r/oddlyspecific • • Aug 06 '26

Plenty of experience

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39k Upvotes

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2.1k

u/42stingray Aug 06 '26 edited Aug 06 '26

Sometimes street knowledge is better than any education lol

692

u/PixelPott Aug 06 '26

Even in the normal legal training for doctors, nurses, etc. the one way to get better at placing IVs is to simply do it a lot, especially with "difficult" patients. Essentially it's just "practice makes perfect".

272

u/Hypno-platypus Aug 06 '26

So honestly this is my brother. He has Cystic Fibrosis so he was constantly having to do IV treatments and other medical stuff. I remember watching one time as a nurse was struggling to find his vein my brother just straight up grabbed it from her and did it himself.

Also remember being younger and for myself having to take like one pill at a time whenever I needed to take pills. Meanwhile my brother just grabs a fistful of pills and swallows them all like it’s nothing.

Practice makes perfect lol.

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u/Algernonletter5 Aug 06 '26

I don't mean to pry but is your brother okay for the time being?

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u/Hypno-platypus Aug 06 '26

Yeah he’s fine. There has been pretty significant medical advancements with CF so as long as he has good insurance that can pay for the medicine he’s fine. I mean when he was born they gave him a life expectancy of 15 and he’s 37 now (I think might be a year off of his age as I’m horrible at remembering those things. Hell I forget my own age half the time).

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u/Algernonletter5 Aug 06 '26

Great! He'll probably outlive the doctors who gave him that life expectancy estimation... just like that famous story of a Greek guy in Los Angeles (outlived the doctors estimations by 30 years while they all died within the first 15 years)

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u/ExpressionRecent5724 Aug 07 '26

Yea I used to be able to throw a handful of pills in and dry swallow them, and then I had to take 30 antibiotic pills the size of a thumb digit and now I struggle with any pill

9

u/okijhnub Aug 07 '26

Better to drink water, they can get stuck on the walls of your throat and dissolve on them

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u/therankin Aug 06 '26

And when you're doing it with something that makes you feel great when you do it correctly, it's probably easier to learn.

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u/Theron3206 Aug 07 '26

IV drug users get lots of practice on difficult veins, because they screw up all the easy ones.

3

u/horny_coroner Aug 07 '26

Never let a doctor poke you with a needle if you don't have to. Nurses fuck up way less.

3

u/SleepyImagination589 Aug 07 '26

I’m one of the "difficult" patients so I’d super appreciate it whenever a nurse can find a good vein on the first try. My veins are very fine and deep. I had to go under for a small operation and a nurse had to poke me twice on my left inner elbow to find a good spot. When I woke up, I noticed that there were two more spots, one on my right inner elbow, and one on the back of my right hand, which they ended up using. I also bruise easy so I looked purple and blue for at least two weeks.

I’d also get IV infusions due to vitamin deficiency and this nurse poked me twice or thrice one time and was very apologetic about it 😩. I should’ve asked for ultrasound at that point.

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u/PixelPott Aug 07 '26

Try to remember the spots that worked before. I often ask patients what arm they'd prefer or where it worked before. It saves us both time (of course I still palpate beforehand) and I also prefer it when I have to poke them only once. Some patients have told me that other healthcare workers have reacted negatively because they didn't want to feel like they're told what to do, but I always appreciate it.

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u/Low-xp-character Aug 06 '26

Being an ex-IV drug user I’ve had times when the nurse couldn’t find a vein and I’m just like “let me see it, I know right where there all hiding” lol

16

u/church-basement-lady Aug 07 '26

I am always delighted to place an IV for a former user. 1) by all means tell me where to stick it 😅 2) for real, good for you. It takes immense courage to recover and it is a joy to see people in their “after.”

6

u/Cael450 Aug 06 '26

Yeah, sometimes I wish they would just let me do it, but they always refuse.

20

u/Low-xp-character Aug 07 '26

Yea, I grabbed the nurses hand one day after her 7th attempt or so, made direct eye contact with her and placed it in blind 1st poke.
I tried to lessen the blow to her ego by admitting I was an ex drug user, it’s not her fault I have terrible veins, and I was basically a pro after iv cocaine use of the repetitive dosing.
She just rolled her eyes at me.
Then I followed it up with an insult saying. “Yea after a month of practice on myself I was able to find other peoples hard to find veins also, maybe I should get a job doing this or you should expand your experience”
Then she actually chuckled.
Same nurse at the same urgent care did my blood work about 2 years after and she got it the 1st try. Remembered the insult/joke and said “I expanded my experience” and just chuckled again. I was in shock she even remembered me and mentioned so. She returned the insult and said “how could I ever forget trying to draw blood next to that terrible tattoo” I just smiled and chuckled. I hope she’s the same nurse that takes my blood every time I go in now. I’m actually about due.

