Tuesday, August 22, 2006

Today was Odd

You don't get into your eighth decade without experiencing a number of interesting things. Marriage, childbirth, deaths in the family, auto accidents, et cetera are all occurances that routinely come and go with the rhythm of a marching band. I worked in a hospital as a nurse for twenty years and saw all sorts of horror and proceedures, along with joys and blessings.
Today, I have seen and felt something completely new to me. The doctor plunged a 20 gauge needle directly into my throat , and thence into my thyroid gland. It wasn't that bad --- just that weird. Thirty years ago, we didn't have ultra sound images to guide physicians in their perverse doings. Of course, they didn't have the life saving techniques at their finger tips, but my grandmothers would have run screaming into the night at the thought of needles sticking into their throat. Sometime, I will have to sit down and ponder on the things that I have seen come on down the Pike during my lifetime. It seems like we have always had these wonders available to us, but I remember being in the hospital for the first time at seventeen and the nurses didn't even start I.V.'s, the doctors did.
Well, I'll find out at the end of the week whether or not this worked or whether they will be playing pin cushion with my neck again. Big thought of the day--- "You're gonna do what to me?"

3 comments:

molly said...

Love your last thought. You're an OR nurse too? That's great. No one else understands it like another person who did what you did, the stress, the work, the perverse humor. I hope the results you get from your test are the ones you're looking for.

Big Dave T said...

Even with modern day medical innovations, the thought of a needle jabbing me anywhere is distressingly unpleasant. Needlephobia is real.

Antique Mommy said...

Right after Sean was born, I had the very same thing done. It is remarkable that the needle doesn't hurt at all. It saved my life as it was then discovered that I had thyroid cancer. Two surgeries and radiation later, there is no evidence of thyroid cancer at this time.