An adventure in Cushing's and stroke

I used to really hate needles. I didn’t have my first blood test until I was a teenager, and I remember on one of the first few occasions, I bit my hand so hard to distract from the needle that I made myself bleed. I’m much better with needles now. There are a few memorable blood tests over the past year.

One was last October, when I was first being diagnosed with Cushing’s. The different tests my endo ordered needed about 15 tubes of blood. My veins weren’t fantastic – they were deep and hard to find, and they kept collapsing whenever the needle went in. I was jabbed 5 times, and they needed to collect a 16th tube because the first 15 weren’t all filled completely. At this time, because of the Cushing’s, my arms ended up being covered by bruises. It looked a bit like I had a very violent boyfriend (I didn’t).

I needed another blood test a day or two later, and went to another pathology clinic, and the woman was horrified by the bruising. She said the first two people (The 16 tubes ended up with two people collecting) were using the wrong needles. This lady only needed a few tubes, and she left only a tiny bruise, not one that spread much further than the entry point.

More recently, about three months ago, I needed a blood test that required 20 tubes of blood. This time, I didn’t have Cushing’s, and I also drank 1.7 litres of water beforehand and was wearing a long-sleeved top. The person collecting only needed to poke me once. I was quite impressed!

This morning, I had a blood test (only 5 tubes), and I was telling the person collecting about the 16 tube and the 20 tube experiences. She said the only two things you can really do to help are to drink water and keep warm.

And so, her tips, plus my own commentary/addition:

1. If you have Cushing’s, you will probably bruise. Sorry.
2. If you know you have difficult veins, or even if you don’t, drink lots of water beforehand. Lots!
3. Keep warm, especially your arms.
4. If possible, find someone good to do it. There are some people who, I’m sorry, are just not very good at their jobs. If you know who they are, don’t go to them.
5. I used to sing a song to my veins, to encourage them. It was the “Go, go blood!” song. And I would always praise my veins afterwards for being so good and for giving the lovely lady or man all that blood.