IV Party Tricks

I meant to write this a long time ago, but obviously didn't so here is goes several months later:

I joined a neighborhood book club almost a year ago. At the time I was still in the process of getting to know the ladies in the book club as we only meet once a month and I had only been to a few meetings. When I arrived at the home of a fellow book club member I joined two other ladies at the kitchen table where everyone was chatting and eating appetizers. As we were waiting for the rest of the ladies to arrive we were all talking, but it was clear the hostess could not focus on the conversation and something was distracting her. Her eyes kept darting around the room and she kept standing up as if to go somewhere, but would seem confused and would quickly sit back down. She finally stood up and said, "I am sorry, but I can't figure out what that noise is!" We all fell silent for a second when the other guest confessed she had heard it earlier and thought the noise was just kids playing outside. The hostess seemed to accept this theory and sat down again. As more people arrived the hostess brought up the noise again. I was embarrassed because I could not for the life of me hear this noise she was talking about. I started to wonder if some of my previous IV meds had damaged my hearing. Everyone else, however, could hear this strange noise that some compared to the "sound of a dying battery in a kid's toy" as another chimed in that it sounded like an "electric drill." As the conversation continued I felt more and more uncomfortable. How could I not hear this noise that clearly was distracting to so many others?

Finally, we moved on from the mystery noise and continued on with chatting and snacking. At one point the room fell silent momentarily and as the chatter died down I finally heard the noise that perplexed everyone else. I could feel the blood drain from my face at the exact moment that I realized this unexplained noise was coming from me! I had to sheepishly confess to knowing the source of the mystery noise. The room fell silent and everyone shifted their focus to me. I pulled open my purse and pulled out my CADD pump which made a strange drilling noise each time it dispensed my zosyn which happens about every 90 seconds! I admitted that after hearing my pump go off every few seconds 24 hours a day for 14 days at the point of the party, that my brain had no longer registered the noise in order to keep my sanity.

Needless to say my book club now knows all about my CF and how annoying a CADD pump can be!