Dahey's boss was also named Dahey. He had a lot of similarities, besides his heritage: the same number of siblings, they were from the same state, and they both lived in the same town for a while. Off and on, my Dahey worked with Boss Dahey since 2000.
However, on this beautiful day, we loaded Bubba up in the family truckster and we traveled about an hour from our home in RehabLand up the river to celebrate Boss Dahey's life at an Irish wake. His family rented a big hall, they had lots of food, and Boss Dahey was there: in a Chicago White Sox urn.
Boss Dahey lost his life at 52 recently because he had a hard head and procrastinated. His doctor told him he didn't like a mole he showed him in May and that he should see a specialist. Boss Dahey figured he'd do it later, but later never came. Boss Dahey was tough.
Right before the holidays, Boss Dahey had a seizure, which he had never done before. He was checked up, then sent home until he could see a specialist the next week. On the weekend, he had another seizure at home and he coded. His girlfriend saved him. This time, he didn't get to go home. He got stabilized, they ran tests, and then they told him. Boss Dahey had a brain tumor.
My Dahey called me from work when he had the first seizure. I knew it was probably something unusual. When he called me up at work, to tell me the boss had a brain tumor, I told him and his friends, they'd just have to wait until the workup was done. There are lots of brain tumors.
It turns out Boss Dahey's brain tumors were mets. From the nasty mole he procrastinated on. Boss Dahey had metastatic melanoma. When my Dahey told me what the stage was (he always asks), I knew it was not good. He was Stage 4. Needless to say, this scared a lot of Dahey's coworkers.
Boss Dahey showed up a couple of times at work after he was diagnosed, but after two days, he went home. He was accepted into an NIH trial at World Renown Hospital. His prognosis was six months. Boss Dahey made it to seven.
As terrible as everything was, a lot of good came out of Boss Dahey's short time. He reunited with his family. He married his girlfriend. His friend from North Dakota came and visited him every time he could during that time (which was about four times). He settled his affairs and arranged this party we attended. The management at Dahey's work is being more flexible about letting staff leave early or take time off for medical appointments. They never realized that the macho attitude Boss Dahey exhibited made people afraid to take time off until the staff told them.
Boss Dahey bought Jameson whisky which he wanted used in a toast to celebrate everyone being together. We raised our glasses in a toast to Boss Dahey. As we left the gathering, I thought of this Irish blessing:
May the road rise to meet you.
May the wind be always at your back.
May the sun shine warm upon your face.
And rains fall soft upon your fields.
And until we meet again,
May God hold you in
the hollow of His hand.
We left into the sunshine of a beautiful day, and the soft rain came just as we were rolling up to our house.
RIP Boss Dahey. Until we meet again...
Showing posts with label brain. Show all posts
Showing posts with label brain. Show all posts
Saturday, June 25, 2016
Friday, October 23, 2015
Whirlwind
The bad news just keeps coming. Dahey's cousin got diagnosed with a brain tumor. Flying by the seat of my pants. This month has flown by, too.
Stay tuned. More to come.
Stay tuned. More to come.
Saturday, September 27, 2014
'Tis the season...to retire
Not me (I wish!) but certainly a lot of people around the Hotel are retiring. More than a few messages have appeared in my mailbox for parties for people leaving at the beginning or the end of the month.
It's even happening at the Hotel. A couple of our folks are retiring. They are looking forward to lives where THEY dictate what the schedule looks like. I can't say that I blame them. Others, such as one of our NPs, can't wait to be a grandma (any minute really!). What perfect timing...retire and spend as much time as you want with your grandchild. Another is working on his/her golf game and the travel associated with it.
Our boss really wants to retire, but since we can't find a replacement, he/she will have to set a date and retire and let the Manglement of the Hotel figure it all out. Waiting for years (yes, it's true) is really not fun.
It's too bad the Hotel only does lip service to succession planning. It might make the transition easier.
One of these days, they'll wake up...and someone will figure it out.
But I'm not sure if that will happen before I retire (many years down the road).
More to come...
It's even happening at the Hotel. A couple of our folks are retiring. They are looking forward to lives where THEY dictate what the schedule looks like. I can't say that I blame them. Others, such as one of our NPs, can't wait to be a grandma (any minute really!). What perfect timing...retire and spend as much time as you want with your grandchild. Another is working on his/her golf game and the travel associated with it.
Our boss really wants to retire, but since we can't find a replacement, he/she will have to set a date and retire and let the Manglement of the Hotel figure it all out. Waiting for years (yes, it's true) is really not fun.
It's too bad the Hotel only does lip service to succession planning. It might make the transition easier.
One of these days, they'll wake up...and someone will figure it out.
