What a horrible experience!

I went to the doctors and she immediately sent me for a blood test... she didn't examine me or anything and actually directed most of the questions to my Mum instead of me (I think she forgot that I'm 35 now and not a kid, which I was the last time she saw me. Whatever).

So, I went for the blood test... and I knew it was going to be a bad time from the beginning!

When I got there I was told to take a number... which was 280... and they were on 168! The waiting time was approx an hour and a half.

I waited patiently... and waited some more.

Finally the numbers crept up to the 270s and my nerves started to kick in... by the time 279 was called I was finding it hard to breathe. When 280 was called I went into the room and sat down on the chair... then the tourniquet was arranged and the time had come... I felt sick and when she said that she couldn't find the vein in my arm and had another go, to no avail, she said that she'd have to try the other arm! Apparently I have "wobbly veins" which means they tend to disappear (which they did when I was a kid and they had to draw the veins on with biro as whenever they tried to take blood they couldn't find the... hence my needle phobia as I was treated like a human pin cushion! 15 blood tests in one day will do that to a person, I guess).

By now I was getting panicky and just wanted to get out of the damned place! She managed to draw the blood from my left arm with no problem and I was finally free. I've never moved so fast in my life! I was out of the hospital before I knew it and I was having a hard time not breaking down and weeping. I phoned Mum and as soon as I heard her voice I just cried... at one stage I was hyperventilating just to try and keep the tears in check. Once I was back in the car I burst into tears and I was a quivering wreck! I turned on the air conditioning and managed to calm down enough to drive home. But I cried again as soon as I got in.

This is the effect that a simple, run-of-the-mill blood test has on me... because of my phobia of hypodermic syringes.

To top it all off when I tried to pull the tape off my skin (that was holding the cotton wool balls in place over the entry points) the stuff was so vicious that it actually ruptured a few blood vessels under my skin!

Anyway... I think I did quite well, in that I neither threw up nor fainted, and now I just have to wait for the results... fingers crossed there is nothing wrong with me, but in the pit of my stomach I fear there must be something to account for the problems I seem to be having lately (with  my digestion, irritability, constant tiredness, soft nails and thinning hair). Time will tell.

One thing I know for certain... I will never, ever, have any tattoos or piercings... if a blood test does this, then I hate to think of the result if the needles are bigger and more painful!