the mess er becomes the messee

"the mess er becomes the messee..."

the line came from Friend Chandler Bing when Chandler and Monica tries to counter Rachel's and Phoebe's tricks to catch them off-guard and admit they were actually in a serious relationship to the rest of the Friends.

mine is a different case. (what do you expect? hehe)

working as a phlebotomist (human blood-sucker laboratory sampling and analysis) for almost two years now, i have been used to sticking needles to willing and unwilling victims' veins to get their blood samples. in every blood extraction, it has been a personal goal to always make it on the first try.(which could sometimes be extra challenging especially when the patient's vein is either too deep, or his skin too sagged, or his flesh simply too massive) not to mention that phlebotomy work is just a fraction of your workload as the so-called university research associate (soon, not anymore), which you rather not discuss.in all the thousands of venipunctures i performed, it has always been my wish that the patient was satisfied with the way i carried out the procedure. in that case, the mess er wouldn't be so bad...

then the mess er becomes the messee...

last week, i underwent a laboratory procedure called EMG-NVC (Electromyography-Nerve Conduction Velocities). it was a simple diagnostic test that looks for signs of nerve damage and/or muscle (myo) disease (in my case to rule out carpal tunnel syndrome).

the test wasn't exactly painful.

recording electrodes were applied over digits and muscles of the hand or muscles of the foot (whichever was necessary). an electrical pulse was applied to a nerve at points along its’ pathway with a stimulator. there was observable muscle twitching as the nerves innervated muscles.("measurements of the time it took the nerve to conduct its’ signal as well as the size of the response are recorded and stored digitally on computer.")

the experience itself was a slightly tiring, imagine getting grounded several times (in different aspects of your limbs) and the anticipation of being grounded makes it a little scarier especially when after you've felt the first run of electricity (it is sometimes good when you don't know what to expect). after the nerve conduction velocities test, electromyography was performed by the neurologist, and this is the peak of the mess er becoming the messee...

**sound from psycho please...shingshingshing!...hehe...

this fine, wire-like “pin” electrode was inserted a centimeter deep into various muscles of my upper limbs. the tip of the pin electrode recorded this activity and displayed it on a computer screen as a sine wave. the electrical activity was demonstrated as an audible sputtering and popping sound that came from a speaker attached to the computer. this would determine how wide spread the nerve damage was and should rule out any muscle disease process that could also explain my symptoms (which was mainly the sensation of tingling pins and needles).

the muscles were far-easier to target than the vein. but credit goes to the good doctor, the pain was manageable, even negligible.

if it's anything. the results read essentially normal.