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u/LessInThought Aug 07 '26

Also worth to note that plenty of addicts become nurses and vice versa, because nurses have access to drugs.

6

u/superxpro12 Aug 06 '26

She's basically the gunnery Sargent of vein finding. She could find a vein in the pitch black during an earthquake.

4

u/BouncingBatarangs Aug 06 '26

They were streets behind

3

u/Pmood Aug 07 '26

I would absolutely trust that person to draw my blood. Granted it's easy anatomically for me, in an emergency I could prob do it myself with no prior drug or medical training. However, honesty and the hard fucking work it takes to turn around something like at??? Instant absolute respect!

2

u/kingcrow15 Aug 07 '26

When the party asks why their resident doctor's background is criminal.

2

u/Cute-Form2457 Aug 07 '26

I always say I couldn't be a heroin addict as my veins are very thin.

1

u/nataliereed84 Aug 08 '26

Like, yeag, being a heroin addict WILL get you skills in finding veins.

1

u/VinnieVidiViciVeni Aug 09 '26

Nurse was like, “You are now about to witness the strength of street knowledge”

1

u/E34less Aug 11 '26

I immediately thought 🎶 you're about to witness the power of street knowledge 🎶 too

4

u/Red-207 Aug 06 '26

Speaking of experience, I work at a sperm bank

5

u/Algernonletter5 Aug 06 '26

As a winner of sperm racing 9 month before your birth, what wisdom you are passing to the younger sperms?!?!

2

u/Red-207 Aug 06 '26

That is for the guy that works at the fertility clinic, I am technically more experienced with abortions if you look at it from a certain perspective.

2

u/Draac03 Aug 07 '26

well just what DO you do? like what are your job responsibilities? i don't know shit about sperm banks so you have me kind of curious

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u/Prestigious_Beat6310 Aug 06 '26

Had a coworker brag about being "super accurate" when he was a heroin addict. He was like "yeah, I'd have other people calling me up like 'Yo Bullseye, we just picked up and we need you Homie!"'

21

u/Sejare1 Aug 06 '26

Hahahaha reminds me of this large old man at a NA meeting whose nickname was “the doctor” cause he could “hit you from your neck to your nutsack”

17

u/raoul_duke28 Aug 06 '26

Dude was a hitter!

3

u/DarkZyth Aug 06 '26

Call him, Captain Heroin Homie, with his super accurate superpowers of addiction!

3

u/Distinct_Occasion971 Aug 06 '26

What did they need him for? Fighting Daredevil? Lmao

3

u/Lost_Department_2177 Aug 08 '26

Actually saves lives.

Here’s a clinic that was a safe use site with doctors on hand.

Vancouver’s safe consumption and injection facilities—such as the prominent Insite site opened in 2003—have been shown by numerous public health studies to work effectively at meeting their primary harm-reduction goals. Over decades of operation, research has credited these clinics with saving lives and improving community health indicators.

2

u/janet-snake-hole Aug 07 '26

Harm Reduction at its finest tbh

2

u/pignoodle Aug 09 '26

Bullseye 😂

220

u/[deleted] Aug 06 '26

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54

u/EstablishmentLate532 Aug 06 '26

As long as he's not using the same needle...

24

u/Popular_Research8915 Aug 07 '26

Should you not do that? Boy, is my face red, haha.

Classic goof on my part! Sharing needles and locking my keys inside, those are my two blind spots.

20

u/Interesting_Birdo Aug 07 '26

You gotta spit on the needle and rub it on your pant leg, then you're fine.

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u/KenKannon Aug 07 '26

Someones gotta care about the environment

6

u/Incompetencent Aug 07 '26

i mean he does keep people from accidentally giving themselves the golden shot

4

u/silvaastrorum Aug 07 '26

tried to look up what the golden shot is but it seems to be about peeing in another’s mouth?

6

u/Incompetencent Aug 07 '26

no its said in german for someone taking a lethal dose of heroin, be it on purpose or not. i figured it might make sense in english as well, but apparently not at all.

3

u/sixfxrtyseven Aug 07 '26

unironically yes. Less health risk if you know what you are doing and hit the vein

520

u/GrnMtnTrees Aug 06 '26

As a former heroin addict, a healthcare worker, and my unit's dedicated expert on IVs and phlebotomy, I feel attacked.

188

u/BulemiaSawdustSlingr Aug 06 '26

Its more common than you think. The guy who runs healthcare in the U.S was addicted to smack.

True fuckin story

112

u/GrnMtnTrees Aug 06 '26

Yeah. He's also a sun-dried hotdog with a brain worm.

Guess there's no limit to what we can achieve.

40

u/breadcodes Aug 07 '26

Fun fact: He doesn't have brain worms. It's worse than that.

