I was my own angel today...
When I worked in ICU years ago there were 2 things I did for patients that they absolutely loved and they always called me an angel. (I actually did a lot for patients but these things were my favorites because of the response I would get.)
The first - a warm blanket. We kept them in a warmer in the back and when patients were cold after surgery or after being transfered from ER or whatever, we would get out the warm blankets for instant comfort. They loved that!
The next - pineapple juice. Let me explain. We got a lot of patients with chest pain - heart attacks. They take nitroglycerin tabs for the chest pain and that usually gives you a whopper of a headache! I mean these are heart attack patients and they are complaining almost more from this headache than from their chests. I learned a little trick from the other nurses that the acid in pineapple juice would take care of a nitro headache. So I would bring them a glass of pineapple juice and an hour later they would be singing my praises!
Okay long boring story - but this is my journal.
Yesterday I went to the dentist. I hate it - but nitrous oxide makes the cleaning bearable. I was even joking to Stephen that I loved the laughing gas and it almost made the trip to the dentist enjoyable. Well, I had a whopper of a headache all day yesterday and despite lots of meds nothing helped. It woke me through the night and this morning I'm up again taking some heavy doses of Anacin, Ibuprofen, trying heat on my neck muscles, cold pack on my forehead. I'm going over everything that could be causing this terrible headache....
Then it comes to me - the nitrous oxide at the dentist. I have a nitro headache! Just like my patients in ICU. I opened a can of pineapple tidbits, drained the juice and drank it with high hopes. 2 hours later, my headache is almost gone! Hallelujah! No wonder my patients loved me - that headache was bad! And that pineapple juice worked!
Amazing how my mind was able to sort through my experience files and find a solution. I am really thrilled at finding this fix this morning. WOW!
3 comments:
That's really cool to know about. To bad I HATE pineapples. Maybe I should give them another try though. I used to like them, but had a bad experience with them in Florida when I was young. I love your posts!
I don't like pineapple juice but I'd be willing to try that if I get a nitro headache! I have to head to the dentist on Monday...and you can bet I'll be getting some lovely happy gas.... :)
Isn't the brain amazing? Cool that the memory of how to fix nitro headaches would bubble to the top of your mind when you needed it. You are so smart!!
Love, Linda
P.S. You should ask Ashley to expound on her bad experience with pineapple in Florida! Guaranteed to make you both laugh.
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