Bubba is alive and well and still coughing here and there, but not as much. School was closed today due to weather. With the forecast for the coming week, we'll see how it goes. Dahey is working outside right now and I don't think he was too upset about stopping due to the cold and ice. Thank goodness the heat works on our unit (some places better than others, anyway).
Today, I was passing pills and doing my best to get my patient up to therapy today. I took care of this guy last week, but he stayed in bed. Today, he was motivated. It's amazing how they get that way when the docs tell them they'll be with us until February if they don't get up. We even practiced transfers to and from the commode in the middle of the day (just one of the joys of unscheduled bowel routines...when you gotta go, you gotta go.)
Some of my coworkers just look aghast when a patient tells them they have to go. I guess they're just a little too used to a lot of quads and others who can't tell when they have to go and going on their bowel routine (usually in the AM or after dinner). I figure the unexpected is the often the most important part of rehab--teaching people how to live. And yes, Virginia, living involves a lot more than seeing Santa Claus. It involves boring old stuff like moving your derriere to the commode and toileting.
Surprisingly, my patient was duly proud of himself and his transfer efforts. (I needed backup on the way back to the chair, but we did it.) I made sure I told the therapists so they have something to work with in therapy with him, or at least, they'll have a chuckle or two at their next team meeting.
When I wasn't busy today, I spent some time reading my Nursing Practice in Multiple Sclerosis: A Core Curriculum book. I also cleaned up my locker. Now I can actually find things!
Here are a few nuggets I encountered on the internet when I was working.
I read that one of our patient's had a T6 corpectomy with decompression surgery and cages. This page at Augusta Orthopedics in Staunton, VA shows different cages and how they're used in spinal surgery. If you want to know more about cages and spinal surgery, check out this Google book, Complications of Spine Surgery or this Google book, Motion Preservation Surgery.
One physician even has his own blog about spinal surgeries: http://drlloydhey.blogspot.com/. Another group of medical professionals has a site devoted to spinal issues here: http://www.spine-health.com/.
Finally, if that's not enough spinal issues, check out http://www.spine.org/Pages/Default.aspx for more information on NASS, the North American Spine Society.
And when I wasn't finding stuff on the spine, here's the latest NY Times article about the effectiveness of colonoscopies. We have a lot of patients visiting us for these procedures lately.
Did you know...living with your in-laws can stress you out? It was a very big deal in this Japanese study.
More goodies to come...stay tuned.
