To refuse this blood test?

[BlairWaldorfsHeadband]

My hospital want to do a group and save. I’m a needle phobe, but hadnit done and it was a very upsetting experience.

The hospital then mislabelled the blood. So want me to repeat it.

Here’s the thing - they have my blood group on record. And blood groups don’t change. I know my blood group.

I’ve been treated quite ignorantly about my needle phobia by them and so, I don’t want to redo the test. It’s their fault they put the wrong label on it and they already have the info.

Aibu to just say no?

@BlairWaldorfsHeadband my DD is coming up 37 weeks Pg and hasn't had any bloods done, due to her extreme phobia It's a massive shame that your hospital aren't willing to help you cope with your issues.

My DD is currently having hypnotherapy, in the hope she can overcome it enough, to tolerate bloods before my DGS is here, but it's not a given.

for you, totally understand where you're coming from x

Just do whatever you need to get through. Ask to lie or recline, focus on something across the room, bring a book and count the number of times a certain letter appears on a page - anything that takes your mind elsewhere. Phobias are often not logical - you can’t deal with an emotional issue with logic, you can only try to manage the emotion.

Emla numbing cream: www.chemistdirect.co.uk/emla-cream-5/prd-jt

Shotblocker (probably better for injections but you will need fragmin after so might help) www.pcwerth.co.uk/store/bionix-shot-blocker-5pack

OP I have Generalised Anxiety Disorder along with Bipolar (it’s there in black and white in my file at the local mental health hospital- which is ace by the way), along with several other invisible disabilities, which I get PIP for (only saying to prove my level of disability-ness!!).

But guess what- I’m with half the posters on here. Get a grip and stop making excuse. 9/10 I pass out having bloods done. Considering I have lithium ones every 3 months, I should be a pro. I’m not! I shake, I cry, I can’t breath and as they draw the blood out I go. But I have to have it done.

So like some others said, nows the time to put on the big girl pants. It’s not just you, it’s your baby you need to think about.

By having the attitude you have right now, you are just cutting off your nose to spite your face.

Sushirolls I hope she is okay! Anxiety is unpleasant.

At the end of the day OP, it's in yours and your baby's best interests to have it done. They aren't going to hold you down and force you, but it's you that loses out on appropriate care.

Bowl thank you, that looks really helpful.

My forever 10 year old ds had group and save done every time he needed a blood transfusion or platelet transfusion while having chemotherapy last year which was fairly frequently. Must be procedure.

Thank you @BlairWaldorfsHeadband we are very lucky that her mws are very understanding and don't try & force her (she does try, but gets too distressed & they have to stop).

I think it's very hard sometimes for people to understand if they haven't lived it, you cannot rationalise with a phobia.

I hope you manage to get yours done, can your mw not do it at your gp surgery or the nurse you feel comfortable with, come in & do it whilst you're there to see your mw? Or will they not allow that?

Congratulations & Good luck with your little one xo

Group and saves are only valid in my trust for 4 weeks because you can develop antibodies. The nhs wouldn’t waste money on blood tests unnecessarily; it is a clinical need. The risks from blood transfusions are MASSIVE if things go wrong. If you were given the wrong blood you could die. They are doing it to keep you safe. I know blood tests aren’t pleasant and hopefully you won’t need one. But if the nhs say you need it you need it.

Muddling I am sorry to hear about your DS’s illness hope you are doing okay.

sushirolls thank you. Sadly they won’t let me do that.

I agree, people who don’t have these things often don’t understand. I wish I could change it but I can’t and many people with phobias and anxiety disorders feel this way.

Seems more like they’re unwilling I cater for anything outside average, which makes me less likely to cooperate.

Do you realise how childish that sounds? "I can't get my way so I'm going to stamp my feet until I do!"

That's not mental illness, it's stubborn childishness.

(And I'm not suggesting that you're not well, but you can't use it as an excuse for being difficult.)

Bombadier

I don’t see why they’re being so difficult though! Sometimes people have MH problems, and it’s really horrible to not make adjustments.

They are making adjustments, just not the ones you want OP.

What adjustments? They haven’t done anything.

You're well within your rights to say "No", however, they are doing this for your benefit so it's only you that would have problems if things went wrong.

Fair enough I got confused sorry OP.

I just don’t see why you’re making such a fuss over something you’ve managed before. Reasonable adjustments are for something you cannot do and I’m sure their argument would be that you have been able to before and could be again.

Having re-read all your posts again (looking to see if I was wrong) I have to say I think you’re deliberately being difficult and refusing to consider options which have been offered to you because you’re determined to get it your own way and are citing reasonable adjustments to do it, which isn’t on.

What meant you could do it last time? Was there something they did? Something you did?

Talk

I did it with a midwife taking it and in a private room, where they talked to me for ages first and made me feel at ease.

Other times, ive had a bed and the same person who talks to me first, makes sure I feel safe and then does it when I am ready.

What I can’t do it having it done on a chair quickly, by someone I don’t know.

I asked upthread if you could request to change midwife, but you maybe didn’t see it? Could you request that?

And a bed I mean.

I asked upthread if you could request to change midwife, but you maybe didn’t see it? Could you request that?

I get a different one each time I go. I’m hoping to get one who understands soon!

I hope you do too. Do you have a community midwife you see regularly?

Being scared of needles is not a disability. I'm all for invisible disabilities being recognised and I'm definitely in favour of mental health problems being better recognised and treated with respect but please, don't put your needle phobia on a par with a limbless woman being asked to walk.
I am disabled and every damn day I have to do things that are physically and mentally hard in order to be a good parent, to be able to see friends, spend time with my dh.
There are times when you have to pull your big girls pants on. Most of us do it all the time.

Being scared of needles is not a disability. I'm all for invisible disabilities being recognised and I'm definitely in favour of mental health problems being better recognised and treated with respect but please, don't put your needle phobia on a par with a limbless woman being asked to walk.

If you’d bothered reading you’d see I have generalised anxiety disorder, ocd, and other specific anxiety related issues. I have made suicide attempts in the last due to the severity of my anxiety.

Sorry if that seems rude but I’m sick of people underestimating how debilitating it is.

Anxiety isn’t necesarily a disability though, that’s what people have been saying. You seem determined that it is and therefore implying that the medical staff or posters here are being discriminatory