Hospital Nightmare

[Guest guest]

Hey all... I'm Tara and I'm sorta new to the site. I joined maybe

a week or 2 ago. I also just had double jaw surgery, 3 impacted

wisdom teeth removed, and some sinus work done almost 4 weeks ago.

I just wanted to share with ya'll a snippet of my story. And

maybe ya'll could too. Tell it for the first time to new comers and

refresh for the 'ol vets. ;o)

I'm 20 years old and am from Louisiana. I had my surgery on May

23rd.

Prior to my surgery I was asked to get a physical. I wasn't worried

or anything about that until I actually get to the doctor's office

and I'm informed that I'm gonna have to give a blood sample! Well,

I'm a HUGE baby when it comes to needles. So I go in and the nurse

takes my blood and I just about pass out. LoL So I leave there and

the next couple days I go and see my sergeon. At this appointment he

tells me that I'm gonna have to donate 2 pints of blood for myself

incase the he needed it during the opperation. So needless to say I

freaked out and just about turned down the surgery. I managed to

talk my surgeon into letting my dad donate a pint for me (since

we're the same blood type) and I would do the other pint. Me and my

dad went at the same time to donate. My pulse was too fast so they

couldn't take from me that day. I managed to get off work early the

next day and drive about 30 minutes from home to another blood bank

to try again. I managed to do it that time and it didn't really hurt

at all! I was amazed! I was so happy I had finally did it!! LOL

So all is fine and dandy... day for pre-op comes. I find out I

have to give another blood sample! Not only that I have to pee in a

cup (which I had never done LoL) and get x-rays of my lungs taken.

Surgery days FINALLY rolls around. I get out the bed about

4:30am. We leave and head to the hospital at about 4:45. We finally

get there about 5:45. (the longest hour of my life! LOL) They

finally take me to get preped and everything a little after 6. Ok,

so I'm lying pretty much naked in the hospital bed... was hooked up

here and there to this and that... had my IV in... I was pretty much

ready to go. So litterally about 15 minutes before they were going

to take me back, I'm informed that they don't have my blood I

donated and have no record what-so-ever that I had even gone to

donate!! I was SO mad! The whole idea of me donating my own blood

was so that I wouldn't have to get some strangers blood. I was NOT

going to risk catching something from somebody elses blood! They did

however have my dads blood there and said they would use that before

anything else. I had a long talk with my parents about it and we

decide to go ahead and go through with the surgery. I don't remember

much after that. I do, however, remember my mom with me in the room

they put you in with other people before they take you into the

operating room and the nurse said " Now I'm gonna put something in

your IV and it's gonna help calm you down. " When I tell you AS SOON

AS she put it in there I was feeling it.. I mean it! That was the

best feeling I had ever had!! LoL I don't have a clue what was in

that drug, but I remember asking if I could have some to take home.

LOL My mom said everybody was cracking up at me cause I was flying

high! LoL

So I wake up after surgery and I noticed that I had a tube up my

nose, down my throat and in my stomach! That thing was SO

uncomfortable! They kept wanting me to caugh so I could get the

blood up. It wasn't gonna happen! LoL So finally they come and take

the tube out (which was not pleasent) and I go back to sleep.

A hospital is not a good place to try and sleep. Nurses kept

coming in what seemed like every hour or two to check this and test

that (the whole time I was there... which was 4 nights and 5 days)

One point I was starting to get up and move around a bit and I

had just come back from the bathroom and I'm sitting on my bed and

it hits me... " I'm gonna throw up! " so I motion to my mom what was

about to happen and she gets my little pan and there it comes. I was

SO scared! (this is kinda gross) It couldn't come out between the

bands fast enough and was backing up in my mouth and back down my

throat. I just new I was gonna die right there. LoL so my moms

freaking out, she calls the nurse and tells her what was

happening... well, the nurse takes her sweet time and manages to

come in after I'm finished and still alive.

The next night I couldn't sleep for anything! And it never

failed, as soon as I would doze off a nurse would come in and check

my blood pressure or give me medicine or change out the IV. Well

this time she was putting something in my IV. It was making my arm

burn so I tried to tell her but couldn't and she didn't understand

me and kept telling me " oh thats just the medicine making it

uncomfortable " well, I got frustrated with trying to talk to her so

I tried to stick out the pain and go back to sleep. It stopped

hurting for a while but all of a sudden my arm started hurting SO

bad! My mom was sleeping in the bed next to me so I tried to get her

attention. I was mumbling as loud as I could to get her to wake up

but it wouldn't work. I even went so far as to look for something to

throw at her to wake her up! I didn't find anything. LoL so I

reached over with my good arm and called the nurse. She comes in and

I try to tell her whats wrong but she didn't understand. So she

turned down the drip and left. At this time my mom woke up and I was

about in tears trying to tell her that my arm was hurting. So she

finally understood and turned on the light and I freaked out when I

saw my arm! It was swollen up about two times it's normal size. My

fingers were also all swollen up like little hot dogs. So we call

the nurse again and she comes in and this time my mom tells her what

was wrong. Apperntly my vein collapsed. So she took it out that hand

and said that she was gonna try to put it in the other hand. She

gets everything ready and I grab my moms hand and she sticks me...

well... she kept rolling my vein and couldn't sick it. I was pretty

much screaming best I could for her to stop. She did. She also went

and got some medicine to " calm me down " and she said she would be

back in an hour to try. Next try wasn't so bad and she finally got

it.

The only other thing that I had a problem with was nightmares. I

had some of the worst dreams my last night there! They were so bad I

actually tried to stay awake all night. By this point I just wanted

to go home. I was in a horrible mood and was grouchy. But when I got

home, everything got 100% better!

I'm SO sorry if that story bored any of you... I'm bored myself

and I just thought it would be fun to share stories. )