TGIS (or my last shift on evenings)

Thank goodness it's Sunday! Surprisingly, I won't have another evening this week after tonight, thanks to a good ol' Federal holiday...and then my regular day off. Hooray!

Things were quieter yesterday. They can be around holidays because the folks get either 1) lots of visitors and/or 2) lots of food, since we usually have visitors from every imaginable organization coming in to bring things to the veterans while they're with us during the holidays. We had balloons, we had a clown making balloon animals and we had food and candy everywhere. All the diabetics had higher than normal blood sugars from all the extra carbs.

One patient in particular was registering higher numbers than usual. We thought someone was feeding him all the goodies, but he said, "I think I'm getting sick." Whoa...what could be brewing? It should be interesting.

My patients were reasonably good, but I am wondering what will happen with DQ. Some strange things have been happening. One, he was quiet (but that was explainable--plenty of PRN Valium, which he admitted to enjoying.) and two, the NG tube secretions were brownish, but turning an odd color. The day staff tested them for occult blood, and while there was no coffee-ground emesis, it still doesn't look too good. The patient did have some drinks on his table of a similar color, so we made those disappear. We'll see if the color disappears with them. It hadn't by the time I left. It should be interesting to see what happens today.

My other patient complimented me on being on time for all the regularly scheduled turns. It was easy when DQ wasn't screaming or making a fuss.

Hopefully, tonight is peaceful and quiet, too. It won't bother me one bit! Stay tuned.