Blood work

I went to the doctor's office yesterday for my yearly checkup. And I had the dreaded "blood work" done. All my life I have avoided this. Yes, I'm an adult. And yes, I go to the doctor every year. But somehow I managed to evade having my blood sucked out of me every single time.

There were two things I was thinking when I went to the doctor's yesterday. The first was, will I be alright? I can't say the word "blood" without feeling weak in the knees. The second was, maybe I have a tough streak in me that will suddenly come to life! You know all those stories where the main character is a wimp, but when they have to do something very hard, they suddenly rise to the challenge and become heroes? I always hoped I was one of those characters.

So I sat down and the needle went in, and I just closed my eyes and thought, "Is that all? Easy!" Then I realized I could feel the blood leaving my hand and streaming up to the needle in my arm. That made me shake and tremble. It didn't hurt, but it forced me to think about blood and I hated it. But soon, that was over to.

I stood up, happy to have it over and noticed that my vision was a little black. I must have stood up too fast, so I sucked in my stomach, because that would help keep the blood from rushing to my head too fast. But my vision only got worse, and everything sounded weird. The nurse made me sit down again and handed me water, and all the while I was resolved that I would not faint. I broke into a cold sweat all over, but I succeeded in staying conscious.

I left the office feeling slightly disappointed with myself for not becoming a hero. As if not feeling effected by having bloods drawn would have made me hero....

How do you react to getting blood drawn?