blood aversion anyone?

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blood doesn't bother me so much as the smell of a lot of old blood.

this'll seem like cake for some of you guys, but i'll say it anyway.

so i work with mammalian blood samples in my lab. we have this biohazards waste bucket that we keep in one of the rooms in which we discard tubes to be autoclaved. these tubes are usually halfway filled with rabbit RBCs that we've centrifuged, so it's thick, clotted and concentrated. everytime we open the bucket to toss another couple of tubes, what smells like a pile of rusty manure wafts through the room and makes me want to gag.

sorry it's not as exciting as shattered bones cracking or infested toes, but just thought i'd share. 🙂
 
kirexhana said:
blood doesn't bother me so much as the smell of a lot of old blood.

this'll seem like cake for some of you guys, but i'll say it anyway.

so i work with mammalian blood samples in my lab. we have this biohazards waste bucket that we keep in one of the rooms in which we discard tubes to be autoclaved. these tubes are usually halfway filled with rabbit RBCs that we've centrifuged, so it's thick, clotted and concentrated. everytime we open the bucket to toss another couple of tubes, what smells like a pile of rusty manure wafts through the room and makes me want to gag.

sorry it's not as exciting as shattered bones cracking or infested toes, but just thought i'd share. 🙂
Heh. For the record, some of my compounds are esters, and they smell absolutely FANTASTIC, kind of sweet and fruity. I may wind up getting brain cancer or something from smelling them, but they smell so good that I'd probably have done it anyway....
 
QofQuimica said:
Heh. For the record, some of my compounds are esters, and they smell absolutely FANTASTIC, kind of sweet and fruity. I may wind up getting brain cancer or something from smelling them, but they smell so good that I'd probably have done it anyway....
Mmm, esters...
 
QofQuimica said:
Heh. For the record, some of my compounds are esters, and they smell absolutely FANTASTIC, kind of sweet and fruity. I may wind up getting brain cancer or something from smelling them, but they smell so good that I'd probably have done it anyway....

i remember this gchem lab experiment where we worked with aromatic esters. there was a warning label on the one that smelled that bananas because apparently it causes bees to become enraged and attack. i loved the cognac smelling one tho. funny thing, cuz i love cognac too 😉
 
I love blood and guts. But I hadnt smelled foul smells until I started working in the ED. I didnt think some of those levels of funk were achievable by living things. Trust me, you will most likely gag.
 
I would have to concur that Burn victims are the worst to me. So much of their treatment is so painful and to see the skin just peeling away is awful. I absolutely could not work in a burn ward. Thankfully there are wonderful people who CAN do this sort of thing. More power to them. Although all of these other wonderful sights and smells are still unknown to me, I can't even watch burn patients on TV without cringing. Ingrown infected toenails do gross me out, though. ick!
 
The worst smell is rotting fat...once u smell it, you will never forget it

The worse sight is a rotting limb with tons of gangrene...like that guy in the movie Requeim for a Dream
 
Oh god. EVERYONE GO INTO RADIOLOGY! 😀 😀 😀
 
Hopeful_Doc said:
im surprised noone has mentioned burn victims. Having seen a few it never gets easiar to cope with the sight or smell 🙁

I never noticed the smell.

Look into their eyes and only their eyes. The person inside is still beautiful.

The Burn Unit was what got me over my squeemishness.
 
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LizzyM said:
I never noticed the smell.

Look into their eyes and only their eyes. The person inside is still beautiful.

The Burn Unit was what got me over my squeemishness.
That is a really good suggestion. 👍
 
thinknofu3 said:
I have no problem whatsoever with blood or guts (in fact, i want to be a surgeon), but I have a definite aversion to vomit...i mean, i know that everybody thinks it's gross, of course, but I can't see/hear/smell someone throwing up without almost getting to the verge of puking myself. I'm not quite sure how I'm going to deal with it in med school, I guess I don't have a choice. Any empathy/suggestions?

I hear ya! Ever since I can remember (like preschool) I've ran and hid in a corner when someone vommitted. I can't hear it, see it, see someone who is about to do it...:::shudder:::: I'm seriously thinking about doing some kind of aversion therapy before med school to get over it...
 
BirdmanRA said:
I would have to concur that Burn victims are the worst to me. So much of their treatment is so painful and to see the skin just peeling away is awful. I absolutely could not work in a burn ward. Thankfully there are wonderful people who CAN do this sort of thing. More power to them. Although all of these other wonderful sights and smells are still unknown to me, I can't even watch burn patients on TV without cringing. Ingrown infected toenails do gross me out, though. ick!
The smell of a burn ward is one other thing I can't stand. It just makes the hair on the back of my neck stand on end.
 
QofQuimica said:
The other thing that really grosses me out are bones that are not where bones are supposed to be. Even hearing someone describe these things in graphic detail and looking at x-rays can make me feel woozy, let alone actually seeing them for real. .


I am 100 percent with you. I cannot stand the thought of broken/displaced bones. Even the thought of healthy bones and joints makes me squeamish. When I was little I broke my arm roller skating, and it was clean through...part of it up, and part of it down. If I had to see that sight today I would pass out. I am extremely nervous when I see kids do anything remotely risky, just because I don't want to look at mangled bones. I guess ortho's out for me.
 
tch001 said:
I hear ya! Ever since I can remember (like preschool) I've ran and hid in a corner when someone vommitted. I can't hear it, see it, see someone who is about to do it...:::shudder:::: I'm seriously thinking about doing some kind of aversion therapy before med school to get over it...

Hi, yeah, me too. I was shadowing an anesthesiologist and he did like two epidural where the women barfed and everyone was like, "Where's the volunteer running to?" It is hideous.

I even hate when people clear their throats really hard! 🙁
 
do-ca said:
Hi, yeah, me too. I was shadowing an anesthesiologist and he did like two epidural where the women barfed and everyone was like, "Where's the volunteer running to?" It is hideous.

I even hate when people clear their throats really hard! 🙁
Don't go into RT as a backup career then...... 😛
 
What really grosses me out is that green gel-like ooze that comes out of the ventilator tubing. I'm a transporter and I see that yuck all the time taking ICU patients to have a head CT. I think I would go into convulsions if any of that ever got on me. Blood, vomit, gore, none of that bothers me.
 
MirrorTodd said:
Does anyone here have or had an aversion to blood, needles, gore, etc? Does anyone have any funny stories about this? I've noticed some people get physically ill when they see blood and a lot of males will pass out when they get stuck with a needle. As for me, I don't have a problem with. I like to see all that medical gore and such, although I'm sure there are still some surprises I've yet to witness.
Now my story: There was this one medic during my training for the army that was on the verge of passing out while administering IV's. That was a fun day.


None
but if i see the guts of someone i can't eat meat for a month
that's why i am a on-again-off-again vegetarian 😳
 
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