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Yesterday, while I was wrapping up the cross matching I was doing, my senior told me there’s a “PCV patient”. Couldn’t hear it clearly at first so I just shrugged it, thinking he was just telling it just because. Then he asked me if I wanted to bleed the patient; turns out it was the P C V as in Polycythemia Vera, a low-growing blood cancer in which your bone marrow makes too many red blood cells (© Mayo Clinic) and it was her schedule for Therapeutic Phlebotomy.
Had to check her CBC result and it really matches the theoretical criteria of the disease. Her blood was indeed thick!!! Yikes, I miss Hematology.
Okay, I had to post it!!! Can’t believe I was only reading/ hearing from my clinical instructors/ imagining this case two years ago and now, I just encountered it irl!!! Again, every day is a new learning experience!
First Week as a Medical Technologist!
I remember writing on my last post that “I don’t have the spirit to find a job yet” but two days after that very post, I landed a job… in a freaking public hospital!!! Yep, can’t believe it myself either.
It honestly still hasn’t sank in because it all happened too fast??!!! I’M NOT EVEN EMOTIONALLY PREPARED TO WORK YET!!!! I’m not even 100% sure that I’m going to practice the profession but surprise surprise! I remember only getting up in the morning (which I usually don’t because I always wake up at lunch unless my niece has school affair) to submit my PDS in a local hospital then the next thing I knew, I was already signing a contract and getting my biometrics!!! I thought there’s still a long process and all that but it all happened in a flash!?
I was assigned in the Blood Station Facility of our Provincial Hospital. So far, I’m getting the hang of our work flow. My seniors were nice enough to teach me everything I need to know and actually left every crossmatching during my shifts to me for almost a week which I am thankful and afraid of at the same time. I am a self-proclaimed loser in phlebotomy due to my infamous phobia in needles (yup, ironically) and I was never even able to develop the “skills” during internship since I had it in two private hospitals that’s why I’m really scared and nervous whenever I was told to ward and extract. So far, I only had 2 failed extractions (endorsement) because the first patient’s vein collapsed, ‘di ko na nahabol which I thought was QNS (which later on I learned that okay lang pala huhu sayang) while the other one was a diabetic whose veins I couldn’t palpate #defensive. But I was also shocked and glad to have heard/ been told as a “sharp shooter” by a patient and her relative. Me??? A sharp shooter??? Over my shaking hands looooooool nope. It’s so funny that I developed the habit of praying “sana madali lang ang vein” whenever I receive blood requests. It’s still a looooooooong way to go for me in phlebotomy and I’m praying I’ll get over my fear of needles soon and extract like a pro.
I’m still as anxious as I am the first day because I am very aware of the fact that just one wrong drop of mine, I can kill a patient… and automatically lose my license. I always make sure to ask for guidance whenever my shift starts because that’s the only protection that I can get against all possible mishaps and my innate stupidity. I’m still really slow whenever I do crossmatching. I only do it per patient because I can’t risk doing it simultaneously with other patients because I may or may not confuse one from another. I tried once to do three crossmatching all at the same time and copy the way my senior labels and I seriously (lowkey) got confused that’s why from then on, I decided to stick with the way staff from St. Luke’s label as I’ve seen during my internship. I also developed a habit of checking the units I crossmatched for the day in the Crossmatching Logbook as well as the Completed Transfusion Logbook the moment I enter the lab in my next shift to see if any transfusion reactions or problems had occurred in the units I’ve crossmatched lol.
Every day is a new learning experience for me! Really looking forward to learn more and hopefully fulfill my dream of being a person for others as Medical Technologist. I’m still not sure if this really is what’s meant for me but I’m really leaving everything to Him for his plans will always be the best.
Here’s my first ever crossmatching and signature as a Blood Bank Registered Medical Technologist!!!