The Drama of Blood Tests

Every month PKU'ers are supposed to get a blood test done. It's unpleasant but it needs to get done. There are 2 ways to do this. Finger pricks or Arm shots. Which one is better? For me I prefer Arm shots. I don't bleed in my fingers, and usually it takes multiple pricks to fill the 2 circles they told us is bare minimum. Then it turns out the sample was soiled in some way... every time. So I prefer a clean blood shot in the arm.

This is abnormal. According to my new doctor every PKU'er in the clinic does finger pricks, so why can't I? For several days I have been thinking about this. With the new lancets they have all you need to do is place it in the right position and push in. A little needle comes and goes; you hardly even see it. In my daydreams and nightmares it's a stabbing motion. Can I really stab myself? Even if it's in the finger?

I know that finger pricks are a ton cheaper. I can do them at home. But... if the sample is spoiled then I have really sore fingers for nothing.

The doctor's at my clinic are trying to force me to finger prick myself. There is no way to avoid it anymore. At this stage of life I need to have consistent tests taken because my brain is growing right now. If I don't I will get brain damage. I simply have too many plans in life to get brain damage. So I will try to do it even if it means: having sore fingers continually. It's going to be hard to get over my fears. I realize I do fear those lancets they have right now but we all need to do things we don't want to do. Even when they can cause a lot of pain.

I don't mean to sound self-righteous or heroic. I feel very the opposite. It's just one piece of the baggage that comes with PKU... one I've been avoiding for a long time. It's time to get over my fears and prick myself... and prick myself... and prick myself. Hopefully I'll get a clean sample someday.