On Pins and Needles

At the crack of dawn on Friday morning, I have to go get blood taken. And the doctor said I have to fast for 12 hours before the procedure. I'm pretty sure that means I will end up turning white as a ghost and then passing out, cracking my head open on a counter, and, ultimately, dying.

Now, that may seem dramatic, but that's only because I have this pretty intense fear of needles. People were not meant to have things STUCK into their flesh and blood. Nope, not at all.

So, I went in to talk about getting my thyroid checked (thyroid issues run in my familiy), and the doctor said I need to get blood taken to do so.

And the fasting thing is, I guess, because they're also checking my blood sugar and whether I'm anemic and blah blah blah. All I can think is that as soon as I know I can't have food, I will not be able to stop thinking about food.

Now I'm going to tell a super-embarassing story to get across how afraid of needles I am:

When I first came off of antidepressants, I had a really hard time handling anxiety... it was like I was on the pills for so long that I forgot how to handle the hard stuff without help. So, I went to the doctor to discuss it, and, because my blood pressure was high (white coat syndrome is what that turned out to be about), they decided to take blood. With no warning. So I totally freaked. In fact, I cried. Yes, I cried at the doctor's office at age 23.

Oy, so, when the nurse saw just how freaked out I was, she had me lie down on a doctor's table, and she used an infant's needle to draw the blood. I continued crying during the procedure, and, tears started pouring into my ears since I was lying down.

Well, I didn't die, but, later, I developed swimmer's ear. Yes, from crying. So, I guess it was really crier's ear. So I had to go buy that stuff that evaporates fluid in your ears.

The end.

Wish me luck Friday morning. I'll report back.