you did what?

I have often been told that I should change my major. There are a number of things that brings this statement out of people. Most commonly it is the fact that I take 3 tests or so every Friday, and that doesn't even take into consideration the test that I take every Tuesday. For some, it seems, this is a major turn off. I understand this sentiment, but I guess that I have just learned to deal with the fact that it is my reality for the next couple semesters. Another common reason for people to tell me that is that we draw each others blood every week. Which means that if any of us had a fear of needles, it quickly had to be conquered.

Today, however; I am pretty sure that I have a new reason for people to tell me to change my major. The tests that we performed today were a bleeding time test and a capillary fragility test. The picture below is a picture of the cut on my arm, and yes, it is less dramatic that I thought it would be. This would be from the bleeding time test. It basically consists of cutting the patient and then watching them bleed and timing how long it takes for the bleeding to stop. It might be just a teensy bit barbaric...


The capillary fragility test was more barbaric, and also more painful i might add. For this test we left an inflated blood pressure cuff on our arms for five whole minutes in order to see if our capillaries could stand the pressure. If they didn't then we would have lots of little petichiae (little bruises). Lucky for me, my capillaries could take it.

This picture was taken about three and a half minutes into the proceedure. Yes, they are the same person's hands. And yes, the one is very much more purple. And finally, yes, I am still a CLS major. I wasn't scared away.