Difficulty rating
Sorry for the close up on the needle. I know some of you won’t like this view, but it had to happen xD
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It reminds me of my own experiences about giving blood. 😀 (But, of course, without the scale-things XD… or maybe not 😛 )
If you had known, you could have take something to simulate scales and protect yourself xD
Can you even still have a phobia to needles as an adult?
Yes.
You seem to be confusing phobia with minor discomfort. I’m thirty and have a rather specific blood-needle phobia. I can get a shot, I can bleed from a minor injury, but for some reason, when my skin is pricked with a needle for the specific purpose of drawing blood, be it a vial-full for a proper blood test or a lancet prick for a few drops to test blood type, I always feel like I’m going to pass out. Phobias don’t usually go away when you get older, especially when they don’t make sense.
Most definitely. You can learn to accommodate the phobia if you are exposed to needles on a regular basis, such as for immunotherapy or testing blood chemistry. Time away from needles due to good health and then returning to regular exposure, I found I had to relearn my coping mechanisms. A lot of it is turning away from the action and telling yourself it’s not happening. A good nurse or technician helps, a lot.
From personal experience, yes! Last time I tried to donate blood, I hyperventilated despite trying to stay calm. Even when the nurse at my doctor’s office drew some blood, I had to look away. I could handle the pain of getting a needle in my hand, but just the thought of it, oh boy!
I test my blood for glucose once or twice a day, with no problem. Get a cut or scrape that bleeds, painful, but no problem. Get a needle stuck in me for vaccination, testing, or donation, and I have to look away while it goes in. Once it’s in place, I can look at it with no problem.
Getting over a phobia isn’t easy
I’ve almost bailed out of a moving car to get away from a needle once. The only reason I’m starting to get better is because it was effecting my dogs, they picked up on my fear when they were at the vet and reacted similarly. If I can keep calm it helps them too.
I started donating blood plasma to overcome my fear of needles.
Voluntary autodidact exposure therapy, basically.
Plus i got money per donation.
Yes, phobia’s are not age-related. It’s very possible to have a phobia of needles as an adult. I can image being forced to endure it as a kid could lead to trauma, and trauma’s are something that could lead to a life-long fear of whatever caused it.
That’s exactly what happened to me.
I never got the choice to say no as a kid, and my parents, well meaning as they were, thought it was just better to hold me and get it over with. I’ve never had any needle-related procedures since I was 16, and likely never will again unless I’m either unconscious or nearly dead.
I understand they aren’t trying to hurt me, and I logically know that there’s high risk on my chosen path, but I just fear the needle more then death itself.
I wish I had scales like them, they are so pretty ^^
Thanks 😀
One shot, one chance, one draw.
Doctor Fern is set to score.
Whilst Kai must wait for his chance
In the eternal pattern of the Doctor Dance.
His Doctor engages a slower pace
as Kaya beats Kai in the drawing race;
His Doctor engages a slower pace
In the eternal pattern of the Doctor Dance.
Whilst Kai must wait for his chance
Doctor Fern is set to score.
One shot, one chance, one draw
Well Kaya is braver then me. I’m in my late 30s and still need to look away and grit my teeth when I have blood drawn.
I understand your point, i have to look away when they pierce in, but i´m fine looking at it afterwards.
Maybe Kaya was making sure it’s done well xD
It’s always nice to have physicians that actually know what they’re doing, I’m thinking the doctor at their old town didn’t even attend so much as a seminar on how to approach hybrids in medical practices. Like I said, their old town was very much behind the times with the way they think, which I’m pretty sure extended to their old town.
I think it would be absolutely hilarious if their old town got a hybrid for their new doctor, can you imagine what they would do if that happened? Also, I think it would be amusing for the twins to actually tell stories of how backward their old town was their friends. They would probably each have a different reaction, Rex would probably say how there’s no way that was true and later find out from the parents of the twins they were actually telling the truth, Benji would probably use it a fuel for a campaign setting, and Cleo would probably just record it all and hand it over to her father for him to make a judgment call on (possibly because he’s looking for ever-increasing ways to expand the business, and it helps to know where it would be best to avoid as much as there are places to take advantage of)
Their old town getting a hybrid doctor would probably be the funniest thing I’ve ever seen! I now want to attempt to draw it myself, but Im not the best at drawing and I’m not sure how Robin would feel about it if I tried… I still might do it anyways, it’s just too funny
I would feel honored to receive any kind of fanart, regardless of skill level. If you want to draw it, go right ahead 😀
It may take a while because I am an unskilled perfectionist
The doctor at their old town was pretty ignorant about the subject. That’s why they drove to the next town if possible.
