Blood Draw Day

Thank goodness for Emla cream!!!! That stuff is the best stuff ever invented! Ethan had to have his blood drawn again today for his allergy testing due to a lab mess up. The lab incorrectly read the original orders and didn't run the appropriate tests on the blood. When I was notified about this from the nurse at Dr. Maupin's office, she informed me that this lab has made this mistake several times now requiring children to have to have their blood re-drawn. I just thought that was unacceptable. She told me that she had spoken with Troy, the lab manager, about Ethan and she informed him how very upset they were that this had happened. She also suggested that I let Troy know how I felt, too. I intended to do just that.

Knowing how traumatic the last blood draw was for Ethan, and thanks to my wonderful friend, Candy, for recommending it, I called the pediatrician's office and asked that a tube of Emla cream be called in for us. This is a lidocaine type of cream to numb the skin before giving an injection. Knowing he was going to get this cream, Ethan was actually very calm about getting his test. I put the cream on both of his arms before we left for the hospital and they were good and numb by the time we arrived there. The minute we walked into the lab, the girl at the desk recognized us right away. She is the one that drew his blood the last time. We chatted for a minute and I told her why we were there. She said that she will NEVER forget Ethan. :) And I'm quite certain that is because he turns into the Incredible Hulk when it comes to getting his blood drawn. The amount of strength the boy gets is amazing. She had to call in two other people to hold him down the last time just to do it. And that was with Rob and me already holding him, too.

As I was talking to the nice lady about how unhappy I was that we had to do this again, I mentioned to her that I would really like to speak with Troy, the lab manager. I told her about how the nurse had already complained, but I would also like to speak with him personally. In fact, I thought it would be beneficial for him to come and sit in on Ethan's blood draw. When I told her this, she just laughed and said, "Oh, this is going to be good." She called Troy and told him Ethan's name and asked him if it sounded familiar. She smiled and then told him that Ethan's mother was here for the blood draw and that I would like to speak with him personally and that I would also like him to come in and watch Ethan get stuck with a needle. The nice lady hung up the phone and told me that Troy had a 2:00 meeting that he was going have to postpone and that if I was willing to wait a few minutes, then he would be down soon.

Troy walked in and introduced himself to me and gave me his business card and then he introduced himself to Ethan. I explained how upset I was that Ethan's labs had to be re-done. I explained how I understood that mistakes happen, but it was also my understanding that this mistake keeps happening and that is the reason why I requested to speak with him personally. I told him that I felt like when they are handling the blood of children, then every possible step should be taken to make sure that the orders are followed exactly as written. I told him that there are obviously some quality control issues that need to be addressed if children are having to be re-stuck needlessly. He showed me the orders and showed me how easy it is for the mistake to happen, but then went on to say that it doesn't excuse it. I told him that I felt like if he stayed and watched Ethan go through a blood draw, maybe he would then be able to help put some quality control guidelines in place so this won't happen again. He said that he would gladly stay and watch Ethan get his blood drawn.

We went in the little room and I sat in the chair with Ethan in my lap. His heart was beating 90 miles an hour. Troy was doing a wonderful job of engaging him in conversation and asking him questions to try to distract him. Ethan still had to watch, just as I promised him he could, and he did beautifully as the needle was poked in and the many vials of blood were drawn. He never even flinched. Even the nice lady who drew he blood was amazed. We both told him how proud we were of him. She said, "Wow, Ethan! Last time I had to call two people in here to hold you down! You did great this time!!!!!" Ethan was just smiling. He looked at me and said that he wanted me to use that cream on him for his flu shot next year, too. :)

After it was over, Troy talked to Ethan for a minute and told him what a good job he did. He then talked to me and assured me that these issues are going to be dealt with. I let him know how grateful I was for him to take the time to come talk to me and to sit in on the blood draw. He had to leave to go back to that meeting, but he told Ethan that the next time we have to come back to the hospital, he wants us to come down to the lab and he will personally give Ethan a tour of the inside of the lab. Ethan was pretty excited about this.

So, the funny part in all of this is that this was probably the one and only time that Ethan could have screamed and it would have been okay since I had Troy in there watching, but I am really glad that Ethan had such an easy time with the blood draw. I hope we get the results soon!