Getting to Know You, October 2019

[Loim]

I'm not the biggest fan of needles myself, but after some years of having blood draws regularly for labs I don't really worry about it much now. Having three veins collapsed by a nurse and having another push the needle all the way through the vein were good times though. 

[Rahz]

6 hours ago, TaleSpinner said:

October 15: Have you any phobias?

 

(This question inspired by various reactions to a certain spider being unlocked right now.)

Hmm nothing major comes to mind.  I don't particularly like creepy crawlies wandering around on me, but but they don't send me into a "get the flamethrower" fit.  

[Zink]

1 hour ago, Doug Sundseth said:

 

Driving through Colorado National Monument in a 27' RV was ... interesting. When you're up that high above the road, the guardrails look rather more like speedbumps and a 500' drop to rocks, while very pretty indeed, was a bit intimidating.

 

 No real phobias but some things like extreme heights make me nervous. Almost broke that on a trip to Yellowstone a few years ago. We went over the Bear Tooth Pass. The road from Red Lodge, Montana follows the valley slowly climbing until there's nothing but a solid wall of vertical rock in front of you. I thought, "Where's the road?" and then realised it starts doing near vertical switchbacks with 1,000 foot drop off the road edge. Oh, bleep. The wife who is normally scared to ride with me on our big hills was all excited at the view. I was sweating heavily and trying to stay as close to the inside of the road as I could without being in the oncoming lane. Long drive to the top. The only other spot that bothered me was one "bridge" nailed to the side of the mountain with a huge drop under it. The wife likes to take thousands (literally) of pics while on vacation had me go back and forth over the damn thing several times to get photos from different spots. Since then I haven't been so nervous. Oddly enough flying doesn't bother me at all other than the standard discomforts of no leg room and air pressure changes.

 

Other than that I don't like tight places but they're bearable as long as it isn't for a long time or I get stuck.

[Doug Sundseth]

3 minutes ago, Zink said:

 

 No real phobias but some things like extreme heights make me nervous. Almost broke that on a trip to Yellowstone a few years ago. We went over the Bear Tooth Pass. The road from Red Lodge, Montana follows the valley slowly climbing until there's nothing but a solid wall of vertical rock in front of you. I thought, "Where's the road?" and then realised it starts doing near vertical switchbacks with 1,000 foot drop off the road edge. Oh, bleep. The wife who is normally scared to ride with me on our big hills was all excited at the view. I was sweating heavily and trying to stay as close to the inside of the road as I could without being in the oncoming lane. Long drive to the top. The only other spot that bothered me was one "bridge" nailed to the side of the mountain with a huge drop under it. The wife likes to take thousands (literally) of pics while on vacation had me go back and forth over the damn thing several times to get photos from different spots. Since then I haven't been so nervous. Oddly enough flying doesn't bother me at all other than the standard discomforts of no leg room and air pressure changes.

 

Other than that I don't like tight places but they're bearable as long as it isn't for a long time or I get stuck.

 

I think the sketchiest road like that I've been over was a stretch called the Moki Dugway in SE Utah, which is on the road between Natural Bridges NM and Monument Valley. It's gravel rather than paved, drops about 1200 feet in three miles, and it gets semis every so often (though there are warnings for 20 miles before you get there that it's a bad idea to take a semi over it. 

 

https://bluffutah.org/mokey-dugway-muley-point/

 

Really pretty, though.

[klarg1]

2 hours ago, Loim said:

I'm not the biggest fan of needles myself, but after some years of having blood draws regularly for labs I don't really worry about it much now. Having three veins collapsed by a nurse and having another push the needle all the way through the vein were good times though. 

 

Content spoilered to protect needle-phobes. You have been warned.

 

 

The only time I was really bothered by a needle was the time a relatively inexperienced nurse at the doctor's office was having trouble hitting the vein, and spent 20 seconds or so wiggling it around trying to find it before backing out, and trying again with no greater success. That time I actually felt a little woozy and had to make them stop so I could lie down and recover before I passed out.

