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Jan. 16th, 2007
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Jan. 16th, 2007 11:35 amfour IV sticks later, here I am. Apparently I have tiny veins :D All is well, though. More when I have the use of both hands...
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Jan. 16th, 2007 06:41 pmAll right, lying down is a pain so I might as well give some more detail, take some asprin, and try again. :D
Today I got an MRI and a blood-glucose test. The MRI machine was way smaller than the ones on TV but also far less terrifying than I expected -- my mum has to be sedated before she can be put into one, but I had no trouble at all and sort of enjoyed the experience. You know, on a one-time, so-this-is-what-it's-like-to-be-buried-alive kind of basis.
The blood-glucose test was less enjoyable. Unlike yesterday I had to sit in bed and couldn't sit fully upright, plus my right hand was immobilised. They got the IV stick for the right hand on the first try, but on my left they'd already stuck the big vein yesterday so they had fewer good candidates today. They tried the other side of my wrist, then the back of my hand. They managed to draw some blood from the second one, but then the needle fell out. So now there's a large, painful bruise on the back of my hand. It looks like I got hit with a baseball.
The main point of having two IVs is that you can use one side to inject the necessary drugs while you use the other side to draw blood. A lot of blood. Not a lot at once, mind you, just a collective lot. For the first half-hour, blood is drawn every two minutes. After that it slacks off to ten, then twenty, then forty, but over the course of the test you lose slightly more than you would if you were donating blood. At least, according to the handout.
The nurse says I have squeaky veins. I couldn't figure out what she meant at first, and then I listened while she was drawing blood through the IV -- it does make a sort of phwee! noise. In my head, there's a TMI-cam going into my bloodstream and a bunch of red blood cells squeaking happily at each other.
Anyway, the test takes several hours, and the MRI had been late, so it was past two before I was allowed to eat or drink anything (no water during the glucose test). I spent much of the time sleeping, since it's hard to read lying-down and left-handed. Towards the end, I was dreaming almost exclusively of food, because at that point it had been nearly 24 hours since I'd eaten.
So, with a four-week supply of trial medication, a bad case of bed-head, and terrible cramps from eating a bagel too fast, I went home. Where I am now. It's not a little bit cold outside, you guys. But inside, the weather station mum bought me says that my flat is a toasty 73 degrees (22 centigrade!).
Ironic that I spent all that time dreaming about the delicious food I had at home, and now that I'm home the idea of food is faintly nauseating.
Today I got an MRI and a blood-glucose test. The MRI machine was way smaller than the ones on TV but also far less terrifying than I expected -- my mum has to be sedated before she can be put into one, but I had no trouble at all and sort of enjoyed the experience. You know, on a one-time, so-this-is-what-it's-like-to-be-buried-alive kind of basis.
The blood-glucose test was less enjoyable. Unlike yesterday I had to sit in bed and couldn't sit fully upright, plus my right hand was immobilised. They got the IV stick for the right hand on the first try, but on my left they'd already stuck the big vein yesterday so they had fewer good candidates today. They tried the other side of my wrist, then the back of my hand. They managed to draw some blood from the second one, but then the needle fell out. So now there's a large, painful bruise on the back of my hand. It looks like I got hit with a baseball.
The main point of having two IVs is that you can use one side to inject the necessary drugs while you use the other side to draw blood. A lot of blood. Not a lot at once, mind you, just a collective lot. For the first half-hour, blood is drawn every two minutes. After that it slacks off to ten, then twenty, then forty, but over the course of the test you lose slightly more than you would if you were donating blood. At least, according to the handout.
The nurse says I have squeaky veins. I couldn't figure out what she meant at first, and then I listened while she was drawing blood through the IV -- it does make a sort of phwee! noise. In my head, there's a TMI-cam going into my bloodstream and a bunch of red blood cells squeaking happily at each other.
Anyway, the test takes several hours, and the MRI had been late, so it was past two before I was allowed to eat or drink anything (no water during the glucose test). I spent much of the time sleeping, since it's hard to read lying-down and left-handed. Towards the end, I was dreaming almost exclusively of food, because at that point it had been nearly 24 hours since I'd eaten.
So, with a four-week supply of trial medication, a bad case of bed-head, and terrible cramps from eating a bagel too fast, I went home. Where I am now. It's not a little bit cold outside, you guys. But inside, the weather station mum bought me says that my flat is a toasty 73 degrees (22 centigrade!).
Ironic that I spent all that time dreaming about the delicious food I had at home, and now that I'm home the idea of food is faintly nauseating.