Apheresis is not the most fun thing I've ever done. My first nurse, Kim, infiltrated the vein in my left hand. Pretty badly. It hurt. Kind of a lot. But I wasn't going to blame her. Hey, people make mistakes. But then I got dressed down for being "dehydrated", even though I drank about 3 litres of water last night before bed and had a big glass of milk this morning before the train. I must say that being accused of sabotaging the procedure as the humongoid bruise is forming in my sore, sore hand is kind of a kick in the balls.
Anyway, the good thing I can say about Kim is that she knows when she's reached the limits of her phlebotomy talents, and apparently my tricksy little veins tax her past her abilities. There's nothing worse than watching a nurse shake with fear after she's already blown up a couple of your veins, trying to figure out where to try next. Kim did the right thing. She called over George, a phlebotomist at the donor center who must have been working there for about 108 years. He placed the iv in about 12 seconds, then moved on to do the one in my right arm.
I watched about 2/3 of The Devil Wears Prada after they got me all hooked up. All in all, it wasn't terrible, though I definitely think that the people at the donor center could be a little nicer. I don't expect a red carpet or anything, but a little kindness to their donors would go a long way.
Just sayin'.
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