Tuckered Out

Have you ever been so tired you don't feel like talking, eating, or so tired you can't sleep. I worked last Thursday, Friday, and Saturday and have felt that way pretty much since. Saturday I went to see some friends that came in from out of town, I finally had to leave early. I usually am one of the last ones to go, not this time.

I'm fighting a cold, but also I think I'm just getting beat down. You know, you give, you give, and you give and it's never enough. We had a pt come down from the floor that had coded, no family could be found, when we finally did they wanted everything done. But then they weren't understanding that there was nothing we could really do. She was a very large woman, way over the classification for bariatric. It didn't change the way we cared for her, but it did frustrate our efforts to care for her.

I need renewal. I need to believe I'm making a difference somewhere. And the sad thing is, I'm one of the positive ones.

Why I Love My Job

Just another day in the unit. All was well, actually that's not true. We had a patient in one room that was there because he was seeing things we weren't. Another was having some wonderful family issues that administration had to be called for. One of my families told me all about the family issues the other family was having, only she wasn't getting much of the real story. And we had a couple of patients that were sicker than snot.

So we get a young one transferred in (young in our case is anything under 50). You got to watch the young ones, they go bad in a hurry. So she's in for one thing, doing kinda okay. But then she suddenly started hemorrhaging like crazy. Funny, she calls us in because she was "bleeding a little after she coughed a lot." That was an understatement! She is not here for this, she's here for shortness of breath. Our staff is fairly young, most had not seen anything like this so I was interested in their reactions. Now if I had known what we were getting into we would have worn gear to protect our clothes, but this was sudden. I had blood up to my elbows, one of the new ones got a little on her pants and went and changed clothes (before the patient went to the OR). Turns out the patient had coughed out stitches from a 2 week old surgery and that was what caused the bleeding.

It's in the hussle that you see who is going to survive the long term. Some of them stayed rooted to one spot, some looked confused, some got the light in their eyes that tells me they understand. When the patient started going into shock only one or two observed that and make the appropriate decisions. This happened at shift change, the pt's nurse stayed late that night to make sure everything went well, then she called to see how she did. And she did what I did, worried about "what did I miss" and "what else could I have done." She's a good nurse, and she will be better for the experience, once she processes it.

I worry about the ones that never understood how close this was or never catch on that they missed it. Earlier in the day I was frustrated with one that only went one pace, and he never tells me when he's in trouble. I can't help you if I don't know. But all in all, they are such a good crew and they really want to be better. We'll make it, and the patients will be fine.

Eats flies. Dates a pig. Hollywood star

I pass this everyday when I take my spouse to work. I LOVE it!!!! He is now walking around saying something about "first Eeyore with a detachable tail and now Kermit, I've married a five year old." He doesn't realize I was in the mall today, Eeyore and Kermit are a lot cheaper than the jewerly I like. I have VERY good taste.

We make life so complicated, it's not. Do unto others as you would have done unto you, work hard, play hard. Even God has a sense of humour, ever read about the talking donkey? And the fact that He picks the obscure tribe of Israel to have as His own? Besides, looking at many of the people in the "church" you would have to have a sense of humour to put up with them. So there's your mini-sermon of the day. Time for the diabetic to go make brownies. :)

Me in math class

There is very little to add to this. I can't claim the original, but I will say I have frustrated many an instructor.

There was the one that actually thought she could teach me the way. I explained that I knew they just made the stuff up and agreed on the rules so they would have a job. I passed, not sure how. I think for the same reason my current boss keeps me around: entertainment value.

Adventures of the Heart

30 years ago I would have been amazed to have seen where we are now. Who would have know that so much could happen. The kids, the parents, the jobs, the dogs....... everything.

I know my parents weren't sure we should marry. We were both 18, very idealistic, and yet very confident that this was what God wanted in our lives. I still believe it. Both my parents are gone now, but they both have told spouse in different ways how glad they were to have him in the family.

I'm not sure what his parents thought. I was not like them at all. I was from "town", they were not. I'm still different, but so is their son. His dad is gone now, I did truly love him, and I do love his mom.

Why are we still together? I don't know. It isn't easy living with me, I do feel for my spouse. But he will also tell you he isn't perfect. But he is kinda cute, and his heart is so loving. I don't know why he loves me, I would have given up long ago. The years have been tough. We've never had enough money, it seems like things are a struggle, but then we had our faith (well, until that got destroyed as well). But we have been blessed so much by what God has given us, we have wonderful children, we have a home (my parents left us a great place to raise kids), we are regaining our faith, and we have dogs that love us even when no one else does. Again, why are we together when so many around us are not, I don't know. But I'm glad we are. Happy Valentines Day

It seems like I have a ton of stuff to get done today and no one wants to cooperate. The kid doesn't focus on school, the dryer doesn't want to dry, the kid that was going to help me with transporting backed out........ I'm going no where fast.

It's not like I need help procrastinating. But I'm teaching CPR for the first time tonight and I need to prepare. The migraine last night didn't help. Oh well.

