Re: BAD blood draw

[Guest guest]

I have been through Belle's experience MANY times as as a child and an adult.

I know at the local hospital here - they take people off the strret with NO

medical background and " teach " them to draw blood -or try to teach anyway.

There are things called " butterfly " needles -they are very small and barley

feel them - ask if the nurse or " vampire " knows how to use them - they made a

big difference for me.

There are " vampire " who do their job well and there are those who do not.

Find one who does it well and request her or him if possible. I took " gold

shots ' for 13 yrs every 5 weeks - which included blood draws - I hated the

blood

draws worse than ANY needle.

Wishing you all a pain free and happy weekend.

love, prayers and blessings,

(36 NOW...POLY SINCE 3)

[Guest guest]

Hi Teri:

You would think that being in a children's hospital the phlebotomist would

use the butterfly needle. We always request if, if they try to use a bigger

one. Heck, I even have them use the butterfly on me and I am an adult. Sorry

Belle (and Mom) had to suffer through this. When Caitlin was so sick and

going through the dx process we asked for EMLA cream to use on all blood draws.

It got her over the 'hump' and she is now okay without it. When you are so

sick and been through the ringer that last thing you want is someone hurting

you with a needle. The cream worked wonders for her.

Take care.

Patty

[Guest guest]

It is too bad that you had to have the bad blood draw. I know that we have

had a couple of times that someone tried to use a large needle on Jaye.

We always insist on the butterfly. also has her favorite lady to draw

her blood and request her each time. There have been times that we have had

to wait for a while so that we got her but it is well worth the wait. Our

knows and is comfortable with her. I am willing to wait even

if is on break or lunch til she can get back and then we get the blood

drawn.

I am not sure what size Belle is but if she is not small that may be why the

chose the larger needle. is getting to be a big gir and occasionally

when we are at the hospital or elsewhere they try to use the large needle on

but we refuse and insist on the butterfly. You are the Mom and patient

and they do have to listen to what you want.

Before you decide to travel the 40 miles each time for the blood draw you

might check to see if there is someone different at the dr. office to draw her

blood and see if they can do a better job.

Veri & Jaye 12 poly

[Guest guest]

Personally, I agree with this. We had a bad blood draw where the girl kept

rolling my daughter's veins. It was terrible. She even blamed my daughter, but

the problem was the person taking her blood. We would not allow her to ever

touch my daughter again. We never had another problem with veins rolling with

anyone else who has done her blood. Good luck. Kim

In a message dated 3/4/2006 3:07:43 PM Central Standard Time,

veristroud@... writes:

Before you decide to travel the 40 miles each time for the blood draw you

might check to see if there is someone different at the dr. office to draw

her

blood and see if they can do a better job.

[Guest guest]

Teri,

I'm sorry Belle had to go through that.

Every place has ever had blood drawn from has used the butterfly needle

with the catheter except our local hospital.They say they have baned it's use

due to blood coagulating.

They also claim they use the same gauge needle as the butterfly it's just

much longer.

This Tuesday I took in and one of the vampires said to the other

vampire " This is the child that loves blood draws and always laughs,how bout you

do

it " The needle was huge and like you, I swear I could see through the hole.It

took her about 4 times longer then anyone else and I could tell was

getting nervous.His veins are so big and fill the vials so fast he named his

real

big one Big Bubbler.I think she was sorta new at this and was her child

guinie pig ,even though she was kind of old looking.

I hope you never go through that again.

Hugs

Becki and 7 systemic

[Guest guest]

Ugh! I too have gone through this as a child and adult! It make's me very

angry!!

It sounds like this nurse doesnt know what she is doing. First, you don't

use a HUGE needle on a kid with 'used' veins as I call it. Butterfly is the

way to go and anyone expereiened will use that. She was likely thinking she

would be less likely to miss but that is... wrong.

Sigh, well despite the distance of Children's... it's likely better. I had

to admit that I miss Children's because they were always really good with

blood draws. Now, I find my good vampired and will only let them take my

blood... no one else... because if I do, they almost always MISS....

and one of the greatest rules of all..... never let a doctor take blood.....

they havent done it in forever.... and are horrible. My peds endocronologist

that I still have missed multiple times... I was not happy... it was

rotton....

I can see why your child would not be very encouraged about the MTX

injection so sounds like going to the hospital where she has better care,

less pain, etc... is the best to do...

and yes, I really don't know how parents deal with the injections, IV's, etc

with their kids. I haven't talked to my mom about it really... hardly ever

and very little... but it breaks my heart when I know other parents with

kids that have JA and going through IV's, PIC lines.. actually make things

easier but stilll....

Anyways, take care...

On 3/4/06, ThreeMayEmeralds@... <ThreeMayEmeralds@...> wrote:

>

>

> Hi Teri:

>

>

> You would think that being in a children's hospital the phlebotomist

> would

> use the butterfly needle. We always request if, if they try to use a

> bigger

> one. Heck, I even have them use the butterfly on me and I am an adult.

> Sorry

> Belle (and Mom) had to suffer through this. When Caitlin was so sick and

>

> going through the dx process we asked for EMLA cream to use on all blood

> draws.

> It got her over the 'hump' and she is now okay without it. When you are

> so

> sick and been through the ringer that last thing you want is someone

> hurting

> you with a needle. The cream worked wonders for her.

>

> Take care.