 

Aside from that, I have had a hundred or more blood draws in my adult life, and they don't bother me any. I don't usually choose to watch them stick the needle in, but I do look back once they start filling tubes. People are weird.
 

 

Edited October 15, 2019 by klarg1

[rubegon]

35 minutes ago, Doug Sundseth said:

 

I think the sketchiest road like that I've been over was a stretch called the Moki Dugway in SE Utah, which is on the road between Natural Bridges NM and Monument Valley. It's gravel rather than paved, drops about 1200 feet in three miles, and it gets semis every so often (though there are warnings for 20 miles before you get there that it's a bad idea to take a semi over it. 

 

https://bluffutah.org/mokey-dugway-muley-point/

 

Really pretty, though.

 

I drove that road with my family on an epic 4300 mile road trip.  My wife hated it!  Not sure if it’s a phobia, but she really doesn’t like heights - gets panic attacks, wouldn’t go to the top level of the Eiffel Tower after we went all the way over there...

 

There was another road later in the trip that was even worse for her though.  I think it was near Capital Reef NP.  It was paved, but the road went up a ridge that eventually had a nearly shear drop to both sides.  It felt like we were driving on a tightrope.  I took it very slow while she hunched way down in her seat the whole way.

 

Absolutely mind blowing scenery all over SE Utah though.  That place is amazing.

[Auberon]

10 hours ago, TaleSpinner said:

October 15: Have you any phobias?

 

(This question inspired by various reactions to a certain spider being unlocked right now.)

 

None that I'm aware of.

[Doug Sundseth]

1 hour ago, rubegon said:

 

I drove that road with my family on an epic 4300 mile road trip.  My wife hated it!  Not sure if it’s a phobia, but she really doesn’t like heights - gets panic attacks, wouldn’t go to the top level of the Eiffel Tower after we went all the way over there...

 

There was another road later in the trip that was even worse for her though.  I think it was near Capital Reef NP.  It was paved, but the road went up a ridge that eventually had a nearly shear drop to both sides.  It felt like we were driving on a tightrope.  I took it very slow while she hunched way down in her seat the whole way.

 

Absolutely mind blowing scenery all over SE Utah though.  That place is amazing.

 

That road on the ridge between Torrey and Escalante (on the road through the Grand Staircase between Capitol Reef and Bryce Canyon)? Yeah, that can be a bit nervous-making, especially if it's a breezy day and there's snow. 

 

Haven't decided which way we're going to go down to Phoenix the next time we visit my parents, but that's certainly on the list of possibilities.

[rubegon]

14 minutes ago, Doug Sundseth said:

 

That road on the ridge between Torrey and Escalante (on the road through the Grand Staircase between Capitol Reef and Bryce Canyon)? Yeah, that can be a bit nervous-making, especially if it's a breezy day and there's snow. 

 

Haven't decided which way we're going to go down to Phoenix the next time we visit my parents, but that's certainly on the list of possibilities.

 

It’s been almost 10 years now, but that sounds about right.  I hunted around on Google Maps for the exact spot but couldn’t find it.  I guess it’s somewhere on UT-12 south of Torrey?

Edited October 15, 2019 by rubegon

[Doug Sundseth]

2 minutes ago, rubegon said:

 

It’s been almost 10 years now, but that sounds about right.  I hunted around on Google Maps for the exact spot but couldn’t find it.  I guess it’s somewhere on UT-12 south of Torrey?

 

Yeah, it's called The Hogback, and it's a bit south of Boulder, UT.

[Argentee]

11 hours ago, TaleSpinner said:

October 15: Have you any phobias?

 

(This question inspired by various reactions to a certain spider being unlocked right now.)

Yes.

No I will not tell you what they are.

[TGP]

22 minutes ago, Argentee said:

 

No I will not tell you what they are.

