Pathology Requests Blood

[LarryTango]

A few months ago i was told i have type 2 diabetes, i guess im still coming to terms with it, sometimes im ok, sometimes im not so ok. i think i will be better after all the firsts have happened (first xmas first bday first easter etc etc) , i was made aware that i would need blood tests every so often and now it appears this is my first time (since the day i was told).

i have a piece of paper in front of me that was giving to me about 3 months ago from a nurse, at the time i was very much in denial and didnt look at it, i was told i had to make an appointment for end of jan 2008.

So .. its jan 2008 i find the paper and it says Pathology Requests Blood as the header .. then the followin items are selected on the sheet to be tested (i assume.. they're ticked)

Electrolyte Profile
Liver Profile
Thyroid Profile
Lipids

HbA1C

Additional Notes: Fasting Bloods



could anyone tell me if this will be one blood test (im terrified of needles) or more than 1 blood test .. or a different type of test . what are all them things .. im very confused and dare i say it scared again

thnx for your help

[gettingby]

It should just be one stick but they may have to take a couple of vials.

[xMenace]

I just had a full slate this week. They took five vials in about a minute. The nurse told me a bleed very well ;)

Tell them you are prone to fainting (even if you are not) so they give you the biggest chair and the cutest nurse. Never mind that cute nurses don't get assigned to blood clinics :( I always look away. I haven't had a fainting spell in 20 years, but I still look away. I only get into trouble when they can't find a vein and start poking around for one. *plop*

You need to fast too.

Seriously, it's a breeze.

[gettingby]

I just had a full slate this week. They took five vials in about a minute. The nurse told me a bleed very well ;)

Tell them you are prone to fainting (even if you are not) so they give you the biggest chair and the cutest nurse. Never mind that cute nurses don't get assigned to blood clinics :( I always look away. I haven't had a fainting spell in 20 years, but I still look away. I only get into trouble when they can't find a vein and start poking around for one. *plop*

You need to fast too.

Seriously, it's a breeze.
Not me. I watch. I want to make sure of what they are doing. I trust no one. Muhahahaha !!! :evil:
Seriously though, make sure you do fast. I know that is definitely needed for the lipid panel. I'm having that done in April.

[Evermont]

An interesting article I found:

"...People who are afraid of syringes and blood, for example, may first be shown a magazine photo with a trace of blood depicted in it. Innocuous photos give way to graphic ones, and graphic ones to a display of a real, empty syringe. Over time, the syringe is brought closer, and the patient learns to hold it and even tolerate having blood drawn.

...

The fact that phobias, of all the anxiety disorders, can be overcome so readily is one of psychology's brightest bits of clinical news in a long time. Phobias can beat the stuffing out of sufferers because the feelings they generate seem so real and the dangers they warn of so great. Most of the time, however, the dangers are mere neurochemical lies--and the lies have to be exposed. "Your instincts tell you to escape or avoid," says Phillipson. "But what you really need to do is face down the fear." When you spend your life in a cautionary crouch, the greatest relief of all may come from simply standing up."

(link to TIME article (http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,103786-1,00.html))

[Real4]

Electrolyte Profile
Liver Profile
Thyroid Profile
Lipids

HbA1C

Additional Notes: Fasting Bloods

Electrolytes - levels of certain minerals in blood such as calcium, sodium, etc.

Liver - Liver enzymes, levels and proportions of these can indicate liver problems,

Thyroid - Thyroid hormones which control the "rate" of body functions

Lipids - lipids are "fats" in the blood. The most well known is cholesterol. Diabetics often have problems here.

HbA1C - usually referred to as 'A1C', an overall test of long term average blood glucose (sugar).

This is all standard stuff. I get most of them everytime I go to a lab. BTW, one stick, multiple vials.

The Lipids test is not valid unless you have been fasting (not eaten) for 12 hours. Best to get fasting tests done as early in the am as possible.

[pmscowboy]

It gonna be alright. Not much to it an really not that big of a deal if you concentrate on something other than the process...

[LarryTango]

Thank you for your replies.

The reason i freaked out abit is because the nurse i seen at my doctors surgery is a complete idiot! , when she was telling me what i had to have the blood tests for (and really not telling me anything other than reading the sheet) she said LIVER BIOPSY and not LIVER PROFILE she also in her amazing wisdom told me if i had any medical questions to first use the internet (i went there complaining that my vision had gone .. about 1 week after i was told i had diabetes ... and she told me it was because i spent too much time on a computer and nothing to do with diabetes , and thus wasting her time i guess) so i used the net searching for LIVER BIOPSY and then found NASH (Nonalcoholic steatohepatitis) and then got more freaked out ... and the stupid thing is i know people should never self diagnos using the NET!! but she told me to ... she also told me that i shouldnt eat bananas or grapes, any my immune system is now weak due to diabetes ... since i reread the sheet (while typing it here) and seeing your replies i see liver profile is just another thing the lab will check from the blood there get from me (if i read your replies right) and so im not dying of some other random disease (since diabates i became a paranoid person)


anyways thnx again :)

[Bunkins]

Here's a secret about needles and other things that tend to make you light headed.. If you pay attension to yourself when lets say your getting blood drawn or a shot, you will hold your breath.. Concentrate on your breathing, I promise it will help, atleast a little... I learned this a long time ago, living on a ranch all my life, I've seen some nasty stuff.. I used to get sick sometimes when I'd see a nasty wound, noticed that when I had to "doctor" the wound I'd hold my breath and get sick.. Once I figured that out, I've had no probs since...

But yeah, do what you can to get over it, you'll be seeing your fair share of needles... Needles dont bother me in the least, I'd probably draw the blood myself if they'd let me LOL

Sorry to hear you have type-2.. Hang out here and you'll learn a lot.. I've been coming on here off and on, but havnt started posting till resently.. I've learned a ton, much more than I have ever learned from any endo I've seen..