Ouch, Ouch
As I was being prepped for my Colonoscopy, a nurse was poking a needle into my right arm, and it hurt. She first poked me in the inside of the elbow and could not get the needle positioned correctly. Normally when I get blood drawn for tests my Doc wants, the lab techs get the vials of bloods from there easily and with little pain. Then the nurse poked me in the middle of my arm below the elbow, and it hurt. Also could not get the needle positioned correctly there. So I told the nurses that in times past, IVs were usually put in the back of my hand. The nurses said something about diabetic veins, implying that the problem they were having were due to my veins. I don't think so, as I have been told by the lab techs I had good veins. Anyway the other nurse then placed the needle in the back of my hand without much pain.
After a forty minute wait, I was wheeled back for the procedure. They had me lay on my left side and then put three medicines into the port on my right hand. The next thing I knew I was in another room. They said they removed a couple of small polyps. They will call in a couple of weeks to let me know about them. Other than being tired, no after effects.
All in all, it was not too bad. The worst part was drinking the "clean out" liquid. I drank it until the output was clear. Not clear like water, but clear like apple juice. I was told that the yellow color was from bile. And of course I didn't like being poked with the needle. But hey, the nurse has to learn how on someone.
posted by SunsetMan @ 11:33 AM
5 comments
5 Comments:
In defense of my fellow nurses, your comparison to lab techs is fallable. They use a small needle, we use a larger one, with a plastic sheath over it, and have to slide that sheath into the vein, not just get through the surface, and without breaking the vein. So it's never as easy as when lab does it, and it always hurts more.
There, I feel better.
No, wait, also when people tell us where to put IV's, they usually don't think of WHY we want it in the forearm. If you bend your hand when the meds or fluids are going in, you stop the IV pump, and it can prolong things immensely. So positioning becomes a problem with hands. And if the IV infiltrates in your hand, you can lose your hand depending on the meds, whereas the arm is much safer, and less likely to infiltrate. We HATE hands. But at least they finally got you! Ug!
And soooo glad you finally got it OVER with!
AND SORRY! I didn't mean to lecture you on your own blog, I just had to say it... SMOOCH!
Jamie, I knew that you would have a comment about my post in defense of your fellow nurses - - and I was not disappointed.
I have had three other day operations and for those they always used the hand. For those I had an IV salt solution hung but for this procedure they just put in a port. I remember the nurse saying something about just having a piece of plastic in my hand. I did not know the difference between what the lab did for a blood draw and when an IV is setup. I did not mind the pain as much as the problem that the nurse was not able to get the needle correctly positioned. I have been told before that I have tough veins, from my years of untreated high blood pressure, would that make the positioning harder? And what does diabetes do to one veins? Maybe I should had some Valium first.
I did not view your comment as a lecture and I was glad to get it as it did explain some things to me.
I'm glad to hear your procedure went well. I had an IV in the back of my hand once and for about a week after, I was still feeling the sensation. I hated that. But the nurses were real nice though :)
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