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To: andysandmikesmom
The doc had just drawn about 5 to 10cc of blood from me for a test.. and I got five foot from the chair after I stood up. Then the room started dancing to the nice tune of "SQUEEEEEEEEEEEEE!" in the ears. My statement was, "Oh, this is bad." I got asked, "What's bad." My last tjhought before meeting the floor, "Oh, you'll find out."
*Thud*
The poor nurse now refuses to draw blood from me, they send me to the hospital's lab.
Funny part was, I had Mono at the time and that was making my blood pressure do funny things by itself....
347 posted on 08/06/2002 3:31:54 PM PDT by Darksheare
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To: Darksheare
Its so funny, tho not really funny, but saying, "Oh, this is bad" just struck me as so drole...
348 posted on 08/06/2002 3:48:43 PM PDT by andysandmikesmom
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To: Darksheare; grannie9; lodwick; palo verde; acnielsen guy; habs4ever; OneidaM; All
One time, when I was working in the nursing home, I was taking late morning vitals on the seniors....When I appeared in this one ladys room, she, being about 95, or so, was just sitting there, in her wheelchair, and appeared to be sound asleep, or possibly dead, which is not unexpected in a nursing home...

But I gently tapped her on the hand and she immediately woke up...I explained it was time to do vitals...well, I tried to take her pulse, but just could not feel anything...so thought, well, let me take her blood pressure...could not get any blood pressure at all..tried and pulse and blood pressure again, and could get neither....

So I went out into the hall, and grabbed the first nurses aide I could, and had her try to get the pulse and blood pressure...nothing...so we went and got another nurses aide and explained the situation, and she tried...she could get nothing...

All the while this 90 something lady, is yakking away, telling us about her dog, which died 12 yrs ago,(tho she thought he died just the previous week)...she kept talking, her face was regaining color, she got more and more lively now, with all the attention, but still not one of us could get a pulse or a blood pressure...

So then we grabbed an LPN and had her try...no dice...she could get nothing...we then went and got the charge nurse, an RN, told her what was going on...she looked at us, as if we all were nuts...she tried to get the blood pressure and pulse, and guess what...she could get nothing...

Now we have got three nurses aides, an LPN, and an RN, all hovering over this old lady, and trying to figure out what was wrong...we were all experienced, we had all taken vitals for years, we even tested the equipment out on each other, and it was working...and this old lady, was just thrilled to have so many 'important' people hovering over her, and trying to figure out what to do....

So we grabbed another LPN...she came in, tried, and failed to get any readings...so we picked up the old lady, put her in bed, and tried to get her pulse and blood pressure through reading it in her skinny little legs...all the usual places, the wrist, the upper arm, and area across from the elbow, the carotid, all the usual places provided no readings....

But finally, a weak pulse and very low blood pressure were obtained in this little ladys legs....so that was that...but it was great cause for concern...what was going on with the little old lady?

So the charge nurse called her family, explained the situation, and said perhaps they should come up and visit the old lady(which they did anyway on a regular basis, unlike some other patients families)...but the charge nurse was perhaps envisionning that something was going on with the old lady, perhaps her near demise...

So the whole family came up, kids, grandkids, greatgrandkids...bearing the old ladys favorite meal of Kentucky Fried Chicken, with roll, taters with gravy, and cole slaw(a giant leap above usual nursing home fare)and they spent the whole day with the old lady...she was beside herself...after all she had had 3 nurses aids, 2 LPNs, and an RN , all hovering about, and just wondering what was going on....she must have felt like she was living on 'Queen for a Day' what with all the attention from the staff, and her family...

The family stayed until the evening hours, and waited till the old lady was safely in bed for the night....they went home, feeling really quite good with their delightful day with this sweet old lady....

When I came in the next day, I found out that the old lady, had died during the night....

The RN charge nurse came up to me, that morning when I first came in, and told me, that they thought that when I first entered the old ladys room, to first take her vitals, she was probably actually in the very process of dying when I first tapped her...seems like I somehow 'jumpstarted' her...and I guess we could not get her pulse and blood pressure at first, because altho the old lady was responsive and talking, it may have been that it was taking a while for her heart and pulse and blood pressure to get to the point where we could hear and measure them....

All I know is, it was quite the experience...and that little old lady, sure had a wonderful last day...so for a while, I was known at the nursing home as the 'jumpstarter'
349 posted on 08/06/2002 4:15:34 PM PDT by andysandmikesmom
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