[Curiosity77]

I'm sitting in ER right now. I'm a nurse and i got a needle stick from a patient who is an iv drug user. Fml

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[littlemiss44]

Oh my gosh! I'm.praying for you that everything turns out ok. I'm so sorry yr.anxiety must be through the roof. Take some deep breathes slowly while counting to ten then count backwards still breathing slowly. Yr in my.thoughts. :-)

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[atomicc]

I hope everything turns out okay :/ you're my
thoughts.

[tigersassy]

I'm praying for you

Tig

[outlaw sammy]

Greetings Curiosity!

I'm so sorry that you've suffered this frightening incident, but as my mother always said, "don't worry about problems you don't yet have." I myself got hepatitis C from a blood transfusion forty years ago - and there's no indication that the virus has done me the slightest harm. You see, although hepatitis C can be deadly to some, and I was terrified when I was diagnosed, I really didn't have anything to worry about. Still, I'll say a prayer for you - and everything will be fine.

[Capriciousness]

I too am praying for you! I'm so sorry you have to deal with this. Deep breaths. Feel the love!

[r010159]

Try not to get agitated over something that is out of your control. Believe in yourself that you will be able to handle whatever ends up happening yo you.

You are in my thoughts.

tucson

[Hbomb0903]

Keep talking to us. You'll get through this.

[Victoria'smom]

I'm so sorry. I'm thinking about you keep us posted.

[Curiosity77]

Thanks everyone,

I have to take antiretroviral meds for 5 days while we wait for the patient's HIV test. If it's negative I can stop after 5 days, if he's positive I take meds for 28 days. The meds will make me pretty sick with vomitting and diarhea, so I'm taking today and tomorrow off, and I"ll have to see what I do about work after that. There's no way to prevent hepatitis, so is he has that I will likely get it. But the patient was tested for both in Jan, and was negative, so chances are everything will be fine. Just not looking forward to 5 days sick.

Thanks for the support!

[txbipolar]

So sorry you are going thru this. Nurses are always helping people and it sucks that you are at risk because of the bad choices some guy makes.

[r010159]

Originally Posted by Curiosity77

Thanks everyone,

I have to take antiretroviral meds for 5 days while we wait for the patient's HIV test. If it's negative I can stop after 5 days, if he's positive I take meds for 28 days. The meds will make me pretty sick with vomitting and diarhea, so I'm taking today and tomorrow off, and I"ll have to see what I do about work after that. There's no way to prevent hepatitis, so is he has that I will likely get it. But the patient was tested for both in Jan, and was negative, so chances are everything will be fine. Just not looking forward to 5 days sick.

Thanks for the support!

I think you are handling this very well. Being that you are a nurse, I knew you could handle this!

[Victoria'smom]

my mom has had to take those. I hope your side effects are light if they're not can you take more time off?

[hamster-bamster]

Oh my! I hope the patients retests negative for both. Did they give you Zofran to help you fight vomitting?

[Curiosity77]

Originally Posted by hamster-bamster

Oh my! I hope the patients retests negative for both. Did they give you Zofran to help you fight vomitting?

No Zofran, they just told me to take gravol. So far I feel OK, just low energy and low appetite. So maybe the side effects won't be that bad for me. I'm pretty drained, I can't even focus to read the posts on this forum. I've been laying on the couch doing absolutely nothing for the past few hours. But it could be a lot worse - I'm glad to not be throwing up.

I didn't want to do the blood work clinic this morning. I had a bad feeling about it, but I didn't pay attention to it. I was doing blood work at a social housing complex for people with addictions and mental illness. I was on a home visit, so my space wasn't set up all that well for safety. I couldn't find the vein on the first poke because of all the track marks, so I pulled the needle out, and I was reaching for an alcohol swab to clean a different spot to try again, and I poked my finger. It was totally stupid of me to reach across in front of a dirty sharp. I wasn't thinking.

My team was really supportive though. I was seen in ER without waiting, and the medical director and one of the social workers from my program came to ER to check on me. ER called a pharmacist to review all my meds with the antiretrovirals to make sure there were no interactions, and the pharmacist told me the ARVs shouldn't have an effect on my mood. Work told me to go home, and take tomorrow off too. I feel like I could probably go to work tomorrow, but they aren't expecting me to, so I think I'll just stay home.

[hamster-bamster]

It is a bit off topic, but for me, as I have been reviewing my life with all the major mistakes etc., the main lesson is simply to trust the gut feeling. to always, always, always trust it. It sounds as if you, too, had the gut feeling about not doing the blood work.