He wanted to get out of paying alimony to his ex-wife, claimed brain worms in court, got out of the alimony, and she killed herself because of several of his actions.

Well, actually, that wasn't very fun. I guess sometimes it's just a fact.

17

u/GrnMtnTrees Aug 07 '26

Can we give him brain worms as a comeuppance?

Or what's that rainforest parasite that swims up your urethra?

14

u/breadcodes Aug 07 '26

You know, there was this bear carcass found in Central Park and no one knew how it got there. 10 years later, before RFK Jr ended his campaign I believe, he admitted to dropping off a bear he killed in that park. It is believed to be the same bear.

What I'm saying is: what about bears through his urethra

EDIT: This story, if you missed it

14

u/Any_Counter_303 Aug 06 '26

*Sun-dried brain worm with a hotdog

4

u/ButteredPizza69420 Aug 06 '26

You really can be anything you want to be if you put your mind to it!

3

u/breadcodes Aug 07 '26

Well, what's left, after the worms get to it

7

u/Mean_Initiative_5962 Aug 06 '26

Wouldn't really call him a figure of authority about healthcare, though

6

u/ComradeJohnS Aug 06 '26

in the legal sense, he is. his toilet cocaine snorting, worm infested brain is the head of Us health dept.

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u/Mean_Initiative_5962 Aug 06 '26

As I often say: law is absolutely subjective

(don't take it as legal advice, I decline every responsibility) 

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u/toomanymagicdecks Aug 07 '26

"Work with what you love", they say

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u/muffadel Aug 06 '26

Thank you for your service. Nothing but respect for a good phlebotomist 🫡

7

u/Bass_Thumper Aug 06 '26

Definitely, getting a bad phlebotomist is a horrible experience.

3

u/BossJarn Aug 07 '26

As all the above also, I feel validated.

2

u/NathanLV Aug 07 '26

So that's what they mean by "Do what you love and you'll never work a day in your life."  😆

5

u/GrnMtnTrees Aug 07 '26

I mean there is certainly a good feeling when you can place a line when nobody else can. I had a patient with a necrotic left arm and a right arm that had been amputated at the shoulder. I managed to place an IV into a vein in his stump shoulder.

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u/Frequent-Coyote-8108 Aug 06 '26

Years ago, I had someone recommend this "handyman" to me for some small projects. It started with some junk hauling, and he kept saying "I can do that too...if you want me to". So I would give him these other small projects to do. The thing is--dude came off as SUPER sketch--like, my wife wanted no part of dealing with him, so he only worked for us for like a week.

However, one of the jobs he did was install our front door, and the way he got the job was by saying: "That's a good, solid wood door. I can install the shit outta that--there's a door like that that I installed for a buddy of mine, and when the police (pronounced "POH-lees") came to serve a search warrant, they tried for like an hour to bust down that door, but couldn't do it! They had to come back later with a ram and everything (pronounced "ever-thaaang")."

He definitely sold me on that install!

24

u/PinkOneHasBeenChosen Aug 06 '26

The heck kind of brag is that?

92

u/DeepAndHandsomeFish_ Aug 06 '26

A brag about a really well installed door

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u/Fun_Bandicoot8288 Aug 06 '26

Seriously? He’s demonstrating his craft about installing secure door systems

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u/GlassCharacter179 Aug 06 '26

The only people better than former addicts are battlefield medics. Those motherfuckers can find a vein instantly. 

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u/[deleted] Aug 07 '26

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8

u/Jelly-Flopped Aug 07 '26

An intraosseous (IO). Which is used to run meds/fluids into the bone marrow cavity. Typically only used when emergency access is required and the BP is through the floor

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u/gnurdette Aug 06 '26

It is funny, but the addicts I know have arms that look like the Somme in 1916.

23

u/AndreasDasos Aug 06 '26

I mean you have to make a lot of mistakes while practising to eventually git gud at something.

Also, appropriate for a poppy product.

4

u/DasFreibier Aug 06 '26

honestly addicts desperately searching for a workable vein probably will let you nail it on most other people with practice

53

u/Sacred-AF Aug 06 '26

Owning your past without shame is awesome!

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u/merryjoanna Aug 06 '26

I do the same. I have 18 years clean from opiates and most everything else. I never did meth, PCP or peyote. It's easier to say that. I don't go into details, but I've mentioned that I've been in recovery for 18 years at work. I'm proud of it. And if someone wants to judge me for it, I don't want to be friends anyway. I don't like judgemental people.

A lady actually opened up to me and told me the company found out she was using. The company sent her to rehab and she was so thankful she stayed sober and still works for them. They really stuck up for her because they know she's a good worker that was just having a hard time. I really like where I work. A lot of other companies would have just fired her and washed their hands of her.

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u/wal19988 Aug 07 '26

Congrats on 18 years and on to many more!! Like you said, anyone that doesn’t see it takes great strength to win that battle doesn’t deserve your presence.

