I’m poked full of holes!

[Thumper]

I donated blood yesterday (something I do every other month at the blood mobile) and ended up with a new, inexperienced Phlebotomist. She poked me in the left arm, kept sliding the needle around, poking repeatedly as she was trying to find the vein. She finally gave up and asked a different gal for help. I recognized the other gal and knew she’d never had a problem. I gave her permission to try again with my other arm, which turned out to be successful. I told her I’d see HER again in December!

Today, I went to the VA for my Covid booster (left arm) and a flu shot (right arm). I’m thinking maybe I should avoid drinking anything for a while or I may leak like a sieve!

[DeputyDog]

I donate regularly too. I usually do the double red donation since I’m O+.

I had a similar experience once. I told the lady that it usually works best if they do the poke on the outside vein but she wouldn’t do it and insisted on using the inner vein. Sure enough she couldn’t get it to work and then asked if they could try the other arm. I gave them the ok and again said to try the outside. She still wouldn’t do it and still didn’t get it to work. So I ended up getting poked and prodded in both arms unsuccessfully and couldn’t donate.


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[Thumper]

I'm also O+ ... and been there, done that a few times. It got worse after my extended hospital stay. I swear they were taking blood samples every hour for two frigging months while in ICU. I accused them of selling the stuff! Eventually, they were having so much trouble finding a vein (in either arm), they started taking from the back of my wrists. After a while, I guess all my veins were collapsed and they put a danged port in my chest that they could turn on and off like a frigging faucet! I NEVER had a problem donating blood before that hospital stay, but afterwards, it's become a bit of an effort at times. I found hydrating is a major plus and I start drinking tons of water the day before and the day of since there were a few times blood stopped flowing before enough had been collected. It's been a real work in process since that hospital stay, but it's still worth the hassle IMHO.

My ex-wife needed massive amounts of blood after a tubal pregnancy emergency years ago. My aunt had kidney failure and needed regular transfusions until her transplant and I even needed transfusions after one of my surgeries, so I feel I'm in debt, but I have to admit, I always feel a little better about myself whenever I step out of that Blood Mobile. Anyone here who does NOT donate, should really give it a try. Lynn and I both donate every 56 days. We were a little late this time as we were traveling. We donated just before we left on our trip, arrived back home Saturday night, then donated on Monday. (we didn't waste any time!)

My grandfather was a HUGE donor and had all sorts of awards and trophies for the massive amount of blood he donated before he passed away. He was a life-time donor and never missed a beat when his eligibility date came up. I don't remember now how many gallons he donated over his lifetime, but it was extremely impressive.