Bravery, blessings, and vampires named Gladys.

Pinned on the Beauty in the Everyday board

I like to think that I am brave.

I mean...I get on stage and perform...I LIKE speaking to large groups of people...I wear heels even though I'm almost 6 feet tall...I have pink AND purple hair...I have 12 tattoos. 

That's brave right?!

Well, turns out that I'm not as brave as I think.

See, it turns out that although I have been tattooed on various parts of my body, I am still irrationally afraid of needles and having blood drawn. {Ok, seriously, IT'S NOT THE SAME THING!!!!} 

Let's chalk that up to me having copious amounts of blood drawn as a child suffering from a nearly deathly case of pneumonia. My brain still associates blood draws with being so sick.

On my first visit to the allergist, a couple months ago, she ordered blood work to test various things, including Lupus and Rheumatoid Arthritis. I faithfully carried that order around in my purse with no intention of getting it done. However, after my recent allergy testing involving 64 injections of various and sundry allergens and getting no real answers, I came to the conclusion that I HAD to get it done.

I promised myself everyday that I would just go do it on lunch, but....well...you know...I'm REALLY busy right now and I have many things that have to be done. Blood work being very low on the list. I mean, seriously, people are depending on me and I need to TAKE CARE OF ALL THE THINGS!!! I am Super Girl and I can do it all, right? Wrong.

Fast forward to this morning. I received a text from my new team member, Kathie. It read "Bring your blood work Rx. I'm taking you to lunch." Well poop. I thought I had my team fooled into thinking that I have it all together.

So at noon today, Kathie loaded me into her van and drove me to Taco Bell. She even paid! We had great conversation and Dr Peppers, but then she loaded me back in the van and took me to the Den of Vampires. Ok, they prefer to be called Quest Diagnostics, but whatever.

Here is where I met sweet Vivian who made sure that I felt welcome and at ease before she passed me off to the vampire...I mean phlebotomist, Gladys. Kathie offered to come back with me, but I politely declined. I felt like she had done enough. Plus, I didn't want her to see me have a panic or see my blood in jars....vials.

Gladys talked me through the process of removing 8 gallons...ok...vials of my precious blood that I worked so hard to make. We talked of tattoos (she is in her 50's and just got her first) and allergy tests and why I am afraid of needles. And when I say Gladys talked what I mean is I talked non-stop whilst Gladys removed my blood and just kept saying "You are really funny" and shaking her head. 

After she had removed all my blood, Gladys told me that I was brave and I could go on about my day. I told her thank you for being such a nice vampire and left quickly before she could get a hold of me again. Kathie loaded me back up in the van and we headed back to work. I told her that I felt brave now and that the 2 pages of other blood work that I needed to do didn't seem as scary now that I'd met Gladys.

So here is the deal. I am currently laying on my couch desperately trying to finish this before I get too dizzy and can't write any more. I still don't react well to blood draws. I was tempted to write something unpleasant on Facebook about feeling yucky. It would have been OK if I had, but I also felt like that would have taken away from the blessings of today. Here is a summary:

1. I have been blessed with a team member and friend who cares about me so much that she drags my butt to the doctors office.

2. I met some very nice blood suckers who made me not as afraid as I had been.

3. I was told I was brave and I felt it. I didn't run away or try to get out of it. I just faced it. 

4. The yuckiest thing is now crossed off my to do list.

Look at all that blessing. And beauty. Right in the midst of an average Tuesday.

peace, love, and kind vampires,

chrissy :)

ps: I hope that at least part of this makes sense...I lost a lot of blood today ;)