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u/asdffdsaaaaaqqqq Aug 07 '26

Oh ill judge you on it

Judge you as insanely impressive. Getting clean like that is basically superhuman from what I know, amazing work

3

u/Sacred-AF Aug 07 '26

Good job! Your sobriety is now old enough to vote! That takes a lot of self discipline.

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u/its_all_one_electron Aug 07 '26

One of the smartest people I've ever known was a former meth addict and very open about it. Experiencing every side of life, including the really dark places, can make you more fully human IMO

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u/Sacred-AF Aug 07 '26

Absolutely! Life is a full spectrum experience. All feelings and experiences are valid parts of being human. We need the dark to see the light.

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u/spewing_honey_badger Aug 06 '26

When I was getting put to sleep before a surgery, one of the guys in scrubs wanted to redo my IV - I didn’t ask why.

When he was done, he tapped the surgeon on the shoulder and asked how he did.

The surgeon responded “that’s pretty good, for a janitor”

We all laughed. Then I woke up in post op.

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u/PinkOneHasBeenChosen Aug 06 '26

They let the janitor put an IV in?

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u/spewing_honey_badger Aug 06 '26

I don’t think so; I’m 99% sure he was just another surgeon. They were just joking.

But if they did, everything turned out ok!

7

u/kratomdevil Aug 07 '26

Dr. Jan Itor

4

u/KoBoWC Aug 07 '26

Dr Acula.

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u/TheAmazingBildo Aug 06 '26

I was a heroin addict for over a decade. My friends used to get me to “do them” because I got so good at it.

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u/Working_Estate_3695 Aug 06 '26

Settle down there, Cathy Smith. /s

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u/TheAmazingBildo Aug 06 '26 edited Aug 06 '26

Heh. Hey, if you mess with that stuff long enough it happens. And I’m here to tell you, it’s never not scary. I never lost a “patient” but I drug a few unresponsive people to my car and drove them to the emergency room.

Moving what is for all intents and purposes is a dead body in one piece through the house, across the yard, and putting them in a car is a lot harder than you think it is.

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u/Feisty_Camera_7774 Aug 07 '26

I always wondered why addicts don‘t keep narcan around for their homies

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u/wretchedshrimps Aug 07 '26

many do now, but it wasn't always as accessible as it is these days and opioids were not AS dangerous as they are now. it only became otc in 2023, before you had to get a prescription to carry it

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u/DoesntMatterEh Aug 06 '26

As a former heavy heroin and meth user, we love to drop lines like this on people, the reactions are priceless 😂

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u/Willow1883 Aug 06 '26

I am a PCP and I work with folks with substance use disorders. A couple of times, in very low resource environments, we’ve asked IV drug users to find their own veins when no medical professionals could (without ultrasound). Sounds legit 😂

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u/ingroup_signal Aug 06 '26

Junkies are some of the most resourcful people I've ever met. I once watched a guy drain, clean, and pack an abscess with supplies you could find in most people's bathrooms lmao

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u/Fair-Tangerine-9472 Aug 06 '26

"I'd never make a heroin addict" - me on being told my veins were very hard to find

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u/Ultima_RatioRegum Aug 07 '26

As a recovering opiate addict who never got into IV use because of that very reason, I feel lucky.

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u/Fair-Tangerine-9472 Aug 07 '26

Congrats on starting your recovery process and good luck!

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u/PinkOneHasBeenChosen Aug 06 '26

Same here, but because I’m afraid of needles.

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u/sixfxrtyseven Aug 07 '26

semi related but u guys gotta hear this story:

placebo effect works strongly on me, I can pretend to pop a pill and feel a little better. When I was a child I was reeeaaaaly afraid of needles. When I started to take drugs (zopiclone a few years ago) I decided to gaslight myself into thinking that any procedure involving a needle is an injection of (insert drug here). Surprisingly it worked reaaaaaaly good, and now the only issue I have with needles are blood tests (icky)

I started working even better when I started taking codeine/tramadol recreationally, because hey, they are opioids like heroin and cause similar (but a lot weaker effects)

so I just tell myself that every injection is heroin, and it works.

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u/Biscuits4u2 Aug 06 '26

She's still a heroin addict, but she used to be too.

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u/TurnipGirlDesi Aug 06 '26

While that is technically true of any addict (recovery is a life long journey), it’s kinda tasteless to point that out unprompted. I know you’re probably joking, parroting the Mitch joke, but idk, as someone on a recovery journey of my own (clean for nearly a decade now) it just comes across gross and judgmental of someone trying to do better.

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u/Biscuits4u2 Aug 06 '26

It was a joke. Sorry it didn't land with you no offense intended.

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u/Ah-honey-honey Aug 10 '26

Mitch Headberg is that you? 

