I have a new least favorite pastime. One I never dreamed I’d have to…indulge in. (Can you see me turning green at the very thought?)
But since DH took that trip off his ripstick (skateboard) and shattered his leg, well, I have been given the very dubious task of nursing him back to health.
Ok, maybe not nursing really. But here’s a hint of what I have to do:
Any guesses? Anyone?
Yep, I am now officially responsible for injecting the man I love twice a day. Complications from flying, surgery and immobility have given him a DVT (deep vein thrombosis), and while I’ve been assured it’s easily treatable and was picked up early, I’m still lumped with the task of pricking the man morning and night with blood thinners.
Charming, right?
It’s especially charming when I happen to glance at his face while I’m doing it, and his grimace is almost as bad as the one he wore minutes after breaking his leg. Or when he lets out a muffled “Aargh” as the needle goes in. And you wanna know what’s even worse? The more injections I give him, the more easily he bruises. So right now, he has a lovely line (semi circle) of bruises from one side of his lower stomach to the other.
And now I’m sure you’re gonna ask why on earth I am sharing these gory details with you, because we all know… No one wants to hear about needles and injections. Ever.
Well, dear friends. It’s because I’m selfish. I don’t like suffering in silence. If I have to do something I hate, well, then you have to hear about it.
So now I ask you (if you’ve actually hung around long enough to read this entire blog – which BTW, I never would have) if any of you have a least favorite pastime? Or if any of you have been lumped with hurting someone you love all in the name of medical care? Because if you have, you have my undying admiration and sympathy.
*Big, dramatic, heavy, histrionic sigh*
Jess
Oct 27, 2011 @ 11:23:58
I’m sorry you have to do that.
It doens’t gross me out though. My dream was to be a nurse (it’ll never happen now-I don’t have the time or money). I don’t like being poked myself but I think I could poke someone else. lol 
KittyKelly
Oct 27, 2011 @ 11:29:53
LOL, Kitty Cat, I sometimes think I should start fighting with my hubby, just so I can get pissed off and then I might enjoy poking him.
Sorry your dreams to be a nurse were never realised.
Oct 27, 2011 @ 11:35:10
Just try to remember the stupidity that got him where he is. lol
Or just try to remember the last stupid thing he said to you.
I kinda get the best of both worlds a little anyway.
I work for a medical supply company and I actually office out of the local hospital I serve (hense my move to Texas).
Oct 27, 2011 @ 11:24:52
I’m really sorry about your hubby. That’s awful. My dad has to inject my mom from time to time with her cumadin shots when she can’t. My favorite pasttime, I can’t repeat in polite company…
… but I would have to say watching America’s pasttime–Baseball is the one to beat. My Texas Rangers are one win away from winning the World Series. Baseball rules in our house.
I really hope your hubby feels better soon.
Oct 27, 2011 @ 11:31:07
Marika – my sympathies to your mom and dad.
Best of luck to your Texas Rangers! (And you know I’m now DYING to hear about your fave pastime.)
Oct 27, 2011 @ 11:35:57
Seriously? You CAN’T figure it out? LOL! Its a hobby of mine that I share with one other person…and yes, I’m in THAT kind of mood tonight.
Oct 27, 2011 @ 16:12:50
LOL, Marika, thank you for making me smile.
Oct 27, 2011 @ 11:28:45
Omg Jess sorry you have to do that! I can’t handle needles at all! My mom needed some shots done monthly and my dad was away so I had to do it- I nearly throw up, I was crying, and shaking so bad I nearly missed where I needed to give her the shot. So I completely understand – xoxo
Oct 27, 2011 @ 11:32:12
Ah, Dawn. You sound like me. I spend entire time shaking and saying, I’m sorry.
And ya know what – no one wants someone with a shaky hand giving them injections!
Oct 27, 2011 @ 11:42:09
He’d better not p*&$ you off right now
Oct 27, 2011 @ 16:13:46
LOL, Sami, he’s behaving beautifully.
And, he hasn’t tried to ride a skateboard for over two weeks now.
