It’s been quite the couple of days.
As anyone who knows me will tell you, housekeeping is not my strong suit. It isn’t that I can’t do it. It’s that I hate doing it. And, it’s that I find it really difficult to get worked up about dusting when it feels like I have so many more important things to do. Housekeeping always falls to the bottom of my list until things get so bad that I just can’t stand it and then suddenly it’s a crisis.
Well, we’re at crisis level now. So, Sunday I decided I’d at least get one entire room clean from top to bottom, even cleaning out some drawers along the way. I have the Heather method of cleaning. After you pass the first step (ignoring the issue all together) you start cleaning at the top and work your way down – the theory being you’ll likely knock a little dust down along the way that can be vacuumed up in the end. So, I was cleaning the ceiling fan, the vent, dusting some of the frames of things hanging in my bedroom, and then I decided to dust the blinds that hang over my bed.
I was perched precariously with my knees on the edge of the bed reaching up and across when I lost my balance and hit the edge of my bedside table, dead on. Dead on my stoma no less!
If I’d hit it slightly to the left or right, it would have really hurt, but since it was a direct hit, there are no nerves in the middle part of your intestine and it really didn’t hurt much at all. But, there are also all kinds of exposed blood vessels in a stoma, and after a really hard whack they bled. Boy did they bleed!
So much for cleaning.
I took my pouch off because I knew I had hit it hard and wanted to make sure I hadn’t done any real damage. Blood went everywhere. I felt a little queasy, but I think it was just the sight of all that blood. It’s funny. I can deal with anyone else’s blood and guts no problem (just ask Karen…dig to my good friend). But my own is a different story.
I got a bathroom towel, the most handy thing I had, and held it over the stoma. It quickly became blood soaked. I went to the fridge, holding this towel, and got some ice. I got some more towels, laid down on my bed, and just held the ice and towels over this mess.
It did stop, but I had to lay still for a few hours because every time I’d start moving around it would start again.
To make matters worse, it’s that time of the month. I feel so tired and yet I’m having a hard time sleeping. I don’t know why. In just a few weeks I’m back at NIH and will be getting an IUD to help with that HPS female bleeding issue. As much as I am not looking forward to that at all, I can hardly wait. Hopefully this will be the last terrible period I’ll have to deal with for a while!
I know I’m behind on catching up with a few of you, but I’ve been so tired and there’s so much going on with the Network right now that I just can’t get to everything in a night. Please be patient with me. Grin!
As anyone who knows me will tell you, housekeeping is not my strong suit. It isn’t that I can’t do it. It’s that I hate doing it. And, it’s that I find it really difficult to get worked up about dusting when it feels like I have so many more important things to do. Housekeeping always falls to the bottom of my list until things get so bad that I just can’t stand it and then suddenly it’s a crisis.
Well, we’re at crisis level now. So, Sunday I decided I’d at least get one entire room clean from top to bottom, even cleaning out some drawers along the way. I have the Heather method of cleaning. After you pass the first step (ignoring the issue all together) you start cleaning at the top and work your way down – the theory being you’ll likely knock a little dust down along the way that can be vacuumed up in the end. So, I was cleaning the ceiling fan, the vent, dusting some of the frames of things hanging in my bedroom, and then I decided to dust the blinds that hang over my bed.
I was perched precariously with my knees on the edge of the bed reaching up and across when I lost my balance and hit the edge of my bedside table, dead on. Dead on my stoma no less!
If I’d hit it slightly to the left or right, it would have really hurt, but since it was a direct hit, there are no nerves in the middle part of your intestine and it really didn’t hurt much at all. But, there are also all kinds of exposed blood vessels in a stoma, and after a really hard whack they bled. Boy did they bleed!
So much for cleaning.
I took my pouch off because I knew I had hit it hard and wanted to make sure I hadn’t done any real damage. Blood went everywhere. I felt a little queasy, but I think it was just the sight of all that blood. It’s funny. I can deal with anyone else’s blood and guts no problem (just ask Karen…dig to my good friend). But my own is a different story.
I got a bathroom towel, the most handy thing I had, and held it over the stoma. It quickly became blood soaked. I went to the fridge, holding this towel, and got some ice. I got some more towels, laid down on my bed, and just held the ice and towels over this mess.
It did stop, but I had to lay still for a few hours because every time I’d start moving around it would start again.
To make matters worse, it’s that time of the month. I feel so tired and yet I’m having a hard time sleeping. I don’t know why. In just a few weeks I’m back at NIH and will be getting an IUD to help with that HPS female bleeding issue. As much as I am not looking forward to that at all, I can hardly wait. Hopefully this will be the last terrible period I’ll have to deal with for a while!
I know I’m behind on catching up with a few of you, but I’ve been so tired and there’s so much going on with the Network right now that I just can’t get to everything in a night. Please be patient with me. Grin!
Comments
I'm so sorry to hear about your fall. You scared all of us, we wanted to check in on you and make sure you are okay. I didn't know that dusting could be so hazardous :)
Love,
Candice and Crystal