Here's a picture to start my story:
So IVs are apparently supposed to be switched every 4 days to avoid infection and what not. They gave me an extra day because mine was comfortable and my veins have been so difficult. But today was the day. I asked the nurse early when she expected that we would change it since I was already nervous. Boy oh boy did I have a need to be.
First, my regular nurse tried. After she failed, my skin was sticking out in a blob about a half an inch from my inch. I'm not very squeamish, but I do not like when my arms change shape when they are not supposed to.
So she called an anesthesiologist. He was a younger guy. A TCU fan. We chatted a bit. Then he missed his stick on one arm and then blew the vein on my other hand. That gauze in the upper right portion of my wrist is him.
So they called another anesthesiologist. But he never came.
So this other nurse swore that nurses do it better than anesthesiologists anyway. She blew one on my right arm and then got the successful stick in the hand of my left. (The other large gauze is from my previous IV.)
If you're counting, that's 5 sticks, one IV. Two of the 5 sticks will leave massive bruises, the other 2 were ok (I guess).
I think I was teary after my arm blew up the first time. Then I really cried after the 3rd one. Then in the middle of all of this, the resident comes in and turns my Mag up because I'm having so many contractions. I'm pretty sure most of the contractions were crying and the others were caused by terror and pain. But now I'm back on 2mg. I'm holding off the woozy-drunkenness pretty well, but I feel it coming.
So instead of finishing a school project this morning, all I successfully did was get an IV in my hand.
But then my mom came and organized my room (I added a rolling cart to hold all my stuff and a wall calendar to help me keep track of the time) and my good friend came and brought me a small Jamba Juice (since I'm still fluid restricted).
And now The Princess Bride is on and I'm relatively relaxed.
And only lab techs and the most experienced nurses will be touching my veins (as I tearfully asked the Charge Nurse who appeared in the middle of the madness).
The problem is that no one believe that I'm a difficult stick because they can see my veins. But then they roll or they break because they are fragile.
(Guess I hadn't quite let it go yet.)
Day 6 - Night 7 - Signing off.
(Well...super quick update: I'll be on Mag until Monday because they wanted to get me to 24 weeks (tomorrow), but they don't want to take me off on a weekend when my normal doc is not here. So on Monday, we wean, then we watch. For like a week. If I'm stable after that (and not bleeding at all - it's still lingering) then I could go home. I don't really see that happening though...)
