Tuesday, August 24, 2010

I Had a Feeling

A mother in front of us in line at the place to get your blood drawn was waiting for her teenage daughter. She had been waiting for a while. She was getting nervous. She finally tried to go in and see what was happening. She came out and said there were 2 people with her. She asked what was going on and was told her daughter would be fine. What did that mean? Find with what?

Davin and I went in to have Davin's blood drawn. We had the same lady. She went over and whispered something to another tech over by the teenage girl who was still not done. I knew I should ask for another tech. This one just didn't seem quite competent. How did I really know that, though? I just hate to hurt people's feelings.

I back Davin's wheelchair up and tell her he has good veins in either arm and ask her if she has a preference for his arms. She asks me if I am going to stretch his arm out and hold it. I tell her that is what I usually do. I stretch his arm out and she grunts. I ask her if that is good or bad. She finally sticks him and has to move the needle around. It is uncomfortable for Davin. I can tell. I just keep telling Davin what a good boy he is and that it is almost over. She doesn't say a word to him. We are on the second of three vials and the tech asks me if his vein usually blows up like that. I tell her no. I have never seen that happen.

Maybe some mothers would not know if the vein usually blows up, but I am always holding Davin's arm, so my head is inches from his little arm. I ask her what it means for it to be blown up. She said that his vein just blew. What??? She is telling me in this voice that is not caring, not concerned, not anything. I ask her what that means. She said it is no big deal. She told me that I am holding his arm tight, so that is going to happen. I ask how it will heal and she said it is not a big deal and it will just heal. She is making me feel like I am being ridiculous. I am not panicked or freaking out, but I would like to know if I should be watching for something or have my doctor look at his arm or anything. To top everything off, as she is continuing to draw his blood, she asks me if I want her to stop. How should I know if she should stop? I told her that she would know better than I would if she needed to stop. I do not know what having a blown vein means!!

The tech goes over and tells the other tech what happened and had her tell me again (but in a much nicer and more thorough way) that it would heal by itself. Our tech tells me that his veins are very small and she used the smallest butterfly needle they have and that , of course, this (his vein blowing out) is going to happen. Hmmm, that is interesting because his veins are much bigger than they used to be and he has his blood taken every six months at least and has for his whole life.

I realize it is not a big deal and that it really was nothing to worry about. I just think I had a right to ask questions about something that happened to my child and I just wanted her to explain to me and maybe to Davin what had happened and maybe in a respectful way that didn't make it seem like I was ridiculous.

4 comments:

Martha said...

Makes you want to kick somebody in the shins doesn't it?

Heather said...

LOL Martha, you cracked me up!

Melanie L said...

I am glad I'm not asking that tech to give Hatty his shots when I'm on vacation!! Yikes! I bet Davin didn't smile at HER!

Tina said...

Martha, I like the way you think lol!

When Joel was three he cracked the growth plate in his elbow. There was a terrible PA in the emergency room that tortured him thinking it was a stretched ligament that needed to be manipulated into place, and then an equally horrible tech stuck him twice trying to put an IV in before they sent him up to ortho so the ortho doc could do what the stupid PA couldn't. The tech was going for a third try when I stepped in ... I was VERY close to physical harm (much worse than a kick in the shin) .... they went and got a pediatric nurse to do it. Then they sent us up to ortho and things weren't much better up there. They sent us home that night with a half cast and the next day the senior ortho doc came in and looked at the xrays, he immediately saw the crack and called us back in for a full cast. After that I decided that I would always go with my mommy instincts regardless of how pushy the doctors or nurses get. For all their knowledge they can be quite clueless at times for such basic care. Yeesh!

you definitely had a right to want to know exactly what was going on I can't believe she actually asked you if she should stop?