Painful IV
I had some issues with the IV where on the third day in the hospital it started to burn a little and then when they tried to give me medicine through the valve on my wrist is really burned. They said that if I stayed another day they would have to give me another IV. Apparently the vein became inflamed. It still hurts two weeks later. It feels like I have a bruise running the length of the vein from the back of my hand, up the arm almost to my elbow. It really hasn't improved much. I guess it just takes time. (Update: It took about 5 weeks to clear up.)
The Dreaded Catheter
Other folks have made comments or had concerns about the Foley Catheter. This didn't seem to be much of an issue with me but I think mine was somehow different. The nurse said that they used one that was more "comfortable", and I'd have to agree because I never even felt it while it was in and the removal was no issue at all. I hardly felt it even then. The only problem was that apparently this type of catheter didn't actually work that well. Since it works like a siphon the hose had to be situated just right. If not, the fluid wouldn't flow. One of my nurses didn't quite get this concept and assumed that if there was liquid in the tube then it was working. I had to keep telling her that my bladder was full until eventually she asked someone else for help. The second nurse straightened out the hose and Ahhhhh, much better. After a couple of those episodes they decided to remove the catheter and pull me off the IV. Which would have been fine except that later that night I had some issues with nausea and they plugged the IV back in. So this meant that I had to get up and drag the IV rig to the bathroom every 2 hours. I would have just as soon kept the catheter.