As someone who has dealt with this my entire life, I've finally gotten to the point where I am not at all shy at saying "I have deep rolling veins, I need the most experienced person, I don't mind if I need to wait longer."
The difference between someone who really knows their shit, and someone who can do an ok job on most people is night and day.
My veins are large and obvious. Had a nurse fail three times, one time shooting my blood across the floor. Gave me my first and only panic attack, who walked away during it saying I needed to calm down as I almost passed out.
I declined another attempt and delayed a new draw for a month. Told the next nurse my story to say why I was so nervous. She just said, "Don't worry, that won't happen with me." Which is maybe what any nurse would say, except she then did it so fast and near painlessly. I thanked her for it.
I don't know how to get all of y'all but I have deep, small rolling veins.
Just ask them to draw from your hand. You'll always have the first nurse fight you on it, I do, but after my first stick, they inevitably grab someone more experienced and say "she says she wants it from the hand..."
The more experienced person'll look at both my arms and inspect and say "yeah, draw from her hand."
I am a suuuuuuper easy stick and have absolutely 0 issue with needles, so I always ask if there is anyone new who needs practice. Trying to do my part to help everyone that is a bit tougher to stick or is really nervous about needles.
I have a similar issue: Shy veins. Felt like a pin cushion after numerous nurses couldn't find a vein all throughout my life. Finally in my late 50s I figured out using the top of my right hand works like a charm.
Nice story. Real life though it was probably Anesthesia. Probably a nurse anesthetist. The ones who are absolute masters at it do it all the time. A surgeon would never be the one to do it. The head of anasthesia would also out be doing it, you want the practitioners, the ones on the front lines.
If you want to do a heart transplant then yeah, gonna need a surgeon for that one.
I have deep thin rolling veins, so I feel for your daughter. I try to tell them to use a butterfly needle, based on my experience as a kid in the children’s hospital, but for some reason most don’t want to. After the third they, they usually get it though. Maybe ask for that? And of course, hydrate.
To anyone reading this who has had trouble getting stuck for blood:
Some people are just hard to stick because of how bodies can vary. Two of the biggest things to help are if you know you have a blood draw or stick coming up, please pre-game before hand and make sure you're very well hydrated. And I mean be actually, actively hydrating all the way up to the draw! Most people do not realize they are walking around at least mildy dehydrated every day, and that added to having hard veins is probably the single biggest cause of missed sticks. A well hydrated person has larger, easier to see veins.
Also be sure you're breathing deeply throughout. Especially if needles freak you out, you've got to ensure you don't clam up, you've got to keep breathing!
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u/[deleted] Jun 10 '25
My daughter has tiny veins.
She needed some bloodwork and the first time we went in the nurse prodded and poked multiple entries and admitted defeat.
The second time for the same reason first nurse again poked around, admitted defeat and finally called someone else supposedly a specialist.
The third nurse put it in on first attempt even with the preexisting holes…
And the kid was cool as ice the whole ordeal.
I have had bad examples but also cases where I simply don’t feel anything at all.