Crash- Station 19/Marina

Leave me alone

That evening Maya was by herself for a bit, having sent Carina to get herself food, promising that she'd be fine on her own for a little while. She'd asked Carina to put her headphones in turn on some music before she left so she didn't hear anything when someone walked in, meaning she had no idea anyone was there because they didn't walk over to where she could see. When she heard someone speak it scared her.
"You should have told someone about this sooner, your skin is a mess" the person said
"What? Who are you?" Maya asked
"I'm nurse Gwen, the stoma nurse, apparently your surgeon requested someone to come look at this. I see why, you should have told someone it was irritated" the grumpy nurse said. Maya still couldn't see her "You know its polite to look at people and take your headphones out when someone's talking to you"

Maya realized what was going on and then realized that this random person must be looking at her stomach, probably even touching her.
"Stop, you can't just come in and pull my gown up and touch me without asking, leave me alone!" she said, wishing she hadn't told Carina to go get food
"Calm down, I haven't even touched you yet and I can't leave you alone, I need to try to fix the mess you've made of your skin by not saying anything sooner"
"How was I supposed to know something was wrong?" Maya asked angrily
"Even if you don't know what a stoma's supposed to look or feel like you can still tell something's wrong here, you should have told someone it was itching"
"How should I know if its itching? Did you seriously not even glance at my chart before coming in here and starting to do things to me!"
"I don't need to read a chart to know how to look after a stoma, that's my job"

"But the chart contains other important information you need to know before interacting with or treating a patient!" Carina said, she had just been coming back when she heard Maya upset, so she'd rushed into the room. She walked over to where Maya could see her, taking her headphones out and putting her hand on her head to reassure her.

"You need to leave and I'm going to report you to the chief, you should never talk to someone like that especially not a patient." Carina told her
"Sorry, I don't take orders from family members" the nurse replied, not moving away from Maya
"Dr Carina Deluca, I work here and my wife and I are both friends with the chief and all the members of the board"
That finally convinced her to leave and Carina turned to Maya.

"It's ok, she's gone. What happened?" Carina asked
"I didn't hear her come in then she was talking to me but she wasn't where I could see her and then I realized she'd pulled up my gown before I even knew she was here and she didn't listen when I told her to go away" Maya said, crying now that it was just Carina in the room. "I don't think she was doing anything wrong, it just really freaked me out that someone was doing things to my body and I didn't even know"
"She was doing something wrong, just what you said. No one should touch you without your permission, it doesn't matter that you can't feel it, that doesn't change your rights" Carina told her
"That's the other thing she kept lecturing me that I should have told someone that it was irritated sooner and that I should look at her when she's talking to me and that I should take my headphones out when someone's talking to me. I can't do any of those things! Well I can look at people but not when they're at the end of the bed because I can't move my head"
"I know bambina, none of that is your fault, she's the only one who did anything wrong. I'm going to page Bailey, ok? That woman shouldn't be seeing any patients."
"Ok" Maya said "wait, the blanket, can you pull up the blanket?"
"Si, and I'll fix your gown too"

"There you go, all covered. And I paged Bailey"
"Can you wipe my eyes?" She asked quietly
"Si" Carina got a tissue and wiped all the tears off her face. Then someone knocked and opened the door.
"It's just Bailey" Carina told Maya
"The blanket" Maya said, clearly very nervous about someone being in the room
"The blanket's covering you bambina, I promise" Carina said, trying to figure out how she could help her wife. "What about this,"
Carina pulled part of the blanket up to Maya's neck.
"Can you feel the blanket now?"
"Maybe. It's so weird" Maya said
"I'm sorry bella, I'm staying right here ok?"
"Ya"
"Bailey's coming in now" Carina told her
"Can you stand over here so I can see you?" She asked
"Sure" Bailey said "what do you need?"
"Car, you tell her"
Carina explained what had happened.
"I'll go talk to her. Do you still need someone to come check on it?" Bailey asked
"Si, I know you don't want to bella but the bag needs to be changed, you're allergic to that one and its not really attached anymore because that woman started removing it."
"You'll stay?"
"Of course, I'm not going anywhere"
"I'll make sure you get someone nice and that they know everything before they come in here" Bailey said
"Thanks" Maya said

Not long after Bailey left there was another knock on the door and a woman stepped in.
"Hi, my name's Maggie, dr Bailey sent me. Can I come in?"
"Ya" Maya said
"If you come over here she can see you while you talk" Carina tells her and she walks over to the side of the bed
"Nice to meet you Maya. Can I take a look at your ostomy and see what I can do?"
Maya looked back at Carina, nervous and wishing she could grab her wife's hand. Carina pulled the blanket up a bit more and gently pressed it against her neck
"You're in charge bambina" Carina told her
"I'm going to show you something that I don't usually show patients because it's none of their business and there's no reason for them to know" Maggie says "I'm telling you that part because you need to know that the reason is not because I hide it, I don't at all. I just find it a bit awkward talking to patients about my health, but from what I've heard, you're not a normal patient and you're both friends with all the doctors here"
"Being married to a doctor here and being the chief's husband's boss does make it a bit different" Maya says
"I have Crohn's disease and I've had this" Maggie says, lifting up her shirt to show an ostomy bag. "For about 12 years. So, I have a lot of personal experience with this on top of my job"
"I got mine because of a giant piece of metal" Maya told her
"I heard, you've got a lot going on"
"Ya"
"Can I take a look, I'll tell you everything I'm doing"
Maya hesitated, looking back at Carina who just smiled at her and nodded.
"Ok"
"So, I'm going to pull down the blanket and lift your gown and first I'm just going to look at the bag to see what brand it is because it's not written in your chart then I'll go get all the supplies I need" Maggie said while putting on gloves then doing what she said.

"Ok, I'll be back in a few minutes with supplies" Maggie said and walked out

"I like her, she's nice" Maya says
"Me too, she seems very nice and like she knows what she's doing and she's being very gentle with you" Carina told her

A few minutes later Maggie came back in
"I'm back, I have a different brand of bag and a bunch of stuff to protect your skin and help it heal"
She walked in and layed all the supplies on the table before putting a new pair of gloves on.
"So, I'm going to use an adhesive remover wipe to get this bag off then I can get a good look at your skin underneath"
"Ok" Maya said
Maggie carefully removes the bag, trying not to irritate the skin anymore, Carina watching closely knowing she'll probably be doing this for her at some point.
"Have you every had a reaction to any sort of tape or band aids before?" Maggie asks
"Not that I can think of"
"Ok, well hopefully you won't have a reaction to this one. I'm also going to use a skin barrier wipe to protect your skin and a bit of cream to try to heal it. It's hard because creams tend to make the bag not stick and you can't change where you're putting it. I'm actually going to cut the flange, that's the part that sticks to your skin, to make it smaller. I don't recommend doing this because it won't stay on as well but while you have to stay immobilized it shouldn't be a problem and it will let your skin heal." Maggie said as she worked

"There you go, that's all finished. I'll come back in the morning to check on it, just to make sure you're not having a reaction to this bag"
"Ok, thanks" Maya said
"No problem, have a good night"