Naomi’s Life With Arthritis – 4 Weeks in Hospital

Having her laptop with her has helped keep Naomi sane, especially with the generous loan of my brother-in-law’s mobile broadband dongle. This has helped both of us to shrink the distance by being able to stay in touch all day via chat and email.

Also note here the bruises and red marks on the back of Naomi’s hand. Due to the damage done to her elbows by the arthritis, she is unable to straighten her arms enough for blood to be taken from the usual places. On top of that, due to swelling, inflammation and her drugs, finding a vein suitable for blood tests can be an extremely painful and stressful ordeal – depending on the skill of the nurse. Usually, the best veins can be found in the back of Naomi’s hand.

The problem of Naomi’s difficult veins has been helped somewhat by the insertion of the PICC line. This can be used to deliver the antibiotics only, but its placement on her inner upper arm is far more comfortable than the back of her hand. The blue line that enters Naomi’s arm here ends within her heart.

As the dose of antibiotics has increased in the last week, Naomi has been suffering from one of the common side-effects: intense itchiness. The itchiness is non-localised, and is enough to distract her from whatever she is doing. For the first time since entering hospital, I have seen Naomi’s spirits suffer. One of the few things she can do for relief is wipe herself with a damp facecloth.

Fortunately the itching comes and goes with the doses, and the nurses have been giving Naomi increasingly powerful antihistamines which are beginning to help, and have reduced the itching to a moderate annoyance.

Hospital food is well known for leaving a lot to be desired…

…so one of my frequent duties to assist Naomi is an emergency run to the hospital cafe for supplies.