I went to Swedish Redmond Urgent Care today because it was at the top of a short list of places…read morethat my doctor recommended for me to go to get the XRay and the blood tests that he wanted me to get done.
The receptionist in imaging was very nice. The XRay technician, Sean, was personable, and he told me a few interesting tidbits about the XRay machine in addition to giving me the instructions as to how I needed to stand for the XRays to be taken. I was in and out of Imaging in about 10 minutes, and it was a pleasant and hassle-free experience. The lobby was nice too.
Next, I was checked in to the Lab by Austin, who has a great sense of humor. He had me laughing so hard I told him that he should do stand up comedy! He told me that he actually does want to do stand up comedy, and that his friends have already come up with a possible name for his Netflix show if he ever gets one! I hope he does get a Netflix show, I would definitely watch it! His comic timing was spot on. I shot back some jokes and I made him laugh too, and he said I was hilarious.
Austin tried drawing my blood, but he wasn't able to find a good vein at first. This happens a lot for blood draws for me. I do drink a lot of water, but my veins are not easy to find for most people who draw my blood.
Austin decided to draw blood from my hand instead of my arm, which was a good call because he was able to locate a suitable vein in my hand for the second attempt at drawing my blood, and he started to get the blood draw going... but then the needle (it's a smaller needle that he used for the hand than the needle that he would have used for the arm) popped out of my hand before he could draw enough blood to do the tests, and my blood spurted all over my fingers, my hand, and my forearm.
I can't stand to see blood (mine or anyone else's), and I look away even for a normal blood draw, so I was mildly horrified when I saw the blood all over my fingers, my hand, and my forearm. Austin apologized for this. I accepted his apology. I feel like it could have happened to anyone.
Austin called Daryl over to try to do the third attempt at my blood draw. Daryl was also unable to find a suitable vein. Daryl had a great sense of humor, too, and he ribbed Austin playfully and made both Austin and I laugh. Daryl also complimented my jade rings that I wear every day on my left hand now, and Daryl happened to be wearing a jade ring as well! I shared with Daryl that my new nickname this year is Jade. Daryl inserted the needle into my arm, but he was unable to get any blood from the place that he inserted the needle.
Austin told me that they weren't going to try more than 3 times today. He said that they can usually get enough blood on the first try, and occasionally they need a second try, but the third try was the final try for today and they would not try more than 3 times in one sitting. It has frequently taken people 2 tries to draw my blood in the past, but I've never needed a third attempt until today, and I've never had an overall unsuccessful blood draw until today, either.
Austin and Daryl were so kind to me, though. Both guys were upfront about my veins being hard to find, but I never felt blamed or shamed in any way. Austin kept telling me that I was doing "outstanding" even though I was growing a bit nervous and worried after the two unsuccessful blood draws and was fervently hoping that the guys would be able to successfully draw enough blood from me the third time, for the tests that need to be done.
Both guys had used several techniques to try to get my blood flowing more to my arms and hands, including having me clench and unclench my fists, using the tourniquet, and even using a hot compress on the areas that they wanted to draw blood from. Unfortunately none of these techniques ended up being very effective.
I really feel like both guys did everything that they could to try to get the blood that they needed, and it wasn't totally their fault that they weren't able to get it. My veins are hard to work with. I'm kind of bummed that I still need to get my blood drawn again another day soon, though. I thought I'd be good to go after today.
Austin painstakingly cleaned off all of the blood from my fingers, hand, and forearm after the second needle had popped out of my hand and my blood had spurted all over those areas. He used several packets of alcohol wipes to do this, and he was very thorough and he got every last drop of splattered blood off of me.
Then he carefully bandaged my hand.
Although I'm bummed that I still need to get my blood drawn again, overall I felt very cared for by every staff member at Swedish Redmond Urgent Care that I interacted with today, and interacting with each and every one of them was a very good experience for me.
Also, I don't think I've ever laughed that hard at a hospital before in my entire life. I wish Austin all the best if he does make it as a stand up comedian. He would rock it!