Well, I'm gonna go out on a limb here and suggest that this isn't from "shaking hands."

[ShazzieB]

117. I had to google vein finder

I have veins that can be hard to find, but I've never heard of that device before. I'm surprised nobody ever been used that on me. I've been through some major vein searching expeditions that were very much not fun, for me OR the phlebotomist.

I've found that one thing that helps me a lot with blood draws is making sure I'm well hydrated. If I'm even a little bit dehydrated, my veins virtually disappear. Ever since I figured that out, things have gone a lot better. Except for one time, when I was in a rehab center recvering from open heart surgery - phlebotomist showed up unexpectedly and I was too out of it to think about the hydration angle. She stuck me over and over in both arms, and I can't remember if she ever got any blood in the end or not (another effect of being somewhat out of it). My doctor came to see me later, took one look at my arms, and just about had a cow. It diid look bad; I was on blood thinners at the time, so my arms were literally covered in purple bruises! Judging from my doctor's mood, I'm afraid that phlebotomist may have had hell to pay. Which she may have deserved, but she was really nice and apologetic at the time, so I felt kind of bad for her. (Come to think of it, my reaction to the situation was probably also indicative of how out of it I was!)
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