Moment #10 – The IV:
Upon arriving at the hospital and looked at by doctors and nurses, it was apparent that I was going to need an IV set in my arm to start fighting the infection. I’m a huge cry baby when it comes to needles (just ask my best friend Andrea who has been there to witness my many tantrums whenever I got poked), so this experience was ironically funny to say the least, but painfully memorable. While in the ER room, the first nurse walks in, introduces herself, and attempts to put in an IV on my center left arm. She carefully wiggles the needle and can’t find a vein. She says “Sorry hun but I’m gonna try your other arm.” She proceeds to try my right arm and with a confused look on her face wiggles and wiggles the needle to find the vein. She takes the needle out, sighs in disappointment and calls another nurse. The next nurse enters, introduces herself with a big smile and attempts to put an IV on the inner part of my wrist. Biting my lips together, she digs in really deep to find the vein but can’t seem to get it. She pulls it out, apologizes, and says she’s going to try the outside part of my palm. That too was a failed attempt. So now they bring in the nurse that can always find a vein!! Nurse number 3!! Perky and really sweet, she introduces herself and says she will find that vein!! This ti
me she tries the center part of my upper left arm. She wiggles and wiggles and finally says “Got it!” They quickly hook me up and squeeze in some liquid that will help show my insides in the CAT scan. I get sent to the CAT scan room but since it wasn’t ready, I was placed in a hallway with wall partitions and was told to wait there (see photo - reflection is of the hallway and in my "pretend room" haha!). About an hour later I was put through the CAT scan machine and after being scanned once, I hear the technician say “Can’t see anything. I don’t think the IV is hooked up to her vein.” I hear another technician say “Just scan her without it. They’re having trouble.” So now I go back to another ER room and nurse number 4 comes out to hopefully find a freakin vein!! This dude barely says a word. He grabs my left arm and finds a spot to try on my forearm. This one hurt the most. He dug in deep to find a vein and still nothing. Moves on to my right arm and still nothing. He sighs in disappointment, apologizes, leaves, and in comes a young very attractive doctor with an ultrasound machine. Person number 5 hubba hubba!! He introduces himself and says “Ok, hopefully we can find a vein with this machine otherwise we’re gonna have to put it in your neck.” As soon as he said that, my attraction to him whittled away and I quickly snap my head up to look up at him and yell “PLEASE FIND A VEIN!! PLEASE FIND A VEIN!!” As he scans my arm with the machine, he thinks he finds one and attempts to connect the IV. Unfortunately, he failed and walks away. I start to cover my neck with my hands as if to protect it from anyone puncturing it!! But then nurse number 6 comes in and says she wants to try one more time. She tries her very best on a new location of my arm but nothing. Tries on my other arm (this is probably the 15th time I had been poked) and still nothing!! Outside the hall I hear another nurse from her station yell “The Oncology Nurse said to stop poking her. They said they’ll find the vein and to just take her to her room.” Phew!! No IV in my neck please!!Moment #9 – THE SCRAPE/SWAB :(
While the sixth nurse was attempting one more time to find a vein, another nurse comes in and tells me that I will have to be admitted because my wound was infected and has to take a sample of it. So I have one nurse digging a needle for the 15th time on my upper left shoulder, while the other nurse swabs and scrapes my open wound which grew to about three inches oval shape due to the infection. The moment I felt that swab/scrape go across my open bleeding with pus wound, I screamed as if my life was being taken a way from me!!!! That scream took no effort to come out. It had its own control. I did that breathy cry that sounds like someone is heavily hyperventilating and tears fell like a waterfall. It was just too damn much!!
Moment #8 – Oncology Nurse thinks she’s the bomb diggity:
Still without an IV, I was sent to my hospital room around 3am in the Oncology department. A nurse comes in to introduce herself and said she was going to place an IV in my arm. I told her good luck and please don’t hurt me!! I looked the opposite direction, felt a prick, and she says “all done!” I looked at her and asked “Really? You got it that fast? Everyone downstairs couldn’t do it. Not even a doctor!!” And in the thickest Mexican accent she said “Aye mija, es cos los de downstairs nurses son losers y no saben nada. If I wes da doctor, I wood be so embarrassed. I’ll be right back ok mija.” This nurse thought she was the shit after she found that vein. But hey, I wouldn’t blame her. She did what five nurses and one doctor couldn’t do haha!!
