Experiencing An IV Infiltration

Have you ever wanted to know what a water balloon feels like? Yeah, me either...but I got the opportunity to early on the morning of May 19, 2016. 

I found myself in the Emrgency Room at around 9:30pm because my PICC line wouldn't flush. Erring on the side of paranoid, I went in to make sure everything was alright, particularly since I had been experiencing some chest pain. I didn't get called into triage until after midnight where they asked me why I was there, took my vitals, had me tinkle in a cup (my worst nightmare), and did an EKG. I was sent back into the waiting room with promises of being called back soon for blood work. 

Two and a half hours (plus) passed before I was called back and put into a room. 

Did you see that? Two and a half HOURS! 

When I explained to the nurse that I had a PICC that wouldn't flush and torched veins on the top left hand (so don't touch it or the shoe may fly at your head) and the rest of my veins are scarred (so good luck and God bless on finding a vein), so got her handy dandy ultra sound machine. 

And STILL had a hard time finding a vein!

But she was able to get one, on the WAY interior of my elbow. Once in place, labs were drawn and the wait began...again. An hour later the P.A arrived announcing my D-Dimer test to be abnormal (normal range is nothing higher than 499. I was 552). It was declared that I needed a CT with contrast so off I went. 

The tech hooked me up to the infusion "pump" (think sci-fi syringe looking things that bottleneck into tubing that connect to your IV) and watched as the saline shot into my IV...it seemed sketchy, but he had it continue anyway. As it moved into injecting the contrast it does it at a high rate of speed and it warms the whole body. 

Not for me. 

It infiltrated (the contrast and saline shot into my arm tissue) and caused my arm to swell quickly. Because the test was still going, the tech couldn't get the tubing detached very quickly and only could raise my arm as it continued to swell snd fill. 

It hurt SO badly!

The test was aborted and I was taken back to my bed in the ER and they did a chest X-ray. They had me massage out as much excess fluid as possible and then put ice on it. The xrays didn't show a clot (yay) and so we waited for a PICC line nurse to arrive to deal with my PICC line. 

About an hour later he showed up (he had been my night nurse a couple of nights when I had been admitted. Cool dude). He injected my PICC line with stuff called CathFlo and it got me going again. My PICC runs like a country river now (thanks, Daniel)! 

Finally, at about 9am I was discharged and went home. So, if you're keeping track, I was in the ER, basically, 12 HOURS. Initially I was thinking it wasn't going to be worth it, we can just push saline at home until it works, but it turned out to be worth the co-pay to know that a pulmonary embolism was a VERY real possibility for me that night. 

Today (Friday) the swelling has gone down significantly, but my arm is still quite tender and bigger than normal. Being a Human Water Balloon is NO fun, even if it's localized to one body part! You become ACUTELY aware of how much you use your arms for everything and when they're both rendered virtually useless, it stinks.

Be mindful of IV placement (I'm kind of screwed in this department since I have virtually no veins to use) and do your best to preserve the site once it's placed. Let your medical team know ANY time the IV doesn't feel right. You have the right to ask for it to be moved! 

The Girl With Gastroparesis and the Emergency Room

Making the decision to go to the ER is a difficult one for someone with a chronic illness. You already know that there's not going to be much that the doctor's can do for you, but, at the same time, you want someone to help you. 

That was the case with me last night. 

But being in as much pain as I was in, I just couldn't bare it any more...so in I went. I had my blankie, my hoodie, everything I needed to be as comfortable as possible in that cold environment. 

When the doctor came in he said he had looked over my chart and said that my last gastric emptying study had been "iffy", whatever that means. Whenever the doctors bring up the study they each say something different. This time it was "iffy". I wish they would come to a consensus about it. The he asked me what was going on and for how long. When I explained I had been in indescribable pain for several days he said "the ER is not for chronic conditions it's for when your stomach is bursting open."

Thanks, Doc. 

He also said "I don't care if you're a cop, a doctor, a priest, or Mother Teresa, do you use marajuana, cocaine, or meth?"...uh, no. I've never been asked that before, so that was an odd and interesting interaction. 

He, like most others--until they meet me--have never heard of the GASTRIC pacemaker, so I schooled him on the Gastric Pacemaker and it's purpose. His ears perked up then and he became fairly interested in what was going on then

He did some tests...blood, an x-ray...gave me some medicine and when it all came back normal--as usual--he sent me on my way home.

Just once I would like for a doctor in the ER or urgent care to act like they give two rips about me even though I'm a chronically ill patient. We see SO many doctors and have SO many tests and SO many procedures, why on EARTH would we want to go to the emergency room unless we have to??! A little dignity and respect would be awesome to experience when going in rather than being lectured. 

Riding the Hallway Gurney

Spending my Thursday from 2pm to 8:30pm at the Kaiser Emergency Room is not my idea of excitement, but that is exactly what I did with my afternoon and evening. Let me be one--of countless numbers of people--to tell you::Chronic Illnesses are like vampires and they suck! They steal your life, your joy, your friends, your family, and--if that isn't enough--your money. 

I digress...

I have had left side abdominal pain for a couple of days now--my left side hates me--but I didn't know if it was due to my recently Gastric Neurostimulator adjustment or something else, so I ignored it. Today the pain was so HORRENDOUS I was wanting to double over while at work--can't exactly do that in front of a bunch of teenagers. I gave in and drove myself to the ER thinking "it's the middle of the school day. People will be at work. Kids will be at school. I'm golden!"

WRONG!!

I checked in pretty much at 2pm on the nose; I didn't get put into a bed--a gurney--until 5:25pm! Sweet Mother Of Pearl! My gurney was also in the
hallway...next to the nurse's station...a filing cabinet...and a stone's throw from the check-in area. I know what EVERYONE'S shoes sound like!

