Stabbing at Local VA Clinic

No one gave their opinion on yesterday's post, so I will present my opinion Wednesday. That gives all four of my readers the great opportunity to voice their opinion about the Shootout. Just kidding. I have more than four readers. ;-)

I haven't ridden since I last rode. I can't remember when that was. Looking at my log, it was Thursday when I had to ride to the VA Clinic for a fasting blood draw. That was fun.

I rode six miles with only water in my stomach so someone could stab my arm. It wasn't very fun. She missed the vein on the right arm, and left a nice, knobby hematoma on the left. Translation: she went through the vein. In all fairness, I'm getting to be a pretty difficult draw as I age. That's a scary thought considering I'm only 31. At this rate, they'll need to put a PICC line in when I'm 51 to have any kind of access to my veins. ;-)

The blood actually tracked up my arm, so there is a "tail" to my bruise. It's kind of cool, but I prefer the kind of bruises that result from colliding with chainrings and rocks. They want me to come back for another draw so they can test for iron because my hemoglobin count was low. That's ok. I can already tell them I haven't been eating enough iron. I think I'll put off the next great opportunity to get stabbed until I heal from this last trauma.


In recent years, I tend to bruise after blood draws. This one hurt.

Some of you are probably thinking I'm a bit morbid with my terminology, but that really is how "we" in the medical profession refer this blessed event. In brief, you are a "draw" and they "stab" you to get the vein. Fun stuff!

I didn't want to return home without something in my stomach, so I packed a peanut butter and jelly sandwich and bagged some strawberries. I took along two bottles of Heed as well. I ate the strawberries when I walked out of the clinic and ate the sandwich while riding home. I really like the concept of eating real food on the bike (as opposed to gels and bars). I got the idea from a Lance Armstrong book I bought.

So, I hope this post has been useful by teaching you how you, too, can successfully ride your bike to your next fasting blood draw.