I have a question....

Hey everyone,

Jamie, fromCentennial Women's Hospital, called me yesterday and was asking me a lot of medical history and then she was telling me a little bit about what to expect.  She was telling me about the IV in my hand or forearm (of course), but then she said something about an IV in my neck....I think I spaced out when she said that and I didn't hear anything else.  Did anyone else have an IV in their neck?  I do remember her saying that I would be given meds in my IV to keep the pain down, but just how bad does the neck IV hurt????? 

If anyone has had this, let me know what to expect  please.... 

I had surgery with Dr. Dyer on Oct. 5.  They put the IV in my neck when I was in the pre-op holding area.  They had already given me some sedation.  It did not hurt at all.  It stayed in the whole 4 days I was in the hospital.  It never bothered me at all.  It is good because they can draw blood for your blood work, give you medication, etc. without sticking you all the time.  Don't worry about it - they take really good care of you.

Yes. They do place an IV in your neck. I remember feeling it but it was just a pinch & I had already had some "loopy" meds in my hand IV so it was all good! Don't worry about it. For me the whole "IV" experience is what I dread/ed the most. They set up my arm IV first & then when I was in the holding area waiting to go into OR then they placed the neck IV. I want to say its called a "Central Line". It meant I didn't have to get my arm poked everytime they needed blood and i HATE needles so that was good! Good luck & see you on the Losers Bench!!!

 I got the same call a couple of days ago and was moderately freaked out by it also. Then my mom said she sees people with them all the time, since she's a cancer patient and they do chemo that way. Apparently people walk around with them for quite awhile and it's very little bother. 

I'm just glad I'll be loopy when it happens, though!

Thank you to everyone who let me know what to look out for.  I'll be okay as long as I'm loopy.  I just don't think I can sit there and let them stick my neck without meds.  Thank God for the meds!!

I feel a little better now.....Thanks all!

Oh, yeah.  You'll also get a lot of your medicines injected into your neck catheter.  Hooray for less needles!  When they took mine out, I had a huge bruise.  I was hoping it would last until Halloween so I could use it for something instead of make up.  It didn't hurt, it just looked like a vampire had bit me.  OK, I'll admit I love Halloween and wanted to look creepy & I was so proud of it.  Then the post-op malaise set in and I felt like doo-doo.  I didn't dress up and it soon faded.  Also, just cause I loved the bruise didn't mean I looked at myself in the mirror while it was in there.  I guess your reaction will depend on how curious you are and what you can tolerate.

That would have been cool for Halloween.  Sorry you felt so bad that you didn't get to enjoy it.  Thank you for the insight!

Thanks so everyone that has explained this to me......I'm beginning to feel a little more comfortable about it!  Have a great weekend everyone!!!

You will be feeling no pain by the time they put it in. It was no big deal, after you get out of surgery everything goes into the central line. Don't worry.

Don't worry you will not feel it at all. Having the central line bothered me more after surgery not because it hurt but because I hate being connected to it.

Good luck with everything. Centennial was wonderful and the nurses are so nice.

Hey! I'm an R.N. and can tell you that the lady was explaining to you the various I.V's that COULD be started. Generally if you have little veins, or veins that 'blow' easily then it is prudent to go for a much larger vein (i.e.in your neck, we call these I.J's. "stands for intra-jugular". )  If for some reason you are to have an I.J.  they will numb you with local anesthetic before inserting it. Most of my patient's that have it say that it wasn't bad going in...just bugged them during their hospital stay.