Needles

Plain and simple, I hate needles. I can't stand looking at them without feeling nervous and cringing just being close to one. I think it's because I know these things can hurt. I should know. I'm a regular at the hospital's laboratory for my quarterly blood checkup.

I went there this morning for my regular checkup. I came in 5 minutes before 7:00 am and I have fasted since 7:00 pm the night before. That meant nothing passed between my lips for almost 12 hours now. I'm a bit thirsty and hungry. The receptionist finally called my name around 7:35 and told me that my name was not on the list for those scheduled on that day.

Now this caused me some dilemma. For one, I fasted and am getting hungry and I really wanted to get something to eat. But I also have to be back by Friday for the actual doctor's visit to interpret the results. So after she informed me that I can wait for the scheduling nurse who was due to arrive by 8:00 am to accomodate my request, I decided to wait against my better judgement.

8:15 came and went and still no sign of the nurse and since I've already informed the office that I would be in a bit late, I continued to wait. I was getting really POed and it showed. I was snapping at the receptionist for not giving me some alternatives considering I've been starving for the last couple of hours. And to top that, I was anxiously waiting to get poked by a needle.

The nurse finally came in at 9:00 which was way past the expected time. I did let her know how this whole experience sucked. Hopefully she won't make the same mistake next time.

Maybe my doctor will reschedule my checkups into bi-annual events.