Drawing Blood!

Today I had Shirley's follow up appointment to check his iron level. At his 12 month checkup, the doctor ordered an iron level check, along with several other things, and he ended being anemic. His iron level was really low, so he has been on iron drops twice a day for the last six weeks. I was dreading going back today and having to have more blood drawn because of his previous experence, which I will explain in a moment. I was hoping they would just be able to prick his finger (like they do for WIC appointments) but no, they had to also do a hemoglobin test or something like that. Before I tell how drawing blood went today I will tell you about his previous experiences with getting blood drawn.

The first time he had blood drawn, he was 9 1/2 months old. We got lucky that time. There was a very expeienced lady in the lab who was able to get it right the first time. It was actually amazing because Shirley has very tiny, deep veins. You can't even see them when a light is placed againts his skin. They have to juts feel for the vein and attempt it. The second time the lab tied to draw blood was aweful. The lady who was successful the first time must have moved. It was on the same day as his 12 month checkup so he had also just receive 3 immunization shots (it would have been 4, but I wanted to wait a few months for one of them). I held him through all of it. First they tied the rubber band thing around one arm and searched for a vein. After several minutes of that they switched arms and did the same thing on the other arm. They even had several different people that work there try and feel for a vein. Eventually, one of them attempted it on one arm. They put the needle in and searched aroubnd for awhile (it felt like several minutes but was probably only about a minute). Of course by then Shirley was screaming and didn't stop for the rest of the time. So then they went to the other arm and felt around for awhile, again several different people tried and one eventually inserted the needle. They put the needle in and felt around and again are unsuccessful. I was done at that point. Shirley was screaming so hard I told them I would come back in a couple of days.

I went back the following week hoping we would have a better experience and that they would be able to get blood drawn quickely. It was even worse that the first time. They spend 20 minutes and make two attempts putting the needle in and feeling around. By that time I think everyone who works in the lab had tried to at least feel for a vein. We took a break, I nursed him and went back about fourty minutes later. Luckily, that time it only took about 10 minutes for one of them to FINALLY draw blood. It was an aweful experience. It took 1 1/2 hours to get blood drawn.

So I am sure you can now understand why I was dreading today. It is
emotionally draining and hard to watch Shirley to have to go through it. I have gotten to the point that I can't watch them put the needle in and search around for a vein anymore. Today, I really hoped it would be easier. As soon as I walked in the lab the lab workers recognized him and I could tell they felt bad already. They remembered. I know that it isn't easy for them either. They feel really bad at not being successful. Shirley did better today. He didn't even cry when the put the needle in his left arm and tried to find the vein. That was nice. You could tell he was curious and that he didn't like the rubber band thing around his arm. They were unsuccessful on the left arm. What a surprise. They then moved on to the right arm. Shirley cried when they put the neddle in that time. It took about 30 seconds and the lady was able to find the vein. I was so relievd. It was short lived , however, because they couldn't get enough blood out. They got enough to fill one small vial, but that was it. There was still one more big vile that had to be completely filled. They thought maybe he was dehydrated so I brought him home, nursed him, and took him back 40 minutes later. It was so frustrating.

Our last attempt took at least half an hour. We went through three more lab workers (one who I hadn't seen before- they must have a lot of lab workers- at least 12) and two more failed needle attempts. Poor Shirley. His arms were already bruised from the earlier attempts. So now I have to go back again. I will go either Thursday or Friday. I don't even want to think about it. (These two pictures of Shirley were taken this last week. We had some very nice 70's weather)