I got my hickman inserted yesterday! It hurt like hell, but it's done. I went through quite a lot of morphine in the past 24 hours, and let me tell you, it's barely put a dent in the pain, but what can you do. I'm being admitted the day after tomorrow (!), so I'm sure the pain will be taken care of there in the hospital...not to mention I'll have plenty of other things to worry about there.
SPEAKING OF WHICH.
Today I went in to get my hickman dressing changed.
My BMT coordinator gave me the wrong time to go, so we were already off to a great start, but thankfully the nurse took me on anyhow as it wasn't very busy.
So the nurse starts taking off my dressing, and about halfway through, she starts coughing like crazy. To her credit, leaves the area for a few moments. She comes back a few moments later with watery eyes, breathing heavily, wiping her face.
Now, I'm being admitted the day after tomorrow. I don't think I can state "I cannot get sick now" hard enough, as the smallest type of infection or germs could delay the transplant, which could be disastrous. So, I politely asked the nurse if she could please wear a mask, because for some odd reason she wasn't wearing one--a mask is standard procedure for dressing changes as it is, to say nothing of someone who is coughing, to say nothing of someone who is coughing while changing the dressing of a hickman for someone who is being admitted to transplant in 2 days.
I assure you I was being super polite (funny, just 10 minutes earlier, the receptionist there recognized me when I got there and was telling me how sweet I always am, so THERE...haha! meh), but as soon as I asked the nurse about the mask, she gets immediately defensive and says, and I kid you not, "Do you want to do to this or not? I'm NOT putting on a mask."
When I started to explain how I'm immune-deficient, she cuts me off by snapping "Do I look sick to you?"
I point out that she's just had a coughing fit and--
"WELL I JUST HAD A PEANUT."
She *snapped* that at me like it was the most obvious thing in the world.
A million things go through my head--peanuts are generally not allowed in most public places, and I have an anaphalactic allergy to them (as it says in my chart) so the idea of her coughing peanut dust onto me isn't all that much more appealing than cough germs, to be honest. Also, that aside--how in the world was I supposed to know that she had had a peanut? I'm not psychic. Why couldn't she have just told me, instead of yelling at me and being sarcastic? Before I could answer her absurd comment, she stormed off, yelling at the other nurse to take off my dressing instead. The other nurse who, by the way, was currently working with another patient, so I'd have to wait longer as she was busy.
Oh, and during all of this, my hickman dressing was half-off, leaving me open for infection.
I was so stunned! But for once I decided to say something. I pushed the curtain aside and followed her to the nurses' desk where she was muttering to another nurse. I interrupted her and said, right in front of the other nurses, "Excuse me, you could have just answered my question without all the sarcasm. There was no reason to be so rude. Thank you." And I walked back to the curtain area. I was so shocked at myself, because usually when I'm very angry, my voice will shake, or I'll stumble over my words, or stutter, or all three. But I was so calm! I heard myself speaking calmly and I couldn't believe it was me talking.
Anyway, then the other nurse came, and SHE was very polite, and she finished changing my dressing.
Oh, and she wore a mask.
I called the patient relations number to file a complaint when I got home. Through all I've dealt with at this hospital, I've never bothered to make a complaint. But I felt this warranted one!
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