Moment #7 – The Morphine:
It had been about 10 hours since I had gotten to the hospital and no one had seen my wound other than the nurse in triage who just looked at it for a mere moment. I was lying in bed at around 7am when the first nurse came in to introduce herself and say that she will be checking my wound. She had heard how painful it was when they swabbed/scraped it and told me she was going to give me morphine to ease the pain before she cleaned it and bandaged it up. I’ve never been hospitalized and never done drugs so the feeling that morphine gave me was quite an unexpected experience. Let me tell you, this wasn’t as painful as the swab/scrape, but it was pretty close. Right before the nurse changed the bandage, she gave me a small dose of morphine. I don’t know why people like the stuff! I hated it!! It would give me a horrible headache and barely even soften the pain. I could still feel everything the nurse was doing. Only this time I was in pain in slow motion. However, the second time she changed the bandage, which was later on at night time, she gave me a little more morphine to help with the pain. This time, I was in a whole different world. I closed my eyes and made a frown because of the headache it would give me. I could feel the nurse opening the bandage and begin to clean my wound very slowly. I felt a slight sting and raised my left arm in mid-air to say very slowly in a calm voice “ssssssss oooouuuuucccchhhh.” I don’t know why but my arm stayed in mid-air for about a minute, I think, before I dropped it and fell asleep. About what seemed like an hour later, I wake up with both my fists over my face. I remember dreaming of butterflies and trying to catch them. Upon waking up, I was still high on the morphine and catching invisible butterflies!!
Moment #6 – A True Friend:
I had been in the hospital for about 16 hours when my best friend of 15 years came to visit me right after work. Oh my dear Andrea who has always been there for me. Now, this is probably too much information but it’s necessary to say because it signifies how great of a friend Andrea is. It was around 3 or 4pm when I finally got up to pee. I had been holding it in because my wound was so painful that it made it difficult to barely even move. With the help of my best friend, I slowly got up, she accompanied me to the restroom, and stood in front of me to make sure I wouldn’t fall. In front of her, I peed and was not even embarrassed. I had never done that before in front of her. And in her most sincerest but jokingly voice she said “Chena, if I have to…….I am willing to wipe you.” I started laughing and said “No thanks I can do it!!” Even though that action would have crossed a few lines in our friendship, she was still willing to do it. Thanks for being there Andrea :o)
Moment #5 – The Earthquake:
This moment in particular was especially hilarious because of how one of the nurses reacted!! I remember it was on a Wednesday around 3pm or so when Andrea was sitting next to me and a nurse came in to check my vitals. We were carrying on a friendly conversation when we felt a little rattle. I said in a calm voice because it didn’t scare me “oh, it’s an earthquake.” The nurse looked at me like she was about to say “Whaaaaat?!!!” But before we could say anything, everything rattled again for a bit longer and stronger. Andrea, who is terrified of earthquakes, was surprisingly calm. I was calm too. But the nurse……..well………the moment the second rattle hit, she dropped whatever she was holding in her hands, said in a terrified voice “SHIT!” and ran out of the room!! Completely forgetting about me or the 80 year old barely mobile woman whom I was sharing a room with!! Don’t worry about us, we’ll be fine!!
Moment #4 – Oh Diarrhea!:
While at the hospital, I thought I was going to have the room to myself but there were two other patients sharing it with me. One was there on Monday and Tuesday but was gone by Tuesday night. The other patient was only there on Wednesday but dismissed later at night. Now, as everyone may know, I am a very friendly person and I like to talk to and meet new people. Both of these ladies just pretty much gave me the cold shoulder. I tried to talk to them, offer them control of the television, offered them magazines that my family and friends had brought me, and NOTHING!! The first patient that was there on Monday and Tuesday was a real snidely lady. I tried over and over to say “hello” but just got a “what the hell do you want” glance whenever she would pass my bed to use the bathroom. The other lady was nice and would say “hi” back but didn’t really care to talk to me. She must have been at least 80 years old and unfortunately couldn’t move much. This poor little fragile being couldn’t even get up to use the restroom so a nurse placed a portable toilet next to her bed. Now picture this: Our beds were approximately three feet apart. Her portable toilet took up about one foot of that space. It was placed on her left side of the bed next to her shoulder making it two feet away from my head. After my wound had been re-bandaged, I took a nap because the morphine would make me feel sleepy. Around 10am that Wednesday morning, I woke up to the sounds and smells of diarrhea coming out of this little old lady and into her toilet two feet away from me. There’s nothing I could do to stop the smell or the sounds. I quickly got out of my bed and sat on the chair that was next to the window. There was no way to open that window to get fresh air. As the lady continued to finish her business, I stepped into the restroom for some clean air. YES!! The restroom had clean air!! I come out a few minutes later and the whole room just reeked of diarrhea. I sit back on the chair and just deal with the smell. A minute later a nurse walks in to check on me and this is what she said “Hey Jessenia how are you do- ohhhhhh oooohhhhh!” She quickly jumps on the counter next to the chair that I’m sitting on and opens the window from the upper pane!!!! She gets down and calls a nurse to help the old lady. She leans down and whispers to me “I’m pregnant. So this smells ten times worst for me! Let’s hope this window brings in fresh air!!!” So because the old lady had intestinal problems, I was witness to her diarrhea four times that day. What a fun day (notice the sarcasm here).
