Needles, Blood and Vampires. Oh my!

We went for our blood work on a Saturday and if you have ever had to have blood work done then you know the process can be outrageous. You leave at six in the morning just to try and be one of the first in line, and it never works. Stand in line for an hour until they open at seven, only to take a number and find a seat unless you are one of the really unlucky ones to have gotten there so late that it is standing room only. Wait until your number is called and then wait again until your name is called to get the actual blood drawn and all of this in a stuffy room where the man next to you is coughing without covering his mouth and woman on your other side is talking on her phone about things you really don’t want or need to know. If you’re lucky you walk out only three hours later a little light headed and missing enough blood to keep a vampire going for a few days.

Ally, who has needed quite a few blood tests in the past, recently found out that you can make appointments and skip this charming routine. I always thought this was the way you had to do it, I mean who would go through all of that if you could just make an appointment and be out of there in half an hour. This is how I remember it being done since I was little and we went with our mother to get her blood taken. So I am not sure if it is a recent development or not but you can now book appointments online. For those in Calgary you go to the “Calgary Laboratory Services Online Patient Appointment Booking” page and with a few clicks of your mouse make an appointment that is convenient for you.

Arriving ten minutes before our appointment we signed in, checked in when our names were called and then followed the nice “blood sucker” to a room in the back. We always take a little longer because they have trouble finding our veins. A butterfly needle is the only one they can use on both of us, Ally has to have her line in the back of her hand and I have to be poked at least twice before they get anything. It’s faster since we both go in at the same time, but there were problems getting both our lines this time so we were in a little over an hour.

Remember if you have problems with getting blood drawn that if you get the surgery you are going to have regular tests done to check your vitamin levels as malabsorption is practically guaranteed.

XOXO, Evie & Ally