3 Hour Glucose Test
Today I went in for my 3 hour test. I failed the first one miserably. I scored 195 - really high - so I'm banking on being diabetic. Yay! No more sweets for me.
Anyway, the test took like 3 and a half hours total, including the first blood draw and the drink time. I went in about 8:30, the lady took my blood, then gave me the orange soda drink. It actually didn't taste as bad this time. (Of course, I can't taste carbonation because of my seizure medication, so that probably affects how I taste it - however, this time, it did burn my throat less.) After downing the drink, I went to my car and sat and read. I was going to sit outside, but the wind was WAY too cold.
After an hour, I went back, more blood, hour wait, more blood, hour wait, more blood, then finished! So blood drawn at 8:30, 9:45, 10:45, and 11:45. I wondered if she'd use the same vein or even the same hole, but she said they try to switch. She did my left arm first (they always use my left), my right arm second, then back to my left, in almost the same place. When she got to the last time, she went back to my right arm, but it had developed a bruise about an inch in diameter. So she looked at my left again, but it was starting to bruise as well, though a bit smaller. So she used a butterfly needle to get a really small vein in my right arm. It was kinda interesting. I also asked her if there are many tests that require blood to be drawn so many times with a time gap between - for anything, not just for pregnant women. She said that the glucose test is the only one they do that has the patient get stuck so many times with gaps in between - and it's rather annoying for the person drawing the blood. Incidentally, in case you were wondering how much blood they take, it was five of those little vials from me - 2 the first time and one each time after.
After the test my arms were a little sore, and I was a little dizzy and had a bit of a headache and stomachache from not eating and from drinking that drink. I grabbed some lunch, relaxed for a bit, then headed back to work. I was still dazed for a while, but luckily, I only had to actually teach for one hour - my other class had a midterm today.
I spent 2 hours after school ended grading the tests, then headed to the market to get stuff for dinner. We've got a Vons with a Starbucks here, so I asked the lady if they had any decaf. She said no. So I asked if she could make some. She said no. Then she told me, "Shouldn't you forget about coffee anyway?" with quite a superior attitude. So I told her no - decaf is fine, and even regular is fine, if you limit it. I was rather amused. Aaaaand so I didn't get coffee. Ah, well.