A couple of weeks ago the phlebotomist came out to draw my blood for tests the doctor ordered. First off this woman was 45 minutes late and when I saw who it was at my door, my stomach sank. A few months ago she came out to draw my blood and she's just not good at it. She always ends up hurting me. Now yes, I have small veins that are hard to get at so after looking at my arms they almost always go to take it from my hands. That's fine as long as you know what your doing. You're supposed to use a butterfly needle for the hand, not the same needle you use if you're getting it out of the arm. It's smaller and doesn't hurt as much.
So just like last time she has a story as to why she's late. Last time was because she had to go have blood drawn before coming here and they were taking too long to be able to get a vein from her so she went out in her car, took her own blood and brought it back in since they wouldn't let her draw her own blood in the office. Ok, sure. Might be believable.
This time she tells me she just got rear ended by a 15 year old unlicensed driver and had to wait for his mom to give her their insurance info. Then she tells me that last week she had to have blood drawn again and she has hard to get veins so she went home and showed her 10 year old daughter how to do it and let her draw her blood. So her 10 year old could do it but a trained person at the lab you went to couldn't get it for you? Ok, sure. *highly doubtful*
So she's looking at my arm and says she's not sure she can get a vein in my arm but this little vein in my hand looks good, should be no problem. It's not the big vein in the middle of my hand that they usually go for. O.o So she sticks me. Pulls it out, pushes it back in, blows right through the vein and says sorry and starts the push pull motion all over again until the blood is flowing. But she was only able to get 7 of the 11 tubes full before my vein gives out and she says it's up to me whether she sends in the ones she has or she sticks me again and tries to fill up the others. Yeah, that not happening, so I tell her just to send what she has. It was obvious to me that she was in a rush and that's why my hand was now throbbing. I'm not letting this stick happy bitch take another crack at my veins.
So she sees my hand start to bruise up right away and it's quickly swelling and turning a nice shade of purple so she puts a pressure bandage on it and tells me it'll help with the swelling to leave it on for 30 minutes. So I did. Not sure it helped though.
When she leaves I look out my bedroom door to see what car she gets into and take a look at the rear of her car. Funny thing is she parked right in front of my bedroom window so I can see her car perfectly and there's not a damn thing wrong with it. No damage, no dings, no scrapes, ...nothing. Lying, stick happy fool. The bitch probably grabbed a quickie with her side man and that's why she was late. *I actually have no idea*
I've never had the amount of pain that I experienced after having her draw my blood from what should have been a simple blood draw. My hand swelled up and turned blue, purple and green. To say I was aggravated is an understatement.
I held ice on my hand for about 2 hours but my hand still swelled up and it bruised but for some reason the bruising isn't showing up real well in the pictures. The swelling sure is though. I just had to tell you all about this woman, she's something else.
After two days the swelling started going down but a bruise up by my finger got bigger.
5 days after she drew my blood and while it's still swollen and bruised, most of the pain is gone. The swelling went down after this and the bruising started to go away but I've never had such a swollen hand from a simple blood draw before so I had to share. lol Plus that lady had some crazy stories. I wonder what her excuse for being late next time will be. I'm thinking if I see this woman at my door again I might just refuse and tell her to ask someone else to come because this is ridiculous.
UPDATE: I sent and email to my doctor asking her to ask the lab not to let this woman come back out here.
Yeah, sure sounds like you should refuse her. She's not even a good liar. Who'd even think of making up a rear ended story with their car parked right there? Idiot.
ReplyDeleteWho knows. She's a nut.
DeleteOh that's awful. I wouldn't let her touch me ever again!
ReplyDeleteI'm not. She's just not good at drawing blood.
DeleteWhy have you not reported her to her employer? And seriously. Don't let her touch you again, she's incompetent and may be dangerous.
ReplyDeleteI sent an email to my doctor since I don't know which lab she works for. She wrote me back and said she would let them know not to send her again.
