msaroff4
15443
249
20
Just saying.
Aug 11, 2026 7:34 PM
msaroff4
15443
249
20
Just saying.
WeirdandOdd
Mines so hard to find, i have a photo on my phone for them to reference.
sjester42
Lol, I've donated so much plasma I basically have sockets, but one single bad phlebotomist f-ed up my vein so bad it can't be used without pain...
RetrogradeLlama
Ay Carumba!
GroovyCrowley
Was it for a sample or a blood letting?
UmmonPrime
first day on the job? Yikes...
CrackWhoresAndCheese
Did they use their teeth?
YouEatYellowSnow
Did the needle come out the back side?
futhor
My last blood draw was like watching magic, she just tapped on my arm once and knew exactly where to stick
Jamesstin
It's remarkably easy to hit 95% of people but if I get poked on a first try I legit am impressed. Just as an example; the last half dozen times I had blood drawn at a lab; I was poked a minimum of 4 until they got one. The most recent lady that got me the first time actually listened to me when I said why she shouldn't waste time on my arms and where to try on my hand. I don't care about multiple pokes cause the difficulty is my fault but they really gotta do more than say "drink more water!"
akelamishari
I hate when they don't listen. One of my arms hides the vein too much, and i always tell them to use the other one, but most lab people are used to drawing from the left arm for right-handed people. I also feel two pokes, the skin AND the vein. And if you poke my vein too much, my BP drops drastically (dramatic body) so i could faint. Its not the sight of blood or needles, its that if you poke my vein more than three times my body reacts but when i tell people this they dont listen.
OhIfIMust
Oh, damn...
CobainsSarcoma
the pull start should have been a tipoff
SocoFox
My wife had to get blood drawn and the phlebotomist absolutely pincushioned her to the point of discomfort.
I believed that they were truly trying to induce pain and discomfort to get off.
When I went in to get my blood drawn, I had the same phlebotomist, and she 100% was trying to make it worse.
Needles don't bother me, so I just stayed stoic and stared her down as she did it.
Oh look, suddenly she figures out how to do her job correctly.
foreverinchains
When I was being sent home from the hospital after treatme for a severe case of septicemia, they needed to put a saline lock in my arm for intravenous antibiotics, which I needed three times a day for six weeks so I wouldn't die.
The nurse kept missing my veins, despite them being clearly visible. I had 11 new holes in me when she finally hit the vein, but then she dropped the cap for the lock.
A doctor walked by, saw all the blood, and rushed in to do it properly.
It was not a good time.
sabrinadiesatdawn
protip: after the second miss, ask for someone else. The nurse/phlebotomist/doctor might be a little embarrassed, but that is 100% not your problem. You will not be labelled a difficult patient for this.
AdrianDunne
CanIGetSomeExtraSalt
did they use a capri sun straw?
CuntCrotchula
PostHartmann
I have to have my blood taken every two weeks. Don't forget to drink plenty of water. I bought my nurses a cactus for Christmas with a note that if they get stuck "it's just a little pinch"
iamgnat
Fucking hell!
There is nothing better than a really good Phlebotomist, but there is equally nothing worse than an absolute shit one!
arewenotkingsandqueenstogether
I used to donate plasma and I had a favorite. Couldn't even feel that shit.
nclu
I was probably the youngest and relatively healthiest patient my hematologist had and he thought my work was interesting, so he always wanted to chit chat a bit more. This meant he wanted to draw my blood himself. Oh. My. God. The bruising he gave me
laserfork
If you keep pressure on the puncture site for a while after after the cannula is withdrawn it can help prevent little bruises like this.
PantsAreForTheWeek
I've always wondered... How does one mist a phleboto? What is a phleboto?
yqpqfrdp625772
In case this isn’t a joke: the prefix phle often refers to veins and the suffix toma or variations of such can mean hole. The suffix ist often denotes a persons job (eg stylist). So the word means “person who puts holes in veins”.
PantsAreForTheWeek
So a phleboto is a vein hole? Put there by a mist?
CaptainYesterday
Dont worry. Give it an hour or two, it will look 10 times worse
kydn
Did they use a hammer and chisel?
crimpitdown9001
https://media2.giphy.com/media/v1.Y2lkPWE1NzM3M2U1emFidzloMXBpcXMyb2loczJtMmg0MjcydmlmeWZ6azBxZXprNWtxZSZlcD12MV9naWZzX3NlYXJjaCZjdD1n/eP0rq0MpopIa2tozVQ/200w.webp
Skuggen
I'm a blood donor, and once when giving platelets (which means they centrifuge the blood to extract them, then pump the red blood cells back into your body), they didn't hit the vein properly, so when it was time to return my blood it just started squirting out _around_ the vein (but inside the skin).