Oct 27, 2011 @ 11:58:32
Oh poor guy. Those DVT’s are easily treatable but not very pleasant. I stick my mom all the time with her insulin and I get to stick complete strangers every Saturday morning lol…the joys of going to nursing school I love it
Oct 27, 2011 @ 16:14:53
Oh, Ive. I just shuddered.
You make it sound so easy.
And I never knew you were in nursing school!
How much longer do you have to go?
Oct 27, 2011 @ 14:52:57
I’m not help. I faint at the sight of needles. Had to scroll down really fast on this post. lol
Hang in there Jess, and you know where I am if you need a hand with anything other than the needle giving. *shudder*
Oct 27, 2011 @ 16:15:28
Thanx RC.
And I haven’t rejected you offer to come help with the washing yet…
Oct 27, 2011 @ 16:04:05
Ok, you win. You totally top my squicky least favorite pastime. I loathe removing ticks. They were always about when I was growing up and I do know how to remove them and how important it is to remove ALL of the little beastie quickly. Its just … I get this horrible taste in my mouth at the sight of them.
But sticking needles in someone would be worse. You have my undying sympathym Jess.
Oct 27, 2011 @ 16:17:36
Ok, Heather, ya know what? Given the choice, I think I might prefer sticking my hubby to removing ticks.
Now, when you say you get a horrible taste in your mouth, I’m hoping that’s not because you try and (…wait for it…) bite the ticks off?
Jokes aside tho, I believe the quickest and easiest way to get them off is with a bit of vaseline?
Oct 27, 2011 @ 16:56:52
Oh, I am so sorry to hear that your husband got a DVT. Those are very painful and dangerous. Even though the blood thinners cause bad bruising, they will go away. I have actually had to have those shots 2 different times. (Better than being stuck in a hospital bed for 8 days like with my first DVT at 20!) I actually got to where I could give myself the injections, lol.
I hope your hubby is feeling better so and that the clot dissolves with no more problems.
Oct 27, 2011 @ 19:00:08
Ow,ow, ow, ow, ow.
You injected yourself, June?
Ohmegawd! Now that is incredibly brave.
And being stuck in hospital for 8 days, at 20 – okay, that must have been horrible. I hope you don’t get another DVT!
Oct 27, 2011 @ 20:55:41
Mine’s not as bad as needles but I loathe with an absolute passion feeding the chickens their scraps.
No matter what i do the bucket is always covered in slime, there’s god only knows what under my feet and it never all comes out the first time you tip the bucket, you have to hit it multiple times to dislodge everything and then your hand is covered in yick.
Oh and then you have to clean out the water which somehow manages to get filled with the same muck as covers the ground.Then there’s never anything besides your hand to use to clean it, then you always get wet taking the water back to the chicken pen from the tank. Not to mention the smell. Day old scraps never ever smell good.
Oct 27, 2011 @ 21:03:48
Okay, Ilona, you win.
Hands down. I can’t compete with that.
In fact, after reading that, and imagining the slime and sludge on your hands and feet, well let’s just say the injection I’m about to give my hubby will seem, er, almost pleasant in comparison.
Oct 28, 2011 @ 18:22:22
My day job is a nurse…what can I say? Given one injection, given a thousand, both subcut (as you’re doing, Jess) and intramuscular. Yeah, some people bruise really easily, your poor husband – and poor you. It’s for the best anyway, he doesn’t want a DVT! LOL *hugs* to you both!
Oct 29, 2011 @ 01:20:19
I am your friend Jess, I am terrified of needles but I stuck around. OMG I couldn’t do it and I’m feeling sick to my tummy thinking about it. What a horrible thing to have happen after his accident. The worst I’ve had to do is use an inhaler when my kids got pnuemonia. It came with a mask that you have to put over thier nose and mouth and then you have to wait until they have breathed/screamed a few times so they used all the air in the mask before hitting the plunger to fill the mask with the inhaler mist then they have to breathe in a few more times to make sure they got it all. It was like suffacating your kids. I hated it.
Jess, your my hero because I couldn’t do it.
Zina