Finally, the doctor came (one I had around Christmastime) and we talked about what might be going on. He ordered blood and urine samples--the usual. FIFTEEN MINUTES LATER the nurse came to start the IV and ask me to go change into a gown and do the sample. I think everyone was just working in slow motion. 

Around 7:45 the doctor came back to let me know I have a kidney infection...again. There doesn't seem to be a way to tell WHY I've gotten another one, but because there's pain with Gastroparesis, it's hard to discern the kidney infection pain from the Gastroparesis pain. He ordered for me to get a little more morphine before I was released and he sent me home with antibiotics, Phenergan, and pain meds. 

Being home now in my comfy bed feels nice. My tummy still feels painful, but I'm in a bit of a blissful fog still. I highly desire what I call a "left-ectomy" as that is the side that always gets the kidney infection, has Alfred my Gastric Neurostimulator, and is close enough to my stomach--haha. Any takers on giving me that left-ectomy, give me a call!

...And Then I Ended Up in the Emergency Room...Again

Everyone has to start off the New Year with a bang somehow, I just chose to do it by going to the ER! Yay! The pain that I had been experiencing from the kidney infection from 2 weeks ago had never really gone away and by last night (January 4), I felt like I was dying a miserable death. I hadn't really been eating--not that I ever really do--and what I had managed to consume was just coming right back up. Laying on my left side was torturous and felt like a puss sack or something was pushing toward the midline...graphic, I know. 

When we got home from church yesterday, I tried to take a nap, but it just wasn't happening. I told my mom that I thought I needed to pay the emergency room another visit. In an effort to save $100, we looked to see if I could make an appointment with my primary doctor and there was nothing available. I even looked for something over the next week and a half...nothing. So I bundled up and off we went. 

Luckily, this time, they took me right back and got me going. My vitals were a little high, for me, (125/75 and 79) and put me into a bed. I was put into an area with multiple beds and a security guard--should I have taken that as a hint--and asked to change. I was then asked for a urine sample [insert grumbling and grousing here]. The nurse started an IV and drew a TON of blood, like 8 viles worth, and then the wait was on for the doctor. 

When he came he told me he had looked at my history as far back as 2010 and had seen that I had "some stomach emptying issues" and wanted to know what was going on. I told him about having Gastroparesis and the gastric neurostimulator, that at first I thought that Alfred--my pacemaker--was helping 70% but now I feel I'm eating my words. I think he's only helped an eensie bit. He asked if I've had pain PRIOR to getting Alfred and I said "yes, there's pain associated with Gastroparesis. It's like stomach cramps with the flu ALL the time. This pain that I'm having now is different." He was very receptive and friendly, examined me and found nothing wrong. Based on his exam and past scans and the results of my blood, it turned out not to be my kidneys--yay--so he treated me symptomatically. 

The nurse came and hooked up a bag of fluids, gave me a shot of phenergan--that sucker hurt--and did a piggyback of a pain medication that I can neither spell nor pronounce--it turned out to be the first and only IV Tylenol there is. I was checked up on a while later by the doctor and still in pain, so he gave me morphine and that helped more--definitely made me sleepy--and sent me home. 

By the time I got home I was pretty out of it, but at least feeling a little better--not so nauseous. Hopefully, come Wednesday, my primary doctor will be able to figure out or have an idea as to what is causing that pain. 

It's hard deciding whether or not to go to the ER. On the one hand, you pretty much know that the only thing that's going to happen is fluids, nausea/vomiting meds, and pain medication and you wonder if it's worth spending $100 on that. But on the other hand, you just want the nonsense to stop so $100 doesn't seem like all that much. Oh, the conundrums we face in Gastroparesisland. 

Merry Christmas and A Happy Trip to the ER!!

I CLEARLY know how to celebrate Christmas because my trip to Urgent Care on Saturday was, apparently, not enough. Today (December 22, 2014) I went to the Emergency Room. Initially, I thought it was going to be my Urgent Care experience all over again because the attendant checking people in took my card, asked me what was wrong, and then told me to sit down with everyone else. Internally I was thinking:: "Oh, no, not again!" Particularly when I sat down and there was people whistling--WHISTLING--in the waiting area. 

I got called back and had my vitals taken--lost 5lbs since my last weigh-in (not good)--and my blood pressure and heart rate was high for me (145/86 and 106) and--just to make it a little more special--my temperature was 99.1 (I'm normally a chilly 97.2). They put me in a room and bed, handed me a gown and blanket, and thus began my stay in Kaiser Riverside's Emergency Room. 

The doctor came and examined me after my IV was placed. He was honest and said that he didn't know much about my situation, so he would seek the help of the on-call thoracic surgeon once x-rays were taken. They gave me, intravenously, a shot of toridal and reglan, for pain and vomiting. After looking at my urine sample and blood, it came back that I had a pretty bad kidney infection--go big or go home! I ended up having to wait quite some time for x-rays, but I finally made it there. When I came back and my doctor consulted with the thoracic surgeon, they felt that my gastric neurostimulator was where it should be, but that my colon was pretty backed up--my parents always said I was pretty full of it! In the end, he said it was a good thing I came in and didn't put it off until Friday, which is when I see my surgeon again. The infection in my kidney would have been worse and who knows about my colon being backed up! 

I was sent home with an antibiotic and pain medication, and told to use miralax for a few days. I'm thankful that they looked and listened to what I had to say and didn't just sluff me off like urgent care did a couple of days again. I realize it's the holidays and people would prefer to be at home than at work. BUT I most certainly don't want to be in urgent care during the holidays either!