I know I’ve come a long ways from the girl who almost fainted every time she had blood drawn.

How do I know this? Because yesterday I went in for a blood draw and got a new girl. I warned her that my veins have a tendency to “roll away” from the needle, making them easy to poke, but hard to draw blood from.

So she pokes my vein, and then a few seconds later – in a baby voice – I hear, “Come here you little vein.”

Eww. For so many reasons, eww.

At this point in a blood draw I usually get faint, but I was feeling fine.

Then I hear, “Oh, we have a squirter!”

Seriously? A “squirter” apparently means blood had shot up my arm. Even looking at that, I was feeling fine.

The other arm did the same roll away, so she went to find a more experienced technician. Through all these pokes I felt completely fine.

So, my veins aren’t cooperating anymore than they used to, but I’m doing a lot better, and there’s something to be said for that kind of progress.