Beckdawrek and the bad, bad, bad Doctors visit-(or Dafuq? Dude nurse!)

[kayaker]

@Beckdawrek

Yep. I look like a heroin addict today.

Maybe go a little easier on the eye shadow…

[Mama_Zappa]

@FairyChatMom

Back in the late 90s, I would have sworn our doctor was Doogie Howser. In fact, spousal unit and I called him Doogie (not to his face, of course.) He was perfectly competent and professional, but dang, when did they get so young???

As for bad veins, I can identify. When I have to have blood drawn, I warn the phlebotomist. Some are amazingly talented, others get frustrated.

Worst was eons ago when it took a pair of otherwise skilled folks FIVE TRIES in FIVE DIFFERENT PLACES to get an IV going. I ended up with a bunch of bruises and a needle in the back of my hand. Good times…

Ouch!! You’ve got me beat - the most attempts I’ve had was 4 attempts by 3 different people.

I have one good vein. One. The antecubital (?? inside elbow) vein on the right. I’ve had a total of two people have trouble with that one: one was a lab tech at GWU Hospital - same guy on two different occasions. I memorized his name so I could refuse him if I ever had another blood draw there. The other person was when I was in the hospital after my daughter was born. He botched it badly enough that I screamed at him and threw him out of my room (verbally - 3 days after a c-section I was not in any shape to do so physically). Someone else came an hour later and had no trouble at all. That was the same hospitalization where they had trouble getting my IV started before the surgery. When it clogged 18 or so hours later, I was terrified they’d need to redo it (they opted not to as I had stabilized).

I had blood taken from that same vein 4 times in 3 hours once: a 3 hour glucose tolerance test when pregnant with my son. The nurse couldn’t get blood anywhere else. I’ve had it used for surgery now several times. I keep expecting it to basically say “oh HELL no!” and quit playing.

Back to the OP: Beck, that whole seesawing blood sugar sounds scary as hell and dangerous. Did you ever get a continuous monitor? Are you working with an endo to see if there’s a way to get things more stable? I know relatively little about insulin-dependent diabetes but maybe some different combinations of long/short acting?

[aceplace57]

I needed an IV. The local hospital stuck me three times. Then brought in a tech with a machine to find a vein.

They used that IV for almost a week giving me antibiotics.

I’m so grateful they did it that way. There’s nothing worse than a badly placed IV that easily gets dislodged. They have to start a new one.

[Beckdawrek]

@Mama_Zappa

Ouch!! You’ve got me beat - the most attempts I’ve had was 4 attempts by 3 different people.

I have one good vein. One. The antecubital (?? inside elbow) vein on the right. I’ve had a total of two people have trouble with that one: one was a lab tech at GWU Hospital - same guy on two different occasions. I memorized his name so I could refuse him if I ever had another blood draw there. The other person was when I was in the hospital after my daughter was born. He botched it badly enough that I screamed at him and threw him out of my room (verbally - 3 days after a c-section I was not in any shape to do so physically). Someone else came an hour later and had no trouble at all. That was the same hospitalization where they had trouble getting my IV started before the surgery. When it clogged 18 or so hours later, I was terrified they’d need to redo it (they opted not to as I had stabilized).

I had blood taken from that same vein 4 times in 3 hours once: a 3 hour glucose tolerance test when pregnant with my son. The nurse couldn’t get blood anywhere else. I’ve had it used for surgery now several times. I keep expecting it to basically say “oh HELL no!” and quit playing.

Back to the OP: Beck, that whole seesawing blood sugar sounds scary as hell and dangerous. Did you ever get a continuous monitor? Are you working with an endo to see if there’s a way to get things more stable? I know relatively little about insulin-dependent diabetes but maybe some different combinations of long/short acting?

Yes, i go to a dedicated diabetes clinic. We’re working on it. I do have my monitor. It’s working as expected. I’m better than I have been for awhile. Thx for your concern.

[ticker]

I once got complimented on my veins by a phlebotomist. He didn’t see the joke when I quipped I’d missed my calling as a junkie.