Skip to main content

Bloody blood tests!

 
That was yesterday. I think I did too much on Monday and yesterday I just couldn’t function. I needed to pack my clothes for holiday but just couldn’t get out of bed. So I decided it was going to be a rest day. I stayed in bed and dozed on and off until about 6pm. Hubby and Big Fella were off to football training and before they went Hubby asked if I might be able to get my case packed. He wants to be organised this year and get everything in the car ready to go a day before we set off instead of our usual last minute rush. So I forced my arse out of bed and started to pack. 

But I didn’t just pack, I ended up feeding the dog, loading the dishwasher and the washing machine and a few other chores around the house. When I went back upstairs to put the last few bits in my case I knew I had overdone it and didn’t feel well. I could feel that I was about to pass out but there was nobody in the house to catch me so I hit the decks. Eventually I got myself up and ended up phoning one of my friends to bring me an emergency delivery of sugary fizzy drinks. I don’t know if my blood pressure is low or if I’m not getting enough calories from my feeds but I’m getting lightheaded quite often. I’m only getting 700 calories a day from my TPN feeds which was enough for when I was just lying around in my hospital bed doing jack shit but now I’m home and doing stuff the dieticians might need to increase it. 

I felt better this morning and managed to get out of bed before lunchtime. This was mainly due to the fact I had to be at the GP surgery for midday for blood tests. When I got there I told the phlebotomist that I had bad veins and that the phlebotomists in the hospital had struggled to bleed me which resulted in one of the ward doctors taking blood from my wrist (and yes, that does hurt!) As with most phlebotomists she said “I’m sure your veins aren’t that bad” so I just sat back and waited for her to realise that my veins are actually non existent. After a few attempts she eventually conceded that I was difficult to bleed and she went to see if there were any nurses available to help her. Unfortunately there weren’t and she asked what happened the last time I came for bloods at the surgery. “Nobody could bleed me so I ended up going up to the hospital to have them done” was my reply. 

So she admitted defeat and went to print out the form that I would need to take to the hospital only for the system to crash. Cue a 25 minute wait with her apologising profusely before I left with said paperwork. I decided to ring the ward to check what time you could turn up at at the hospital for walk in blood tests but they told me not to bother and to just head up to the ward and they would do them for me. I’ve got an appointment with the gynaecology team tomorrow to get the results of my bone density scan and to have the injection that puts me into menopause and keeps the endometriosis symptoms at bay so I’m going to pop up to the ward before that. At least if they’re being done on the ward if they can’t find a good vein then the doctor can go in my wrist or one of the nurses can access my Hickman line and take blood from there. 

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Home today?

The antibiotics have finished now and last night my Hickman line was used for the first time. So far it seems to be working fine and if the doctors are happy with it when they do the rounds later this morning I will be able to go home. Today! Yay! Of course I'm excited to perhaps be going home but I'm also relieved as my poor veins have just about had it. I never really have any decent veins in my hands and arms and the few that can be used have been well and truely pricked to death. It's got so bad that I'm now having cannulas put in my feet. And yes, it did hurt.  Hopefully later I will be packing my bag and going home to Hubby and the kids.Unfortunately everyone is at work today so if, no, when I get discharged later I will have to make my own way home. Nottingham has a really good transport system, including a tram stop at the hospital but I don't think I'm up to using public transport today. I'm going to splash out on a cab that will take me door to doo...

Holiday from hell

My first week in Cornwall was amazing. Me, Hubby and the kids spent the week near Porthleven along with all Hubby’s family in a big house with its own pool and hot tub. The kids had a great time with their cousins, we celebrated Big Girl’s birthday, went to the beach, ate together, played games in the evening and just generally had a wonderful time. It was the holiday I had dared to dream about while I was in hospital amd I couldn’t believe I was well enough to enjoy it. No, I wasn’t able to eat and drink but that was a small price to pay to be making memories with my loved ones. At the end of the week we packed up the car and drove to St Ives where we had booked a fisherman’s cottage one minute from the beach with my parents. My sister and her husband would be staying nearby and Big Girl’s boyfriend and his family were also staying in St Ives at the same time. I’m good friends with his Mum so I was really looking forward to having a great second week with even more of my favourite peo...

The spoon theory

Have you heard of 'The Spoon Theory'? No? Neither had I before I got ill. Why would I have? I didn't spend my time trawling through the internet in search of lotions and potions and pills that might just make me feel a little bit better,  because I was well. I was out living life and having fun.  Don't get me wrong. I'm not saying that I don't have fun any more. I just have less of it, with fewer people and without the aid of alcohol!  The spoon theory was written by Christine Miserandino and she asks that when you reference the theory you add a link to her website, so here it is:  http://www.butyoudontlooksick.com/articles/written-by-christine/the-spoon-theory/ I  saw this tonight on Facebook and thought was a brilliant visual to help you understand the 'theory' (and my life) a bit better.  That really is what it's like having a chronic illness. But the trouble is you never know how many spoons you have when you wake up. My  body likes to play trick...