Next, I am going to find some Toddler Humor :-)
Monday, April 29, 2013
Pregnancy Humor
I have seen these "Pregnancy Tip: Do and Don't" around lately, along with some other preggo humor. It keeps things light.
Thursday, April 4, 2013
Blown IVs, Oh My!
I woke up today sure that I was going to be able to go home. On Wednesday night, an ultrasound tech came to check out my kidneys to see if they have any stones or inflammation. Also on Wednesday night, I blew my second IV.
What does a "blown" IV mean, you ask? It's this lovely little phenomenon that the medication that is going through the IV either gets into the tissue surrounding the entry point, or the medication being administered is bothering the vein. I was lucky enough to have both!
My first IV was in my left hand - I got it on Tuesday morning. By the time Tuesday evening rolled around, my hand was swollen so much that it was starting to make me cry. The nurse looked at it and decided to move it. I had it put in my right arm - and that vein blew on Wednesday night. It was decided to just give me jazz orally so we could avoid the IV altogether.
During this process, I found out the anti-nausea medication they are giving me causes veins to burn. Say wha? That's right, BURN. Due to this, I have these lovely thick, red lines going down my arms where my tissue and veins are damaged from these meds. The right arm (which was taken out on Wednesday night) is worse, but I didn't think anything of it.
Fast forward to today, where I had a BRAT diet (banana, rice, applesauce, toast) for each meal. I was able to make it 1-2 hour each time, followed by losing all of it via mouth. My Doctor was doing his rounds and saw me briefly, so he ordered me to have another IV put in.
It took 3 people to find an adequate vein, and they were all concerned about my right arm. It is hot to the touch, very red, and very swollen. The doctor looked at it tonight, and said that we need to keep an eye out on it tonight to make sure that it isn't Cellulitis (which, from my understanding, is a type of staph infection). Bad news. Fingers crossed that will go away - everything is painful enough.
The U/S did not show anything significant, though the Doctor said that it could still be stones, or the start of a Kidney infection (despite the fact that I don't have a fever). So, at this point, I have to have IV fluids with anti-nausea meds mixed in and will be repeating the CBC blood work tomorrow to see if I have elevated white blood cells. If I don't, then I will get discharged when I am no longer dependent on anti-nausea meds.
Whoopee. I am tired, so I am going to bed. Fingers crossed that he will look at the results and let me know in the morning.
Thanks for listening, and for the support!
M.
What does a "blown" IV mean, you ask? It's this lovely little phenomenon that the medication that is going through the IV either gets into the tissue surrounding the entry point, or the medication being administered is bothering the vein. I was lucky enough to have both!
My first IV was in my left hand - I got it on Tuesday morning. By the time Tuesday evening rolled around, my hand was swollen so much that it was starting to make me cry. The nurse looked at it and decided to move it. I had it put in my right arm - and that vein blew on Wednesday night. It was decided to just give me jazz orally so we could avoid the IV altogether.
During this process, I found out the anti-nausea medication they are giving me causes veins to burn. Say wha? That's right, BURN. Due to this, I have these lovely thick, red lines going down my arms where my tissue and veins are damaged from these meds. The right arm (which was taken out on Wednesday night) is worse, but I didn't think anything of it.
Fast forward to today, where I had a BRAT diet (banana, rice, applesauce, toast) for each meal. I was able to make it 1-2 hour each time, followed by losing all of it via mouth. My Doctor was doing his rounds and saw me briefly, so he ordered me to have another IV put in.
It took 3 people to find an adequate vein, and they were all concerned about my right arm. It is hot to the touch, very red, and very swollen. The doctor looked at it tonight, and said that we need to keep an eye out on it tonight to make sure that it isn't Cellulitis (which, from my understanding, is a type of staph infection). Bad news. Fingers crossed that will go away - everything is painful enough.
The U/S did not show anything significant, though the Doctor said that it could still be stones, or the start of a Kidney infection (despite the fact that I don't have a fever). So, at this point, I have to have IV fluids with anti-nausea meds mixed in and will be repeating the CBC blood work tomorrow to see if I have elevated white blood cells. If I don't, then I will get discharged when I am no longer dependent on anti-nausea meds.
Whoopee. I am tired, so I am going to bed. Fingers crossed that he will look at the results and let me know in the morning.
Thanks for listening, and for the support!
M.
