Finally it happened on Friday...

[tiredandthirsty]

The bloody nurse that was sticking me, i don't know how long she has been doing this, but she failed MISERABLY!  miserable being me.  they moved up from 17s to 16s for the first time and she did what they call a "wet stick".  i am sure you all are aware of it, so i will not waste valuable space, but if anyone wants an explanation i will be glad to provide one.  anyways, so she stuck me with the first one and no blood! she is the same nurse that stuck me on the second day and couldn't draw blood and had to call for back up.  but this time, madam decided to use me as a guinea pig and keep on trying.  she sticks the second needle and same thing, no blood!  so she goes vein hunting by pulling it out and twisting and turning it around and pushing it back in and pressing on it.  i felt like punching her in the throat.  for at least 10 minutes she tried which seemed as eternity to me.  then she called for another nurse.  she comes in and plays with it for another five minutes.  more pain.  lots of it this time.  then they finally decided the needles might be clotted.  so they got 17s and stuck me again, finally it worked.  but my arm hurt for another hour at least before it settled a little.  when they took out the needle, it was swollen on one spot and it hurt the entire weekend.  it still hurts a little and i can only imagine what tomorrow is going to bring.  there is not enough time between treatments to heal the wounds. 

any tips on what i can do to assist in healing faster?  reduce the swelling? when something like this happens, what can i do to reduce the soreness that develops after the abuse the nurses put on the arm? 

Thanks a lot for help in advance. 

[Rerun]

Sometimes they put ice on right away.  It may be too late now.  Remember, you are the customer and you pay them to help you.  If you know a nurse or tech that is good..... request them.  Deny the ones that are not good.  It is your body and your arm.

           

[Cordelia]

Usually if I swell right away, the put ice on it

[jbeany]

Best tip for healing sore arms - demand a different nurse!  10 minutes of poking is ridiculous.

[kitkatz]

Tell moron nurse to stay away from you.

[Whamo]

My wife is a nurse, and I had an argument with her yesterday over this.  I think a competent nurse should be able to find a vein by feel and by knowledge of the anatomy and angles involved.  Some nurses seem to intuitively know this, and others seem clueless, no matter if they get extra help or instruction.  I try to be patient when nurses misses, prod, and poke around, but it does hurt, and at some point, hey, get someone with a clue on the job.  I always thank nurses for trying to help me, even if they screw up, and lavish praise on those that do a good job.  Nurses don't get a lot of positive feedback, and they appreciate a patient that gives it to them.  Last Friday I had to spend an extra hour (after 4 hours) because my nurse couldn't hook me up, and then the machine broke down, and I had to switch machines. 

[tiredandthirsty]

thanks a lot for these replies guys.

it is not even an issue of my veins not being visible easily.  i mean my veins POP OUT.  even on the other hand, without the fistula, my veins are clearly visible so there has never been a problem putting up an iv or drawing blood or anything. 

but my issue is they persisted for 15 minutes with a bloody clotted needle.  next time i will not be so kind.  i will speak up.  there is still some pain in the general area but thank God it has reduced quite a bit from what it was friday.  i iced it quite a bit on friday and saturday.  in three hours i will find out.