I just had the worst blood drawing experience of my life. Thank dog I'm not squeamish. Of course, if I was squeamish, I wouldn't have watched it all go down. It was worse than the time when I was twelve and lab tech realized she didn't have enough vials and left the room for several minutes with the business end of the needle still in my arm.

This time, she missed my vein completely, but instead of pulling the needle all the way out and trying again, she pulled it back a bit, and stared digging around in my arm with the needle, hoping to hit the vein. Then she hit something and a little blood came out, but not very much so she started moving the needle around in my arm again. Then she took the vial off, but I think she was concerned that there wasn't enough blood to do the test, so she put it back on. Then took it off again, then put it back on. Then finally she said, "I have to see if I have enough blood collected for this test." Thank God she did, because I would have demanded another technician if she had to start over again.

I almost said to her at the end, "You're lucky I don't mind needles."

Oh god, that's horrible, Sue.

My mom used to always come back fromm blood draws looking like an addict. Then one day, she got a tech whose specialty was kids. She gave it one try and went and got some pediatric needles. Since then, mom's always requested those, and hasn't had problems since.

The woman who drew my blood a few weeks ago made a little fun of me when I warned her I might get upset. But I forgave her, because she found a vein quicker than anyone else ever had, and I had pretty much no bruising. That's never happened.

I've never had bruising, and I've been told my veins are easy to find. I think she might have been pretty inexperienced.

Gift certificates to a bookstore sounds good to me, plus a personalized card.

I've got a pain in my right arm that's been pretty constant for a week and more now, at varying intensities. It's on the outside muscle, from the attachment into the shoulder down to the elbow. It twinges when I use the arm, or try to reach to the right. I've tried leaving it alone, I've tried using warmth, I've tried muscle relaxants, but it isn't going away on its own. (I don't suppose carrying stuff this past weekend with all the travelling helped any.) I'm beginning to this that seeing some sort of medical professional about this might be a good idea, but I could use some sort of guidance, about what kind and how I should sum up my problem -- muscle strain?-Repetitive injury?-What?

msbelle still need entertainment?

Scary chocolate: [link] (er, you REALLY don't want to see the last slide. Trust me. Heed the warning!)

Even scarier cakes: [link]

Especially [link]

Cabbage, anyone? [link]

Gift cards to a bookstore sound good. You could also do Staples or other office stores, because teachers are always buying supplies for their rooms and it adds up.

I need an intervention for my reality TV watching. Last night, I found myself flipping between So You Think You Can Dance, Made, and How Do I Look. And they were all so good. I think I'm addicted.

Yeeich, Sue! That tech needs to go back for some remedial training.

My veins are pretty easy to find, but I still tend to bruise like a mofo. Then again, I bruise easily in general, so I can't really blame blood draws.

You could also do Staples or other office stores, because teachers are always buying supplies for their rooms and it adds up.

This sounds good to me.

Shots fired in the Rayburn building? Anyone else hearing about this?

'Digging around' sounds like a no-no to me, it's a very good way to ensure a hematoma, as blood leaks into the surrounding tissue via the mangled artery walls. I suspect the real and responsible protocol is to start over again.