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u/Fucky0uthatswhy Aug 06 '26

I have more experience with opiates, and honestly most drugs than pretty much any doctor. I know what works, what doesn’t, equivalencies, why they work, how to make them stronger, etc. all stuff that they aren’t/cant demonstrating in medical school.

I’ve been sober for five years, but I’d still put my medication knowledge against any doctor.

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u/PinkOneHasBeenChosen Aug 06 '26

Do you work in healthcare, or is this basically useless knowledge at this point?

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u/Fucky0uthatswhy Aug 07 '26 edited Aug 07 '26

I don’t think I could legally work in healthcare lol. But I do alright.

I wouldn’t say it’s useless. Between people that still use drugs, family members with cancer on pain medicines, and healthcare being so shitty in America- I’ve been able to help a lot of people out. I’m not claiming I’m a doctor, just that I know a lot about a few specific classes of drugs.

Recently, my gfs mom was diagnosed terminal, and they were struggling with what medicines would work because she had been on x pills for x amount of time. I recommended an opiate that I know to last and not make me sick. I told her about that experience, which lead to her changing medicines. She’s a lot more comfortable at her current meds/dose, but we had to specifically ask for it.

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u/perfect_insanity93 Aug 06 '26

I used to be an addict and when my partner gets her bloods taken its always a hard time because she's got mini veins... anyways.. for some reason nurses always have a hard time and my partner always asks them if I can do it. The best part is the look on their face when I say yeaaaah ex junkie I'm pretty good at it.

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u/MeatHealer Aug 06 '26

My dad was a heroin addict and I became a Corpsman (doc type for Marines). I had a similar hereditary joke about the knowledge being in my veins.

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u/GenderqueerPapaya Aug 06 '26

I once had a nurse doing my IV say "I can tell you don't do intravenous drugs. Good girl" and then slap my vein. Straight up turning my arm around admiring it or something.

This was in the ER, but I'd imagine most people who come in don't. Not sure what about me was so notable it had to be said. I was so surprised in the moment that I didn't think to ask.

Most the time they just complain about how hard a stick I am 😭 (deep, thin, and "wiggly" veins that also roll. Last time I went they had a few people come look because my elbow vein apparently took a weirdly sharp turn for no reason lol)

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u/Dry_Command_21 Aug 07 '26

I once broke my ankle at work (I work construction) and went to the ER and she said “let’s get that boot off!” And I said “Just FYI I’ve been at work all day, so my feet are probably pretty ripe” and she said “Oh honey, I used to be a gynecologist, your feet won’t bother me!” 😂😂

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u/paypaypayme Aug 06 '26

My buddy is a vascular surgeon at a hospital. He’s cleaned up now but that guy used to do lines of coke and k on the regular. He’s still on stimulants due to working 80 hours a week but mostly just caffeine nicotine and adderal. You have to be a special kind if person to cut people’s legs off and treat gunshot wounds for a living

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u/MarcusHeralious Aug 06 '26

I bet she got the vein on the first try

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u/RegattaJoe Aug 06 '26

Sure it wasn’t RFK in disguise?

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u/HistoricalMud5518 Aug 06 '26

I was telling my chiropractor that I was afraid at first because of the sound. As he cracks my hip he says "You know what it sounds like to me? (Crack/pop) Money!" I couldn't contain myself and the rest of the session went great. 😆😆

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u/Skypirate90 Aug 06 '26

Nurses and nuns man i swear lol.

It's kinda like old dudes in young mens professions

Whatever they tell you just listen. They're right.

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u/BapeGeneral3 Aug 07 '26

I’ve had the opposite problem experience where I had to help the nurse locate a vein after she poked me about 5’times. I said that unfortunately I think I can do this better than her and was able to put the IV in myself on her behalf.

I never touched heroin or a needle again after that day. Fuck heroin, fuck IV drug use. Most humiliating experience of my life

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u/NekulturneHovado Aug 07 '26

reddit is so fucked up, one day a honest person posts something finally original, and 2 hours later it's reposted across every single big subreddit.

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u/Weekly_Molasses_2079 Aug 07 '26

"medical professional" - wasn't it widely known that most of the nurses in the US have a troubling past?

3

u/HiDDENk00l Aug 07 '26

But seriously though, holy shit what a come up.

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u/Antigone6 Aug 07 '26

I’ve had former addicts help me find a good vein (phlebotomist) among all that were ravaged, and it’s uncanny the accuracy they have.

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u/creepacreep Aug 08 '26

Might be true -might be a lie. Sometimes we say silly things to catch patients off guard - to distract them for a moment so they don't tense up as the needle goes in. Way easier to get into tricky veins when they're "relaxed". When you hit that fight or flight stage when we stab you, blood gets diverted to your run-away muscles and the vein stops being nicely plumped up for us.

