This thread involves the subject of menstruation, somewhat descriptive, so if that's a disturbing subject to you, well, you know.
I was scheduled for a long back case today, and this was also the 2nd day of my period. Every once in awhile (once a year or so), my period is heavy, as in, soaking a tampon and 2 pads stuck together.
I'd asked for another room that gave me better odds of getting a bathroom break, but that didn't happen (i simply said that due to personal matters, i would need a morning break, which those don't always happen). Coordinator says "Schedule's made, and i ain't fixing it."
So i go to this room, case starts at 8, last bathroom visit was at 7:25. I asked for relief at 10, then 10:30 am after that wasn't answered. Kept asking, got told "no" over and over by the coordinator. I could already tell that there was a problem. Physically uncomfortable, yeah, being soaked, and not a thing i could do about it.
3:30 pm rolls around, case is finally finished, i strip my paper gown off, and look down to find the inner legs my light blue cotton pants dark red. Before i could grab a blanket to cover this up, the surgeon says loudly "Oh, GOD, are you OK???" Ah, thank you for calling this to everyone's attention, this way they were able to see what you were talking about before i got ahold of that blanket.:stone
Hurried up and went down the hall, but not before stopping off at the desk and saying "All i needed was 5 minutes, and there have been extra people here all day, so WHY couldn't SOMEONE have come in for JUST 5 minutes??" (she knew this, i mentioned what was going on that morning) Didn't stick around for an answer, i went to the locker room, grab the necessary supplies (including underwear) and a new pair of pants, and trotted off to the bathroom. Went straight to the manager's office. Who, which i appreciate, was furious, and said "hell if it was an issue with staff, I could have relieved you. No one should be denied to go to the bathroom."
I expressed that, while this isn't actually something TO be embarrassed about, i was anyway, simply because a private matter became physically public, and really could have been avoided.
Marie I always think of you when I hear "I am Woman hear me roar...." Thank you for standing up to that (insert objectional feminine noun here) and reporting her. Thankfully I've had a hx as a result of Ca in situ back in 1978. I had cycles that skipped a year at a time and then others that came every week and a helf.
Would the 4x a year "patches/pills" help with your situation?
My doc told me I probably only ovulated half dozen times in my life and I lucked up with 2 kids. I never used the pill after the 1st year we were married. It contained 10mg of Estrogen (Enovid) back then. Talk about MISERABLE.
I believe I'd have had to sync. out or barf or just broken scrub.....you had a viable reason.
We've talked about the patches, and although my doctor thinks i'm a good candidate for it, i still wouldn't be comfortable using it. Too paranoid that i'll wake up one day and find it laying on the sheets, after i managed to scrtach it off in my sleep. I've done it with Band-Ads, i'd probably do it with the patch.
:imbar :imbar That is so horrible! It should have never happened. I used to have problems with extremely heavy periods in high school. One night at a basketball game (I was a cheerleader for 6 years) we were wearing our home (white) uniforms and we were doing our little routine in front of the hundreds in the crowd...legs flying apart, kicking in the air...you name the direction, my legs were there....and then when we were done I felt something and looked down...it looked like a massacre had occured on my legs....talk about embarrassing!! I am sure there is no comfort for you, but at least it wasn't in front of hundreds of people.
I am glad to see your manager took appropriate action.
Here's a suggestion: Next time, back up your usual protection w/a baby diaper. It will work, and, and hopefully, you won't have blood running down your legs!
My mom gave me a great tip similar to this one, except she suggested wearing a disposable brief instead of underwear, and wearing a maxi pad just like I usually do. Protects against side and crack leaks! (I don't know if they show through scrubs though. That'd be an interesting thing to try to explain to people.)
Speaking of embarrassing moments, my mom was on her hands and knees helping design a set for an Easter play at church, and got the telltale spot on her white pants.
:imbar :imbar That is so horrible! It should have never happened. I used to have problems with extremely heavy periods in high school. One night at a basketball game (I was a cheerleader for 6 years) we were wearing our home (white) uniforms and we were doing our little routine in front of the hundreds in the crowd...legs flying apart, kicking in the air...you name the direction, my legs were there....and then when we were done I felt something and looked down...it looked like a massacre had occured on my legs....talk about embarrassing!! I am sure there is no comfort for you, but at least it wasn't in front of hundreds of people.
I am glad to see your manager took appropriate action.
This thread involves the subject of menstruation, somewhat descriptive, so if that's a disturbing subject to you, well, you know.
I was scheduled for a long back case today, and this was also the 2nd day of my period. Every once in awhile (once a year or so), my period is heavy, as in, soaking a tampon and 2 pads stuck together.
I'd asked for another room that gave me better odds of getting a bathroom break, but that didn't happen (i simply said that due to personal matters, i would need a morning break, which those don't always happen). Coordinator says "Schedule's made, and i ain't fixing it."
So i go to this room, case starts at 8, last bathroom visit was at 7:25. I asked for relief at 10, then 10:30 am after that wasn't answered. Kept asking, got told "no" over and over by the coordinator. I could already tell that there was a problem. Physically uncomfortable, yeah, being soaked, and not a thing i could do about it.
