Veins

I've been noticing my veins more lately. On the day I had surgery, the staff in the surgical admit unit had difficulty starting my IV. I think I rattled the nurse taking care of me: not only was I a bariatric patient and a redhead (notoriously more difficult to start IVs on), but I was also an ICU RN. She tried one time, missed and called the IV team. I didn't mind, and I totally understood: veins are difficult to find on obese people, and it's always intimidating to do things like starting IVs on other medical staff.

But lately I've noticed that my hand and arm veins are huge! I can see them clearly just when going about my business during the day. I notice these things because I start a lot of IVs, especially now that I'm in the anesthesia program. It's more evidence of how much fat I've lost, even on my hands (more proof of that is that I downsized my wedding ring by a whole size, even though I had worn the same size ring since junior high). My veins might actually be bigger, from running, or they might just finally be making an appearance now that they've lost their cozy coat of fat.

At least if I need more surgery in the future, I should be a simpler patient to work with.