Anyone who has followed the whole cancer thing knows that I have very hard-to-find veins. They are not only very fine, but I’m told they have a tendency to roll (!) when found, and of course being FAT doesn’t help. Most of the time nurses take one look at my inner arms and go straight for the hands. Which 1) hurt like hell and 2) also have very few vein options left as most of the surface ones were destroyed by chemo. So going for a simple blood test isn’t so simple. Also, unlike most of you guys, I end up having to have blood drawn several times a year.

This morning I had to go for another blood test even though my last one was in October, because I’m seeing the oncologist next week to decide on future monitoring (will it be PET scans once a year now instead of every six months?). I came out of the October session completely battered and bruised after several failed attempts. And – sorry guys! – it is almost always male nurses who can never seem to find a vein (with the exception of One-Poke Manolo). So my heart lifted when I saw two women doing the job today and, sure enough, after having a feel around my right arm, then trying my left, the nurse found a vein not visible to the naked eye and was in and out in no time. I don’t even have a bruise – which is as it should be. Last time both my hands were bruised, swollen and painful for days.

Small mercies. I’ll take em!