Bloodwork - The Bane of my Existence

I hate bloodwork.  Due to a run-in with cancer as a child, I have given a LOT of blood over the years.  If only it had been given as a donation to needy people, eh?  But instead it was all given in the name of science and tests.

I invariably forget to drink the morning of my blood test.  I dunno why.  I do know that I lose my appetite when I'm nervous, so maybe it's kinda the same thing.

I have fainted after bloodwork.  This was not my shining moment to say the least.  Now my doctor give me a hard stare before sending me off.  I don't know if it's a certain shade of gray that she occasionally perceives but sometimes she tells me to lie down, suck this lollypop, and for heaven's sake, don't look at the needle.

Once, I even hallucinated.  I'm not sure what I might have looked like when this happened, but my mom didn't notice me being any different.  I remember being very nervous that day about having to get a needle, so my mom said she'd go first to show me how it was done.  The nurse took a vial and let me hold it.  I told her it was very warm and mom said something about her warm heart.  They gave her a green, shiny pencil for her efforts.  I then had my blood test with little fanfare.
Later on the subway when I asked to see the pencil, she gave me a confused look.  After a couple moments, we figured out that I had hallucinated the whole thing.

Does anyone else have a harder time giving blood from their stronger arm?  It makes me more nervous to give from my right arm.  I'm not sure why.

Well, today's test didn't go well.  I forgot to drink.  I gave everything I had.  And it wasn't enough.

I feel like a pincushion.