Back In Chains

Tired of seeing my IV posts? Well, think about if you had to look at them for 4 days straight! Anyway, once my freedom ended it was time to switch my IV. The one on the back of my left hand was really beginning to get uncomfortable.

On a side note, I thought of something on the first day that I highly recommend to anyone who ever has to be in the hospital should consider. I designated one arm for the Deposit Arm and one arm as the Withdraw Arm, That way, one poor arm wasn't getting all of the hassle. Worked like a charm! Each arm got a little bit of abuse instead of one arm holding a grudge against me afterwards.

Anyway, back to my IV. I decided to move it to my right arm, up until now, the Withdraw Arm. I figured it was time to switch them. I had no idea how much longer I was going to be in the hospital at this point and the way I sleep, it would work better in my right hand.

This time I had the forethought to go into the bathroom and shave all the hair off of my right hand. That stuff hurts getting yanked out! My nurse, Carole said, "Do you want me to do it on the side?" I thought, "Well, Carole...I'm not sure I know you well enough for that!" But what she meant was this!

Gives "On The Side" a whole new meaning!

If you are ever conscious in a situation where you have to get an IV...DO THIS! It's amazing! Totally gets all the tubey stuff out of your way. You don't catch it on things while doing menial tasks. Most importantly you can cover it up with your ID bracelet...well, depending on what hand your ID bracelet is on. Granted, once we made this switch, I never needed another IV.

I did learn something from this other than the obvious. I knew I probably wasn't going to be getting another IV since the Heparin wasn't working. So what I originally asked Carole was if she could just remove the IV all together. Get this! If you remove the IV the insurance companies then consider that you don't need to be in the hospital anymore. Hence why we had to move it to my other hand even tho I wasn't going to be getting anymore IV's. Funky Huh?

So, what'd you learn? Get your IV "On The Side" and if there isn't an IV in your arm, you no longer need to be in the hospital. Class dismissed!