Everything AND...

I almost sound like one of those bad infomercials. They seem to promise the world, but when you get down to it, it's really plastic.

Such has been my week. I thought the cold I got would go away if I took my cold medicine diligently. It didn't. I went to a big (over 1,000 folks) conference in sunny Florida and I suffered as a result.

I feel for all the consultants, etc. who have to fly regularly with a cold. I felt like I brought (and swallowed) a small medicine cabinet before I even got on the plane. I also bought some Earplanes ear plugs, since I knew my sinuses were stuffed. Even with all the drugs, etc., my ears still hurt (although I'd suspect less than if I didn't have the ear plugs).

Florida in winter is lovely. You actually don't feel so horrible when it's 80 degrees every day. Wearing sandals was also therapeutic. While I didn't go to the beach, my feet felt like it in those walking sandals. I sat outside and enjoyed lunch one day (since it was warm and sunny). There were threats of rain, but they never materialized. I even got in 10,000 steps almost every day. It helped that the hotel was a short walk from the conference location AND that the conference was in a convention center that was pretty big.

Coming home was another adventure. Thankfully, the plane was not full. I got to enjoy an aisle seat and no one next to me, which is rare these days. I made it two whole days before I caved and decided to seek medical attention for the infection I got.

Now I'm playing the doxycycline shuffle. It's really not fun rearranging meals and vitamins for the antibiotic, but since I'm feeling a little better, why not?

Hope you enjoy your day wherever you are. I'll be soldiering on...stay tuned!

Brrr!

The polar vortex has arrived. It arrived just at the start of the weekend. I have already fallen even in "slip-proof" nursing shoes. They don't help when it's also windy. I added some of these to my shopping list.

Some virus from the neighborhood has invaded. Dahey is recuperating and Bubba is acting a little out of sorts, despite my hand washing protocol and cleaning schedule. We've all had our flu shots, so hopefully, it's just something random. Another joy of winter!

I'm happy this week will be the last one I work this year. More to come in 2017. Stay tuned!

Critter patrol

I found some unwelcome peanuts in an unusual spot in an overhead cabinet in my office. Now I know why that mouse was climbing over my desk? To get to the Shangri-La of peanuts which was right behind all of my nursing books.

Curses! Did a lot of that (to myself) and got the Saniwipes out again to purge my desk of mouse droppings.

The construction outside continues and so does the cold.

It's making for some very interesting sights at the Hotel.

Santa, please make sure we don't end up on the news. And please, keep your reindeer outside on the roof. The regular deer might pay attention.

Stay tuned...

All the wild and woolly things

It's getting much cooler here in RehabLand. The dreaded Arctic winds are making their way back, just as they normally do (or did). Last week, we had three of four seasons in a week, but it seems like winter is coming and no other season will be allowed.

The wild: all sorts of construction craziness. Since the SU sits near the front of the building at our pastoral campus, the woollies are the critters trying to get in. A few of them (namely mice) are showing up in our office rooms.

We're also getting a lot of patients. It seems like there's always a rush to get your rehab done before the holidays, but some people don't always make it. We do our best to be festive and motivating during the holiday season.

Lately, we're getting lots of unusual diagnoses including presbycusis and Colles' fracture. It's giving me plenty of homework looking up conditions. I also had a patient come to see me about MRSA. The CDC website was very helpful. Said patient felt relieved in knowing what to look for and they provide some nice patient education.

Well, I'm going to get wrapped up in my own woollies and get ready for tomorrow.

I wish you a great week wherever you go!

It's the weekend

Now I have enough time after a busy week to make an attempt at getting sick. I feel a cold trying to overtake me.

Happy Orthodox Easter to all who celebrate today.

Joy...stay tuned.

So glad

Monday finally flew by at the Hotel. I went in early to check mail and messages, and my phone rang. One of our patients passed away over the weekend. It wasn't entirely unexpected, but that call really changed the tone of my day.

Mr. C. had a wonderful Christmas according to this relative. He even got to celebrate a major wedding anniversary. He saw family and friends and experienced the fun of the holidays with his immediate family around him. His grand kids all opened gifts at his house.

Ms. Relative thought he was getting a cold and was possibly getting sick. Mr. C. said, "No, I just need some sleep." Mr. C. went to sleep smiling, she said, because he had so much fun seeing his family. When she went to check on him later, he was gone.

Considering the wild, crazy last few years Mr. C. had, this was the best way for him to go: at home in his sleep.

I worked a lot with Mr. C. and his family in the last year, I'll miss him, too.

More later.

What we will do for the ones we love

My Bubba has a cold. I went and got him a treat.

My sister needed a ride home from the hospital recently. I took her  home, and even offered her favorite thing, Starbucks.

Dahey likes sweets, so I made some banana cake for him to take with him to work today.

My widowed aunt asked me to "go along to a presentation" by a company here in RehabLand that sells nutraceuticals. They work with a soy product that will "save your world." where every member of the audience (she and I were the crowd) who used the product (6 different people) had a testimonial about how it cured everything from rheumatoid arthritis to depression and some forms of cancer.

Since it was snowing, not many folks showed up, even though Warren Buffett owns a network marketing company.

Some things are easier to do than others.

Good night!

Cold again

Yes, the temperature is dropping and I have a virus form holding my sinuses hostage.

