Beauty is in Getting the I.V. on the First Stick

Here we are again... Back in the hospital. Pulmonary Function Tests revealed results at 39% for large airway function for Dan. So, Dr. Sindel wrote the orders, and we skipped merrily over to USA Women and Children's.

Now, a couple of interesting things happened upon our arrival... First, as we were checking in at admitting, Sarah began having a serious coughing attack. This was precisely the type of curl your toes coughing fit Sarah calls an "allergy attack". She had only a few short minutes before been trying to describe the attack to Dr. Sindel. The admitting clerk waved Sarah over to get her hospital bracelet on, and I had to explain that Danielle was the one being admitted. The poor clerk looked at me like I was obviously on some type of hallucinogen, but put the hospital bracelet on Dan's arm, against her better judgement.

The next interesting thing that occurred was that we checked in at 5:30, and no nurse came to see us until 7:30. Well, this was fairly predictable. You see... Shift change is at 7:00, and I'm sure the day shift nurse, (who we never even laid eyes upon), said to herself, "I'm not doing an intake... Leave that for the night nurse."

When the night nurse wandered in, I almost laughed. The last time Dan was in the hospital, I couldn't stay. Grammy and Mimi took turns staying, along with her Dad and Dave. Well, Dan didn't fair so well. She ended up getting stuck a lot, and nurses were unable to find the vein or prevent it from blowing. It is a fairly traumatic process. But, this particular night nurse is one that is infamous in our house. Both Dan and Sarah despise her. We have much history with this particular nurse. She is older, and sports a very large mole directly on the tip of her nose. Although, it really isn't just the mole that creeps the girls out... She comes in the middle of the night, flips on the light and talks loudly. She doesn't make an effort to catch the I.V. before it beeps, and things generally don't get done in a timely manner. Usually care from this nurse means less rest and more disturbance and upset. Sometimes I have been tempted to say, "Take some time off... I'll take this shift for you. Just bring the drugs."

The funny thing is that we always get this nurse, which leads me to believe that she probably sees the girls names on the board and asks for them. And, I wonder... Does she like them? Doesn't she feel the disdain in the room? Does she mistake the curt answers and uncomfortable grinning for genuine affection?

But, tonight when she walked in, I just told Dan to trust the process... And, this loud, annoying, disruptive, mole-on-the-tip-of-the-nose nurse was able to get the I.V. on the first stick. Suddenly, none of the annoying past experiences mattered. All that mattered was that she got the I.V. and saved my kid a little bit of pain. And, she saved me a little bit of feeling that horrible hopelessness that plagues me each and every time one of my beautiful girls has to get stuck. And, I told her, "Thank you so much..."

Now, as I type this, it is 11:30 p.m. No I.V. meds have been hung. No one has even offered us a cup of ice... But, I know that all is well. And, I am so grateful that she was able to do exactly what we needed her to do. Get the vein on the first stick without blowing it... And, because of that, she looks like Miss America to me.