Happy birthday, sumi!

I get an IV put in twice a week, so it's good I'm not slightly phobic. I can sit still through all the rooting around for a vein (mine are small and roll and blow) unless they're working in my foot. I twitch compulsively then. Can't stop myself.

All of my veins are really obvious under my skin, it's like a road map.

My tattoo didn't bother me at all. The needle phobia seems to only kick in for hypos with me. That being said, giving blood has never, ever been even the slightest option.

Doctors have, on many occasions, sought to guilt me into giving blood. AB- and all. And I would do, sincerely, if it were possible to do so while out of my senses. I believe the exact words out of my mouth have been, "Put me out and you can have it all."

I tried to remove the only IV shunt I've ever been consciously aware of myself and I had my wisdom teeth...one of them impacted...removed without novocaine.

Yeah, I roll like that.

My very first ever memory of the phobia involved going to the doctor and watching a nurse play with a pen on the counter while waiting for the doc to arrive. I was certain, in my 5 or 6 year old's mind, that she was going to whip the cap off and stab me with a hidden needle.

Bad. Bad mojo.

My veins are a pain. They're tiny, kind of deep, and slip around under the skin. There's one vein in my right arm that's fairly easy, and the best way to get any blood from me is with a pediatric needle, but for some reason they always want to try my left arm first, and will never believe me when I say to use the pediatric needle, until they've tried several times with the adult needle and made a mess. (Sometimes, literal mess. As in, totally missed the vein, hit an artery, blood spurting out mess.)

don't look but not really phobic about needles. DH likes to look. of course, when the did both his hand and foot surgery he wanted to watch that to.

I can sit still through all the rooting around for a vein

I can't help but let out a sympathetic "nnnglrgnlll!" Yikes.

ita, I don't even know what to say after all you've been going through except I wish you no head pain. Ever. Anymore.

I'm pretty sure if my mother were reading this, she would have passed out by now.

It's weird. I can watch medical shows, no problem. I help out with injured people at roadside accidents. I'm the one you call when you need something gross done. Nothing like that bothers me.

Jason and Amy stabbing Eddie for blood on True Blood? Watch from down the block, much less from the hall. Can't do it.

I like watching medical stuff. It's kind of cool. I particularly liked the doctor who diagnosed my mitral valve prolapse -- when he did the ultrasound of my heart, he turned the monitor so that I could see it and explained to me what he was looking at from each angle. Including the view of my atria, which he looked at and commented, "Well, you don't have Marfan's." To which I responded, "Isn't that kind of obvious?" Clearest symptom of Marfan's is a tall, lanky build, that sort of frame that looks like you've sort of been stretched out. I'm 4'10" and roundish. But being able to see inside my heart was neat.

I had given almost 6 gallons of blood and was a platelet donor before I had to stop, so I clearly have no needle issues. I do have issues with incompetent stickers. They can only use my left arm now, and the good vein is deep. I know I'm in trouble when someone starts randomly feeling around my arm for a vein. The vein where there are already 50 needle marks, moron. Then they go for the hand, where the veins are tiny and roll. Like Hil's, they need the smallest possible needle, and sometimes when I tell them that, they either won't believe me or get pissy about it.