Blood Draw Success!

Can you hear the triumphant angels singing?  "Hallelujah!  Hallelujah!" 

Yep, we've got blood!

Let me just say what great friends and family we have!  Not 30 seconds after I posted Saturday that we were giving up on drawing the blood ourselves, cousin Karen called me.  She volunteered her husband Chris, who as a pediatric nurse, knows quite a bit about drawing blood.  They came over Sunday afternoon and gave it a go.  Both goats were a bit unruly.  (And who can blame them, as many times as we'd restrained and stuck them by then.)  Chris did a great job, but we had no success.

Prepared to give up again, I texted my friend Jessica and asked for the number for the vet they use for their cows.  Her husband, who works in anesthesia at the local hospital,  caught wind of our conversation and volunteered to come out and give it a try himself before we called the vet. 

Adam came out Tuesday afternoon and informed us that the needle/needle holder set-up we were trying to use is VERY difficult to work with.  (This was a bit of a relief to learn.  It seems that John, Chris, and I all had the right idea -- just the wrong equipment.)

He opted to use a basic needle and syringe.  John restrained Honey while Adam drew the blood, and I rejoiced nearby!  Then, they swapped spots so that John was the one to draw the blood from Razz. 

After the way things had gone over the past week, we were so glad to see that blood in the syringe, that John actually hugged Adam! 

Here, the samples are all packaged up and ready for shipment.  We hope to have results back within the week.  You know I'll keep you posted!  Fingers crossed!

We are so appreciative of those who helped us with this process.  It seems we learn new things everyday here on our little farm.  Occasionally, we try something for the first time and succeed.  But, a lot of times, (like this one) we have to fail first.  But, the blood is drawn, we now know how to do it, our goats don't seem to be holding a grudge, and we learned anew how great it is to have the support of a community of family and friends.  Sounds like success to me!