Poor Nurse, He Had to Deal With Me

I think I pushed my cold too far. I should have taken a day off or two before it got as bad as it did. Yep, I ended up in ER on Saturday night. I wanted to go to the Easter Vigil, especially since I had made it to the Good Friday service on Friday at Our Savior, but I didn't make it to the other service that Tim preached at. My lungs felt like they were collapsing in on themselves and to make matters worse, I felt like I couldn't get enough oxygen. The final diagnosis: pneumonia.

However, the poor nurse that had to deal with me in ER probably didn't know what to do with me! They checked my vitals and then took X-Rays (where the pneumonia showed up) and last (but certainly not least) they took blood. However, since I was in ER, they decided to start a line. I hate needles. I have a terrible fear of them. I also hate blood. I hate seeing it, I hate having to deal with it. Put two fears together and you already have a recipe for disaster! However, for me, starting a line is so much worse because it stays in. I wouldn't have reacted completely as bad I think if it was simple- poke in, take out, all done! Oh, no, IVs hurt, and worse than that, YOU CAN SEE BLOOD not to mention the fact that you know there's still a needle in you (I know, it's not really a needle per se, but same thing in this phobic mind!).

Well, I handled it in my traditional way before learning how to deal with stuff like this! The only way I have found that I can make it through getting blood drawn/IVs put in is to take very deep slow breaths. There's only one problem with that when you already have a tight chest and cough when you breathe in too far- you can't do it! So, in typical me fashion, I panicked. I puked. It was great. The nurse I think panicked a bit, too, because he gave up and left me alone for a while. The doc was wonderful and got a prescription for an anti-anxiety right away. So, the next time, it wasn't nearly as traumatic, for me or the poor nurse!!

I always feel so helpless and stupid when I have that kind of reaction to simple medical procedures, but at the same time, I don't know what else I can do except work to make next time not so bad (and pray that there won't be a next time)!