3:30 pm rolls around, case is finally finished, i strip my paper gown off, and look down to find the inner legs my light blue cotton pants dark red. Before i could grab a blanket to cover this up, the surgeon says loudly "Oh, GOD, are you OK???" Ah, thank you for calling this to everyone's attention, this way they were able to see what you were talking about before i got ahold of that blanket.:stone
Hurried up and went down the hall, but not before stopping off at the desk and saying "All i needed was 5 minutes, and there have been extra people here all day, so WHY couldn't SOMEONE have come in for JUST 5 minutes??" (she knew this, i mentioned what was going on that morning) Didn't stick around for an answer, i went to the locker room, grab the necessary supplies (including underwear) and a new pair of pants, and trotted off to the bathroom. Went straight to the manager's office. Who, which i appreciate, was furious, and said "hell if it was an issue with staff, I could have relieved you. No one should be denied to go to the bathroom."
I expressed that, while this isn't actually something TO be embarrassed about, i was anyway, simply because a private matter became physically public, and really could have been avoided.
It'll be nice when i start the new BC pills.
((((Hugs)))) I am soo sorry that happened to you.
I certainly hope your manager will take action:angryfire
I remember a girl in junior high school doing one of those cheerleading air splits and the pad flying out of the leg her shorts. Threw a pom-pom on it, i thought that was quick thinking.
After seeing that, i taught myself to use tampons.
Periods are a pain. It would be nice to be able to use a method that gets rid of them completely, but it doesn't do that for me, jkust makes the periods spontaneous. And heck, if i wanted that, i wouldn't be on anything at all.
I remember a girl in junior high school doing one of those cheerleading air splits and the pad flying out of the leg her shorts. Threw a pom-pom on it, i thought that was quick thinking.
After seeing that, i taught myself to use tampons.
Periods are a pain. It would be nice to be able to use a method that gets rid of them completely, but it doesn't do that for me, jkust makes the periods spontaneous. And heck, if i wanted that, i wouldn't be on anything at all.
Her pad went flying? If nothing else, my embarrassing story of my first day at a new job is nothing. I actually feel better knowing others had something worse happen and they survived it, thus I most certainly can to! :)
I've seriously considered coming up with sx that would get me a hysterectomy. I'm 43, I don't want children, I have no use for periods, and the embarrassment that can (and has) come from heavy periods just isn't worth it. My sis had a total hyst and with the exception of her lacking ovaries, I'm jealous of her! Can you imagine? If it weren't for the weight gain I'd go off thyroid meds completely just for no periods side effect!! :)
Has anyone had a hysterectomy after having all the children you wanted and regretted it? If so, why? Not looking for medical opinions here but personal experience. I already know the medical issues involved, I want to know if anyone has had one and regretted it.
Specializes in Clinical Research, Outpt Women's Health.
I feel strongly that Marie or anyone else for that matter should not need to wear diapers or anything else like that.
The issue is that her employer has not made adequate arrangements for basic biological needs and this needs to be addressed and she shouldn't have to beg for it.
The woman who would not provide coverage so she could go to the bathroom "needs a correction" as the dog trainers say!
For some reason this situation just really makes me ticked.
I see. Where I work, we don't have to ask for a bathroom break, as long as there's coverage for the patient areas.
She was scrubbed into the case; to get a relief, another nurse needs to scrub in, take over her duties so that she can leave the case. It's a bit more complicated than a regular floor.
Specializes in med/surg, telemetry, IV therapy, mgmt.
Marie. . .I had problems with a cervical polyp that would bleed at the drop of a hat and just gush during periods. Here are a couple of things I did.
As an emergency I found that a chux worked great. I would apply it under my panties while still tri-folded, front to back, pull up my panties and then reach inside my panties and fan the chux out in the front and back. The folded part between my legs caught any blood and those chux will suck up everything wet in them before they'll let it drip out the sides. They saved me more than once.
I also discovered Depends diapers, the ones that are basically just a long rectangular pad that goes between the legs front to back and are held in place with elastic bands that are attached by buttons at the left and right side of the waist. I never used the buttons, just put this Depends pad under my panties between my legs like the chux. These were superabsorbant. Because I could always feel the blood clots as they passed I would constantly go into the bathroom when I could to double check this rig-up. Never had a bleed through. These things worked wonderfully.
A third thing I did was use a towel or thick washcloth folded lenthwise and placed between my legs. Towels are superabsorbant and through capillary action will suck the fluids up into its fibers. Before I started using Depends I bought a couple of cheap ones at Wal-Mart that I used for this--burgundy colored, no less! The derivation of the term "rags" for mentruation comes from this use of old, clean fabrics used as menstrual pads long before sanitary napkins were commercially manufactured.
The best, however, was getting the hysterectomy. No more problems with periods after that.
P_RN, ADN, RN
6,011 Posts
Marie I always think of you when I hear "I am Woman hear me roar...." Thank you for standing up to that (insert objectional feminine noun here) and reporting her. Thankfully I've had a hx as a result of Ca in situ back in 1978. I had cycles that skipped a year at a time and then others that came every week and a helf.
Would the 4x a year "patches/pills" help with your situation?
My doc told me I probably only ovulated half dozen times in my life and I lucked up with 2 kids. I never used the pill after the 1st year we were married. It contained 10mg of Estrogen (Enovid) back then. Talk about MISERABLE.
I believe I'd have had to sync. out or barf or just broken scrub.....you had a viable reason.