Friend #35

The In-Laws are gone, back to NY after a whirlwind week-long stay. The house is back to being messy and I am back to being relaxed.
I am preparing for my surgery and subsequent two week bed rest in four days and that means doctor appointments for all!
Isaiah was reminded in March when he had his Sports Physical, that he'd never had his blood tested. This was the first time in three months that I could bring him in to get blood drawn while fasting, so away we went to our friendly neighborhood lab.
I started out the night before, telling Mr. Needle-Hater that he was going in to get his blood drawn the next morning. The football-playing, skateboard ramp-building, high dive-jumping 12-year-old turned into a puddle of jitters in .01 seconds. "No, no, no, no, Mom!"
I reminded him that for some crazy reason, he had never gotten blood drawn as a toddler, like his brother had and that if he could go back in time and talk to his 2-year-old self, it would say "Thank you."
Blood Day arrived way too soon for Isaiah. I reminded him to refrain from eating or drinking anything (BIG mistake, as we found out later.) We arrived at the lab, signed in, and waited for our number to be called, and soon after that we found ourselves waiting for an hour for the hard part. Isaiah listened to his ipod to distract his nerves. I secretly hoped he'd have a lab technician who was an understanding mother, filled with love and support.
"Eye-sigh-ae?" Apparently his name was being called. "Your turn, Isaiah", I urged. He shook, he breathed quickly.
Crap! Shit! Our lab technician was the same grumpy, old, middle eastern man that both Jackson and I have had. Syed is his name. Syed the Terrible. Syed had Isaiah say and spell his name and birth date for verification. Isaiah sat and shook his legs while doing lamaaze breathing and listening to his ipod. "Do Not Look at the needle!" Syed demanded. "You Must stop shaking! You're making me nervous! I can't do this with you shaking!" I wanted to punch the old guy. I offered, "Isaiah, look at the poster and imagine you're at the cabin." Isaiah looked briefly at the picture of an ocean sunset, but was quickly back to the needle about to enter his arm. "You MUST NOT look at the needle! Are you going to pass out? Do I need to do this while you're laying down?" Syed looked at me as if pleading for respite from this demon-child.
"He'll be fine." I stated, matter-of-factly. "Isaiah, you're fine. Do it." This was cake compared to Isaiah's 6th grade shots a year ago (that took two nurses and myself to hold him down!).
"I cannot get a needle in anywhere! Did he drink water this morning?" I got a lump in my stomach, "He was supposed to fast; I thought that meant no water either."
"No, No, No! He was supposed to drink lots of liquids! Now I can't find a vein!"
Shit again. At this point, Isaiah's ipod was turned up so loud so he couldn't hear Lord Syed and his Attitude.
Five more minutes passed and the needle was in. "See? It's in and you acted crazy for nothing!" Syed explained to a still-shaking Isaiah. We watched as the blood filled the two tubes. The needle came out and everything was fine again. Well, not for Syed. Even as we walked out the door, he was still shaking his head in disappointment and anger.
Dude, a little patience and understanding will go a long way in your career...just sayin.