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Yeah, stabby pokey!

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ZwolfUpir

NewBee
Registered Member
Jun 28, 2011
173
3
0
Manchester NH
September 13th I get to start taking Phlebotomy classes at the Red Cross. Their gonna teach me how to stab people, then I can go get a job where they will pay me to stab people! How great is that? Now, I'll just need to find some volunteers to help me with my homework...
 

wildoates

NewBee
Registered Member
Mar 22, 2009
2,373
4
0
Elk Grove, CA
As someone who gets stabbed and poked way more often than I like, I thank you sir/madame. Good luck to you! I hear it's usually easy. :)
 

ZwolfUpir

NewBee
Registered Member
Jun 28, 2011
173
3
0
Manchester NH
I found the desire to do this after going through Chemo. All these people there to take care of you and to take your shit as you go through it. I felt the desire to give back, but... i don't like people enough to clean up their poop. Sorry, but I don't. I have high respect for those who do... but, that's just not for me. But getting the blood draw for the chemo was something I dreaded except for a couple that seemed to know what they were doing and made the day a little less crappy. so, I'm hoping to make the day a little less crappy for someone else while stabbing them. :)
 

wildoates

NewBee
Registered Member
Mar 22, 2009
2,373
4
0
Elk Grove, CA
My daughter is applying to nuke med tech programs this fall for the same reason--seeing her mom go through all that crap for the last 4 years has made her want to experience it from the other side, as it were. :)
 

Chevette Girl

All around BAD EXAMPLE
Moderator
Lifetime GotMead Patron
Apr 27, 2010
8,443
53
48
Ottawa, ON
I found the desire to do this after going through Chemo. All these people there to take care of you and to take your shit as you go through it. I felt the desire to give back, but... i don't like people enough to clean up their poop. Sorry, but I don't. I have high respect for those who do... but, that's just not for me. But getting the blood draw for the chemo was something I dreaded except for a couple that seemed to know what they were doing and made the day a little less crappy. so, I'm hoping to make the day a little less crappy for someone else while stabbing them. :)

Neato, that's a cool way to try to give back. And I totally understand about poop, I feel the same way...;D

And if I were near you I'd offer up my veins as a practice blood doll, not the least bit squeamish about needles and nice big veins to practice on, I often ask for the newbies when I donate or if I have to have blood drawn because they don't have to worry about freaking me out. My way of trying to give back, I guess.

And congrats on anyone who's survived chemo and associated cancer treatments, hope you stay in remission. Hats off to all of you, whoever you may be.
 

1k_wayne

NewBee
Registered Member
Sep 18, 2010
56
1
0
Wisconsin
My daughter is applying to nuke med tech programs this fall for the same reason--seeing her mom go through all that crap for the last 4 years has made her want to experience it from the other side, as it were. :)

Just FYI: I have a friend that is a Nuke Med Tech. It took her several years before she got stable employment. For a long time she was either driving several hours daily, or living out of a motel in different cities, often in different states, with a 2-3 month temp assignment.
 

wildoates

NewBee
Registered Member
Mar 22, 2009
2,373
4
0
Elk Grove, CA
I hope that doesn't happen to her!

I've an appointment tomorrow to see when my next date with the scalpel is going to be, and I'm sure I'll be getting plenty of pokey poke in the next several months!
 

ZwolfUpir

NewBee
Registered Member
Jun 28, 2011
173
3
0
Manchester NH
I started donating shortly before I got cancer/chemo stuff so had to stop. I'm doing the class through the Red Cross with plans to volunteer with their drives once I am done. I've already been learning a couple tricks from other phlebotomuses... Gosh, what would that word be...?
 

AToE

NewBee
Registered Member
Jun 8, 2009
4,066
3
0
Calgary AB Canada
I should start donating blood, for a long time I wasn't allowed because I was constantly getting tattoo'd, but I haven't had new ink in years now so they should be fine with me.
 

Dan McFeeley

Lifetime Patron
Lifetime GotMead Patron
Oct 10, 2003
1,899
7
38
68
Illinois
Phlebotomy is a great thing, a great skill to have because sometimes the blood draws are difficult. The better you get, the more you'll be in demand.

