I used to do pheresis too, until they no longer had someone who could get the stick right, and the return kept backing up. What a waste of time and their money (each kit was $100+). So I tried whole blood. I’m there pumping like a madman and I get to 498 out of 500 (mls?). They’re like, just one more drop…and after a not-inconsequentially amount of time I eked out just enough to top off the bag.
BUT, of course they need to fill the vials for testing. They had to stick the other arm for that, as my right one was apparently out of blood?! That concerned me slightly, as I’m pretty sure my arm needs blood.
I once worked with a girl who was in her final year of nursing school, and one day she literally stopped everything she was doing to grab my arm and exclaim with delight, “Wow! You have GREAT veins!”
Definitely the weirdest compliment I’ve ever gotten.
Here’s the thing, though. It’s completely wasted on my current doctor. Every single time she takes blood, she somehow manages to collapse the vein or spurt blood all over the place. I have no idea why; every other medical person who has taken my blood does so with absolutely no problem.
But here’s a question: I’ve always wondered why, like the OP, some people’s veins “roll” or “hide”. An elderly lady I used to care for once had this problem, and I never understood. Is it a psychological thing? Or is there a purely physical reason for this?
One time, someone needed blood and wound up having to take it from the vein on the inside of the wrist. Hurt like a motherfuck, and swelled up with a massive bruise.
I did finally discover that I’ve got precisely one good vein for blood draws and I always point it out to the lab techs. It’s relatively easy to find, and rarely hurts during the stick, and sometimes I literally feel nothing.
Only ever had two people have trouble getting blood out of that vein - one was a tech at a university medical center, and he did my blood draw on two separate occasions, and both times he had trouble with it. I made a note of his name the second time, with the intention of refusing to let him near me (hasn’t been an issue yet). The second person who had trouble, was when I was in hospital after Moon Unit’s delivery and they wanted to check my blood counts. Guy had trouble in both places he tried, hurting me badly both times, and I finally screamed profanities at him and threw him out of my room. Only time I’ve ever treated a “medical” person (or anyone else, I think) like that. They sent a different tech, who had zero trouble getting blood.
Of course, that good vein is only so good… I once had a 3-hour glucose tolerance test while pregnant, the nurse couldn’t get blood from any other veins… so she had to stick that one vein 4 times.
Veins don’t exist all alone, they’re surrounded by supportive connective tissue. These tissues lose elasticity with age, which is why the problem is worst in older folks whose skin is loosening up. Of course, there’s a variation between people, so some younger people may just have less anchoring tissue around the veins, meaning that they’ll “roll” a little when you try to jab a needle into them. That’s why a good phlebotomist knows how to anchor the vein with fingers to try and keep it in place. Nothing as frustrating as thinking you’ve got it and then bouncing off the side instead. Painful for the patient, and hard on the phleb too - they’re not out to hurt you, despite what people think!
Veins can’t “hide” though. Sometimes they’re deep and hard to get at, which is definitely a pain. What can also happen in very thin-walled veins, is that puncturing the vein wall will cause it to collapse. So what looked like a nice juicy vein a minute ago is suddenly gone. You’ve got the first three drops of blood in the tube, and then poof, there’s nothing left to draw. That’s also very common in the elderly, but can still happen to others.
