There has to be a limit

In the last 20 months I have had many blood draws. I believe in that time I've had 20-22 draws, a majority of them just for Depakote but many for other things. We've been trying to figure out how my body processes Depakote, something that is seemingly beyond explanation. Increasing my dose sometimes increases my levels as expected. Sometimes it lowers them by a lot. That's not the plan. Ultimately I'm just on as much as my body can handle so it doesn't matter. I am currently doing ok with sedation but am pretty sure we won't be adding anymore for a very long time.

Last February I kept waiting for my doctor to respond to a request to help as I rapidly sank into a deep depression. I was getting mad at her for ignoring me when finally I learned the cause of the issue: she hadn't received the lab. We did some calling around, and the hospital I had gone to had to outsource the lab. The lab that was supposed to process it had received a paper with the orders but no blood. Nobody bothered to call and check on that or ask me to get a re-draw. So I suffered severe depression for about 4 weeks thanks to their error.

Last week I saw my doctor at a new office. I had to get blood done for a good 10-15 tests and I thought the number of tubes drawn wasn't right compared to when this has been done every 6 months for years, but I figured I didn't know what I was doing. Today I got a call that they are very sorry but two tests required blood in a different type of tube than was used and I have to go back. To make it worse, one was my lithium level, which has to be drawn 12 hours post taking it, and the doctor is an hour away. This means I'll have to very carefully plan a trip to get it done. Yippee.

On the plus side I was really wondering if it would ever happen, but the medicine I got for my side effect that I've talked about before and which should stay personal if you aren't shameless like me, seems to have kicked in. I'm finally not 100% uncomfortable leaning forward. I swear that just today my jeans are fitting more loosely. Be interesting if my theory is true and my preferred pair of jeans (like the fit) are no longer too tight in a few days.

Nonetheless, can you believe, two major lab errors in a year?