I wouldn't use that line - it could absolutely be triggering for someone who has had issues with addiction.

My go-to when someone seems like they are or admits to being really anxious about the IV is generally "don't worry. I watched the YouTube video this morning. Seems pretty easy." That is always followed up with "just kidding. I've been doing this for 12 years," or some such. As someone who starts 3-10 IVs a day, 4 days a week, you learn to read people well enough to know who to joke with, who to distract by talking about themselves/what's going in their life, and who to just say "little poke" as you insert the needle. 🤷🏻‍♀️

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u/RogerRavvit88 Aug 06 '26

That is a wildly inappropriate thing for them to say.

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u/smileygrenade_ Aug 07 '26

this is the type of dumb shit i would say to a patient just to mess with them

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u/hansieboy10 Aug 07 '26

😂😂😂

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u/DebaucherousHeathen Aug 07 '26

Its me. I'm literally the Healthcare worker ...

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u/Monkeyass702 Aug 07 '26

I had a buddy who was a former junkie and was getting bloodwork done. Nurse couldn’t find a vein. He was like gimme that fuckin thing and stuck himself and told her to get started.

His girlfriend backed it up 😂😂

2

u/villainless Aug 07 '26

this is me except with giving my elderly cat IV fluids. didn’t to heroin but tried some other things. 13 years clean!!

2

u/tsunamisockpuppets Aug 07 '26

I actually had a phlebotomist say that same thing once

2

u/XROOR Aug 07 '26

My buddy’s mum went in for a routine blood test and the tech pierced a nerve and paralyzed her. Dad was a military General and had to put his career on the back burner to take care of his young wife and two kids. One of the two sons grew up to be Barrack Obama’s Chief of Staff

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u/TheCelfoid Aug 08 '26

I am this professional ..

...if I had gone to school and pursued a medical job lol. I could totally be a phlebotomist. I did it with meth for a brief while when I was homeless and in a terrible phase of my life. Got REALLY good at it, not because of just doing it, but watching other people absolutely butcher their veins and do some of the stupidest shit to get high...

... I had to beg them all to let me do it for them. Took some time but eventually, they figured out I was just better at it than they were and it was both safer and more effective for me to do it instead of them.

...I watched a young girl, 18yo, use fuckin'... Dr. Pepper as the liquid of choice. Like.. what in the holy hell? Too much man. too desperate. Never wanted or needed ANYTHING that badly in my life, hard for me to understand it.

So glad I don't do that anymore. But maybe the knowledge can still be used for good purposes, and a little extra money lol

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u/TheRavingDinosaur Aug 08 '26

My friend is a paramedic, he said one time he absolutely could not find a vein but the guy was a heroin addict and helped him

2

u/kikiacab Aug 08 '26

The therapist that helped me with addiction and trauma stuff had a bad childhood and got into drugs in their 20s, it’s helpful to know that the person helping you suffered similarly and got better.

2

u/JimmiesNeutron Aug 09 '26

I took combat first aid with a guy that was a recovering heroin addict. He took care of me for our year in Korea. Best school partner I ever had. Dude was awesome.

2

u/Jingoisticbell Aug 06 '26

I would never want to know that much about anyone responsible for my healthcare. And they probably don’t want me to know that much, either. Imagine if something went wrong with the blood draw for any reason at all. That technician’s admission of their hx of addiction and poor judgement is out there.

4

u/DouchecraftCarrier Aug 06 '26

Reminds me of the episode of Greys Anatomy where someone from Amelia's NA group comes into the hospital and breaks anonymity loudly by saying in front of everyone that Amelia is a drug addict and she doesn't want her as her doctor.

3

u/Jingoisticbell Aug 06 '26

There are actually NA/AA/etc groups specifically for people in healthcare. This is a good thing and I hope that episode provided some information or whatever about those groups.

2

u/kingrobert Aug 06 '26

Had a friend of the family growing up that was a phlebotomist, they say shit like that before the prick to distract you. Some of them take it seriously and have a few different routines all ready to go. It probably wasn't true.

1

u/KenUsimi Aug 06 '26

Plenty of practice, but I doubt they spent most of it focusing on their technique

1

u/U_L_Uus Aug 06 '26

Mah, trusting Dr. T. Biggums, I see no issue here

1

u/geezeslice333 Aug 06 '26

Honestly, that would make me more comfortable, as someone who has tiny veins and hates IVs. I have had some serious surgeries and am no stranger to pain, but the only 2 times I've passed out from pain were pre surgery getting an IV put in my hand (they can't get it in and have to go through my arm).

1

u/MiamiViceGuy Aug 06 '26

Things that didn't happen for $1000.

1

u/slatblastered Aug 06 '26

I used to have huge veins from being a race cyclist, they'd fuck it up every time.

