Dialysis Day

 

I was finishing up a shift and had already did my handoff to the next shift when an aide came up to the desk and said, “Hey Mr. Pool, he has some blood under his wheelchair.” Mr. Pool was a dialysis patient and had been back from dialysis around an hour ago. It was his dialysis day. I looked at the on coming nurse and said, “I’ll go see what’s going on before I leave.” She looked at me and said, “Thanks!” I put my bag down and my car keys and head down to the end of the hall where Mr. Pool’s room was located.

I go into Mr. Pool’s room and there is now a puddle of blood under his wheelchair. He looks like he is asleep, but he has on a heavy coat. I try to wake him to see where the blood was coming from. Okay he is not really waking up. I pull the coat off and Mr. Pool has pulled out his Shunt that was newly placed less than a week ago. Obviously, I think, “oh Fuck!”

I run out into the hall way and scream, “I need a nurse down here NOW!!! And I NEED 911 ON THE PHONE NOW!!! I see a therapist walking by the patient’s room, look at him, and say, “I need your belt off your pants!” He looked at me confused. So, I said “DUDE GIVE ME YOUR BELT NOW!” He takes it off, hands it to me, and I wrap Mr. Pool’s arm and pull as hard as I can, when one of the other nurses show up. I said, “GIRL HE PULLED OUT HIS SHUNT” she said, “oh FUCK!, OH FUCK!!!!”

She runs down the hall and comes back with a second belt. She wraps it around his arm, it’s still pouring blood. I then scream, as there is now a crowd staring into his room, “anyone call 911”, when I hear, “they are pulling in now” I said, “WELL TELL THEM TO HURRY THE FUCK UP” I can hear foot steps not walking very fast down the hallway, I said, “DUDES HURRY THE FUCK UP.”

Then I see a paramedic at the door and he said calmly, “What’s the problem?”, I said “Are you fucking blind? The guy pulled his shunt out, he isn’t waking up, and I can’t get the blood to stop! Any more fucking questions? Or do you think I’m holding this belt just for fun?” He and the guy behind him said, “OH FUCK” I said, “Yea I think we have established that!” I and the other nurse don’t let go.

We both look at each other and shack our heads. At this point we both have our feet on his wheelchair pulling in the opposite directions on both of our belts. While the paramedics are scratching their heads, “Guys, I know y’all are theming to figure out some things, but I can hold this maybe a few more minutes!” One guy leaves the room and I hear him run down the hallway. He comes back with some “contraption” that is suppose to be better than this belt I now am twisting.

Now the other nurse was relieved by a different paramedic. And they aren’t relieving me just yet till they get this contraption on his arm. Now I’m slipping from all the blood on the floor and surrounding his arm. If you didn’t realize blood is very slippery especially on tile floors. Mr. Pool was somewhat waking just because he was screaming every time I twisted the belt. Then finally they attach the contraption and six guys load him onto the gurney for the ambulance and rush out the building. Lights going and sirens blaring I hear them race down the road.

I’m standing in Mr. Pool’s room covered in blood and dazed. Someone in the hallway threw me a couple of towels. And I pull my scrub top off right there. This is why I always have an undershirt on, I thought. I throw the top in the floor and walk into the bathroom. One of the other nurses walks in and says, “You alright?” I say, “I guess. I just know I’m gonna be sore tomorrow. Glad it’s my day off.” She said, “I bet!” Too bad I now had another hour or two of documentation to do before going home. Thanks Mr. Pool. Mr. Pool did make it to surgery to stop the bleeding and replace his shunt. But spent at least 3 weeks in the hospital.

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