So, we shall see. He seems to be receptive to learning now..... biology, here we come!!!!!!

Harrison Snack

Harrison is a Burmese Mountain / Border Collie dog. He LOVES bunnies...... a lot. We kept a friends bunny for Easter Break, the bunny was a bit stressed. I don't know that the bunny was ever alone. Harrison stayed by the cage the whole time just begging to "please, please let me hold the bunny, please....." However when we did let him just smell the bunny he started drooling and snapping at the neck.

One of my friends just got her kids a couple of bunnys, Harrison wants to go visit. I told her that if the bunnys were bad Harrison would be happy to help. He's always sooo wiling to be a good friend. Anyway, so should you have a bunny that needs a little stress test, let Harrison know. He lives to serve.

Princess Bride

I find it hilarious how many people really love this movie. My youngest son (16) allowed me to look at his facebook page and I realized he had joined a group that states this is the greatest movie ever. We do movie quotes at work, this is one of the most popular. I have been loaning my copy of the DVD to others to get them up to speed.

How can it be?? Duh, have you seen it?? Pirates! True love!! Danger, giants, eels, Magic Max, so many wonderful elements.

Here is my question, what is your favorite part?? Myself, I have trouble deciding. I think I have to say the final duel between the prince and Wesley. But there is so much wonderful wordplay throughout the movie it is difficult to say.

This is my first attempt at adding a pic to my website. #1 son shot this pic at a park close to our house. Methinks it is copyrighted. I think he will let me use it (okay, I did ask first).

I kinda feel this way today, I've even thought about adding this image as my "official" pic, and I still may. Those that know me well will know there is something else that actually defines me, however, as Eeyore with a detactable tail sits beside me he says that right now he's not happy with the previous photos the boys have made. Maybe the next time spouse brings home the lights and backdrop for the boys to practice with.

You say - your boys practice with professional photography lights, well yes, don't yours?? Actually my living room, small as it is, is not bad for a make do studio. The boys have a GIANT poster (think 7" x 5") with a Narnia front and black back. It works. Their facebook pages have wonderful examples, but since I would prefer not everyone know exactly who I am.......

So lets post this and see what happens. If it works, I hope to make my site much more interesting. And actually, I do like the goose.......

Codes

The hospital I work in uses the unit I'm in and one other (as back up to us) for the "code blue" team. I tend to be an adrenaline junkie, so it suits me well now and then to go. There is one rule that I wish I could get established into protocol. When you pull the code button you reach over and drop the temperature of the room. Face it, little old ladies / men that code aren't going to mind if we cool down the room. Assuming we are able to be successful in reviving them, they will be transferred anyway. It's tough doing CPR at 100 compressions a minute when sweat is pouring off of you.

Codes on the floor are nothing like things you see on TV, in fact, they are nothing alike. Things are never where you need them, so many people in the room, you never know which people will show up, you never know what is going to happen. It's like an adventure everytime. Now in saying this, it's not to say things are bad, it's just not controlled the way that they show it on TV. A code in the ER or in the unit is much more controlled, we have everything set up, we are generally more prepared for "the worse case" than the floor is. The nature of the beast and all.

The last code I went to, one of the RN's was telling me I needed to give "high dose epi". I couldn't remember that being part of the ACLS but I looked anyway. I'm a bit insecure at times, I've only been out of school 5 years, these guys have more experience, so I attempted to do what he said. Later of course, I looked and we don't do that anymore. Another code, the RN kept giving me the wrong pads for the defibulator we had on the cart. She then went and got the right defibulator (instead of giving me the pads for the one on the cart) and still couldn't get it to work. Fortunately we were just "preparing" to shock and nowhere close to needing to use the stuff. My hospital only uses two types of equipment, I'm glad. Overall though, we do good work. I've never walked away from one of our codes saying that "if only......" Our mistakes tend to be in getting ahead of ourselves and not in what we are doing.

One day I would like to work for a short time somewhere else just to see how others do it. I mean totally away from this part of the country. I've pretty much always lived here, the southern mentality is probably affecting the way things are done and how people react. I've always wondered how end of life stuff is handled at other places.

The Brunch

The brunch went rather well (topic: Women's Heart Health), got lots of positive comments. We went with the concept that most folks really know the major details (don't smoke, exercise, lose weight, be perfect) so we highlighted things that we thought might be important. One was when you call 911, unlock the door. Men wait an average of 5.5 hours before presenting to a medical facility, women 6.4, both numbers are unacceptable. Every minute you wait could be heart muscle damaged.

We also thought that we would ask some questions, toss a piece of candy at the person that got it right. Now, I should have checked to see how well my partner can toss. I mentioned that we wanted no assault charges filed, but I didn't realize how close I was to reality. This gal is a girly girl. I'm more the baseball sports kinda girl. She "tossed" the candy but I think the ladies just weren't ready for it. I hope that's why it hit them. Anyway, they loved the talk. Hopefully some of it might actually pay off one day.

Now back to Super Bowl commercials, how I love them. Enjoy the day!!!!