Nurse on the Run

If you want to catch up with Nurse on the Run’s A Christmas Tale, Part I, check it out here…then come back to read Part II!

monday – to the er and “christmas eve”

Since I had to work on Christmas Eve and Christmas, my family fast-forwarded the holiday a few days so we could spend it together.  Our traditions for Christmas Eve include going out for Chinese food and then watching a movie…I understand we sound Jewish, but we never had much family around when I was little, so my parents found this to be the best way to entertain little kids.  It’s been tradition ever since!  Anyway, we had big plans to continue on this tradition.  But, as the theme of this Christmas is nothing ever goes as planned, nothing went as planned! 

I woke up at 6am and didn’t feel quite right, but I figured it was just because it was early so I rolled over and went back to sleep.  My alarm went off at 8:30am, and I immediately didn’t feel right.  My stomach was tossing and turning and I felt like I had to throw up.  My first thought was that it was “that time of the month” (gahhh), but I wasn’t that lucky.  Instead, I spent the next six hours going back and forth between being ungodly nauseated and getting relief from actually vomiting, just to feel nauseated again.  It reminded me of my 24 hour sickness of glory, except this time, I actually recall asking to go to the ER.  After six hours of misery with my family here, I decided that going to the hospital might be the best idea.  A bag of fluids and some Zofran?  Yes, please!!  If my family wasn’t here, I probably would have toughed it out on the couch, but I needed relief and didn’t want to ruin my holiday.  I felt bad about going to the ER for something that seemed kind of silly, but away we went.

Everyone at the hospital kept asking, “Have you been here before?”  Well…not as a patient!  I received really good care, although I don’t know if that’s specifically because I told them I worked there or because they’re just that good.    Anyway, they took my temperature (102.7…yikes!), drew some blood, made me pee in a cup, and had me wear a hospital gown (one size fits NO ONE).  My heart rate was in the 100’s, which is high since I usually run in the low 50’s!  I got an IV full of saline and ZOFRAN.  I’m sure people walk in and demand narcotics (go drug seekers!), but when my  nurse walked in with some Zofran, I said, “That’s exactly what I was hoping for!”  They decided that I had an intestinal virus (Merry Christmas to you too, Rocket Scientist!), so they gave me some Tylenol and sent me home with a prescription for Zofran, which is like gold for pregnant women!  I only ended up taking it once later, but no Chinese food for me on “Christmas Eve”…chicken broth and ginger ale instead!

I was excited to note my lab results, as I meant to have my hemoglobin and such checked since I have a history of anemia (ask to see my fingernails for proof…).  My hemoglobin checked out to be 13.4, which isn’t super high, but is still normal (12-18 is normal).  I think I was around an 8 when I was anemic in high school, so I’ll take it.  So that was a perk of going to the ER. 

I saved my hospital bracelet for eternal proof that I spent a day of my “Christmas vacation” in the ER.  War stories!!

So I was going to put my Christmas in here as well, but let’s just say that Christmas deserves its own post!!  Stay tuned for Part III!