h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

1. Attempt inserting needle into vein, puncturing the skin, only to find the vein rolling aside.

2. Twist the needle, now beneath the skin, into the direction of said vein and try to puncture it again.

3. If vein insists on rolling aside again, repeat point 2 ad nauseam.

You can try and prevent that happening by picking a vien just where it forks, because then it's less mobile. Or by trying to fix the vien beneath your skin with a thumb and forefinger of your non-dominant hand whilst going for the other hand.

Hey Z, tortecolis? torticollis?

I'm home from the hospital. One of the lumps was benign and the other one was malignant. I'm pretty ucomfortable at the moment. The pain pills they gave me aren't helping much. Anyway, I go back on the 5th to get the stitches out. One of the places is starting to bleed a bit, so I'm going to smear a bunch of ointment over it and then try to take a little nap.

Since one lump was malignant, where are the doctors going from here, Hyp?

I haven't said anything about *my* potential job change, Sporky, because I haven't heard anything from the gubmint.

*Tucks a chenille throw over Hyp.*

You'll feel better after a little snooze. Then you can tell us what's next.



Great news, Hati! Good luck finding new digs.

And congrats to the Dreadfuls.

Hope all goes well Hyp!

s Hypatia - hope your head feels better soon. We'll all be concerned for you until you get the all-clear

I've usually got great veins - but once needed a drip after losing rather a lot of the red stuff (long boring story involving haemorrhage) My veins were so collapsed that they tried both arms and a foot before getting access.
If you've got to go - haemorrhage is not a bad way to go - I was very relaxed as about twelve people ran around panicking.

The thrush I spotted was due to inhaled steroids - very common when people don't use a spacer device on their inhaler and don't rinse their mouth afterwards.
(hygienists are not allowed to diagnose - but I can 'spot' and refer back to the dentist for diagnosis)

Has everyone been over and voted for the presidential candidate of their choice?
Croz isn't giving anything away - except to say that one candidate has 50% of the vote already.

*hopes this doen't count as spamming

As far as needles go, I make all nurses/docs do mine in the back of my hand. I have lousy veins in the "usual" places, but quite nice ones on the backs of my hands.

One nurse insisted on doing my elbow, and I had bruises for a month. Of course, when the hospital $$ type person saw them, suddenly my bill was lowered by a great deal. Guess they didn't want the lawsuit...

{Courtesy}

> Kat, I have days like that.

So have I... realizing only after I'd embarrassed myself that I should have stayed home with the covers pulled over my head. Eating chocolate and drinking wine. Then spending an exhausting evening trying to get wine and chocolate stains out of the sheets. Anything but saying *that* to *that* person. I swear, sometimes another person takes over my mouth and says the most terrible things.

Veins! Argh! Fortunately, doctors rarely need to poke me. My hubby, on the other hand, has had a number of blood tests since they discovered his high blood pressure and high cholesterol. For some reason, even though he has Popeye arms and prominent veins, the nurse they have on staff is incapable of finding the vein. And R. has a low tolerance for being poked. I think next time I'll suggest they anesthetize him first. Anything but watching him rip the arm off the chair while they keep missing the vein.

Z, I think it'd be an excellent idea for you to write an entry on finding veins. Make it required reading for all doctors and nurses.

Oh, Hyp - I hope they got all the nasty bits. Sometimes air hitting the area causes problems, too. Rest up, keep greasing yourself with ointment... And who's going to cook for you?

I think they did get all the nasty bits. That's why they wanted to do it at the hospital. They sent the tissue to the lab for a preliminary diagnosis. That's how they knew to cut out more of the tissue around the area. They'll test that to make sure the tissue on the edges was ok. They'll let me know about that when they take the stitches out.

Lentilla, I have never had anyone to cook for me. So, nothing has changed in that reguard. F was a dear, but he sure didn't cook. In 31 years he fixed me one meal.

Veins. I don't have any that don't roll. Starting an IV is always a trauma.

They didn't knock me completely out. They gave me something in the IV to relax me and for pain and used a local in my scalp. I requested not to have general anesthesia. Even so, I was a little nauseous after I got home. And the pain medicine is just not working. I don't know if I'll get any sleep tonight or not.

Poor Hypatia. There's no doubt but the scalp is a sensitive place.

[GDZ]

Hyp, with the results of the tests on the 5th.

Congrats in order for Santra, Kat and Hati!

And commiserations for Asteroid Lil. I know how frustrating it can be to be waiting for the mailman, when funds are low. I can only imagine how much more fun it is when dealing with bureacuracy.

For the second time in the 3 months I've been with the temp agency, my check hasn't come. Usually get it a week after I send the timecard in -- which was last Friday. When I called today, I found out it was sent on the 19th, but it was sent from Texas -- wasn't there a hurricane or something being prepared for then?

Did get good news yesterday, though. I got extended for 30 more days on my assignment. Hopefully with paychecks...

SC

'ning

I have now managed to trick my w**k computer to let me get access to my home network printer. The IT Dept guys said that it wouldn't - could I not challenge that? Very nice to print without going over a USB stick and another PC...

Should I have put that in the Computer Lab... Sorry to say such bad technical words on a morning in a quiet Atelier...

Hyp - oh isn't there something with loobrushes in our party program? Anyway, lots of healing wishes and a careful

A careful for Hypatia. Hope you get some sleep and feel better when you wake up.

I have very good veins apparently. But the best thing about getting out of hospital is getting the drip needle taken out. After a couple of days, the whole of the back of my hands were bruised and sore. At least they both feel the same now, mind.

Actually, Z, I was thinking about the hirachy laberinth more. Wrote about it in my journal. Mind you, I can only find the ENT department if I go the same way I always go, and trying to find the restaurant was exciting. The entrance turned out to be hidden behind some bins in the end, so I guess that's true too.

Back to the hospital today for a check up. At least I managed to wash my hair now, so will not feel quite so conspicuous. Have gone down in my medical notes as 'obsessed by hair washing' I think as it was brought up last time without my mentioning it... Ah well.

Did I tell you all that the good thing about all this is that I appear to have given up smoking? At least I haven't since the op. Was too flattened at first, and then blowing smoke around the mouth area and through the saliva gland just semmed wrong. Any withdrawal symptoms were covered up by me feeling utterly grotty anyway, and bang, here I am craving coffe more often than I crave a coggarette.

I need a new, preferably unharmful, vice now. Any suggestons?

[Kathryn]

Morning everyone.

Hyp, tricky news to know what to do with. Please know that you have friends all over the world sending healing thoughts.

B