Wednesday, April 3, 2013
Another Medical Circus
Once again, I am experiencing what I affectionately call a "medical circus". My apologies if this posts weird, but I am on an iPad and it sucks.
Anyway, on Monday 4/1 I came home and felt weird. I laid on the couch for a little while, then went upstairs and passed out. When I woke up around 11, I was nauseous and was vomiting, with severe pain in my mid back. I told myself that if it was still there in the morning, I would call the doctor.
6:30 am on 4/2 rolls around, and it's actually worse. I call the doctor's office, who told me to go to Labor and Delivery (since I am 23 weeks now). I arrived and got me set up on the monitor. I was in the triage area for about 6 hours - blood was drawn, I was given fluids, a catheter made an appearance, the works.
At that point, my doc made his way to the hospital to give me test results. It showed that I had a bacterial infection but that it had not traveled to my kidneys. He told me that he wanted to keep me for a 23 hour observation, so I was moved to a temporary room in the delivery ward.
During this time, I kept getting sick, and the pain was getting worse. When you are at the doctor, they ask you to rank pain from 1 to 10 (which is stupid because pain is subjective). Anyway, when I got into triage it was at a 3. To give you an idea of my pain threshold, unmediated childbirth was a 10 for me, while meningitis is an 11. By the time 6:30 rolled around, it was at a 5. By 7:30, a 6. Tylenol wouldn't touch this crap, and it felt like I was giving birth out of my back. Science I was in pain, they gave me Percocet. If you know me at all, you know I don't like taking any meds in pregnancy, but I was so happy for it. Thankfully, I fell asleep not too soon after that.
This morning, they work me up with bloodwork. My kidneys were still hurting, with major nausea. The bloodwork indicated that my potassium is too high but the doctor doesn't seem concerned. I did nothing but sit around all day. When my doc came to see me at 6:45 tonight, he said that the infection seems to be under control, and that he wants to get a an ultrasound on my kidneys to make sure I don't have stones. If everything is fine, the infection gets better, and my symptoms are gone for 36 hours, I get to go home. Whoopee!
So that is what is happening. I am still concerned about the high potassium, but I am not the one with the medical degree, so I will just let it be. The doc did say that he would go re-look at the blood tests to make sure he didn't miss anything.
Thanks for all the well wishes, and I will update when I know something more.
M.
Anyway, on Monday 4/1 I came home and felt weird. I laid on the couch for a little while, then went upstairs and passed out. When I woke up around 11, I was nauseous and was vomiting, with severe pain in my mid back. I told myself that if it was still there in the morning, I would call the doctor.
6:30 am on 4/2 rolls around, and it's actually worse. I call the doctor's office, who told me to go to Labor and Delivery (since I am 23 weeks now). I arrived and got me set up on the monitor. I was in the triage area for about 6 hours - blood was drawn, I was given fluids, a catheter made an appearance, the works.
At that point, my doc made his way to the hospital to give me test results. It showed that I had a bacterial infection but that it had not traveled to my kidneys. He told me that he wanted to keep me for a 23 hour observation, so I was moved to a temporary room in the delivery ward.
During this time, I kept getting sick, and the pain was getting worse. When you are at the doctor, they ask you to rank pain from 1 to 10 (which is stupid because pain is subjective). Anyway, when I got into triage it was at a 3. To give you an idea of my pain threshold, unmediated childbirth was a 10 for me, while meningitis is an 11. By the time 6:30 rolled around, it was at a 5. By 7:30, a 6. Tylenol wouldn't touch this crap, and it felt like I was giving birth out of my back. Science I was in pain, they gave me Percocet. If you know me at all, you know I don't like taking any meds in pregnancy, but I was so happy for it. Thankfully, I fell asleep not too soon after that.
This morning, they work me up with bloodwork. My kidneys were still hurting, with major nausea. The bloodwork indicated that my potassium is too high but the doctor doesn't seem concerned. I did nothing but sit around all day. When my doc came to see me at 6:45 tonight, he said that the infection seems to be under control, and that he wants to get a an ultrasound on my kidneys to make sure I don't have stones. If everything is fine, the infection gets better, and my symptoms are gone for 36 hours, I get to go home. Whoopee!
So that is what is happening. I am still concerned about the high potassium, but I am not the one with the medical degree, so I will just let it be. The doc did say that he would go re-look at the blood tests to make sure he didn't miss anything.
Thanks for all the well wishes, and I will update when I know something more.
M.
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