But I'm not sure if that will happen before I retire (many years down the road).
More to come...
Monday, April 7, 2014
Mush
That's what my brain has felt like lately. Total. Utter. Mush.
What could do this you ask? Two things.
First, interminable meetings. One right after the other. Trapping you in a room with closed blinds and crazy weather after a week of freedom should be against the law.
Second, I also got to interview people. For my old unit and the SU. It's so nice to feel wanted...until they tell you that you'll be trapped in a room for that, too. Filling out papers. Lots of papers.
An aside (or rant ..WARNING):
If I told you we were required to ask these kinds of questions, would you come to the interview unprepared? About 25% of the people came in not knowing (or caring). Consequently, it was easier for me to give a lower rating on the interview.
Some folks didn't pay attention to dress, either. Scrubs are not unusual for nurses if the person just came from work, but they should be clean and neat. If they are not, they are not appropriate.
Dress was the least of the worries, though. Some people just couldn't answer the questions. The best person I interviewed was one where my supervisor kept saying, "Feel free to elaborate" as the candidate basically answered the behavioral questions with yes and no. It made me wonder if they had just gotten off the night shift (the candidate never volunteered that information, though).
Needless to say, they declined to offer said candidate a position due to poor performance.
Remember folks, I don't know what you do. The interview is where you tell me what you do and why I should hire you.
Ah, another week ahead, but thankfully, without any interviews.
Stay tuned!
What could do this you ask? Two things.
First, interminable meetings. One right after the other. Trapping you in a room with closed blinds and crazy weather after a week of freedom should be against the law.
Second, I also got to interview people. For my old unit and the SU. It's so nice to feel wanted...until they tell you that you'll be trapped in a room for that, too. Filling out papers. Lots of papers.
An aside (or rant ..WARNING):
If I told you we were required to ask these kinds of questions, would you come to the interview unprepared? About 25% of the people came in not knowing (or caring). Consequently, it was easier for me to give a lower rating on the interview.
Some folks didn't pay attention to dress, either. Scrubs are not unusual for nurses if the person just came from work, but they should be clean and neat. If they are not, they are not appropriate.
Dress was the least of the worries, though. Some people just couldn't answer the questions. The best person I interviewed was one where my supervisor kept saying, "Feel free to elaborate" as the candidate basically answered the behavioral questions with yes and no. It made me wonder if they had just gotten off the night shift (the candidate never volunteered that information, though).
Needless to say, they declined to offer said candidate a position due to poor performance.
Remember folks, I don't know what you do. The interview is where you tell me what you do and why I should hire you.
Ah, another week ahead, but thankfully, without any interviews.
Stay tuned!
Sunday, May 2, 2010
The sun is shining...
The birds are singing, I've got a new car to ride around in while mine is in the shop...and I have a brain cramp.
My paper is due soon...hope it will go away!
My paper is due soon...hope it will go away!
Thursday, September 24, 2009
Nuggets for September 24
Yes, it's been awhile, but since I've been on vacation, I figured I should just stop the early Christmas shopping and get with posting a few of these goodies. Hope you all enjoy!
Pandemics-R-Us
Since it was on my list of things to do, I got my seasonal flu shot this week.
It's easy to get caught up in the hype, but keep your wits and learn something from the CDC's page on H1N1 flu.
On the subject of flu, my personal favorite in the "when people get carried away" section appeared recently in the NY Times with some great photos and is called City Critic- What not to wear when worrying about the flu. No, Tyveks are not fashionable this year. Big thing to remember: hand hygiene people!
Family fun
The myriad of articles on family dynamics, etc., really surprised me. Here are some I found interesting:
Seven ways your siblings may have shaped you (from Yahoo!Health)
Mama wasn't always right: 9 updated health rules (from cnn.com) Guess I won't get in trouble for reading in low light anymore!
Medical news of note
I am always fascinated by brain stories (I guess in another life I was somewhere in neuro) and this one was really interesting: Brain pacemaker for a rare disorder (from msnbc.com)
The BBC has been having some very interesting articles on health, and here are a couple below.
Antibiotic resistance clue found
And because most of my patients are in the target demographic for this...
'Viagra cream' could prove safer
Tools you can use
And finally, since I've been embarking on a few home improvement projects, check out these nifty health related tools. No batteries required!
The ANA has a new site on Safe Patient Handling. It's got a lot of information you don't want to miss to keep your work environment safe.
I found this one thanks to a nursing newsletter from the ANA. Statistician George Fernandez at the University of Nevada at Reno has devised an even simpler implementation of BMI called MWL or Maximum Weight Limit. The calculation is a breeze, especially if you don't have a calculator handy.
Pandemics-R-Us
Since it was on my list of things to do, I got my seasonal flu shot this week.
