Guest guest Posted July 30, 2010 Report Share Posted July 30, 2010 >Finally one of my nurses came in with a large hypo and told me here's 40 milligrams of morphine and you have other pain meds coming I am so sorry. It took them almost 2 hours to get the pain back under control. >Then that night all my monitors were saying I was crashing! go figure, my b/p is normally extremely low 90/40 to 50 with a very high heart rate, low body temp, and of course tons of allergies. I woke up to having 3 nurses yelling at me breath and a tech telling me I have got to do a arterial on you to check your oxygenation. Why on earth didn't the doctor just put you on a continuous morphine, fentanyl, or dilaudid IV drip? It's easy to manage, especially because the doctor can give an order to increase it until your pain is controlled. The nurse can just do a few clicks with the I Med and the solution is adjusted. No muss, no fuss. Even though your blood pressure is normally low, it might have been high when your pain was out of control, but then dropped dramatically. They no doubt, had you on a continuous pulse oxygen monitor, and if that drops low, then your lips turn blue, so no one wants you to drift away and die. Your nurses must have really gone to bat for you to get the doctors to increase your medication. It can be darn near impossible to work with many surgeons. If you can, please send a fruit basket to the nurses, or at least a quick thank you note. It sounds like they worked very hard for you. Kaylene (retired registered nurse, but forever a nurse) PS I hope you have an excellent recovery Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted July 30, 2010 Report Share Posted July 30, 2010 > Why on earth didn't the doctor just put you on a continuous morphine, fentanyl, or dilaudid IV drip? It's easy to manage, especially because the doctor can give an order to increase it until your pain is controlled. ----I had a fentanyl patch on at the time 25 mcg. Plus a morphine pump going however I've struggled with severe pain for 10 years now. I have RSD, FM, Osteoarthritis, Allodynia, Failed back surgery syndrome, and sometimes all it takes is a bump and I crash pain wise and end up in tears and when I get to that point all I want to do is literally die. My mother also suffered from chronic pain and would crash so part of it may be genetic. I did have good nurses other than only one seemed to be able to hit my vein the first time he tried. He wasn't a regular nurse but I saw him frequently as the antibiotics were tearing my veins up. They had me on I think it was Vancomycin constantly the entire time I was in the hospital. I'm deathly allergic to any of the penicillin's, sulfa's, and tetracycline's so they have a hard time treating me at times. I just wish they had put in a pick line would have saved a lot of bruises and pain. > The nurse can just do a few clicks with the I Med and the solution is adjusted. No muss, no fuss. > Even though your blood pressure is normally low, it might have been high when your pain was out of control, but then dropped dramatically. Even when my b/p goes high it never has been higher than 130/90. I simply am like a snake i have a strange metabolism. > They no doubt, had you on a continuous pulse oxygen monitor, and if that drops low, then your lips turn blue, so no one wants you to drift away and die. I do remember vaguely someone saying your nails are blue but they normally are bluish due to poor circulation. I know its hard for nurses to know what is normal for each individual patient especially people like me who are real odd balls. I tried very hard to be very polite to each one and say thank you and please. I know that sometimes just saying that means a lot to them. I sent a card to the nurses station which took care of me thanking them already, I can't remember names I'm horrible with them even prior to being on medications that damage your memory. Sincerely, Mist Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted July 31, 2010 Report Share Posted July 31, 2010 > I sent a card to the nurses station which took care of me > thanking them already, I can't remember names I'm horrible > with them even prior to being on medications that damage > your memory. Hi Mist Thank you for being so kind and sending a card. You have no idea how much it means to the nursing staff. No one would expect you to remember individual names. <smile> I hope your pain is manageable now. You are correct about the pic line. They are easier for the nurses too. It's just a matter of keeping them clean, which isn't difficult. Kaylene Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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