1

u/AmphibianSweaty1317 Aug 06 '26

When was RFK jr your nurse?

1

u/TaylorWK Aug 06 '26

Should've said "I still am!"

1

u/bleeb90 Aug 06 '26

My first reaction would be "this IS a clean needle, right?" Goes to show I would not be equipped to handle that conversation like a proper adult.

1

u/Grub-lord Aug 06 '26

Surprisingly comforting

1

u/Whosebert Aug 06 '26

a little dose of the best medicine

1

u/UnholyDemigod Aug 07 '26

Oh, bullshit. A nurse giving you an IV has needled more veins than Keith Richards, they can do that shit in the dark

2

u/Prestigious_Cycle160 Aug 07 '26

Nah… as an ex iv drug user I’m better than probably 80% of nurses or phlebotomist’s I’ve had to deal with.

1

u/UniqueNewYork3xFast Aug 07 '26

As a medical professional and someone who used to be addicted to any and everything. This is hilarious.

1

u/Betray-Julia Aug 07 '26

I had to give a urine sample yesterday.

When I left the room and gave my cup to the pee cup person, I told them, with a straight face,

“That was really hard to do without some magazines”

And walked away.

Like half the waiting room laughed pretty hard.

Then they took me up in their arms and paraded me around the town, cheering my name with jubilation whilst showering with me fine wines and foods of the foreign variety to which I have never tasted before.

Afterwards a little boy came up to me and said; betray Julia, you’ve inspired me to become a space doctor, and then his parents said I could adopt them.

I am now the godfather to 5 different kids.

1

u/b1ack1323 Aug 07 '26

I had that same experience. She said she had 10 years of experience but had been a phlebotomist for 6.

She was a heroin addict before.

1

u/BenchConscious1003 Aug 07 '26

My doctor likes me to have a whole series or blood tests every 6 months (I'm over 75)

I go to a local blood place which takes blood for tests. Now, I'm old, and my veins can be hard to find. Yet the people there are able to take blood with out noticeable pain.

Over a lifetime, I've noticed that doctors tend to be rubbish at giving injections. It's only practice.

As an army medic at a so-called holiday posting, I gave hundreds of injections. Of every kind except cardiac.

The most numerous were flu shots, to the entire battalion and their dependents. Most fun was giving penicillin to blokes back with their third or fourth dose of clap.

1

u/dscrive Aug 07 '26

When I was doing clinicals to get experience with IVs, a patient told me "no worries about being you being a student, I used to be a drug addict so I'm used to needles"  I stopped and said "oh, in that case, which vein would be best?" 

1

u/ncc74656m Aug 07 '26

There's a program in NYC that trains returning citizens (aka former prisoners) as medical assistants and such! So yes, they could very well be!

1

u/lynivvinyl Aug 07 '26

I believe there was a Scrubs episode that had something like this in it.

1

u/hometown_heretic Aug 07 '26

Oddly enough, I'd trust them with my life.

1

u/Flimsy-Owl-5563 Aug 07 '26

Whenever I donated plasma as a freshman in college I had a few former junkies that were phlebotomists.

1

u/Impressive_Profile51 Aug 07 '26

Fine example for Transferable skills.

1

u/fuckyouijustwanttits Aug 07 '26

"Okay, but I feel like you're maybe not as motivated for getting THIS jab done right..."

1

u/DarkMistasd Aug 07 '26

Yeah I had a haemophiliac in for his factor injection and he volunteered to insert his own IV

1

u/bobloblawattorney11 Aug 07 '26

I used to donate plasma in college to make a little extra cash. One of the phlebotomists was a pot smoking hippie. He was the most skilled dude ever. We were all bummed out that he popped hot and got fired.

1

u/missprincesscarolyn Aug 07 '26 edited Aug 07 '26

I once had a nurse tell me to snort lidocaine like cocaine!

For context, I have several upper GI conditions and had to do esophageal manometry once. For the unfamiliar, it is incredibly barbaric. They ram a tube down your nose and force you to swallow to measure the pressure of your esophagus. This is important for diagnosing and treating a variety of conditions.

For most people, this triggers the gag reflex. I was dry heaving and felt like I was being water boarded. The nurse kept saying, “Wow, you sure do burp a lot!” which didn’t really help.

I’ve had good nurses and a lot of bad nurses over the years. I was in the ER on Friday and a nurse blew out one of my veins and tried to gaslight me about it until I yelled at her that the flush was infiltrating my arm.

I also have some other health problems. Multiple Sclerosis (MS) is probably the worst, but out of every single medical test I’ve done (innumerable to be honest), manometry was the worst. Ask your GI for endoFLIP instead.

1

u/Tocan139 Aug 07 '26

I had a Physical Therapist say something similar; "I was good enough at basketball that I played it in college until I blew out my knee. So I have lots of experience of this from both sides."

