a trip to the Doctors
I’d never had an IV before. And I should’ve become a little worried when I had to sign a waiver prior to having one done yesterday. But we’d been sitting in the waiting room for over an hour and I was just thankful that I was getting close to seeing the Doctor. They got me when I was weak, you see. Boredom caused a momentary lapse in inquisitiveness. I’d been occupying myself by walking to the water cooler and looking at all the organic, cruelty free skin care products while sipping ice water from a crinkly plastic cup when they shoved the bit of paper in front of me and asked me to sign. I is stupid and have no legal recourse.
The Dr lent over me, my arm prone and extended, resting on a pillow that had a blood resistant coating. He was squinting and peering intently at the inside of my forearm, trying desperately to find a vein. Every now and then he’d slap me leaving blotches of rosy skin. I knew from past blood giving experience that my veins were elusive and I had a feeling that they weren’t going to make this easy.
After 15 minutes he managed to find a vein and he started the drip going. “If you feel a stinging, or it hurts you at all, you’ve got to tell me straight away”, he said as he left the room. “I’m tough.” I replied.
And then the stinging started. Slowly at first. I thought that perhaps it was supposed to feel like this. Irritating and sore. But then it got worse and my breathing quickened and I started feeling nauseous. “This isn’t right.” I thought to myself. I looked up at the fluid left in the IV bag and knew there was no way I could make it through this pain for another 15-20 minutes. By the time Dad had got the doctor I was close to pulling out the needle myself. The burning feeling was unbareable and I felt sick to my stomach. Something had gone wrong.
I looked down at the crook of my arm and saw lumps had formed near the injection site. Apparently, the Doctor had popped the vein which meant all the IV juice was going into the tissue in the surrounding areas causing them to swell and the skin to tighten. I felt sick for hours afterwards and had trouble sleeping last night because it felt like my whole arm was corked. No wonder they get you to sign a waiver.
The pic above is what I woke up to this morning. Thankfully it’s feeling better tonight and is only slightly swollen. And despite my doctor’s pleas and attempts at coercion there’s no way I’m going to attempt to try the procedure again. I may not be tough but I’m not stupid!
