Good Morning Worlds!
We are taking Mum shopping this morning, and then I have a GP appointment for a routine blood test (my choice of book to read last night was so that it would fit in my book pocket while we're out, so I have something to read while waiting).
Then I need to meet the drains chaps in Northenden to discuss some drains repairs.
If all that happens before lunch then we'll try to do a scrap metal run to get a few quid for the trailer load.
I had my blood taken.
If possible I am going to avoid this particular nurse in future. It really hurt when she removed the needle, and still hurts.😢
I had to support my arm, with my hand in a pocket, for the walk home.
I mentioned it hurt at the time, and she replied that it sometimes does when the needle comes out.
I've not had that with the other nurses. The initial 'scratch' is as bad as it gets. I guess this nurse isn't so good at removing the needle.
We have been to Northenden to meet the drains chap.
There has been an incident on the M60 near the Eccles Interchange, and the motorway there is closed, possibly until late this afternoon!
Traffic around the whole area is horrendously bad, with stationary traffic stuck on the motorway and clogging up surrounding routes.
We were able to get to Northenden while traffic began to stack up, but getting back took a little longer.
Edit: I guess the traffic will mean we are not taking scrap metal to the scrap yard today.
Well, we managed a scrap steel run. There was a window of opportunity, according to the AA traffic reports, and so we quickly hitched up Scout and went.
That was a nice little gain of £78 towards the clearing out fund.
Technically it is a loss against the value of the stock and parts that I have lost, but factoring the depreciation and storage/transport cost to take it with us to Wales, I reckon it is a win!
The chap at the scrap metal yard knows me by name and commented that we hadn't been for a while. We'll be going a lot more now, for a while.
Anyway, we have loaded 12No. paving slabs on the trailer, and 10No. 4 metre translucent roof sheets to donate to the Community Workshop on Thursday, for their toilet block.
Paul always used to grade phleb nurses on whether he felt anything. The ultimate accolade was "you’d make a great veterinary nurse".
@Maker_of_Things The best I had was when I got drafted and the blood sample bus came around, with people who were going around the country sampling blood from several thousand draftees each day.
It was super fast and you barely felt anything at all.
The worst was in a hospital where they put a cannula in my hand and it hurt like hell when it went in and I yelled at the nurse, who just shrugged and told me to stop being a crybaby. When it came out a week later the needle was bent because she had scraped it along my bone going in 😬
Is there any bruising or swelling? If it’s swelling then let the practice know and keep an eye on it.
Assuming she took it from the veins around the elbow, theres a chance she went too deep and hit the back wall of the vein, and an underlying tendon then bruised it on the way out. All depends on technique and equipment. I could never get the hang of a fixed needle draw but was a deft hand at a butterfly draw, you could be much kinder.
Hope it’s eased now.
Good. She may well have been too deep so remember if they’re not urgent, you can often ask for a specific practitioner if your surgery allows it. For example I like the sister at mine, she’s so smooth.
@Maker_of_Things
Speaking as someone who took a lot of blood in his career, and for a while managed phlebotomists and phlebotomy training.... - it will definitely hurt if there's pressure on the puncture site as the needle comes out. This is a very common error. The pressure should be applied immediately after the needle is withdrawn, not before.
Paradoxically, smaller gauge needles tend to hurt more than larger needles (green is the usual size, blue is smaller, white is bigger).
It's unusual for Nurses to take blood in primary care these days - it'd either be a Healthcare Assistant or a Phlebotomist.
@MikeFromLFE
That's interesting, and useful to know.
Ha! I couldn't spell Phlebotomist, and they are all generically referred to as 'the nurse' at the surgery when patients need to see someone other than the GP. I think the receptionists know who to send them to. 😄
@Maker_of_Things Glad to help!
They need to be a little careful with their choice of words - Nurse is a protected title in law, so they shouldn't be inadvertently sending people to what they may believe to be a trained & qualified professional, when it's really someone who has been trained to undertake a specific task.
This how the NHS has got itself in a mess over Physician Associates who are NOT doctors, but patients can be misled into believing otherwise!
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