Friday, August 10, 2012

I'm all made of tubes

I'm all made of tubes and everything bends, from the IVs in both arms to the blood pressure cuff to the catheter to the epidural...

Since I got back from surgery until this morning I've been hooked up to so many things and I don't want to forget them all so here's a brief medical report from head to toe.

Nose: Oxygen tube wrapped around my ears and stuck up both nostrils
Mouth: Constant flow of pills to swallow and jello to eat
Upper right arm: Blood pressure cuff which auto-tests every hour on the 11
Right wrist: Medical wrist band
Right hand: Emergency IV just in case (never used); replacement IV put in today
Left mid-arm: Triple IV for IV fluids, antibiotics, magnesium sulfate (anti-contraction medication)
Left middle finger: Oxygen sensor
Back: Epidural catheter with constant pain control (and a button to push if I wanted more pain meds)
Stomach: Baby heart monitor and contraction monitor strapped around waist
Lower abdomen: Hip to hip gauze and bandage
Bladder: full catheter
Both legs: Compressors constantly squeezing to regulate blood pressure


2 comments:

  1. Wow that sounds...so...not fun. But you are such a trooper and you are awesome!

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  2. Ugh. I only had the IV/catheter/oxygen sensor for the first twelve or so hours, but those are no fun. They tried both my hands with the IV before using the crook of my arm--ow ow ow. You are a real champ to put up with all of the medical accessories for weeks.

    Did they not stitch up the incision or do anything to seal it other than the bandage and gauze?

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