 

[redambrosia]

3 hours ago, klarg1 said:

 

Content spoilered to protect needle-phobes. You have been warned.

  Hide contents

 

The only time I was really bothered by a needle was the time a relatively inexperienced nurse at the doctor's office was having trouble hitting the vein, and spent 20 seconds or so wiggling it around trying to find it before backing out, and trying again with no greater success. That time I actually felt a little woozy and had to make them stop so I could lie down and recover before I passed out.

 

Aside from that, I have had a hundred or more blood draws in my adult life, and they don't bother me any. I don't usually choose to watch them stick the needle in, but I do look back once they start filling tubes. People are weird.
 

 

Gruesome needle story:
 

Oh yeah, they did that to me when I was in the hospital to give birth. I don’t usually have an issue with needles, the poke doesn’t even usually bother me, but that time it felt like the lady stabbed a nerve in my hand and my whole body jerked. They tried two more places in that hand with the same results, then switched to the right hand. It still hurt, but at least they got a vein. Of course, they said it shouldn’t be hurting me and I shouldn’t be able to feel it in my hand, but I could. I was very relieved when they took it out.

[NebulousMissy]

36 minutes ago, redambrosia said:

4 hours ago, klarg1 said:

 

Content spoilered to protect needle-phobes. You have been warned.

  Reveal hidden contents

 

The only time I was really bothered by a needle was the time a relatively inexperienced nurse at the doctor's office was having trouble hitting the vein, and spent 20 seconds or so wiggling it around trying to find it before backing out, and trying again with no greater success. That time I actually felt a little woozy and had to make them stop so I could lie down and recover before I passed out.

 

Aside from that, I have had a hundred or more blood draws in my adult life, and they don't bother me any. I don't usually choose to watch them stick the needle in, but I do look back once they start filling tubes. People are weird.
 

 

Gruesome needle story:
 

 

  Reveal hidden contents

Oh yeah, they did that to me when I was in the hospital to give birth. I don’t usually have an issue with needles, the poke doesn’t even usually bother me, but that time it felt like the lady stabbed a nerve in my hand and my whole body jerked. They tried two more places in that hand with the same results, then switched to the right hand. It still hurt, but at least they got a vein. Of course, they said it shouldn’t be hurting me and I shouldn’t be able to feel it in my hand, but I could. I was very relieved when they took it out.
 

 

 

Unfortunate needle story:

 

Spoiler

I've always known I had difficult veins. They're very flat. Usually when I donate blood whichever intern who's assigned to me tries to hand me off to the most experienced phlebotomist and then I get three interns all watching while the head works. I'm used to it.

 

But the issue reared its ugly head when I had surgery in August. I had an IV placed with barely acceptable placement in my left hand. I woke up after surgery with a second IV placed in my right hand, much better placement. I know how well/poorly they were placed because the one in my left hand had collapsed within 6 hours, the one in my right lasted 16 hours. The collapses were discovered during two separate failed attempts to push medication through them that left me screaming more than the surgical pain ever managed. I had two different nurses giving me the same confused expression each time. "This shouldn't hurt, why is this hurting? It doesn't look like the vein is blown. Why is the vein collapsed? I don't understand."

 

I had to explain each time. I am the phlebotomist's Hard Mode. I suffered a total venous collapse as a kid. My veins are all flat and they will all collapse around an IV line. When I explained exactly why I went into venous collapse (I was colonized by amoebas) I had one nurse actually shout "And you're still alive?!"

 

 Just...  Also  But mostly 

 

[Dragoneye]

14 hours ago, TaleSpinner said:

October 15: Have you any phobias?

 

(This question inspired by various reactions to a certain spider being unlocked right now.)

Not really.

I used to... kinda, healthy fears more. Fate has destined me to work through them... now its more an interesting curiosity about why my heart rate increased about something. I guess Public speaking is still on my no go list, but it's a lot milder now and it's more because I don't care to work on it.