I come to suck your bloooood...

Yesterday morning, Panda!!!! had to get some bloodwork done, and thus visited the lab where they perform the ritual sacrifice of blood removal.

I think I'm sort of a wimp when it comes to drawing blood, and that probably explains why two months have elapsed since the time my doctor ordered these tests and the time I actually went to the lab. The technician usually has a hard time finding a vein, and yesterday was no exception. The new sensation, however, came when he did find a vein, but had to root around in there for a while - turning, rotating and twisting the needle around. I nearly passed out just looking at that!

I don't really mind looking at the blood; in fact, I'm sort of fascinated by the vaccum tubes they use to coax the blood out. Why doesn't it continue to flow once the tube is removed? I sort of expect blood to spurt all over the place, but it doesn't.

The problem I have is that the sensation of feeling blood getting sucked out of my arm freaks me out. Maybe it's in my head, but I swear I can feel it being sucked out of my arm. I also don't like watching it flow liberally into the tube.

Moreover, whenever they take out blood for multiple tests, it seems like quite a lot of blood for me to give up. Four vials! Can I really live without those vials of life-giving blood? It doesn't seem right.

My minor trauma sparked a lively conversation amongst the Swerve and I learned several things:

* Flabs does not understand why some folks get freaked out about having their blood drawn
* BFJ is not a fan of having blood drawn and has been known to pass out
* Shotgun coincidentally had her blood drawn at the same time as Panda!!!! and rewarded herself in a similar manner (eggs and potatoes) for surviving the ordeal
* Franny and her family used to tease her poor brother who's afflicted with some condition that causes him to pass out whenever blood is drawn (or when he gets a pap smear)