After consulting some of my favorite people (the neighborhood pharmacists, since BFF Rx is out of town) I've found a cocktail that is making life manageable.(Dayquil + Zyrtec)

I just hope I can talk today. Yesterday, despite tea and cough drops, was not so good.

Since Bubba  and Dahey will be indulging in a long weekend starting Friday, so will I. I just hope to spend it getting well, not being sick.

Stay tuned...

And if cold weren't enough...

Now we have snow too.  Thankfully, it's light, fluffy, and can be swept away easily with a broom.

I can't wait to go to work on a day like today. This is when I really wish I could telework. Somehow, I don't think we'll have too many people go AMA today.

Off to warm up the car and remove my own personal icicles.

More to come.

Brrr!

Curses! The Arctic Blast is back. In a crazy week with a full moon, quirky coworkers and several threatened AMAs, you just need something else to keep you busy.

I think I'll just close my door all day tomorrow and hibernate in place.

That is all...

Another t-shirt moment

I love conferences, since you get to see people you haven't seen in ages and learn new stuff.

But I really hate it when you are so tired, you want to pass out, because you've been trapped in freezing cold rooms and staying up late.

Thank goodness I convinced the boss I need time to recoup (aka vacation). I might not be going anywhere, but being stationary, is a very good thing.

Stay tuned.

Boo Vortex

I'm tired of the cold. The groundhogs are still hibernating. The Hotel is the same. I'm hoping the witch that jinxed my pay raise is freezing everything off.

Meanwhile, I found a recipe I want to make to forget about this cold: rum punch cake.

Wish it could take me to the tropics, too. At least, it might make me happy enough to forget the cold.

Enjoy!

A sign of the times

The weather here in RehabLand is cold, cloudy and rainy. The birds are still singing.

Great day to roll over and go back to sleep.

Enjoy your weekend wherever you are.

Brrr!

Oh, the weather outside is sunny and beautiful and COLD. Yes, I'm shouting, because I felt like my face would fall off after walking the 60 feet from my car to the building I work in.

I was properly layered, but no match for the wicked, howling winds all day.

They can call the cold whatever they want: Alberta Clipper, Janus, you name it, but you know it's too cold when you ruin your lettuce if you forget it in the car.

That is really, REALLY cold!

Enjoy your temperature high or low weather wherever  you are!

Surprise!

I won a trip today!

The good news: it's far away. It occurs over a weekend, and I won't miss any work.

The bad news: it's gonna be a little cold.

I hope I can find my long underwear.

Stay tuned.

TGMG (Thank goodness Monday's nearly Gone)

Every day begins with an act of courage and hope: getting out of bed.~  Mason Cooley

Yes, it was courageous in RehabLand today because it's cold again. I am happy it was not as cold as Sunday, or that my sister-in-law's holiday wish (snow) did not come true. Bubba needs to go to school as long as possible.

I worked on a lot of weird stuff because I may be relocating soon due to construction. Our business manager returned from medical leave recently, so I'm hoping the construction manager will give her information on when that might take place.

I just love being in limbo.

Stay tuned...

 

The joys of sinus headaches

And yes, indeed, I do have a doozy, since the cold remainders are still hanging out in my upper respiratory system and sinuses. Laughing (or breathing just right) leads to coughing which leads to rattling the remaining junk...ugh!

Too many things to do today, so it's gotta go away.

Stay tuned...

Welcome to Monday

Here comes the week.

I feel like I've caught the dreaded summer cold. On top of all of it, I had a busy day all day, inspections, and I had patients in two clinics to take care of.

Tomorrow is only one clinic, so we'll ride it out and see how it goes.

If I feel crappy, I'm leaving early.

Stay tuned...

Another week done

Hooray! Give me the weekend, even if it's colder than when the week started. If it's sunny (like they say it will be), I will rejoice.

I have seen way too many clouds lately, in the sky and at the Hotel.

One of my old regulars came back this week. He's sick. He tried to stay well he told me, and now it seems, his body's giving up. He sick and he's scared.

Another regular came back right in the "season" as he calls it on his farm. His family misses him and calls him with reports. Even the dog misses him.

Finally, I got to finish the day off by helping some of the case management folks review files for Hotel admissions. I learned a lot about syndromes that I never knew existed. One started when the patient's main complaint was "I keep falling".  He fell one time, however, and couldn't get up.

And it's looking like the start of the "season" for me, too. One relative (who was hospitalized last year a long time) is going to the ER tonight. I hope it all goes well. I'm not sure if I'll be a good supporter this year or not. I'm drained after everything that happened last year. It was a wild roller coaster ride.

More to come...

Wild, wooly, and can we join you

Wild would have been an appropriate description of part of my day. One of the patients grabbed a trapeze and threw himself into his bed a la Tarzan. All I had to do was maneuver the feet and park the wheelchair.

Wooly described the outerwear I was wearing. Damp and dreary, but I'm not complaining. A few of our folks at the Hotel hail from areas being blanketed by the latest round of snow. In a couple of towns, they've had so much snow in the last week that roofs are collapsing.

And while the first round of inspectors came and quizzed us, our program was one of the stars of the show here at Hotel Rehab. They love the SU work. They want more of it.

Now just give us what we need: a backup so if I ever win that lottery, someone has a clue as to what is going on.

It would be nice! So so nice! A nurse can dream...stay tuned.