Sometimes I think back and contemplate all the surreal collecting moments in my training and laugh awkwardly to myself in reflection.

One time, I was on the transplant ward for morning rounds and I went into this room with a lady who just had a lung transplant (among other things). She had IVs running in both arms and as I was remarking on the IVs, she told me to collect from her foot.

This was innocent enough until I lifted the blanket and found she was a below the knee amputee on both legs, ie, she had no feet from which I could collect. I was a bit thrown but explained that I… couldn’t… collect from there. She continued to insist because all the other lab staff could do it, so there was no reason I couldn’t.

(I eventually convinced her to let me turn off the iv for a bit to collect from her arm. But very surreal all the same.)