It's easy to get caught up in the hype, but keep your wits and learn something from the CDC's page on H1N1 flu.
On the subject of flu, my personal favorite in the "when people get carried away" section appeared recently in the NY Times with some great photos and is called City Critic- What not to wear when worrying about the flu. No, Tyveks are not fashionable this year. Big thing to remember: hand hygiene people!
Family fun
The myriad of articles on family dynamics, etc., really surprised me. Here are some I found interesting:
Seven ways your siblings may have shaped you (from Yahoo!Health)
Mama wasn't always right: 9 updated health rules (from cnn.com) Guess I won't get in trouble for reading in low light anymore!
Medical news of note
I am always fascinated by brain stories (I guess in another life I was somewhere in neuro) and this one was really interesting: Brain pacemaker for a rare disorder (from msnbc.com)
The BBC has been having some very interesting articles on health, and here are a couple below.
Antibiotic resistance clue found
And because most of my patients are in the target demographic for this...
'Viagra cream' could prove safer
Tools you can use
And finally, since I've been embarking on a few home improvement projects, check out these nifty health related tools. No batteries required!
The ANA has a new site on Safe Patient Handling. It's got a lot of information you don't want to miss to keep your work environment safe.
I found this one thanks to a nursing newsletter from the ANA. Statistician George Fernandez at the University of Nevada at Reno has devised an even simpler implementation of BMI called MWL or Maximum Weight Limit. The calculation is a breeze, especially if you don't have a calculator handy.
Saturday, November 22, 2008
Nuggets for November 22
I should be thankful that things are not worse, but it's been busy at work lately. Fall is turning to winter and that means we're heading into pneumonia season. We've got a couple of cases all ready. Lots and lots of coughing going on! Chest PT for everyone!
Now for something completely different....here are a few tidbits of interest I've run across in the blogs this week.
This penis reconstruction story makes me think of Fournier's gangrene again. (from Highly Trained Monkey)
What's wrong with nursing (from My 2 Cents)
One of these days...
Sometimes the best therapy is a long-drawn out rant (from Spook RN)
An ingenious Christmas gift you gotta see (I found this thanks to ER RN)
Thinking of going back to school? Some of those professors will be talking about YOU if you aren't very nice...I really loved the "who's the geekiest" post recently.
Now for something completely different....here are a few tidbits of interest I've run across in the blogs this week.
This penis reconstruction story makes me think of Fournier's gangrene again. (from Highly Trained Monkey)
What's wrong with nursing (from My 2 Cents)
One of these days...
Sometimes the best therapy is a long-drawn out rant (from Spook RN)
An ingenious Christmas gift you gotta see (I found this thanks to ER RN)
Thinking of going back to school? Some of those professors will be talking about YOU if you aren't very nice...I really loved the "who's the geekiest" post recently.
Thursday, May 22, 2008
Nuggets for May 22
Here are a few goodies I've encountered on the web recently. Enjoy!
From the strange but true category:
And you only thought nurses and medical personnel were worried about brain stem edema...
Check out this post from Photoshop Disasters.
On my mind, or maybe brain this week:
Lots of brain-y stuff in the news this week with the revelation Tuesday that Senator Ted Kennedy has a malignant glioma.
Another great article about the brain from Wednesday's New York Times:
An older brain may be a wiser brain
Second Chance to Live is a blog by Craig J. Phillips that describes how he's living with TBI.
The American Epilepsy Society is also realizing that some veterans with TBI are developing epilepsy. This page shows a bill that was sponsored in Congress last year and also has links to many resources of the Society. Check it out for more information.
Don't forget...this weekend is Memorial Day weekend (May 26 actual holiday). Remember our veterans, who have died and been injured keeping this country free for you and me.
Check out this link to the National Park Service to see various DC memorials on a map.
From the strange but true category:
And you only thought nurses and medical personnel were worried about brain stem edema...
Check out this post from Photoshop Disasters.
On my mind, or maybe brain this week:
Lots of brain-y stuff in the news this week with the revelation Tuesday that Senator Ted Kennedy has a malignant glioma.
Another great article about the brain from Wednesday's New York Times:
An older brain may be a wiser brain
Second Chance to Live is a blog by Craig J. Phillips that describes how he's living with TBI.
The American Epilepsy Society is also realizing that some veterans with TBI are developing epilepsy. This page shows a bill that was sponsored in Congress last year and also has links to many resources of the Society. Check it out for more information.
Don't forget...this weekend is Memorial Day weekend (May 26 actual holiday). Remember our veterans, who have died and been injured keeping this country free for you and me.
Check out this link to the National Park Service to see various DC memorials on a map.
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