What would you do if you came home from a hospital procedure, and several hours later realized they'd left the cath needle in your arm?

Yeah. My testing included putting a temporary catheter port in my arm, so they could administer whatever drugs as necessary.

Well, I finished up, came home about noon.

At 5:00 I removed my sweatshirt to take a sponge bath..and lo. There was the cath port still stuck in, and taped, to my right arm. (Sorry about the bad pic. I was trying to take a picture with my left hand, one handed, and the shutter button was on the right.)

I was a bit shocked, and grossed out, then proceeded to remove it. To do it right, you should be able to hold the cath steady with one hand, while ripping off the tape with the other. However, I was alone so I had no one to help me. I only had one hand. In the process of pulling the tape off the cath wiggled all over.

When I finally got it out there was instant blood EVERYWHERE!.

I went to get a wash cloth to put pressure on it and got blood all over the floor.

I thought for a long time about what to do, and ultimately decided to just let it ride. I plan to talk with the lady who was responsible, just whisper in her ear, because I don’t want her to lose her job or anything. She’s been there 24 years and she is really nice, and shit happens, you know? The sleeve of my sweat shirt had fallen over it so it wasn’t immediately visible, and we all just forgot about it.

However, we visited friends yesterday, and the wife said she would have just gone OFF! She would have called the hospital immediately and raised six kinds of hell. She would have gone after the woman’s job. (She prides herself on being Christian, BTW.)

So what would you do?