Yesterday a nurse came to our home to draw blood from Ryan. Despite her best effort she couldn’t find a vein. So, we decided to try again today with another nurse. Again, it was a good try but… nothing. Looks like we’ll need to regroup and find another way to have this performed. Perhaps we’ll just have to wait until we take Ryan to the hospital in a week or so to have other tests run.
Normally, I’d be a bit down about this. But I saw something I really liked. After several attempts in the arms the nurse moved to the foot. Ryan was clearly not enjoying it and flinching. Now, the foot is a painful area to have blood drawn, for sure.
When she punctured Ryan’s skin his leg recoiled in a strong motion. There was no hesitation for the pain signal o reach his brain. In fact, he pulled his leg right out of my grip (which, as you know, is really weak right now). Still, there would have been no way to stifle this retraction.
I just wanted to give a quick update.
Yes! His strong quick reaction was a good sign!
Celebrate ALL the good little things! (these might be all you get for now) 🙂
Little signs… Hope continues… Ryan’s healing. Love and prayers always… Peggie
Like you said, while it is frustrating that blood could not be drawn, Ryan did display to you a wonderful reaction. A reaction that he would not have had the opportunity to demonstrate had the blood drawing incident not occurred. Evidence of healing- yes!
Still here and still praying.
Hello Divineys,
I wanted to check on a donation that was sent to help Ryan from BRHS class of 2009 earlier this school year. If you could please contact me at Broad Run via email or phone call sometime that would be great, thank you.
Tracy Price ( Ryan’s AP Psych and WHII teacher)
This is great news. Glad to read about Ryan’s reflex with his leg. Keep healing Ryan. We are praying for you.
Ken, does Ryan still have a pic line? Can blood be drawn from that if he does?
Gosh I’m sorry he’s having a time of it….normally they say to force fluids to get the veins going….you’re giving him plenty of nourishment/fluids so this is kind of a moot point…. Darn! But great news on his pain response! Go Ryan!
No PICC line.
I still say, nobody could do it better than Ken. He has probably learned just by reading up on the internet and the website that Vicky recommended. Poor Ryan, and you, too, Ken for having to witness this. This is really a tough scene to contend with — got to be a better way.
Hi Ken,
Some people have “rolling veins” which are very difficult to draw from. A nurse that is familiar with this may have better luck. I too see this as a victory that Ryan is responding (albeit, negatively) to the pain. He is letting us know to “cut it out” he does not want this done! Ryan, you keep showing us how you feel. I know from seeing you that you are making every effort to communicate to us. What a joyous day it will be when we hear your beautiful voice. Much love to both of you~
Ken, Sorry no blood today but what a great sign from Ryan .Hoping there will be more …Glad you update often to let us know how Ryan and all of you are doing,,,,,,:):)
You’re getting good at recognizing small blessings in disguise, Ken 🙂 Praise God for clear signs of healing and hope! Yeah, Ryan’s got this all right.
Ah, Ryan didn’t like it!! Go Ryan, keep letting everyone know how you feel!! He is one strong young man yanking his leg away like that. That’s awesome he is able to express his discontent, Ken!!
On a separate note, I have to have a BP cuff put on my arm in order to have my blood drawn. They said it’s because my veins are small. Not sure if this would work for Ryan, but thought I’d mention it.
Thank you for the update, Ken!! Will be praying for success on the next attempt to get this done as smoothly as possible for Ryan.
Ken,
I enclose the following to give some suggestions on how to find a vein. I used to do this light years ago, and I have to admit, when Jonathan was in the hospital(s) that I talked a few technicians through it when they were unable to find a vein on Jonathan.
This might help. It would be great if you could get a lab tech or phlebotomist to come out and do it since they do it all day long, every day and usually have more experience although some nurses are good at it. I guess you can copy and past this to go to the link. http://allnurses.com/general-nursing-discussion/what-if-you-161648.html