Exercise, errands and sleep deprivation

Sure, a staycation is fun, if it doesn't involve cramming in as many things as possible.

Recently, Bubba and I finally made it to the eye doctor, after a couple of misses due to doctor being trapped out of town and some scary weather. We were at the office for a while (in the middle of the most beautiful day so far this year) but Bubba was reasonably happy and passed his vision tests. He's getting a new headache med, too, so more fun.

He was, however, not thrilled that he had to get a blood draw, due to some other issues. I had to hug him from behind while two phlebotomists held him still. Just touching his arm made him jump. Finally, we got the job done with a butterfly (which is one of the few things they let us have at the Hotel for our clientele).

Most of my errands got completed. I also got a wonderful deal on some tires for the family truckster after shopping around. This was a good thing since we were 1/32 away from having bald tires (at least that's what the indicator says). Outside of that, the truckster is lubed, adjusted and happy.

Bubba and I have had fun at our local rec center. I finally caved in and joined, so the whole family can get in on the fun. It also helps that membership makes Bubba's summer camp experiences cheaper (and pays for our summer membership months). Now, I've just got to make time to go over and exercise. There are a few classes I like: kickboxing being one of them. I haven't taken one of those in years, so I look forward to it.  It's a great stress reliever, especially from the Manglement shenanigans at the Hotel.

My day is winding down, so we'll be visiting our orthodontist. I'm hoping soon we're to the point of less visits (getting really close). Cross your fingers!

'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...

I've always wanted a cattle prod

But, alas, they are not FDA approved.

However, maybe the Manglement at the Hotel will advocate for our patients to start wearing sets of these so they do pressure relief when they're rolling around the unit.

I'm sure those docs in Calgary already thought of the cattle prod and got shot down, too. Shout out to my peep Ray-Ray and his family. (I sure miss P. and the stories about Timmy's and your orders just "appearing" when you walked in.)

I love the last line...all you rehab peeps know they HAD to say this or they'd short staff us all.

That is all...back to grad school madness.

On the cusp

Drugs are not always necessary.  Belief in recovery always is.  ~Norman Cousins
 
New beginnings: the Hotel got some much needed rehabbing and the occupants (staff and patients) are overjoyed. Nothing like new stuff to make people happy. The SU got some upgrades and will get more as the remodeling goes on down the way.

The end of the odyssey: my sick relative is finally going home after a trip through one hospital (twice) and one nursing home. Problems can indeed by solved eventually if you have a nervy nurse who just keeps asking questions. (The nervy nurse would be me.)

The beginning of the end of the great grad school journey: I have my date at PublicU for my exams, now all I have to do is work on my paper and my slide show and I'll be done. Hard to believe I will be done in less than two months.

Back to work....more to come.

Sometimes I wonder...

How in the world you go to the mechanic for an oil change and car inspection and come out several Benjamins lighter in the pocketbook. I remember now. I like having breaks with intact lines!

Not nearly as much fun as buying shoes, though.

While we await the fun-filled weekend with Bubba watching the National Spelling Bee, I finally got Dahey to get to the lab to get the orders the doctor sent over a month ago drawn. I called the nurse and once I told him that she said one lab had to be sent out and he'd have to wait two weeks to hear what happened, he decided to go. I got to accompany him.

So much fun. Lots of labs, but luckily only three little tubes.The best part: the look on his face when the phlebotomist told him he'd have to give 13. Priceless!

I don't think he's going to goof off in the lab anymore...stay tuned.

Yes, there's relief.

This week's assignments done. Laundry done, dishes in the dishwasher, little kid scrubbed and tucked in bed after a motherlode of goodies in a plastic pumpkin full of at least 5 lbs. of candy, and early to boot! Vegetating listening to this album.

WildDog at my feet after an Indian summer afternoon lounging in the yard, barking at passersby.

Dahey's celebrating his OT today by soaking in the tub.

Wish these hours of stillness could last a little longer!

A little light cynicism

Oh, it's the latest initiative...put everyone in a room, have them bring their lunches and talk. Yes, they've brought back the famous "lunch and learn" but not on any topics you want to learn about. (I'm just hoping most people aren't bringing this lunch along, or it will probably negate whatever they learn.)

No, our topic is, in a nutshell, "how do we get along and play well with others without acting like primadonnas." Guess we gotta start somewhere.

Thankfully, none of these are mandatory...and many are planned on my regularly scheduled day off. I'll be thinking about the stress relievers as I relieve my stress at home cleaning or at the salon getting my regularly scheduled services.

As they say, charity does really begin at home.

On to sunny skies...

I told G. I'd go since she was leaving town. I wandered back on the unit at Saintarama to celebrate one of the techs I worked with there. Suzy was a bright, cheery older woman, who worked really hard and took wonderful care of her patients...and I'm not just saying that.

When Suzy had an assignment, you breathed a sigh of relief. You knew your back was covered. Suzy knew what was going on because she was out in the rooms taking care of her people. You didn't have to ask her if it was done, because she just did it. They tell you a lot about working with unlicensed personnel in nursing school, but if they had a poster child for a nurse's dream unlicensed staff member, Suzy would have been on it.

You could occasionally help Suzy...if by chance she missed something because she was with someone else for a moment and you snuck in to do it. She always came to work immaculate--hair done just so, clothes pressed, makeup on. The patients loved her and she loved the patients.

They also tell you about having staff reinforce different teaching points with patients, and Suzy was a champ. I remember one of my patients had had a UTI, and Suzy even told her family to bring in a big bottle of cranberry juice, so she could make sure her patient had it every day, in case our dietary folks forgot theirs. Suzy fed this patient on each shift she worked, so I knew she'd get that cranberry juice, even though the patient said, "I'm never going to drink it again, I've had so much." When she saw Suzy, she always relented and drank it. "I don't want another infection," she said, looking at Suzy.

When I found out Suzy had cancer, I really wanted to see her, but I missed the party they threw for her. She wanted her wake while she was alive, she said, so a bunch of staff went to her house and threw a barbecue. Suzy was weak, but loved every minute of it.

So, today, on a beautiful spring day, we celebrated her life, which ended a few weeks ago. Always giving, Suzy willed her body to one of the local medical schools. The service was beautiful --there were prayers and tears and lots of stories about her perfectly coiffed hair (which was usually a wig, since she loved wigs.) Her goddaughters showed up, children in tow, and one from across the country, to release bunches of balloons in her favorite color, yellow.

And they floated skyward in a gentle breeze. One strayed and looked as if it would land on the spike of one of the wings of the hospital, but quickly, it was lifted up by a gust, and floated toward the others. Perhaps, just another sign, of a part of Suzy wanting to stay behind.

Nuggets for March 20

Here are a few items of note for today:

Heparin Discovery May Point to Chinese Counterfeiting (from http://www.nytimes.com/)
I suspect I may get a few refusals to take this if people have been watching TV.

For amputees, an unlikely painkiller: Mirrors
An interesting therapy being studied to relieve phantom pain.

We take care of our own
Another installment on gratitude (and what happens when patients leave) from Podunk Memorial. Short...but sweet.