> Patty

>

>

>

>

[Guest guest]

Terri-

I had a nightmare experience with my daughter too. The woman blew the veins

in both arms, blood was literally shooting up in the air, and the woman

spent the whole time screaming at my 2 year old to be still [she was]. I never

went back to her again, found a place where they were really good with kids,

and never had a repeat of that again. Live and learn!

Diane (, 6, pauci, iritis)

[Guest guest]

Teri,

Have you ever tried EMLA cream (prilocaine/lidocaine 2.5%)??? It's

a topical anesthetic that really does work to minimize the needle

pain for both blood draws and subQ shots. We leave it on for about

an hour, but it can work for up to 4 hours. Thelonger you leave it

on the more it works. Give it a shot ---

Stacia and Hunter 9 systemic, iritis

>

> Belle had her routine blood draw yesterday it was awful and I'm

kind

> of at a loss of why it happened . We have been given the go-head

to

> have Belle's blood drawn at our GP's office , the Children's

> hospital is about 40 miles away and our Dr is 8 minutes so it

seemed

> like a no brainier. The first time we went it was not good ~ but

not

> terrible , Belle said it hurt a lot more than when the " vampires "

> do it at Children's but she was ok with it. Yesterday the nurse

> started out and asked what arm she wanted it in , I said " they

> always do the right , how about the left " she told me the veins

were

> better in the right and it would be easier . When she opened the

> tube & needle it was HUGE , I could see inside the needle whole …

it

> was a very large. She put it in and missed the vein ,Belle was

> already squeezing my hand VERY hard. Then she got out a smaller

> needle , saying Belles veins were " so small " (ya , she's a kid !)

> and got it in , Then the vein collapsed ! I guess this hurts a

> lot , Belle said it buzzed and scared her. She was able to get all

> of the blood she needed but at what expense ? She still had to

have

> her Methotrexate shot last night and she was terrified - I'm very

> good at giving her shots but she was so scared it broke my heart .

> You know with all of the stuff these kids have to go through

> already , having a simple blood draw should not have to be a big

> deal !! So now , I will take her to the Hospital to get her blood

> draws done , I will never put her through that again. She has been

> so brave and accepting of what she has to do to get to feel better

> but this was unaceptable. Should we really have to ask the

> " vampires " if they have experience doing this to kids ? Isn't

that

> a given if they have the job ? Auhhg …

> Teri ( Belle 11 )

>

[Guest guest]

Hi Teri,

I am sorry that Belle had such a rough time. It's hard to say why the nurse had

so much trouble. They may have used a butterfly on in the past - but

most of the time they use the regular needles because they require so many

tubes, that the narrow tube to the buttterfly clots & then you are looking at

another stick. If the local GPA sends most of their patients to a lab for blood

draws - then chances are the nurse doesn't draw blood as often - I would opt for

a lab that has lab techs that draw blood - they have the most experieince.

We've had a bad experience with the lab at Walter - but most have been

really good - at Walter or at Bethesda - even the little lab at the clinic

at Fort Meade did great. New techs are always surprised at how still Robet sits

(we still use EMLA as well - or the generic replacement currently available

where I work. Someone already said that you don't want the docs doing the blood

draws & that's a fact that I learned working around them. Oddly enough, some

of our worse experiences have been at the lab at NIH!! You would think that

there, they do it all the time and would be good at it - but they always look

disapointed to be drawing from a kid - and often miss - more than one time & on

two occasions, after finally able to get the blood (over 15 tubes) - they come

up to the clinic where we are being seen because they forgot one tube and have

to stick him again!!

The only other thing I can add is to make sure that Belle is very well hydrated

when she goes for her blood draws - lots of water earlier in the day and other

fluids - it makes a big differrence.

I am sorry that Belle had such a rough time, hopefully you can find the right

person for Belle next time.

Val

Rob's Mom (8,systemic)

BAD blood draw

Belle had her routine blood draw yesterday it was awful and I'm kind

of at a loss of why it happened . We have been given the go-head to

have Belle's blood drawn at our GP's office , the Children's

hospital is about 40 miles away and our Dr is 8 minutes so it seemed

like a no brainier. The first time we went it was not good ~ but not

terrible , Belle said it hurt a lot more than when the " vampires "

do it at Children's but she was ok with it. Yesterday the nurse

started out and asked what arm she wanted it in , I said " they

always do the right , how about the left " she told me the veins were

better in the right and it would be easier . When she opened the

tube & needle it was HUGE , I could see inside the needle whole ? it

was a very large. She put it in and missed the vein ,Belle was

already squeezing my hand VERY hard. Then she got out a smaller

needle , saying Belles veins were " so small " (ya , she's a kid !)

and got it in , Then the vein collapsed ! I guess this hurts a

lot , Belle said it buzzed and scared her. She was able to get all

of the blood she needed but at what expense ? She still had to have

her Methotrexate shot last night and she was terrified - I'm very

good at giving her shots but she was so scared it broke my heart .

You know with all of the stuff these kids have to go through

already , having a simple blood draw should not have to be a big

deal !! So now , I will take her to the Hospital to get her blood

draws done , I will never put her through that again. She has been

so brave and accepting of what she has to do to get to feel better

but this was unaceptable. Should we really have to ask the

" vampires " if they have experience doing this to kids ? Isn't that

a given if they have the job ? Auhhg ?

Teri ( Belle 11 )