Better Than Expected

26 Replies

I have to admit that the trip to the Treatment Centre turned out better than expected.

There was very light traffic on the road, though one or two drivers still managed to make a race out of it. Despite the doctrine of Natural Selection there seems to be an endless supply of idiots. I suppose that if the stupidity gene is recessive even sensible people will end up with idiot children. This explains a lot.

When I arrived at the centre there was some parking, which isn’t usually the case, and the barriers were open, so there was no charge. You know what I’m like about parting with money for frippery, so this was good news. As I left the car I noted that it was 8.55.

There were two security guards lurking at the entrance but they were chatting rather than doing anything useful. The ticket machine for the phlebotomy department was not working so they were handing out tickets at reception. I hope they had washed it after it was last used.

There was no queue, I just knocked on the door and the phlebotomist opened it, told me she was going to put her kit on and closed the door. Moments later, dressed in face mask, apron and gloves, she opened the door and let me in.

The vein took some finding, but she hit it first time and took two tubes of blood. Two. They must be doing a lot of tests.

She took 60 blood samples on Wednesday, but only a handful yesterday. She has three kids, and this is making things difficult at the moment, particularly as the older one is now afraid to leave the house. Based on my experience of having just two kids, three must be difficult at any time. I still remember the panic I felt at being left on my own with a baby and a two-year-old. Keeping two of them under supervision at the same time felt like I was in the middle of a real life fox, goose and sack of corn riddle. On top of all that she’s a very competent taker of blood.

After that it was upstairs to the pharmacy. After discussing the medication, yet again, I was handed a bag of pills and yet another booklet. I’m now waiting for the go-ahead to start taking them.

As I pulled out onto the ring road I looked at the car clock – it was 9.18. Allowing a couple of minutes for parking this means I was in and out in 25 minutes. This, I suppose, is an upside to the lockdown.

There were several points, one due to the construction of the centre and three due to people who didn’t understand the concept of six feet/two yards/two metres (one being a member of the medical staff). Note my previous comments on numbers of idiots.

Pictures are, again, from the free library. It’s difficult to find a good one for blood. The bottom picture is a shameless attempt to cheer people up.

animal pet cute portrait

Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com

26 thoughts on “Better Than Expected”

  1. Pingback: Blood Test | quercuscommunity

  5. tootlepedal

    There is always a good supply of idiots to which I am proud to belong from time to time. The problem comes when they get into positions of power, elected or appointed of course by other idiots.

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  8. Laurie Graves

    Moving story about the phlebotomist and her children, especially the oldest child. I bet even after this is over, there’s going to be a lot of anxiety. And for doctors, nurses, and other health care workers maybe even PTSD as they recall the choices they had to make about who lives and who dies. Great picture of the cat even though it’s not your own.

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    1. quercuscommunity

      I suspect if it was free it would be overflowing. I could write a very long and vituperative post on this subject. 🙂

      To be fair, I could do that on a lot of subjects.

      Reply ↓

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