Asklemmy

Idk they didn't say much more and most of my psych patients have lots of minor medical conditions but are at least ambulatory. When I was a phlebotomist I did go to the ICU occasionally and one time I flicked the back of a persons hand to get the veins to pop up and they just blew right there and then. Like I'd busted a fragile vein on accident with too big of a needle or pulling back too hard on the syringe before so I know what it looks like the blood sort of pools under the skin (which later becomes a bruise). I was not expecting that I hadn't even stuck yet I was literally just flicking / tapping the veins to get them to pop up and just that alone busted them.

I wound up filling a microtainer from a fingerstick and it was the easiest fingerstick I'd ever collected. It came back hemolyzed meaning the individual blood cells had burst at some point and it counts as a collection error but I'm pretty sure those cells were already hemolyzed inside the patient. Anyway the patient was bright yellow like practically glowing so definitely some kinda liver problem. Could've been alcohol related but not necessarily.