Today I have to go to Huntsman to have my blood drawn. I slept a little better last night, but not great. M&M is supposed to have a meeting with a school counselor and one of her parents this morning to discuss what classes she wants to take over the next few years. I had already talked to DH about going to it with her and then going into work right afterwards. My parents are coming over so my mom can sit with the kids while my dad drives me to Huntsman. DH ends up just coming and working from home after the meeting at school. My parents came over earlier than I was expecting them and I haven't even gotten in the shower yet. Not quite feeling myself again this morning. I feel a little lightheaded again and have been a little nauseous again. I finally get in the shower and get myself ready to go.

We get to the clinic and I check in and then wait to be called back. At one point my dad said that the nurse that came out called my name so I got up and followed her. She took me back and weighed me and took my pulse and then took me into an examining room to take my blood pressure and she asked me a few questions about pain and how I was feeling. I was a little confused by all of this because I thought that they would just draw my blood and then I would be sent on my way. The nurse that was doing all of this said that she was a new nurse and she had another nurse with her who was making sure that she did everything correctly. Well, then she said, "Okay, you need to get undressed from the waist down and put this drape over your legs and the doctor will be in to see you in a few minutes."

I said, "Now, why do I need to do this? I'm just here for a blood draw for lab work."

The nurses look at each other. "Um, what's your last name?"

I tell her and she looks at her chart kind of puzzled and said, "Is your first name Leslie?"

"No, it's Stephanie," I say.

Apparently my dad heard a name that sounded like mine and since I was a little foggy brained that day and didn't even hear the nurse at all, I went with the wrong nurse! And not once did either of those nurses refer to me by name or ask me my name or my date of birth (which is something that they seem to be doing every five minutes they are meeting with you to make sure they have the right person). So my weight and pulse and blood pressure were all marked on someone else's chart!! (I just have to chuckle every time I think about this!)

Well, the nurse quickly takes me out of that room and has me sit down in a chair in the hallway while she figures out where I am supposed to be. She hands me over to one of the nurses that I recognize who draws blood there, but when she takes me to the regular blood draw area I mention to her that I have a port which is done in a separate room there. So she has me sit back down in the hallway and hands my orders over to another nurse. That nurse then takes my blood pressure (which is something that has to be done each week as part of the clinical trial I am in) and tells me to just sit and wait and then she walks off. So I sit and wait and sit and wait and finally after about 10-15 minutes I begin to wonder if they even know I am there. Just then the social worker from my oncology team walks by and recognizes me (and remembers my name even). She stops by to talk to me for a minute and I mention to her that I'm not even sure if they know I am here and she said that she would ask. It turns out that I was in the right place, but they already had a patient that they were currently working on so I just had to wait a few more minutes. Wow, what an exciting day so far!

Finally the nurse that works with ports comes out and gets me and takes me back where I will go from now on to have my port accessed each week. (And the first thing she asked me when I sat down was what my full name and date of birth were.) It was quite the sterile procedure - using gloves, face mask, all the tools straight out of sterile packing that they sit and open there right at the table. I put the numbing cream on my port before I left home so I didn't really feel any of it. I also didn't watch because I get queasy around blood and I have learned that I can't watch when I have needles poked into me or I will pass out. Every time I have to close my eyes and turn away and try and think about something else. It was quite weird knowing that she was poking into my chest though and I tried not to think about it while she was doing it. The nurse just had to draw one vial of blood and then she slapped a bandaid on me and sent me on my way.

I made my way back out to the waiting room where my dad was waiting and I sat down and told him that they hadn't called my name at all! He thought that that meant that I hadn't even been seen yet, but luckily that wasn't the case. (I hope the nurse that was training the other nurse felt stupid for that whole fiasco!) We then went back to the car and drove home. My dad then had to go and visit one of his patients (he spends several hours a week helping out some homebound people through a volunteer program) so my mom stayed to help out with the kids while I tried to take a nap. We had another dinner brought in that evening from the other counselor in the primary presidency.