I had my annual blood work scheduled for today – but I couldn’t get an appointment until 9:40am. Having to fast overnight and wait to well past my breakfast time was annoying. I decided to keep my schedule the same this morning sans food and coffee.

I walked and worked on my treadmill desk for a little under two hours before the appointment. I felt good, drank enough water but noticed I was hungrier than normal before leaving. I had an appointment right before my blood work elsewhere so I left the house around 9am.

I didn’t wait long to get into the lab – only a few minutes past my appointment time. I got in, sat down and a pleasant female tech verified my information. I was glad to get her as the other phlebotomist looked mean and stabby (well, stabbier than a phlebotomist is with a needle.)

I was then introduced to a student nurse and was asked if it was okay if he tried to do the blood samples. I hesitated at first but then figured what the heck. It’s a needle and I normally watch blood draws anyway.

He inserted the needle well and I tried to help calm his nerves. The first tube went well but when he was putting the second tube on I saw the needle come out enough to see the hole at the end of the needle. The tube lost its vacuum and the sample was tossed. The tech ended up taking over and said we would go for the other arm.

It was at the point I started to feel weird. I was clammy and getting signs of nausea. I attributed it to nerves possibly even though I felt completely at east with working with the student. She took the second sample and right before it finished she looked at me and told me I didn’t look good – flushed and sweaty.

She was super nice and told me to put my head down on my hand. She even brought over a cold cloth and an orange juice. At no point was I rushed out. I even made sure to tell the student it wasn’t his fault! 🙂

What a strange reaction. I definitely did not like the feeling of something happening to me that I had no real control over. I suspect it was a combination of a vasovagal response and then the low level panic of the whole thing at the same time.

However, next time I get blood drawn I’ll make sure to not work out in the morning before the test!