Blatherings of Boredom

Give him a really good feeding just before going in for a draw. I have the world's worst veins, and I am constantly being tortured by people with needles (I had to have a central line in my neck for my c-section because my regular veins blew and were too small).

I always have the best luck if I go in about half an hour after drinking a LOT of water.

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He was well hydrated. He'd just nursed and nursed between tries. I always drink quite a bit before my own blood draws and IVs.

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Lame... sometimes it just takes the right person. I've had experience people spend an hour on my arms before resorting to fingersticks, and had others just walk right up and find it on the first try.

I don't know if this is the same for babies (probably not) but I actually have worse luck with the butterfly needles than I do with the tree-trunks. They think that a smaller needle hurts less, but for some reason it also makes the vein roll more, if they are prone to that.

And what hurts less, having a more painful stick for a short period of time, or have someone try to play the violin on my veins for half an hour trying to *find* the vein... I go with the bigger needle.

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LOL Not at poor Ronan, but at memories of my EMS days.

In trying to get IVs started.
The floor nurses would call for an ER nurse if they could not get a stick.

The ER nurses would call for a paramedic if they could not get a stick.

The paramedics would call for a flight medic if they could not get a stick.

The flight medics would call for a surgeon if they could not get a stick.

The surgeons would call for a pathologist if they could not get a stick.

The joys of a teaching hospital. LOL

How much blood do they need that a heal or finger stick will not work? So many procedures can now be run on only a single drop but they still pull a full vial.

Wish you luck finding a good phlebotomist I have yet to find one.

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I don't know how much they need for lead and a CBC. Two vials, of course. And I asked the ped if it would be a full draw or a finger/heel stick and they said it was a vial. So I asked for his iron to be checked, since they'd be using a butterfly as it was. I asked the phleb (after the failed first stick) if they truly needed a vial for the lead alone and they do. :/ I'd have nixed the CBC if they could've done a simple drop.

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At least you tried to limit the amount they would take if the draw had been successful.

My father, a retired surgeon, was outraged when they wanted to take 7 vials the last time he needed labs done just for a simple out patient eye surgery procedure. He said that it is not the fault of phlebotomist as they just go by a list, but that the labs want a lot more blood than they really need.

I hope Ronan's next round is less traumatic for him and you.

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mustelidmania.livejournal.com

the only thing that you need a full vial of blood for in the world is a prothrombin time. Labs can make do with less, don't let them fool you. Now you are talking about pediatric bullet vials, not the ones I would draw from you, right?

Also, do they use a syringe or vaccutainer to get the blood once they get in the vein? Hopefully they draw back with a syringe, the smaller the better due to a toddlers soft veins that collapse easily.

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The first stick was something I'd never seen before. Maybe it was the ped bullets you mentioned. The second stick was with a small butterfly.

They couldn't get the vein at all. I wasn't paying attention to what was on the counter, so I don't know what they were trying.

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I had to have a surgeon put my IV in the other day.

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I hope they skipped over most of the people on my list and went right from nurse to the surgeon.

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The nurse didn't even bother after she looked at my veins. She called IV therapy, they blew 4 of my veins. They called the anesthesiologist to try to put in a central line, he screwed up, so I went to radiology where a surgeon used a fluoroscope and took his time messing around with dilators for an hour before finishing. It was pretty traumatic!

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Ouch! Sorry you had to go through that.

*hugs*

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Aw. It's okay, they gave me a baby afterwards.

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Nice trade. Congratulations.

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seeliespright.livejournal.com

T_T Poor Ronan! I hope you get a nurse who can get his vein on the first try next time.

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mustelidmania.livejournal.com

can't they use pediatric bullets instead of a big vial? my goodness. Maybe your pediatrician should draw it. they do know how to. poor baby.

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cassidyrose.livejournal.com

If a child has hard to find veins the pediatrician is not going to be of much help. A phlebotomist at a children's hospital is the best bet for such children--those folks are really used to dealing with children with bad veins. My kid, despite having skinny arms and being super-hydrated nearly all the time is a really, really hard draw, like me (and my dad and sister). Not only are his veins hard to find, they clot off really fast so even when they stick him, they may not get enough blod (this was also an issue with IVs when he was in a level 2 NICU). Anyhow, a phlebotomist at our local children's hospital(Lucille Packard at Stanford) got blood out of my son's arm on the first try when nobody (five different attempts, three different nurses) at our ped's office could. Next time he needs to have a blood draw we will be doing it at Stanford.

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mustelidmania.livejournal.com

yes, I see your point. but the pediatricians I have worked with here in Charlottesville, and still work with on a prn basis, can draw blood with no problem from the most difficult children. this office also has a phlebotomist who is really excellent. Maybe I am just spoiled by Pediatric Associates.

I had problems with my sons blood draws when they were toddlers too. My oldest had to have creatinines drawn quite often due to his one horseshoe kidney. No one at Primary
Childrens Medical Center in Salt Lake City could get him without trying several times, but his family practice doctor at the clinic could always get him the first time. I guess it just depends.

I myself as an infusion nurse in the cancer center have no problems with most people, but there are some that I cannot get no matter what. That is the way with every nurse I know who is good at the stick, sometimes there is just that one person, or child.

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cassidyrose.livejournal.com

I am so sorry Ronan had this experience. As you may recall, we had a horrific experience with S. He has crap veins, like me, that are not only invisible, they also clot off almost immediately. His arms are sticks and his veins are still hidden. Anyhow, we had great success with the staff at the children's hospital--if you can find a children's hospital to draw his blood I'd highly recommend it.

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absinthea.livejournal.com

Late on the reply here, but they are just plain stupid if they say he is too old for a heelstick. If he has lead in his blood, it will be present in capillary blood too. Fat, healthy babies are the worst to draw blood on. I'm usually one of the go-to people if someone can't get a blood draw or an IV start, but I have my "off" days just like anyone else.

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