DosPadres
Did they use a garden hose?
RadiDaddy
I’d rather have a bottle in front of me than have to have a job in phlebotomy.
bassaro
Dad?
RadiDaddy
Well, I mean, check the username.
StewedTomaters
Papa?
bassaro
StewedTomaters
https://media1.giphy.com/media/v1.Y2lkPWE1NzM3M2U1emlxcGZod2YxMDA2cGZkc3hmM3N1ZTJieTY1YzJ0cmc1b2xqc2FpNiZlcD12MV9naWZzX3NlYXJjaCZjdD1n/nKSjTXkv34OPK/200w.webp
EaNasirsExcellentHighGradeCopper
did you get the "I cant find a vein, let me move this needle left and right inside of your arm to see if I can feel it" ?
bassaro
"I can't find a vein, but I do have this IO drill..."
EaNasirsExcellentHighGradeCopper
I am so glad I've never needed the bone drill. Had to have an ultrasound guided IV once or twice, but never bone drill
Whiskeyjelly
I’m a difficult draw and I’m not afraid needles but I am afraid of a phlebotomy student.
Draygen
I was in the ER and the nurse had a student shadow, and asked if I'd mind her attempting to run the IV. I'm a decent sort, so told her to have a go. She botched it and he had to do it in my hand.
So anyway, turns out my platelet count was at a 2 and I was completely unable to clot my blood, and once we knew this, only experienced personnel were allowed in my room.
FoamingToad
My wires don't show particularly well so I've been there. I prefer to avoid junior doctors where possible - they don't seem to get the practice in and are a good chance of fucking it up (although my current GP took some a couple of weeks ago, in and out neat as you could like).
Worst experience related was getting a transfusion and the needle was misplaced. I said that things weren't feeling right but was told everything was fine. About an hour later my arm was swollen and turning purple.
TheVampireDante
Went for a blood donation a couple of months back (I donate when I can for the past few years) the newbie was so nervous her hands were shaking. Ended up doing it myself because everyone else was busy and I know the routine (and I'm a caregiver, so needle use trained), she just did the checks and aftercare work. Didn't tell anyone else though.
akelamishari
Thanks for helping the newbie out. You do your own veins? With a blood donation needle? Respect! I do plenty but not IVs to myself... much less bigger (smaller? I get them confused) gauge than a 21G
bassaro
The most reliable way to spot good phlebotomists is with your phone's flashlight. You're looking for ones that recoil and hiss when you turn it on.
iamthemurray
Had on stab me in a nerve, my thumb jutted out on its own and felt a tingle up my arm and hand for a few months
oldguyexlurker
I participated in a study about 12 years ago. They took our blood up to 3 times per day. You got to know which line you were in and which phlebotomist you were likely to get and change lines/positions appropriately. I wasn't a "hard stick" but I got one girl who might as well have been a guy looking for a clit. Another girl, you never even knew the needle touched ya and you were done.
mirrorz
I had a CT scan a few months ago and the tech injecting the contrast kept shoving the needle and saying "man, i think it's stuck on a valve or something. Meanwhile even I can see (and feel) the internal bleeding pooling. Dude had me in standing arm bar and was leaning into that syringe trying to get it to go. He had to get his supervisor to help who properly yelled at him for being a moron. (other guy used my other arm) That shit hurt for weeks after multiple perforations just destroyed my vein.
69Voltage
Shoulda asked her to use a needle instead of a knife
malgor24
Be careful, that looks like a knitting needle.
msaroff4
You got a knife? Lucky bastard!
She used a chisel!
SacrificialClam
The insurance doesnt cover that
davebarton315101
Just as long as she doesn’t use her teeth!
LitterBoxKing
My first thought was "wine corkscrew".
priorititties
Damn. Beat me to it
akelamishari
Dude i laughed so good, im so sorry, your title was awesome. Im sorry for your vein! Ive had the entire underskin there go purple when i clearly had felt the phlebotomist get in the vein, then out, then in again, a couple more times... im like "youre in, i felt it" but they doubted themselves more than they doubted me. But it was just two skin punctures. Yours tried to get your blood with a soda straw!
msaroff4
I've had worse