Scene: Room 3, Pediatrics Wing
Time: Saturday
Ah yes, it is Saturday. Nothing exciting happens today…it was a lovely day of visitors, well wishes and more morphine. Enjoyed ordering food ala a hotel room service-type menu…my doctors put me on a bland diet but I still enjoyed some tasty food. Hubby sends me video of Billy’s karate competition and I felt a tad bit better about missing it. He got 4th in sparring and 3rd in form…he was very excited and I was very proud of him. The nurses in the pediatric wing are awesome…they are so nice and I tried to not be a pain and fend for myself whenever I had the chance. I did ask silly questions like “if the IV is plugged into the wall, how do I go to the bathroom? The cord isn’t long enough to reach and the door won’t shut….oh, I can unplug it and it will run on battery…ohhhhhhh.” But I do have to give big props to one special RN…this nurse never came in when I needed a IV fluid change, vitals taken, or pain medication administered. She just happened to show up when I rang my buzzer for one thing…the dreaded stool sample. This is embarrassing I’ll admit…not only living it but writing about it, but this nurse had a real good sense of humor that I had to mention it. So, I buzz the nurse because of the sample…she comes in and introduces herself and I point to the bathroom, red faced and all. She collects then informs me they will need another one. Oh for Pete’s sake! I don’t want to do this again…and the pressure messes with your mind. When they tell you to go you can’t go! Well, about 4 hours later I buzzed the nurse’s station and she walks in again! I couldn’t help it…I blurted out “what did you do? Draw the short straw today?!?” She laughed and said it is all part of the job.
That also made me realize not only do all nurses do so much for patients…stuff I never thought of until I had to see it for myself…but it also confirmed that I could never be a nurse. If you know a nurse…hug them for me.
It’s now night time and I gaze at the clock…morphine is going to kick in so I’m getting ready to go nighty-night when I notice something on the wall that is taunting me and has since I first was admitted. On the whiteboard in my room it says “Start ‘Go Lytely’ on Sunday”….oh great.
Oh…I almost forgot the middle of the night mini story! Well not only have I been getting fluids via IV but I’ve been getting two different antibiotics via IV. Apparently one of the antibiotics is a real hum-dinger and can irritate your vein. At some point in the night I awaken and ask for more pain meds…well the nurse has to stop my IV and flush the line because the morphine doesn’t mix with the antibiotic. She connects the mini-syringe to my IV and pushes the plunger…HOLY SHIT THAT FREAKING HURT! I jolt in my bed and the nurse looks at me. I told her that it hurt and I hadn’t felt that pain before. She’s tries again…YOW! She stops and calls another nurse in…the conclusion? My vein is “blown”…which basically means they have to take the damn thing out and start a new one. So out comes the IV which was on my left forearm and in goes the new one…which is inserted near my left wrist. That means if I bend it just right it hurts…so I avoid that as much as possible because I don’t want to do this again. Pain meds…yadda, yadda…back to bed.
