I had to learn to advocate. I won't let them do the right elbow as I had a nerve transposition (basically they moved the ulnar nerve from the outside of the elbow to the inside so that it didn't constantly rub on the elbow joint). I'll be damned if I'll let them hit that nerve with a needle!!!When I was in the hospital they needed to blood every morning. The last morning they needed to get blood I had 2 nurses trying to find a vein. This was like day 4 so my arm looked liked I was a junkie. They couldn't find a spot so they tried finding a veln in the back of my hand. In my head I was like go get someone from the lab. They did and that guy found a vein having to high up on my arm. I have issues with needles so when I get sticked without the end result being accomplished I'm not a happy camper.
As for the hands, I have these weird valves in the veins and they will invariably get the needle into the vein and get blocked by a valve. Then everything explodes under the skin and I wind up with a hand that looks like Mitch McConnell's. The last time it happened, I had asked the nurse to do it on my wrist, and I was distracted by talking to the Anesthesiologist and all of a sudden she stuck me in the back of my hand. Per usual, everything went sideways. She tried to tape the needle down but my hand was already bruising. The anesthesiologist told her "next time a patient tells you that a site is a bad place for a stick, LISTEN to them". He then took over and did the stick himself, up on the wrist like I had originally requested.
TL; DR
When it comes to your health and comfort, don't be shy about advocating for yourself.