A few weeks ago, I was meant to have a CT urogram with contrast dye and furosomide (a diuretic) but neither the nurse nor radiologist could get my cannula in properly. They were trying at the inner elbow. The nurse tried both arms then the radiologist took over. He put it in the first vein the nurse tried as it's the only one that sticks out a bit, but it already didn't work when the nurse did it so I don't know why he bothered.
The radiologist then thought it was in place but I could tell he wasn't confident. It was really quite painful and I was very uncomfortable and stressed. He flushed it anyway and went ahead with the furosomide. I got this horrible burning hot sensation that went down my arm to my hand and nowhere else. I told him and he panicked, pulled it out and there was discussion about whether he accidentally put it in an artery. At this point, I really panicked and said I didn't want to proceed any further. They decided it didn't go in an artery but maybe went in to the soft tissue. They logged it as an incident (datix) as well.
God knows what he did but the furosomide still worked as I was peeing all the time and it also lowered my blood pressure and later in the day I was dehydrated. When I'd calmed down a bit they said I could have the scan without the contrast dye, so we did that.
However, since then, I've not been able to sleep on my right side (the side it was in) as my index and middle fingers swell up a bit and my hand and arm feel really uncomfortable. The gp said things like this can happen to the lymphatic system after trauma and it should hopefully resolve itself but it doesn't seem to be getting any better. I'm now wondering if they damaged the vein or some other part of my arm. The gp said if it doesn't resolve she'll refer me to the vascular team. I'm not sure how long to wait though, I'm not seeing her again until the end of the month. She also said my circulation seems fine. There's nothing visibly wrong unless I've been sleeping on my right.
I also have a problem with my neck and shoulder (stiff, tight, achy) on that side that's been there a while and is also getting worse so I'm also not sure if it's perhaps coincidence and something to do with that or if it is a vascular / lymphatic thing to do with the cannula, or maybe it's both.
Has anyone else ever had something like this happen? I usually sleep on my right side but now if I do it's so uncomfortable and keeps me awake at night.