DeleteThat's definitely not right. I know someone who has to have blood draws every few weeks and she's never had swelling or bruising like that.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Ami -- it would be wise to report this to whatever organization she works for, and to the doctor who ordered the tests. You have those photos as documentation. She's causing you unnecessary harm and next time it might be worse. Her employer would probably be legally liable if she causes significant injury to someone, so they would want to know. And your doctor should certainly be able to get someone else to do blood draws.
I did email my doctor and let her know. She said she was going to let the lab know and for them not to send her back out here.
DeleteEntertainment aside, you should probably ask for a different person to draw your blood. This sounds unsafe, she might damage a nerve or something
ReplyDeleteI am. I don't want this woman doing it again.
DeleteSounds to me like blood lady needs to find a new line of work. Also, why does she think it ok to tell you all of her "why I'm late" personal business. So unprofessional.
ReplyDeleteI think she was trying to hard to have a reason for being late.
DeleteUgh, that is just shitty work
ReplyDeleteIt really was.
DeleteI HATE people like that. Don't be late, make up awful excuses and then proceed to be terrible at your job. It did look pretty swollen. Sorry she sucks.
ReplyDeleteThank you.
DeleteSomeone needs to report her. That is just wacky.
ReplyDeleteI talked to my doctor about her.
DeleteNot every nurse/doctor is good at drawing blood. They should know that and not send an incompetent person to do the job and cause swelling.
ReplyDeleteAnyway, I hope it's not something you need to be done often.
Every 3 months but hopefully the next person will be better at it.
DeleteOh dear, that's not good, it does look very swollen.
ReplyDeleteAll the best Jan
Thankfully it's getting better now.
DeleteWow, yeah I wouldn't let her do it again either. Enough's enough. Oh, and "probably grabbed a quickie with her side man" rofl. That cracked me up :)
ReplyDeletelol Who knows what made her late.
DeleteOh wow. That's ridiculous. Glad you sent a note. She doesn't need to be coming again. Goodness.
ReplyDeleteYeah that was my thinking too.
DeleteMary, that sounds horrendous. They always have trouble getting blood from me too, but luckily I've never had blood taken from my hand. I hope you never have to see her again!
ReplyDeleteIf she shows up again, I'm going to refuse.
DeleteFirst of all, your humor always cracks me up, Mary! You are so much fun, even when in pain.
ReplyDeleteI'm glad you told your dr about that woman. I also have issues getting blood drawn. They claim I have good veins, but then will blame my veins when they can't get 4 vials of blood. 'Your vein rolled or collapsed' is the usual excuse. My daughter is an RN and says that's BS. My arm always bruises like you showed. It's ridiculous.
Thank you. Hubby says I'm snarky. Some of them can get a good vein in my arm on the first try and some can't get anything. It's so bad.
DeleteThat's horrible! I was going to say, before I saw your update, that you have the right to request a different person. I've worked as a Medical Assistant and am trained to draw blood and I know for a fact that you are supposed to use a butterfly needle in that situation. Hope your hand gets better soon!
ReplyDeleteThank you! It is getting better.
DeleteI will never understand why people make up such unbelievable stories. I have worked with someone like that and I am not sure who he thought he was fooling. I wouldn't let that lady anywhere near me with a needle ever again. You shouldn't have been so bruised from a blood draw.
ReplyDeleteIf she ever shows up again I'm going to politely decline. I don't know why people make up stories like that.
DeleteThere's a lady at my doctor's office that is awful at taking my blood. Like you, I have small veins so I can understand a little difficulty, but this lady always makes my vein blow or collapse and then I end up coming close to passing out. I don't handle blood very well anyway, so she just makes it worse. And she's so weird. The whole time she is trying to find a vein she will says stuff like "you are a bad little vein aren't you. You naughty vein." I always end up with a massive bruise. How do these people get licensed?? lol
ReplyDeleteOmg I would refuse to let her stick me again. She sounds crazy.
DeleteThe same thing happened to me yesterday. She didn't use a butterfly needle in my hand, and was fishing for the vein. I now have some awful swelling, and I have redness and bruising spreading all over. She was awful!
ReplyDeleteOh no, that's awful.
Delete