Back to work...

It's like deja-vu, all over again.~ Yogi Berra  

Yes, going back to work after escaping from the Hotel sure is like deja-vu. Today was a crazy, hair on fire kind of day. And tomorrow will be much of the same.

Wonder how fast Friday will get here...or my next vacation.

Will be counting the days. More updates to come.

The boys are back

And they're telling stories at Serenity Now Hospital again. Yippee!

Glad to have you back! Enjoying the snark coming out of the ED again. Not sure if the stripper story or the citrus one are more clearly Captain Obvious cases or not.

Go see for yourselves. More to come...

Monday again

Surprisingly, I did not have hundreds of e-mails when I returned to the office. I had about a dozen.  One of these days, the crazy admin who works for us will figure out that we ALL really don't need to receive a 9MB attachment on every e-mail she sends. (I bounced this request to the tech people today).

I worked with a patient (Mr. X) who always seems to show up in my office. Some therapists need to be working with him, but they're off doing other things, so I think of things for him to do. I allot about 30 minutes a day on this. I wish I could bill for my time in a clinic visit like the therapists do.

Meanwhile, Mr. X thought he was evading the medical staff on rounds by hiding out in an area near the remodeling being done in our part of the Hotel. Nope. They saw him. I managed to coax him out of the corner so he could talk to his doc. Once she arrived, I was out of there.

I also got a referral to one of our docs today. Patient found us on a website, made a phone call, and ended up in my voice mail. Before I could call, he called me. Mr. Persistent wants a second opinion with a specialist who works with us. He has a disease that requires a choice between two medications that will keep his disease at bay, but one, if he's got certain conditions, could actually kill him. Once specialist is back from his family jaunt across the country, he'll be on his consult list.

One patient made my Monday melancholy. Mr. E. has been coming to our place for a few years. His wife has never really coped with his issues very well. The caregiver stress they talk about in nursing school is starting to show. Mr. E. came in to a clinic visit with a week old beard. This is highly unusual for him, since he tends to shave every other day. Mrs. E. didn't come in with him, either, which is unusual.  She told us he had some issues and that she thought he was sick. She was correct. He got admitted.

Staff are getting bend out of shape about Mr. E. not being cared for. He's not the only one. I think Mrs. E. has finally broken. The strain of caring for her loving husband, who was once a tall, strong, highly educated man is killing her. Her back is strained from the weight. The role of loving wife and partner has been permanently replaced with caregiver. It's not what she signed up for. She doesn't say it, but the vacant look in her eyes tells you. The folks who promised to help just aren't doing it anymore.

The burden has fallen to us to carry at the Hotel,  as we wait to see how the rest of the questions in our minds will be answered.

Stay tuned...

Down for the count?

Mr. S. got discharged recently. He told people that "two ladies jumped on my chair" and now it won't do anything. He claims the ladies "broke it". Mr. S. also tells a patient or two (via phone call and one, Mr. Chatty relays info to us) that he's sitting in his shower chair on his porch waiting for his neighbor to fix his chair. Our wheelchair specialist is not amused.

Oh, the heave ho going on at the Hotel is getting better. They've fixed us up with top-of-the-line ceiling lifts. The renovation's coming, but, in the interests of safety, and the fact that they've already spent the money, the Powers That Be deigned we get them. It's about freaking time. Who else moves more patients than us? Only one other rehab is in our system, and they had lifts way before us. To top it off, 95% of their people walk, even the amputees.

So I'm not sure if all the excitement of the new power equipment or if it's just the weather, but my back is acting up. So much that it warrants a trip to Dr.B to figure out what's up. I don't really want to be out of commission, but I really don't want to end up really injured either.

Stay tuned...

What do you think?

Patient X comes in doubled over for a visit to the SU, with wifey in tow. (She was so sweet and found a wheelchair).

Patient has full set of vitals suggesting he was seriously in pain (high BP, heart rate, etc.) He's consistently doubled over no matter what you do. Doc takes him and works him up. Basically, he's got the back from hell and needs neurosurgery, but at Madison, you only get it on the schedule. Our doc's suggestion: take Patient X to ER at Washington, our sister hospital. Wifey listens and away he goes.

Twenty minutes later, patient shows up at ER, vitals taken, still looks the same.

Another twenty minutes later, ER docs discharge Mr. X. Doc notices in the notes, he got his Dilaudid and was on his way.

It just makes me scratch my head...