Bipolar Life

I'm hoping that lots of people who have Bipolar Disorder of any type will end up here. I have been through so much including inpatient psych stays and being admitted for medical problems under what I call a "soft psych hold". I hope you ended up here and can use my experience as a guide to help yourself, or to share your experiences with me. (in the form of comments on this blog or emailing me at ereanderson@gmail.com) I will do my best to see what you send me and send a personal reply.
The worst thing that happened to me in my most recent admission was that an RN tried to draw my blood in the middle of the night and HIT A NERVE in my arm. She was even using a butterfly needle. it hurt so much not just where she was poking but in my shoulder as well. I couldn't straighten my arm for a couple of days afterwards. (Or maybe longer...I was too manic to remember it all perfectly.) I will also say this-I'm a former RN turned patient with a photographic memory. So you can believe my memories are fairly intact. I also have an amazing partner who is willing to help fill in the details...but he has to sleep some time and wasn't in the room for the nerve poke. I of course told him all about it a couple hours after it happened but it has given me a needle phobia like you would not believe. And I have a surgery coming up. If they get my IV in without me being doped up on Xanax I'd be amazed. But anyway...love to all my fellow Bipolar humans. I see you, I love you for making it this far, and you are not alone.