My daughter had to have a series of blood draws for fasting glucose a couple of months ago, poor thing. Age 13, pretty brave but her veins weren't being cooperative and you have do this over a couple of hours. There was one guy in the lab, he could draw blood out of a stone. When the other lab person came back again, she politely asked her if she could *please* have the other guy. ;D


--
 

wildoates

NewBee
Registered Member
Mar 22, 2009
2,373
4
0
Elk Grove, CA
Before one of the many surgeries I've had over the last several years, they had a baby doc come to put the pre-op IV in. He tried several times with no success, and finally had to call in an RN, who slid it into my dehydrated vein with no trouble. I laughed. :)
 

Dan McFeeley

Lifetime Patron
Lifetime GotMead Patron
Oct 10, 2003
1,899
7
38
68
Illinois
Good one!

I remember an ER nurse who had a kind of Zen technique for blood draws. She would take off the index portion of her glove, lightly tap the area she was searching with her index finger *with her eyes closed* and get it every time (the blood draw was with eyes open, just for clarification).

--
 

ZwolfUpir

NewBee
Registered Member
Jun 28, 2011
173
3
0
Manchester NH
I had one guy who came into the room while I was talking to the doctor, said nary a word beyond asking my name and birthday and was out the door a few minutes latter. I stopped him and asked if he was going to draw blood and he said he already did. I wish I had gotten his name cause he is definitely one of my inspirations for doing this.
 

Chevette Girl

All around BAD EXAMPLE
Moderator
Lifetime GotMead Patron
Apr 27, 2010
8,443
53
48
Ottawa, ON
Wow, a stealth vampire, awesome! :)

Would the plural of phlebotomus be phelbotomi?

One of my friends has severe medical problems and eventually about ten years ago they had to install a portacath (port in her chest for sticking needles into with a direct line to her heart), her veins are all masses of scar tissue now. We call it her Harkonnen Heart Plug.

...yeah, for donating blood, I never go anywhere (no passport!), same partner for last 12 years, no ink, last piercing more than half my life ago, and donating generally makes me feel awesome (nothing like a good bloodletting!)... gods I'm boring :) if only I was Type O they'd actually WANT my blood...
 

wildoates

NewBee
Registered Member
Mar 22, 2009
2,373
4
0
Elk Grove, CA
I'm O+ and they loved me when I could donate. :)

Last week I had to go in for my TB test, something we have to get done very few years. Before she poked the nurse said "this might hurt a little bit," and I laughed. After that last awful biopsy, I'll never complain about a minor little poke ever again. :)
 

JayH

Worker Bee
Registered Member
May 9, 2006
355
3
18
Corrales, NM
Thanks for donating! I can't myself...use my passport to go to out-of-the-way places too much...

I do to, but it was too much time spent in England that initially got me banned. They could test for AIDs from Africa, but I guess they were afraid I had mad cow disease.

Cheers
Jay
 

ZwolfUpir

NewBee
Registered Member
Jun 28, 2011
173
3
0
Manchester NH
I'm O+ and they loved me when I could donate. :)

Last week I had to go in for my TB test, something we have to get done very few years. Before she poked the nurse said "this might hurt a little bit," and I laughed. After that last awful biopsy, I'll never complain about a minor little poke ever again. :)

I'm type O+ too, and I hear ya on the biopsy. Had a bone marrow done in the back of my hip before starting chemo. The blocks kept wearing off to fast that they couldn't give me any more for fear of OD, my hip bones are real thick for what ever reason, and the Doc felt horrible. I laughed through most of it. Not cause it didn't hurt, I'm incredibly ticklish! :D So I feel ya, that little thing they take blood with is nothing. I have pictures of the needles if anyone wants to see them, but they wouldn't let me take the needles him... :(
 

ZwolfUpir

NewBee
Registered Member
Jun 28, 2011
173
3
0
Manchester NH
5 classes into Vampire 101 and still doing good. I have found, after careful study, mead is not conducive to a good study habit though. In any of it's forms. I haven't been able to get any more going, I can't hardly look at the boards, and had a friend come over the other evening and discovered even drinking the stuff is bad for studying. Who knew!?

But, for those who might have been curious, I found that blood can not be fermented in it's natural state. It has a pH of 7.35 to 7.45. But if you could greatly increase the CO2 levels in blood, you could drop the pH factor. Don't worry, this is going somewhere, not just gross and creepy stuff. So I was wondering if the same principle could be applied to a particularly alkalized must? I noticed on the acid stuff at my HBS that it says you shouldn't adjust more than .3 or .4 which doesn't seem like much to me. So I was just wondering...
 
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