A good start

Awoooooooo! I just got the results of my first exam in my phlebotomy class and I got the second highest score. Now, an 86% may not sound too reasurring if told to a patient about to be drawn, but the hightest score was a 89% and there are some smart people in that class. The teacher even warned us that the scores would probably be on the low side since most people don't do well on first exams. Still, I feel comfy. Just gotta continue to study my butt off since it's gonna get harder and my future is riding on this class.

I forgot to mention this earlier but I got a lot at stake here.

1. I'm dying to get out of the house, but not stupid enough to leave without a solid financial foundation. My parents get pissed off if I'm out past 11pm and dangit I'm a night person. I prefer not to meander about in the day because of the sun. I don't want to be a tan goth or get a melanoma when I'm 40. Plus nightime is so pretty and less people are out and about so it's quieter.

Anyway, 11pm is no bedtime for a 21 year old, it's stupid and has been getting stupider for years. I need independence! I'd feel more guilty about it except I know people even more behind in life than me, at least I'm doing something. I'm not worried about living with my parents until I'm 30 because I'll be educated enough for a well paying job to support myself.

2. I'm gonna have a party!!!! Yes, a party. Whether my parents like it or not. It's going to be a phlebotomy themed party. No, we're not drawing blood. There will be an appropriately themed cake. I want to model it out of human tissue, strawberry maybe, I dunno. But I want to decorate it with clean equiptment like needle-less syringes and hubs or something. Plus there will be a game of pin-the-needle-on-the-arm with a picture of an arm on the wall and we gotta stick it with pins on the right spot on the vein. Maybe other things, like fake cups of urine in the bathroom, but my mother has protested that idea.

3. PURPLE HAIR!!! I WANT MY HAIR BACK!!! I let it go natural for the clinicals just to avoid problems, but when that's over I'm dying back to the color it really is suppost to be. I won't be looking for a job immediately after and the dye is temporary anyway. It needs matinence. Besides, for when I do get a job and the work/life world collide, I plan on having a compromise of a wig. No, not a purple wig, a normal hair color wig. My hair is gonna be purple and that's that. There's a wonderful high-quality wig store down the street and I think the investment is worth it. They also have clips so if an irate patient trys to pull my hair it'll stay on but just hurt my head, which would happen anyway.

So there you have it. My reasons. But they really aren't all of them.

I love my patients and my dreams are pointing to the medical field. Phlebotomy will be helpful in nursing school (the ultimate goal) and give me some financial sustinence until I become a nurse. And, guess what, IT'S FUN!!! I actually enjoy it. From the patient interaction to the lab to the blood, the chance to give compassion to the suffering and the exercise!! You have to walk all around the hospital to collect those samples and the elevators suck so we use the stairs most of the time. Yes, it is awesome and I relish the opportunties for learning.

There's still more, but, that's for another day I think. It's more cerebral than that.

To anyone out there thinking about phlebotomy, go for it. The education is worth it, and it goes beyond your textbook.