Noice
Thanks 😀
Finally have time to post but have been here since last september, 21.
Congrats on your first post 😀 Glad to have you here, and glad you’re enjoying the comic ^^
Kaya would only reach a 10 if she had coffee. Scratch that sugar. Kaya plus coffee equals 986 on the difficulty scales of literally anything
You mean 682. That is another lizard after all.
Oh, she could reach a 10 without any help, but usually doesn’t xD
I can sympathize; I have deep veins, so whenever the medics had to draw blood, I usually ended up getting stuck around 3-4 times until they got it right.
Makes you appreciate the ones that can nail it the first time.
I guess I’m lucky. My veins must show pretty well since it works out on the first time. That or I have always had people that know what they’re doing :p
The medical theme of this chapter brings up a few questions that I would like to see others respond to before getting a definitive answer.
Firstly, if someone was allergic to an animal, would that make them automatically allergic to a hybrid of the animal, or maybe make their be a chance of them being allergic? If it made it so that there was a chance of allergies would that mean that someone could be allergic to the hybrid but not the animal?
Second: Can a hybrid of an animal that can regrow or easily survive without certain body parts be able to do the same?
And lastly, can diseases that normally only affect certain animals affect hybrids? Are there any diseases that they could be immune too because of being hybrids?
I understand if I can’t be given a definitive answer for one reason or another, but I at least want to see what some people think.
I would think each is hypothetically possible depending on the individual’s level of hybridization. Diseases do have a habit of jumping species on occasion, so a hybrid might be more vulnerable to that.
The allergy option seems possible, but I would think only in cases where the ratio of human to animal is nearing 50:50.
The regrowth ability seems a little too far removed from human biology to be expressed in a hybrid, it’s not like you can ethically test that anyway
I’ll refrain from giving a definite answer since you want to see what other’s think about it. I’m going to add, though, that hybrids are still mostly human with only a little bit of animal. Even in cases like the twins where it’s obvious they have a lot of dragon going on.
I would like definitive answers if your still watching the comments. I was expecting and hoping for more responses. I would like to add that including the regrow thing was just a quick filtering technique, as in I would just ignore those who said yes to it, because it can be really hard to find out who to listen to if so many answers seem potentially reasonable, as they could have for the other two.
JUST my humble opinions…:-)
1 – No. The hybrids are still almost entirely -human-. Has been said many times.
1a – There is always a chance of SOMEone being allergic to darn near ANYthing.
1b – See 1a.
2 – No. Almost certainly not; -the hybrids are still almost entirely -human-. More likely, IF they get any benefit from that at all, it would be a trait for quicker healing or something on that order.
3 – Slim possibility but unlikely. The hybrids are still almost entirely -human-.
3a – Also possible and, again in my so very humble opinion ;-), a bit more likely than being susceptible to a species-specific disease. I say that because it would likely run up against that, once again, “mostly human” factor and become more like a vaccination than an actual contagion.
Reasonable questions for us fans to speculate on, but I really prefer to wait to see if they are answered later in the story for definitive answers. I know -I- don’t want to tie Robin down any sooner than necessary and potentially take away some ideas for future story plot-points! 🙂
Alright, since you asked for a definite answer:
1: It would not automatically make someone allergic to a certain hybrid. Only when that hybrid also has the specific things that make someone allergic. You can have two cat hybrids and one would not be a problem for people with allergies, and the other would be a problem.
2: Super healing factor like this is not a thing hybrids can do. Humans either lack these genes or they are suppressed (Yeah, I follow up this kind of science sometimes :p turns out mamals COULD regenerate if it wasn’t for the fact that this is actively suppressed for some reason) That said, a rare mythical that could heal a bit more than normal wouldn’t be out of the question.
3: They are not more able to get these kind of diseases than normal humans. Disease can jump species sometimes, but that’s the same for regular humans.
Ah neat! Deliberately get a vein to pop out and then draw from that one, nice strat Doc!
