Full moon fever

Oh, the natives are getting restless, and for a moment, I didn't know why. Ah, the full moon!  It was one of those days recently. Everything and nothing goes right.

One patient I follow is still ditching me for his/her monthly follow-up. Since I have to report to his/her provider re: progress, this makes things sticky. Try, try, again.

I am finally (maybe) getting resources to start a program I proposed earlier this year. Got clearance from the local committee and everything. If all goes as planned, the key pieces will fall into place next week. I'll still be sending prayer requests to my favorite nuns, monks, and old ladies, though. Working in this arena is rewarding, but endlessly frustrating with the amount of backtracking I have to do.

Thank goodness some of my folks still love me!

And speaking of the love, my next door neighbor and I found out our abstracts have been accepted to one of our favorite conferences.

The show WILL hit the road again, just in time for hurricane season, Labor Day and a family wedding. Why not have everything big happen in one week's time?

Stay tuned and enjoy your weekend! Happy Easter to all who celebrate!

More later...

What happens when...

A patient comes up missing in your hospital? Do you call security? Do you knock on the door of the bathrooms or your rehab training room? Even at the Hotel, you're not supposed to lose patients.

No, you just complain about said patient because he/she never came out of the room. My office mate told me this story recently.

"Hmm." I told him/her. "I heard a story on the radio and I figured Patient R was discharged."

"What?" he/she says.

"Patient R was interviewed by a reporter at his/her house. Apparently, some nice neighbors did some stuff for him/her and they ended up on the 'Feel good news' segment on RehabLand's WXYZ's news."

Too bad no one had that channel turned on at the Hotel. It got lots of airplay recently. Must have been a slow news day.

Yesterday, I saw Patient R come back with the key to the training room. He/she apologized.

I just smiled.

Never a dull moment. Stay tuned for more interesting returns.

Loud noises at inopportune times

Yes, folks, these are the things that drive me crazy or keep me awake at night. Last night, it was the latter.
Nothing like crazy driver swerving to avoid a mailbox, then hitting the neighbor's car and stopping at the tree.

Just very thankful that the driver didn't continue on and end up in our yard.

The perils of living near a crazy, county road.

Stay tuned for more traffic reports.

Go get smashed

Yes, I got to get smashed. What on earth does that mean? Took the girls over to the radiology center and got my yearly test.

Call them whatever you want (girls, tatas, breasts) but THAT test is a mammogram. I don't have to be reminded, really, even though the Saintarama Medical Record nagged me at my last visit to my doctor.

There are plenty of other reasons why I don't forget. I can't forget that my mother-in-law is not here anymore because of breast cancer. Neither is a woman I went to grade school with, who was a labor and delivery nurse who left behind a little girl. My next door neighbor (also a nurse) who threw hilarious parties and sang on key when she wasn't working at Private U's trauma ICU, is also not here anymore because of breast cancer.

Besides all those missing souls, I think about the ladies I've taken care of who have had breast cancer with metastasis. They became rehab patients, because they couldn't walk (or walk right) anymore.

All because of something that, in many cases, can be detected by taking the girls to get smashed.

Please, ladies, go get smashed. I'd prefer to see you visiting rehab as a volunteer or family member, not as a patient for something that just might be found by getting smashed once a year.

Thank you and good night!

Things to do on your day off

1. Get kid a passport. Bubba can't go see Uncle Fester's neighbors in Canada if he doesn't have one. It doesn't take an Act of Congress, but you do need both parents, random identity documents and about 105 bucks.

2. See old friends. Giacomo needed an excuse to play hooky from work on a January thaw kind of day, so he stayed and had coffee with the crew today. Gave me some excellent pieces of advice. Also told lots of stories. Many good laughs were had by all.

3. Run around and do errands. I had to do a few things I don't normally do, so I got them done.

4. Prepare for the all-out monster party for Bubba, since we had to postpone the last one due to snow. I'm just glad he left the goodie bags alone...for the moment.