Knee Knee Knee
I hate needles and everything doctors do with them. My nerves run very close to my veins, so whenever I get shots I feel the needle and then I feel the cold liquid as it goes down my arm. It feels like my veins are freezing, and it is one of the most unpleasant feelings I have ever experienced. Another issue is that getting blood drawn has a pretty good chance to cause a considerable amount of pain wherever the needle is for the duration of the blood draw. There was one time in 7th grade when I had a one-hundred degree fever for two weeks but no cold or flu like symptoms. I got my blood drawn, and the back of my nose/throat swabbed (the swabbing was also very unpleasant; the doctor basically stuck a long q-tip all the way up my nose and swabbed the back of wherever the nose goes.). They didn't find anything and I got better a couple days later, but the blood draw seemed like a minute of pain; although it was probably a lot less than that.
The worst injection experience I've had was this summer when I had my knee surgery. I had an IV because they needed to give me 4 or 5 drugs and every time they gave me an injection it was the same feeling as getting a shot, except shots are one and done most of the time.So the first 3 or 4 were pretty bad and then there was the last one. Before the nurse gave it to me she said, "This next one will probably sting a little, some people describe it as feeling like their arm is on fire." Or something along those lines, I barely remember that day or the one after. I do remember thinking it was odd that she hadn't warned me about the other ones hurting and then she gave me the injection and I understood. It was like pins and needles, except they were made of fire. It was made even worse by the fact that everything else had felt very cold.
It wasn't all bad though. I did have to wait a couple hours because the surgeon was running late, and it was cold, and my arm hurt, but then they wheeled me into to the operating room and gave me a shot and oxygen. The last thing I remember is a poke in my arm, or maybe they gave it through the IV, again that day is very fuzzy, and then they gave me an oxygen mask. I took a couple of breaths and just drifted off to sleep. It was without a doubt the most enjoyable experience I've had related to doctors, and maybe just in general. I didn't have to wait close to an hour before falling asleep, and then after they finished operating they took out the breathing tube I didn't know I had and tried to wake me up. Apparently I was asleep for an hour, maybe more, after the surgery. Normally they wake you up to move you into a waiting room thingy, but I was the last patient for the day so they moved me while I was asleep.
Here's where things get weird. I wake up and I'm really cold, and I am 100% sure that I'm acting normally. I had some food and drink in front of me, I think it was saltines, graham crackers, and ginger ale. I tried to reach a cracker and couldn't. This next part might not be true or might not have happened at all, but I'm reasonably sure my mom told me the nurse had to strap me down because I was causing problems. Then I put an entire saltine into my mouth. I was still very drugged at this point, so it wasn't a good idea, but I thought it was. My mom, trying to keep me from choking, broke the rest of the crackers up into pieces, and being as hungry and stupid as I was I grabbed all of the pieces of one of the crackers and put them in my mouth. Then I think we sent my dad a video (my idea) because he was out of town. This was right after the cracker eating. In the video I say "... the nurse called me a turd and I can't remember why." It was because I put the entire broken cracker in my mouth, which had happened less than a minute before. The nurse then gave us some instructions about how to make sure my knee healed properly. Really she was just talking to my mom, because I wasn't going to remember any of it the next day, and at one point I asked her what I should do if my toes disappeared, I don't know why. I got wheeled out to our car and the next morning I had no memory of the last day. Most of the stuff that happened before I got put under came back to me throughout the day, so that was nice, but I had to keep asking about the stuff after I woke up, because it sounded absolutely ridiculous. Overall it was a pretty good experience.
The worst injection experience I've had was this summer when I had my knee surgery. I had an IV because they needed to give me 4 or 5 drugs and every time they gave me an injection it was the same feeling as getting a shot, except shots are one and done most of the time.So the first 3 or 4 were pretty bad and then there was the last one. Before the nurse gave it to me she said, "This next one will probably sting a little, some people describe it as feeling like their arm is on fire." Or something along those lines, I barely remember that day or the one after. I do remember thinking it was odd that she hadn't warned me about the other ones hurting and then she gave me the injection and I understood. It was like pins and needles, except they were made of fire. It was made even worse by the fact that everything else had felt very cold.
It wasn't all bad though. I did have to wait a couple hours because the surgeon was running late, and it was cold, and my arm hurt, but then they wheeled me into to the operating room and gave me a shot and oxygen. The last thing I remember is a poke in my arm, or maybe they gave it through the IV, again that day is very fuzzy, and then they gave me an oxygen mask. I took a couple of breaths and just drifted off to sleep. It was without a doubt the most enjoyable experience I've had related to doctors, and maybe just in general. I didn't have to wait close to an hour before falling asleep, and then after they finished operating they took out the breathing tube I didn't know I had and tried to wake me up. Apparently I was asleep for an hour, maybe more, after the surgery. Normally they wake you up to move you into a waiting room thingy, but I was the last patient for the day so they moved me while I was asleep.
Here's where things get weird. I wake up and I'm really cold, and I am 100% sure that I'm acting normally. I had some food and drink in front of me, I think it was saltines, graham crackers, and ginger ale. I tried to reach a cracker and couldn't. This next part might not be true or might not have happened at all, but I'm reasonably sure my mom told me the nurse had to strap me down because I was causing problems. Then I put an entire saltine into my mouth. I was still very drugged at this point, so it wasn't a good idea, but I thought it was. My mom, trying to keep me from choking, broke the rest of the crackers up into pieces, and being as hungry and stupid as I was I grabbed all of the pieces of one of the crackers and put them in my mouth. Then I think we sent my dad a video (my idea) because he was out of town. This was right after the cracker eating. In the video I say "... the nurse called me a turd and I can't remember why." It was because I put the entire broken cracker in my mouth, which had happened less than a minute before. The nurse then gave us some instructions about how to make sure my knee healed properly. Really she was just talking to my mom, because I wasn't going to remember any of it the next day, and at one point I asked her what I should do if my toes disappeared, I don't know why. I got wheeled out to our car and the next morning I had no memory of the last day. Most of the stuff that happened before I got put under came back to me throughout the day, so that was nice, but I had to keep asking about the stuff after I woke up, because it sounded absolutely ridiculous. Overall it was a pretty good experience.
The first part of this post is my absolute worst nightmare! I’m extremely terrified of needles so I can relate. Anyway, I’m glad that such a terrible series of shots turned into a good (and funny) experience for you. I hope your knee has recovered well!
ReplyDeleteI really like how you described the whole experience with lots of detail. It helps me imagine what it would have been like in your situation.
ReplyDeleteOuch. I hate needles as well but even this vivid description goes beyond my worst nightmares. My knees have been really messed up for a couple of years now but this is starting to make me scared of getting it checked out, in fear of having to go through something similar.
ReplyDelete