Wednesday, February 1, 2012

An Empath and a Vampire

     No, this is not the title of my new novel.  Rather, it's a way of explaining what it's like for an empath like me to watch someone else have to give blood.

     First of all, I'm a real weenie when it comes to giving blood.  My medical chart probably says "Difficult!" in big red letters somewhere.  My veins roll, they collapse, they run the 40-yard dash in the opposite direction of the coming needle, and it all makes me cry.  Yep, big grown-up me is reduced to a puddle of tears after the second poke.  That's why I think of phlebotomists as vampires.  I'm sure they're wonderful people, but their job makes me sob.

     So yesterday I had to accompany my Significant Other as S.O. gave blood.  S.O. is really lucky -- those veins are usually up and ready and standing at attention for the nearest needle.  Not so yesterday.  I think S.O. was dehydrated, so those wonderful veins were shriveled little spaghetti lines.  The nurse tried once, and I felt that in my own hand, then the nurse tried twice, and I really felt that in my arm when the vein blew.  The tears started to spring to my eyes and I had to bite my lip.  Finally, the nurse wisely called the head nurse and that blessed soul found a decent vein and all was well.  Still, my arms and hand ached for a couple of hours afterward.  Another interesting day in the life of an empath.  Blast those vampires!

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