LifeLabs

Because poking me with needles seems to be the norm, I feel like i’m becoming a little bit of a LifeLab guru.
After my last jaunt to the lab on 41^st, I was feeling pretty confident in my being less of a woman-​child when it comes to needles ability. This lab offers online appointments so for this round, I decided to play it a little closer to home. And have since decided, if I need to be poked again, i’ll venture back to the lovely peeps at Oakridge Centre.
The online booking is pretty darn awesome. Very straight-​forward. They have parking on-​site which is an added plus, though the signage for said parking is atrocious so I only realized this fact AFTER plugging the meter. Le sigh.
And I will say, the nurse that did my blood work was lovely. She was a little blunt right off the get-​go but as soon as I mentioned that I wasn’t great with needles and because I had been fasting, she allowed me to lie down and handled me with kid gloves from there on out. I know, I know. It’s a strong adult moment for me. Shush.
But the over-​all experience compared with the 41^st branch was definitely lacking. For starters, booking an online appointment doesn’t seem to do much for your waiting period. I arrived 5 minutes before my scheduled appointment and waited about 35 minutes before seeing anyone. Including an awkward 10 minutes where I hopped around in front of the reception area trying to get someone’s attention. There seem to be only a few people working at any one time and the reception is more then a little confusing as the space is shared with the x-​ray clinic.
But after walking in, with no appointment, and being in and out within 20 minutes at the last place, I was pretty underwhelmed at the wait.
As well, the 41^st lab is obviously the newer of the two. This lab isn’t nearly as private, in fact, if you aren’t a woman-​child who gets to lie down, chances are you’re going to watch the person next to you get blood drawn. Which makes me squirmish just thinking about it. And there are no fancy, puffy chairs waiting for you at this place… nope. You’re sticking your arm on a slab of wood to get that blood pumped out of you. And it will NOT be at the comfortable angle.
When I did lie down, the space was super cluttered with wires and various other things — it was kind of like being in a spare bedroom… but one with scary things including a waste basket that was full of bloody cotton balls. Continuing the experience of squirm.
So if (and let’s hope I don’t have to continue this guru status) but if I have to go get blood work done again, i’ll be heading back to 41^st and their sassy nurses/​puffy chairs/​no wait times. Thank you to the nurse who was so lovely with her kid glove handling but no thank you to this facility.