Tuesday, June 17, 2008

Nasty Orange Yuck Juice

I must be nearing the end of this pregnancy... with a RhoGAM shot in the rear scheduled for tomorrow, doctors visits down from 4 weeks to 3, and the dreaded Glucose Tolerance Test this morning.

That GTT test is an hour long wait for a blood draw. But the needle isn't the problem - it's the nasty orange yuck juice they force you to drink within a 5 minute time period before the wait begins. It starts out like bad Kool Aid or one of those Mug juices. But by the third swig, the drink is so sugary that it elicits a gag reflex and makes your stomach turn. Add to it that the attendant at check in monitors the time of consumption... at 60 seconds to down it, more than 4 of the 10 ounces remained in the container. Pure agony!

It was crowded in the lab this morning. People with appointments waited beyond the usual time - some more than 30 minutes after their appointment. I watched the clock closely, knowing that more than 10 minutes beyond the hour draw time would negate the test (and I'd have to endure the yuck again). An elderly woman, who had to be at least 70 years old and was rail-thin, called me with a voice so soft I had to strain to hear it. I was a little fearful about her capabilities, as she looked a tad shaky and was very slow moving. But with wisdom comes expertise, as the poke didn't hurt at all and the draw was pain free for the first time ever. How's that for a good ending?

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