Wednesday, June 2, 2010

Veins, IVs and Weight Loss?

Just puzzling today.  Could weight loss potentially make it so that veins have more room to recede back into your arms?  Ya know, less fat to push them to the surface.  Probably not.

I don't know.  But I've been drinking water and Gatorade (almost) like crazy in order to plump these suckers up.  I don't see any sign of improvement on easy vein identification.

Fingers crossed that tomorrow it takes fewer than six sticks and three nurses to get an IV started.

That's all.

5 comments:

  1. Ah...if only IV sticks caused weight loss! That would be a miracle diet I could stick with!

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  2. I'm with CC. lol

    Also, hot packs or a very warm damp towel helps to plump the suckers up. My veins love to run and hide under my flab when they see a needle coming toward them.

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  3. Courtney, you crack me up!

    Webster, you should have seen me 2 weeks ago. I was holding both arms and hands in a huge sink of hot water for a really long time (seriously, 30 minutes and I had to refill the sink twice to keep it hot) while waiting for the 'head nurse' to come try to get an IV started. It took her four tries herself.

    I'm taking my own heating pad tomorrow. None of this silly hot water in a latex glove business. Last time an IV was finally started in my wrist which was in a strange location and had some backflow into my thumb. OUCH!! The inflammation (hardness/lump) in that vein is finally gone.

    **********
    Thinking big gushy bloody thoughts. Come on veins, let's show them how fat and gushy we can be.

    Pep talk for the veins. :)

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  4. I feel your pain, took them three tries yesterday to do my MRI with contrast =(

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  5. No, I had horribly hard to find. get, keep, tiny veins, started lifting weights---now my veins stick out pretty as a picture. Weights, Lisa. The miracle "drug." (And as you begin, take a small one to lab and pump till vein pops. Hold arm down.) Good luck! PS--a GOOD nurse can get ANY vein without hurting you. We suffer enough, I have learned to pick my nurses and complain about the bad ones. But---weights.

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