Spot on on the sibling teasing again! Really helps how natural this comic feels!
It’s how it was done every time I had blood drawn. Would feel really strange after a while of having your blood cut off with that band, though :p
That’s the standard procedure for phlebotomy, you have to be able to at least feel your target to do a stick.
BTW, her technique is wrong. The beveled part of the needle has to be facing up for maximum control of the needle
Oh God, I remember the last time I gave blood. (First time actually. Stupid bad heart genetics…) I didn’t feel squeamish at all, but that hurt bad! I think that they had to dig a tiny bit, but mostly it just sucked getting the vein poked. I’m impressed by Kai and Kaya’s lack of apparent reaction here. I suppose getting jabbed over and over by their last doctor helped them build up a bit of tolerance. Either that, being a dragon helps, or they’re just really good with pain in general. Regardless, I appreciate how they just kinda pass it off as no big deal. Plus the friendly teasing at the end and the wordplay earned a chuckle from me. Always nice to end with a laugh. Keep up the great work Robin! As always, stay awesome!
The pain varies. Some needle sticks are totally painless, even red cross needles. Some hurt. I have seen not way to tell them apart beforehand.
Some of the pain caused by an injection can be credited to whatever is being injected/drawn. I’ve been told of the military “peanut butter shot” that feels like they’re injecting you with a jar of the stuff and it apparently hurts like H***. Muscle tension can increase the pain as well as they have to press harder to actually get to a vein. The skill of the person holding the man made snake fang obviously has an effect.
In short, it’s a festival of surprises and the surprise is usually not fun. Sorry about the monologue, but I’m a very “know thine enemy” about my phobia
One thing that is true is that a wet needle can hurt more than a dry needle. But it’s still chance.
Thanks Alpha. I based their reaction on myself, as I have no problem with this kind of thing. It’s nice to see people share their own stories about giving blood, though. Awesome of them to do it even if they have a problem with needles 😀
and of course, some friendly teasing needs to happen :p
Surprised they didn’t struggle to find a vein, looking at lizard skins in real life i imagine finding a vein to get blood would be challenging.
They got some tricks up their sleeves :p
Fern is pretty experienced at this point.
I like the last panel; I’m not sure Kai is actually referring to the difficulty of working with “the needle” though! 🙂
Oh, he’s needling her all right.
What Welsh said :p
Surprised nobody mentioned this yet: their blood is purple.
Judging by some of the above comments more than a few don’t want to look that close.
It only looks purple in one panel as far as I can see. You can also see some red and gray from different angles. The doctors will probably point it out in the next page if it’s actually purple. For now we can just guess as to wether or not it’s intentional, Or ask, or hope we get a responses before too long
OUR blood is brownish red if taken from a vein. Not bright red.
Brownish red? Have you been popping amyl nitrite?
Hemoglobin is actually blue, but when it’s carrying oxygen, it’s bright red. That’s why venous blood is darker. Some of the cells have lost oxygen, most are still carrying it.
Brown is methemoglobin, which is a “dead” hemoglobin, but is often induced using amyl nitrite to counteract cyanide poisoning.
Green? It’s a miracle they’re still alive. That’s beta hemolysis. Or you’re doing a blood draw on Spock.
Hmm, well, that wasn’t the intention. I must have turned off a color layer somewhere. They have regular blood, not purple blood. I need to go in and fix this tomorrow. Thanks for pointing it out 😀
Kaya did better that some grown adults that I’ve had to stick with a 24 gauge butterfly needle for contrast.
An interesting note about needle size: the larger the gauge number, the smaller the bore/needle size.
Like with shotgun calibers.
20 gauge is smaller than 12 gauge.
Because it´s the 1/20 and 1/12 of a pound of lead.
Though they will use something different for the needles i guess?
Nah, load it up and pump some needles in that vein.
Ka-CHK
xD
Heavens Robin!
Now i imagine the nice Lady Doc armed with the Syringer from Fallout 4!
Kaya is a tough girl. No needle will make her cry :p
Even when she was little and had to go through that vaccination debacle, she was more annoyed than scared at the end.
After so many blood draws for my Dilantin levels, seeing something like what you illustrated doesn’t phase me one bit. I’ve had to stall so that I could transfix my eyes onto one specific little dot on the ceiling panels.