Current mood:	giddy
Entry tags:	blood, medicine, pharmacy, urine

First Times of Pharmacy and Vampire
Well, today was a first for a couple things. I have never really had to get blood drawn in any quantity before. When I was going to the pediatrician, they just pricked you with a needle and squeezed your finger as you cried until they could suck enough blood into a small syringe thing to get your blood counts (I guess they call that a CBC?). Obviously, since we were young at the time, they didn't care at all about cholesterol or kidney function or fluid balance. I haven't had blood tests of any kind since I was 19. At 19 I was going off to college so it was time for a full physical, but for whatever reason I was still going to the pediatrician. I have a very boring medical history, but that would probably be a good thing. I had two hernias at 1 month of age (still have the scars) and the rest is just flus and colds and allergies.

I also apparently never paid any attention to my parents while at the pharmacy after going to the pediatrician and needing prescriptions for random things as a kid. I guess now I know a few things more.

I went to get blood drawn today. My doctor ordered CBC, CMP, Lipid Panel and a urine test (all for just $360 if you don't have insurance). I've never seen so much blood come out of me before. It was only two vials full, but way more than I have ever given up at one time.

I was a little nervous going in there. I checked in and the receptionist asked, "Have you ever been here before, or to Saratoga Hospital?" Obviously not. After the experience, something in my head thought it should be their privilege to have not one but two vials of my blood. After all, I killed off a cold without missing a beat last week. I went in and without even having to focus on something else I just watched the nurse poke me with the large valve needle and then pop two test tubes into the valve to be filled. It barely hurt and I never cried. If I recall, I always cried or complained about needles as a kid, but never about finger pricks. As I got older I always had to stare away from my arm so they didn't bother me as much. I think now that I haven't been to a doctor in nine years I just didn't know how to react to it. Being poked by a sewing needle still hurts, but a thick needle in my arm pit? Not as bad as I thought. However the site still feels stiff right now and all day I've had that cringing feeling you get when you imagine a nail in the bottom of your foot.

After getting blood drawn, while I was putting my jacket on, I overheard one of the lab personnel say, "Oh no! More pee!?!" I thought that was rather amusing.

The next thing I did was go get a prescription filled. The second thing I've never done before. I'm telling you, that "stuff comes in twos" thing I have is true. If one thing out of the ordinary happens, a second one is soon to follow. So, while it annoys me to no end that I have to give my birthday and address to every medical computer system on earth, I had no clue how ordering prescriptions worked.

I always remember going to the drug store with my mom and picking them up. It seemed like an instant thing. You give them the slip and in a few minutes they hand over your special baggy. I was always fascinated by those things as a kid. They are always extremely crinkly like wax paper. And those little orange capsules. Some of those syrups I had tasted really good.

Today was a bit nostalgic in that way, but I never realized you had to sit around and wait 20 minutes for them to fill it. I also had no idea you could drop it off and pick it up later. Maybe I was always wandering around the store looking at the toys and stuff when I was little, but I never remember waiting so long. I also remember that the pharmacy counter was about five feet high and the pharmacist always had to bend over the counter to hand out the prescriptions. Either pharmacists thought they were pharaohs or their regular customers must be giants. The counters now are not so high anymore. So sad. Maybe they stopped doing that because too many pharmacists were falling over the counter (te he he) and smacking their head on the store floor.