Tough Guy
Today (two months late) I finally took Ryan in for his 1-year blood-work. It is pretty standard, they test for lead ('cause kids nowadays have lots of lead chew-toys) and do a CBC, and we also asked to have him tested for common food and seasonal allergies. We did the same with Colin, since the boys are at higher risk due to Hari's allergies and I want to know what I'm dealing with.
I remember with Colin the needle went in, there was a brief moment's pause, then he started wailing and wiggling trying to get away. They drew a number of vials of blood, and the whole thing was over in probably less than 2 minutes. As usual Colin recovered quickly once it was over, but he was not happy about the situation and made sure anyone within earshot knew.
With Ryan things were a little different.
I'll start by saying that the lab I go to is good. They are quick, polite and clean, are good with the kids, and generally have done a pretty quick-and-painless job with little or no bruising. We weren't so lucky today.
Apparently Ryan doesn't have prominent veins. They tried and tried but even with the tourniquet they couldn't get a vein to come up. They finally found a small vein in his right arm and went in. The needle went in, but no blood came out. Nothing. They tried the needle in and out 7 or 8 times but nothing. And through it all Ryan just looked calmly around, without a care in the world. (I nearly started crying, because I felt so bad for him, but he just sat there as if it as no big deal.) They took the needle out and a supervisor came over. She tried again, and finally had success. But instead of the vials quickly filling it was slow. You could barely tell that there was anything going in. Drop... by... drop. They managed to get one vial, but then the arm was done.
Next they tried his left arm, and while managed to get the vein the first time but it was still incredibly slow. It was taking so long Ryan finally got frustrated. He wasn't bothered by the needles, or being literally poked and prodded. It was being constrained for so long that finally got to him and he eventually started to cry, his big blue eyes filling with tears and his mouth pulled down deeply at both sides, wide open as he wailed his displeasure.
The ladies looked at me and said we would have to stop because they weren't going to be able to get
enough blood. His veins are apparently to the side of his arm, aren't near the surface, and are small. Not a great combination for drawing blood. They asked me which tests were the most important and I told them that we needed everything, but they should do the lead and CBC first. So they did, and then gave me my papers back with notations that the allergy testing hadn't been done, and told me to try and come back in two weeks.
f someone had been poking around in my arm like that I guarantee I wouldn't have sat there, cool as a cucumber. I would at a minimum have voiced a complaint, but he didn't even flinch. He's one tough little guy!
I remember with Colin the needle went in, there was a brief moment's pause, then he started wailing and wiggling trying to get away. They drew a number of vials of blood, and the whole thing was over in probably less than 2 minutes. As usual Colin recovered quickly once it was over, but he was not happy about the situation and made sure anyone within earshot knew.
With Ryan things were a little different.
I'll start by saying that the lab I go to is good. They are quick, polite and clean, are good with the kids, and generally have done a pretty quick-and-painless job with little or no bruising. We weren't so lucky today.
Apparently Ryan doesn't have prominent veins. They tried and tried but even with the tourniquet they couldn't get a vein to come up. They finally found a small vein in his right arm and went in. The needle went in, but no blood came out. Nothing. They tried the needle in and out 7 or 8 times but nothing. And through it all Ryan just looked calmly around, without a care in the world. (I nearly started crying, because I felt so bad for him, but he just sat there as if it as no big deal.) They took the needle out and a supervisor came over. She tried again, and finally had success. But instead of the vials quickly filling it was slow. You could barely tell that there was anything going in. Drop... by... drop. They managed to get one vial, but then the arm was done.
Next they tried his left arm, and while managed to get the vein the first time but it was still incredibly slow. It was taking so long Ryan finally got frustrated. He wasn't bothered by the needles, or being literally poked and prodded. It was being constrained for so long that finally got to him and he eventually started to cry, his big blue eyes filling with tears and his mouth pulled down deeply at both sides, wide open as he wailed his displeasure.
The ladies looked at me and said we would have to stop because they weren't going to be able to get
enough blood. His veins are apparently to the side of his arm, aren't near the surface, and are small. Not a great combination for drawing blood. They asked me which tests were the most important and I told them that we needed everything, but they should do the lead and CBC first. So they did, and then gave me my papers back with notations that the allergy testing hadn't been done, and told me to try and come back in two weeks.
f someone had been poking around in my arm like that I guarantee I wouldn't have sat there, cool as a cucumber. I would at a minimum have voiced a complaint, but he didn't even flinch. He's one tough little guy!
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