't know if it's psychological or it's because I'm anemic, but I immediately felt faint and close to vomitting. I didn't utter a word to the doctor because I can't afford to fail this medical examination.
I quickly left his office. When I was in the lift, I saw my reflection in the mirror and I was as pale as a ghost. I was surprised he didn't see it. I got into the car and sat there for minutes until I was better.
That was not all. I think the doctor had injured the vein in my right arm. About an hour after I left the clinic, I noticed a bruise on the area where I was pricked. I know it's quite common that people get a light bruise after a blood test so I ignored it. But hours later, the bruise was getting bigger. When I woke up this morning, I found it even larger than last night, and it hurts when I press against the area. Look at this:
See the whole purplish patch? How bad is this?
I don't think I can stand up to another blood test anytime in the near future. You'd have to drag my dead body into the clinic to get my blood! I do regret that I didn't insist on having the blood drawn on my left arm the first time. So I blame myself too for having to do this twice. To everyone else, if you know your "sweet spot", please insist on doing it right the first time round.
Update:
My bruise got worse, so I went to another doctor to check it out. He said clearly my vein has been punctured during all that pricking and my blood is "leaking" out of my vein and depositing right beneath my skin layer. Thus the ugly bruise. He gave me some medication to help with the bleeding and to subside the bruise.
Ain't this ugly?
Do I look like I've been abused?!
Hope this medicine helps.
