Hospital patient monitors a.k.a the beeping screen and you

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This brings me to a few questions

1. When you were in the hospital did you have a strong fascination/interest in your patient monitor?

2. If it were on an articulating arm did you pull it up to where you could see it? (If there was no articulating arm answer 2A.)

2A. If it had an articulating arm would you have pulled it up to where you could see it?

3. What were your main reasons you were fascinated/interested in it?

4. Was there any sensory aspect to the interest?

5. Do you believe that it was an imprinted thing with you?

My answers are below

1. YES extremely strong... several years ago my mom was in the hospital and when I saw the blood oximeter I became very fixated... always had an interest in biometric monitoring since I was little... when I was in the hospital for 4 days it was also extremely strong... I don't know if I freaked out the nurses with how much I knew about all the different monitoring aspects (SaO2 (arterial blood gas oxygen) SpO2 (oxygen saturation level) ECG (electrocardiogram) NIBP (non invasive blood pressure <-- probably one of my favorite parts of being in the hospital for 4 days was getting the squeeze off the machine every 30 minutes he he)

2. YES I pulled that thing right next to me to where I could watch EVERYTHING on it... so much better than the few channels the TV gets... the channel of ME and my biometrics!

3. My main non sensory reasons are. I have always had an interest in the medical field, specifically neurological disorders and diseases though I also have a good interest in medical biometric monitoring systems and monitored aspects of those systems. I have also always had a bit of a biometric data "fetish" in which I really like having all kinds of biometric data coming at me especially real time data, I prefer visual graphic representation or combination visual/numeric but please don't give me numeric only...

4. Yes, there definitely in my case was a sensory aspect. Interesting one too... I will start with the most obvious one... the NIBP system non invasive blood pressure thingy was probably one of my favorite parts of being in the hospital for 4 days was getting the squeeze off the machine every 30 minutes he he. Also, another thing I really found calming was how the speed and rhythm of all the beeps were able to be controlled by me completely biometrically... another sensory thingy that is pretty common is bright moving or flashing objects, oohhh boy... lots of those on these screens... I really really enjoyed watching all the movement as it was almost like watching an orchestra... only better, an orchestra that is being created biometrically in real time and can probably never have an EXACT reproduction again due to the nature of biometrics of the human body.

5. I have reason to believe that it was possibly an imprinting thing with me yes... multiple reasons, 3 years after birth I suffered a huge traumatic brain injury (described at my website in About Me) and was likely in ICU for a while hooked up to these machines, even though there is no memory an imprint very likely could have been acquired then, also about when I was 10 years old my mother had breast cancer and had to go in for a lumpectomy (where they go in and take out a small section of the breast containing the cancer, in her case it was about 2cm by 2cm) she had some problems coming out of the anesthesia with her blood ox level and so they held her overnight on a blood ox monitor, when dad came back and got me and took me to see mom I hopped on the bed and just sat there watching the blood oximeter... hmmm... another imprinting event I think.

I was too busy puking from the morphine to care.

I was a bad patient - I took the portable one they had from the nurses station and used it to amuse me when I was like 10.

he he he he he... they must have been ticked when they got it back all reprogrammed and everything

No, I don't think I was particularly interested in it. I couldn't really see it from bed.

Thankfully, I've never personally been in a hospital (overnight). When I've visited people, though, I was much more interested in the machines than the people.

The beeping noises (or at least some of them) are really, really annoying, though.

argh! i hate when the hospitals do that to you...

he he he... yeah i have to agree on that with you... a lot of times when i went to visit people in the hospital i wasnt that interested in them... more interested in the machines

agreed! certain machines can have a beep that is extremely extremely annoying... with me you gotta hit a certain frequency at a perfect speed and you will drive me up the wall with it...

the machines at childrens memorial (the only hospital ive been in for more than a outpatient thingy) has probably the least annoying machines out there...

when i had eye surgery when i was 7, yea that was about only thing interesting there, my own heart monitor they had on me as i was coming out of general anasthesia, beep......beep..........beep....... also its random about the rythm of the line because no two heartbeats are the same EXACTLY and also reactions to stress, excitement, and anger effect the BPM and the rythem line as well as heartrate,

ahh yes... the anesthesia monitor... i was on one for 3 hours may 15th for my endoscopy after the endoscopy... had a very hard time coming off the ventilator... they cannot do any more procedures on me requiring general anesthesia because of this disease i have... its progressed a lot since then so if i go in for that kind of thing again probably wont come off the ventilator...

ive had a couple sergurys. one for my appendix and another for a hernia. i love being under anestesia and all pain meds they give you. i eat them like candy, yum yum

yeah... it was an awful good feeling when i was fresh out the anesthesia from my endoscopy (propofol+morphine mix) though i wouldnt do it illegally as a recreation i can call it an "enjoyable feature" of surgeries and hospital stays!

The most annoying beeping sounds are the IV machines. They only have a short battery life, so when they're not plugged into the wall (like when you are out of your room), they start to beep after like ten minutes. My mom once started pushing random buttons to try to shut it up, until a nurse stopped her.

OH GOD!! !! I HATE THOSE!! !! AHHHH!! ! at childrens memorial i was in the patient lounge all day a lot of times cuz i was not on IV... this one girl was... THAT THING WAS SO DAMN ANNOYING I WANTED TO BREAK IT!! !! GRRRR!! !! ! THOSE DRIVE ME UP THE WALL!! ! the girl was pretty driven up the wall to as she started pushing random switches... lucky the lounge nurse has battery packs that are charged all the time

has anyone else here thought that SPo2 monitoring at home would be a good idea... being my disease is progressive neurological and also will affect my breathing i been thinking of investing in a SPo2 monitor



long link

very useful in tracking respiratory status in neurological disease... maybe i should tell my doctor about all the studies about neurological diseases and how SPo2 monitoring can lead to early intervention making for a better pulmonary prognosis...

my insurance would likely cover it under DME... (Durable Medical Equipment)

I am fascinated with the machines, but will do ANYTHING to stop the beeping noise. I've turned off machines, removed IVs...

I am a horrible patient, and a worse patient's mother.