Hyperbaric Oxygen Treatement - Day One
**This post was transferred from the now defunct "The Long Ease" blog.**
Treatment Day: 1
Arrival Time at Lutheran Hospital Wound Healing Center: 7:50am
Appointment Time: 8:00am
Doctor Arrived and I got to go back to where the tubes are: 8:12am
Noteable things about self as I prepare to enter the tube: Not terribly nervous. Bangs are out of control, as no hair products (or makeup or deodorant or anything, really) are allowed. Commando is not a state I feel at all comfortable in - but underpants are also forbidden.
Blood Pressure Before: 100 over 60-something
Treatment length: 2.5 hours
Physical things noted during treatment: Ears pop a LOT as they brought me up to pressure level in the beginning and then back down at the end. Mouth is dry (they gave me a tiny squirt bottle of water and I tried very hard not to waste it). Coughing hurts my chest. Feet and shoulders got cold about an hour before it ended - must remember to unfold blanket better tomorrow. I'm fucking blind (can't wear glasses/contacts in so the TV may as well have had dancing blobs on it).
TV station the nurse put on for me: CNN
Things happening in our world as far as CNN is concerned, in order of stories most often repeated: Countless bad things happening with Gaza/Hamas/Isreal/Palestine. Plane crash and subsequent atrocities in Ukraine. Ebola outbreak in Africa. Republicans hate Obama a lot (currently because of something to do with immigration). Another smaller and less interesting plane crashed somewhere beachy. A white guy shot a black girl on his porch in Detroit.
Last time I voluntarily watched the news: The week of September 11, 2001.
Things I thought about not relating to the news blaring into my tube: I should really figure out how to use this time to work on getting better at the whole meditating thing. I wish I could bring in a book - I have so much I want to read. I need to cancel all sorts of plans I made for these next eight weeks since I'll probably have to work late to make up for the missed hours and I also am not supposed to drink alcohol. I wish I could wear my underpants. And my contacts. That nurse looks like my old boss, Katie.
Most difficult moment: Breathing through the mask thing during my two "air breaks". (Because the radiation injury treatments are so long, I am at risk for "Oxygen Toxicity" and must, therefore, breathe normal air through a weird mask two times for five minutes each.)
Blood Pressure After: 110 over 60-something slightly higher than before. I will pay closer attention tomorrow.
Time Left Lutheran Hospital: 10:55am
Arrival Time at Work: 11:15am
Reason for Delay: Stopped for a coffee at a McDonald's in the ghetto. Took 10 minutes. Will not make same mistake again.
Noteworthy After-Effects: Ears still feel poppy. Voice is very hoarse. Nose is very stuffy - not sure if last one has to do with the cold I thought I was over or the treatment.
Treatments Left: 39
What the tubes look like (taken from the internet):
See you tomorrow. Xxo,
Phoebe
Treatment Day: 1
Arrival Time at Lutheran Hospital Wound Healing Center: 7:50am
Appointment Time: 8:00am
Doctor Arrived and I got to go back to where the tubes are: 8:12am
Noteable things about self as I prepare to enter the tube: Not terribly nervous. Bangs are out of control, as no hair products (or makeup or deodorant or anything, really) are allowed. Commando is not a state I feel at all comfortable in - but underpants are also forbidden.
Blood Pressure Before: 100 over 60-something
Treatment length: 2.5 hours
Physical things noted during treatment: Ears pop a LOT as they brought me up to pressure level in the beginning and then back down at the end. Mouth is dry (they gave me a tiny squirt bottle of water and I tried very hard not to waste it). Coughing hurts my chest. Feet and shoulders got cold about an hour before it ended - must remember to unfold blanket better tomorrow. I'm fucking blind (can't wear glasses/contacts in so the TV may as well have had dancing blobs on it).
TV station the nurse put on for me: CNN
Things happening in our world as far as CNN is concerned, in order of stories most often repeated: Countless bad things happening with Gaza/Hamas/Isreal/Palestine. Plane crash and subsequent atrocities in Ukraine. Ebola outbreak in Africa. Republicans hate Obama a lot (currently because of something to do with immigration). Another smaller and less interesting plane crashed somewhere beachy. A white guy shot a black girl on his porch in Detroit.
Last time I voluntarily watched the news: The week of September 11, 2001.
Things I thought about not relating to the news blaring into my tube: I should really figure out how to use this time to work on getting better at the whole meditating thing. I wish I could bring in a book - I have so much I want to read. I need to cancel all sorts of plans I made for these next eight weeks since I'll probably have to work late to make up for the missed hours and I also am not supposed to drink alcohol. I wish I could wear my underpants. And my contacts. That nurse looks like my old boss, Katie.
Most difficult moment: Breathing through the mask thing during my two "air breaks". (Because the radiation injury treatments are so long, I am at risk for "Oxygen Toxicity" and must, therefore, breathe normal air through a weird mask two times for five minutes each.)
Blood Pressure After: 110 over 60-something slightly higher than before. I will pay closer attention tomorrow.
Time Left Lutheran Hospital: 10:55am
Arrival Time at Work: 11:15am
Reason for Delay: Stopped for a coffee at a McDonald's in the ghetto. Took 10 minutes. Will not make same mistake again.
Noteworthy After-Effects: Ears still feel poppy. Voice is very hoarse. Nose is very stuffy - not sure if last one has to do with the cold I thought I was over or the treatment.
Treatments Left: 39
What the tubes look like (taken from the internet):
See you tomorrow. Xxo,
Phoebe
Comments