Moment #3 – I’M OFF TO DIE!!!:
By the time Thursday came (fourth day) I was in a much better mood. My doctor had told me that surgery wasn’t necessary because the infection was going away. During my stay, I had two regular doctors. One was Dr. DucLé who was a general physician and the other was Dr. McCarthy who was the plastic surgeon and who was also in charge of deciding whether or not I was going to need surgery. I was surprised to see a third doctor that Thursday afternoon because I had already been there for four days and recovering well. I don’t remember the name of this doctor but because he had curly hair let’s just call him Dr. Curly. Dr. Curly came into my room right around noon time. He says he’s from the Disease and Infections Center and was there to look at my wound. I lay back to show him my wound and as he takes off the bandage to look at it, I begin to get a little nervous because he’s never seen me before. All the nurses and the two doctors had been very careful with me and making sure they don’t cause me any pain. I was about to tell Dr. Curly to not directly touch anywhere near or around my wound because it would be very painful and suddenly……..BOOM!!!! He touches the smack middle center of my wound making my body react by throwing my legs and arms up in the air and I let out a scream!!!! After my scream, I laugh in awkwardness and he apologizes. He calls in the nurse to change the bandage and he walks out. I never saw him again. The nurse changes my bandage and this time it felt like the first time. It seemed like all the nerves in my body just concentrated where my wound was and all I felt was nothing but burning pain. It felt like someone constantly had a flame to my skin and it wouldn’t go away. The nurse gave me morphine but it didn’t help. I laid there for about half hour with tears going down the side of my face and cringing my body the entire time. A few minutes later a man walks in and tells me that I need to get a picc line inserted and that I needed to get it at that moment. With a squished face and tears all over my cheeks I asked “Do we have to do it now?!!” He said yes and that I shouldn’t worry because he was going to wheel me on my bed to the area at the other side of the hospital and I wouldn’t have to move. Before he wheeled me out of my room the nurse came in to give me a couple more pain killers but nothing was working. This was probably the most physical pain I have ever experienced in my entire life. So picture this: a short little disorderly man pushing my big butt across the hospital in crying pain. I had tears coming down my face, my hands over my wound as to protect it from someone else touching it, and making little whimper crying sounds. I literally looked like I was off to die!! But luckily the pain killers helped and when my picc line was inserted I barely felt a thing. And yes I did complain about Dr. Curly. A lot!!!!
Moment #2 – The Nurses:
I can’t write this blog without mentioning how wonderful my nurses were. Each and every one of them was exceptional! Especially the first nurse I had who was Olivia. She was very friendly, sweet, and took really good care of me. I think I had about seven different nurses and if I could, I would send all of them flowers for the wonderful job they did. I swear I saw my two doctors there for a total of ten minutes each. But these nurses spent hours with me making sure I was ok. I wish they would get more credit for the wonderful work they do!
Moment #1 – Everyone:
Despite my painful experience at Tri-City Medical Hospital, I must say that I really enjoyed everyone’s company who came to visit me. Andrea, my best friend of 15 years, was there every single day. She even washed my hair in the bathroom sink because I kept complaining how dirty it felt (I wasn’t allowed to shower). And trust me! Washing this long and tangled mane was not easy. My dear Karlita, who I’ve known for so many years, drove all the way from Brawley just to see me for a few hours. I feel very blessed to have her as one of my closest friends. Jorge, who I met in school, and who I always have something to talk about with. Put us together and we’ll never run out of things to say to each other. Thank you for coming. Felipe who is my now roommate and who I met a little over two years ago when we were both attempting to live alone but figured we’re better off together. Always makes me smile and makes me laugh. Thanks for being a wonderful friend. To my favorite co-worker Linda Davis who I met while working nights and weekends at Rite Aid. I love your sense of humor and your wit!! You crack me up all the time!! You are so kind-hearted and even though there is quite an age difference between us, I consider you one of my closest friends. Thank you for coming to see me. To the Tanoris!!!! Melissa, Marissa, and Clarissa!!!! You girls have the biggest and kindest hearts!! You girls are so sweet I swear you are angels. Thank you for visiting me angels. Marybel, Vanessa, and Guano (Johana). You three are something else!! I feel like I wouldn’t be me without all three of you. I swear I never stop laughing when I’m around you three. We have stories that go way back and I hope to have many more with you. And to my family and the rest of my friends, thank you for all the phone calls. I know I told you not to come because I kept thinking I was going to leave the next day but had you known that I was going to be there longer, you would have came to visit. I know because you guys told me haha!! Everyone’s concern, prayers, visitations, and phone calls really made me appreciate all the love and blessings I have in my life. Thank you for everything.
