I hate blood tests!

[OzRoo 1,492]

My veins are not great, I need to drink lot of Water prior my blood tests and a child size needle has to be used, as well as a butterfly needle at times.

I have to have regular thyroid blood tests, and the full panel every few months for my sleeve.

After one full panel, I ended up with phlebitis that took nearly 2 weeks to heal and get better.

I really have only 1 good vein in my right arm, and I worry that it will be permanently damaged soon, as it is used every time.

Below are few photos of my yesterday's test. I freaked when I took the cotton swab off ....

This one below was taken a week after my gastroscopy pre-op. My hand was black and blue, a week later the bruising was still bad

I am not afraid of the pain/sting but worry if the blood will come out. Now, the top pics huge bruise is not too painful, but I have few lumps there.

I wish I had good veins ....... sigh

[KristenLe 5,980]

Was the phlebotomist's name Dracula? OMG - that's brutal. Bad veins or not - they shouldn't look that bad.

[OzRoo 1,492]

@@KristenLe

Agree! My arm looks like there were 2 fang marks in it. Damn Dracula!

Funny thing is that it did not hurt at all when I had my blood drawn.

It was hours later when I took the dressing off, I nearly died of shock. This is by far the Worst result ever!

I am putting cortisone cream on my arm now.

[BJ2CUTE 16]

Some people bruise very easy. Your veins will heal. No worries ..

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[OzRoo 1,492]

I don't bruise that badly though.

I've had a massive amount of blood tests done since May 2015, and often there is no mark, or at times a tiny bruise.

This current one is enormous, and I never had anything like this before.

And I hope I'll never have something like this again!

[angela9298 15]

Ugh that looks bad! Mine look pretty close to that too. Strangely enough rarely bruise normally. I noticed it was even worse when they took a lot of blood for the pre op testing

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[OzRoo 1,492]

@@angela9298

Yes, it is bad.

My pre-op gastroscopy badly bruised my hand, but I had to fast for 6-8 hrs prior, and couldn't even have Water, so I was dehydrated. Hence the bruised hand.

This latest test, I drank lots of Water, and still ended up with this massive bruise. Cortisone cream is helping, my lumps seem to get bit smaller, and I am bit tender.

Yes, the 5-6 full vials of blood for pre-op testing, and then later post op can be challenging. However I never bruised like that!

Yesterday's test was for my thyroid, and it is just 2 half full vials ...... weird

Anyway, good luck with your op/recovery