President Trump tests positive for COVID-19

[ArmandoPenblade]

@Nesrie

When I was poor, I did the plasma thing out of desperation. I mean if bills are due… what other choice do you have? It’s like having a knitting needle shoved in your arm.

It’s seriously hellish. The waiting rooms were not. . . cheerful places. Sorry you’ve also had that experience :(

[Petey]

The IV is the worst. My wife has rolling veins and they poke her numerous times to find a good IV spot…she freaking cries before any surgery.

[Menzo]

Nurses always had trouble finding my vein for a blood draw, and then one recommended I chug a bunch of water about 5-10 minutes before hand. Now it’s no problem. Nice, juicy veins ready to tap.

[Nesrie]

@ArmandoPenblade

It’s seriously hellish. The waiting rooms were not. . . cheerful places. Sorry you’ve also had that experience :(

I actually consider it a good experience to have, now. It’s a reminder of where I came from and not to forget that or the copper like taste you get in your mouth when they pump it back in, or the old ass magazines you read (no cell phone then), or the weird fake feeling seats you sat in or the fact that many of the phlebotomists seem to get their experience there… so we’re like hurting more than at most places.

Also all the areas they check to make sure you’re not a drug user.

I went on and off to make the bills, but there were folks there constantly. I have no idea what they’re doing now. I am sure the plasma is still needed but that is not a great place to be in a pandemic.

[Strollen]

@Alstein

Westerners are too individualistic to adopt a mask culture, we’re culturally incapable of it. It would take something a lot deadlier than COVID to change this. (probably something with a 5-10% mortality rate might do it)

Folks will risk the virus, especially if said risk is very low due to vaccination.

Aren’t New Zealand and Australia Western culture? How about Germany, Greece, Finland , Norway?
These are all countries with 1/5 of less of our death and/or cases per million.

I think there is some cultural aspect, and certainly countries that had bad experience with H1N1, and previous CornaVirus have gained some cultural learning. But I don’t think expecting the US to be a merely average is too much to ask for, average in the world means more that 150,000 American would alive today, and at least that many would more would be alive between now and summer.

[ArmandoPenblade]

@Menzo

Nice, juicy veins ready to tap.

I did not like this sentence, Sam I am. I did not like it in my eyes, I would not like with some fries.

[RichVR]

I picture them squirming. Like earthworms in the rain.

[ArmandoPenblade]

@RichVR

Like earthworms in the rain.

Man, the 35th Anniversary Director’s Cut Original Theatrical Vision edition of Blade Runner got weird.

[DeForrestation]

He goes full Ozzy on the dove in that cut. Ridley Scott? weird dude.

[Enidigm]

@ArmandoPenblade

Except one day, the blood they were pumping out to swish for plasma wasn’t going back in , apparently, and I wound up passing out.

I wonder that’s why i passed out when giving plasma once. Pretty odd dreams during that period. The women were kind of rude and offputting about it. They packed me in ice and, once i was awake, “turned their back on me” and seemed to pretend i wasn’t there until i left the building in a passive aggressive condescending way.

[CraigM]

I am not squeamish, needles don’t bother me. In fact I watch any time I get an injection or blood draw.

However there was one time this was not true. Getting a blood draw and the nurse just could not hit the vein. And they are not small easy to miss things, I’ve got bulging runner veins there. But nope. Try 1,2,3,4 in one arm, no good. Try the other arm. 1,2,3,4 and still no good and by this time I am feeling nauseous and dizzy. They had to get another nurse to do the draw 5-10 minutes later once I was feeling better.

Turns out having your mother draw blood on you is not a great idea.

[RichVR]

I wish I could find the picture I have of the most painful bruise that a draw ever caused. It was shaped like a nipple. Purple in the center, bruised around it and purple all around. Lovely. The lady spent a few minutes digging around. Guess where she finally got it?

[Nesrie]

I think I’d rather have a knitting needle back in my harm than to get poked 8 times like that. That sounds like hell, no passing out or plasma machine malfunctions needed.

[MichaelD]

My worst needle experience was earlier this year when an IV insertion manage to hit a nerve bundle. It felt like I had an electric fence being jabbed into my arm. Talk about flipping out.

[vinraith]

@CraigM

However there was one time this was not true. Getting a blood draw and the nurse just could not hit the vein. And they are not small easy to miss things, I’ve got bulging runner veins there. But nope. Try 1,2,3,4 in one arm, no good. Try the other arm. 1,2,3,4 and still no good and by this time I am feeling nauseous and dizzy. They had to get another nurse to do the draw 5-10 minutes later once I was feeling better.

Yup, I empathize. In the hospital for a minor surgery I had a nurse try three times on one arm, three times on the other, and then go fishing in my fucking wrist. I had black abd blue marks in 3 places for weeks.

[Misguided]

My rule of thumb. If they need more than two tries, barring unusual circumstance, ask for someone else.

[vinraith]

@Misguided

My rule of thumb. If they need more than two tries, barring unusual circumstance, ask for someone else.

I was a kid at the time so unfortunately didn’t know any better. Believe me, as an adult that’s exactly what I’d do.

[Haavok1]

My wife has such bad veins they usually bring the ultrasound cart in whenever she gets an iv. If they dont its bruises all up and down her arms

[CraigM]

I mean, sure, but teenage me was reluctant to tell my own mother to bug out ;)

[Misguided]

Lol. I missed that.