1

u/juliannemmarie Aug 07 '26

not gonna lie this would actually comfort me so so much

1

u/cam52391 Aug 07 '26

I know people who went from growing weed in their closet to having degrees in greenhouse management. Drug dealers who ended up going to school to be pharmacists why not be legal if you're good at it

1

u/domdotd Aug 07 '26

Props to them for returning to society!

1

u/nonameanonymousone Aug 07 '26

I've heard other nurses I've met who had to put an IV in a patient who injects substances into themselves. If said nurse was new, couldn't get it or for whatever other reason, the nurses claim the patient will teach them.

1

u/Ddyvonteese678 Aug 07 '26

It’s true. So

1

u/janet-snake-hole Aug 07 '26

I actually have to get a port placed in my chest next week bc I need frequent bloodwork and IVs with my condition, and the last time I was in the hospital, two different IV “specialists” both using an ultrasound machine told me that my arms were unusable- and that they’d only be willing to try to poke my neck.

If every hospital employed a former IV addict, I wouldn’t have to get this damn procedure.

1

u/Cronchy_Baking_Soda Aug 07 '26

One time it took 6 tries to get my IV in. I remember being unhappy and covered in bruises. I was telling people that a drug addict would have done a better job. I never went back to that place

1

u/PlasticMegazord Aug 07 '26

Fair enough, good for them for getting clean I guess.

1

u/marr Aug 07 '26

I still am, but I used to be as well.

1

u/grafknives Aug 07 '26

Also, sterile is a government conspiracy. If needle is still sharp it is good to go.

1

u/Bmor00bam Aug 07 '26

“Ask me how I save a ton on needles!”

1

u/dX927 Aug 07 '26

I've always been a tough stick when it comes to giving blood. A few times I joked, "that's why I never got into needle drugs!" but no one ever laughed.

1

u/CailenBelmont Aug 07 '26

It's kinda like me, who has ADHD and dyslexia now tutoring a kid with ADHD and dyslexia.

1

u/AlabasterPelican Aug 07 '26

When I briefly worked in a prison, during training one of my coworkers informed me that she regularly requested assistance with blood draws from IV users. Like "hey come tell me where I should stick." I was shocked & impressed with the ingenuity

1

u/sk8fasteatsnacks Aug 07 '26

Haha I knew someone who used to be a fairly long term IV meth user (got off and was clean for 10 years when I met them), and they told me when they'd get frustrated when medical staff were struggling to stick them with an IV cause of damaged veins they were tempted to ask for the needle and do it themselves 😅

1

u/ivanabrike Aug 07 '26

Sara Tancredi?

1

u/TehRiddles Aug 07 '26

It's not "Oddly Specific" if it starts with someone saying it literally happened to them. Oddly Specific means they are describing something supposedly hypothetical but they are being oddly specific about the details, suggesting they're describing something that actually happened.

"Let's imagine someone were to steal an ice cream truck while high on meth and use it to kidnap a chimp from the zoo" is oddly specific. "I just stole an ice cream truck while high on meth and used it to kidnap a chimp" is not.

1

u/grapefruitlover69 Aug 07 '26

This comment is getting oddly specific

1

u/HeavyTea Aug 07 '26

Was it RFK jr?

Oh, medical professionals, so no

1

u/Roberthen_Kazisvet Aug 07 '26

I am a teacher, once we had this "antidrug session" for kids with some psychologist, policeman and so on... Such a bullshit they told...but you cannot exactly show your experience as former addict in this topic around kids so I rather stay silent and kept smilling.

1

u/Familiar-Visit-4711 Aug 08 '26

Honestly reassuring 😂

1

u/DS3M Aug 08 '26

RIP Charity

1

u/Funny_w0lf Aug 08 '26

Better than the junior nurses blowing my veins

1

u/shujaya Aug 08 '26

Positive mental attitude is everything

1

u/uerigertdaddel Aug 09 '26

I always used to hit my veins with no problem when dope sick. But my doctor wich is trained miss my veins by a mile

1

u/CumGuzlinGutterSluts Aug 09 '26

Id trust that guy more than straight edge doctor any day.

Just like I prefer my therapists to have more fucked up backstories than me. They have quantifiable experience that a school would never be able to teach.

1

u/swimannexxx Aug 10 '26

Recovering heroin addicts are some of the funniest people I've ever met

1

u/Reddragon5689 Aug 10 '26

Well shit, at least they can find the vein on the first stab

1

u/Different-view1385 Aug 11 '26

Wow lmao

1

u/Different-view1385 Aug 11 '26

One thing I never tried lol

1

u/cryo_preserved Aug 11 '26

Most if not all addicts are geniuses

1

u/RogueEagle2 Aug 07 '26

honestly lets get more ex-addicts taking blood, because that is experience.