Challenging ER Visits

OMG it has been quite a journey the past few weeks. It has been awhile since I needed to go to the Emergency Room with my princess. My little princess is suffering from chronic back pain and sometimes it gets very bad. At home I'm able to manage her pain with Tylenol, Ibuprofen and Morphine. But if these don't help her she needs stronger pain meds or IV fluids.

I don't like to go to the ER with my princess because the past four times they had issues with her veins. My daughter has very beautiful veins, and it's easy to put in an IV if you know what you are doing. But the last time, I felt like we didn't have a lot of luck with the nurses.

This time was different!

Because I knew how many times it went wrong in the past, I started to prepare her veins and all the scenarios at home. There was NO WAY that it could go wrong! I was ready to go, and I promised my little one that it would be ok.

When we arrived at the hospital, the nurse came in the room and she started to prepare for her IV. I explained to her which vein she could use, and that it is a good one! The vein was "popping" and ready to go. While I was talking to the doctor, the nurse started to work on the IV and I saw my daughter's eyes filling with tears. The nurse was literally doing a BAD job AGAIN!! How is this possible???? What are you doing??????

OMG I was so mad! Blood started to come out of the IV because she made a mistake. My daughter started crying and I only wanted to bring her home. After three times going in and out of the vein, she finally got the needle in the right place and installed the IV.

You are hurting my child!

When she came back in the room I asked her a couple of questions because I wanted to know how in heaven's name it could go wrong after such a great vein! Her answer made me more upset. She said, "I made a mistake and went under or above the vein instead of in the vein." The conversation was very uncomfortable because the nurse had no idea how to answer my questions.

Don't get me wrong, I was very respectful, polite, and calm. But she could see on my face that I wasn't happy at all! I asked her if she knew how it felt. She said "yes, it happened to me before." And I asked her again "do you know how it feels?" And she admitted that it is very painful.

She apologized, and walked away. The rest of the night and morning she was taking good care of my princess. But the start was just so messy that I couldn't leave it like this.

Keep fighting sickle cell caregivers

I've had several conversations in different hospitals about IV procedures and they all explained to me the same process. So as a mom I am doing my part, and I need to be able to trust the nurses that they are doing their part. And I believe that if a nurse knows that she is not able to work with needles and IV's that she needs to ask for help because it is traumatic for kids.

After this whole experience I've reached out to different people from the hospital because I don't want to go through this anymore. And, I need to make sure that we solve this in a sustainable way. Sometimes I wish I could go back to school and become a doctor so I can take care of my princess myself. I would never hurt her and I would make sure she has the best medical team ever!

I always hear about challenging ER visits, and how the warriors are suffering. But when it happens to your own child, it is not a story, it's real life!

I would suggest that nurses are getting proper training when it comes to these basic steps in the ER and the hospital. Because patients will rather suffer at home than suffer in the hospital.