Monday sick day

Yes,  I had a lovely weekend, until Sunday morning. I woke up with horrible abdominal cramps and gas. Nothing happened, so I made a breakfast of oatmeal and coffee.

All Hades broke loose, literally and figuratively. I heard a horrible growl in my stomach. That's when the diarrhea started. Whatever I ate at the fast food joint (lovingly known as Jack in the Crack --chicken) or the swanky seafood house near the fancy hotel district (scallops), did me in. After that, it was body aches, fever and diarrhea after every drink. I stayed hydrated by drinking, then running into the bathroom once an hour. Gotta love foodborne illness, or at least that's what I suspect. Needless to say, I won't be volunteering to make anything for anyone for dinner or dessert for a while, just in case.

Since I felt lousy, I actually did something I am loathe to do: take a nap. It helped, but I eventually had to take Tylenol so my fever did not get above 102. Thankfully, it broke overnight and I've been afebrile all day. The nursing supervisor actually answered my call and my boss my text when I called.

I rested today. I felt bad in the morning, but got progressively better. My stomach is still undecided, but I'm sure when I get hungry enough, my appetite will be normal again.

Heck of a way to spend a Monday. More fun to come...stay tuned.

Happy New Year...sort of

Yes, it's 2017, the New Year's festivities are over.

It's cold, we have a new president and I have a surly teenager.

Still getting used to it all and letting it all sink in. I haven't forgotten you, dear folks. I've been swamped at work and when I come home (when I don't have some viral mess that's going around the Hotel) I rest.

My biggest goal this week, is to put the Christmas decorations away. No, I am not an Orthodox Christian. I am a late packer.

Even though it may seem apocalyptic at the moment, I won't have YUGE news, a la our Cheeto-in- Chief, but at least it will be real.



More to come. 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!

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...

It figures...

My life has had shades of Murphy's Law the whole day.

1. Painters came back to the Hotel, right outside my office. What does this mean? Paint fumes galore. Thankfully, my friends upstairs let me hide out at the spare desk in their area. The painters stayed away from there.

Still don't know if our office staff chief got the painters a work order to paint my office, which hasn't been painted since the Ford Administration (which was also when the building was built...love those historical cornerstones!)

2. WildDog fell down and strained his front leg. Poor thing! He's a geriatric dog.

3. I feel a cold (or other random virus) coming on, just in time for my presentation tomorrow.

I'll be crossing my fingers (and hoping I have a voice tomorrow). Stay tuned.

Virus?

The stare.
The glaze over their eyes.
Big screen TV is on.
They have a piece of paper and snacks in front of them.
Someone gasps when a person asks to watch something else.


Yes, the illness they call March Madness has descended on RehabLand. All we can do is let it run its course, for there is no cure.

Nuggets for May 6

Here are a few goodies I've found perusing the 'net this week. Enjoy!

Something to talk about later for me at work
Epstein-Barr Virus linked to MS from www.webmd.com

Grow, blog, grow (or things I need to be doing in my spare time)
I found these gems via KevinMD's blog:

How to grow your blog to the next level with SEO from problogger.com
How to write magnetic headlines from copyblogger.com

Etc. (stuff with no category)
Trendy baby names tend to fade fast Surprise, surprise!
CDC: Don't eat raw alfalfa sprouts. Thankfully, I stopped years ago.
Face transplant patient steps forward from www.nytimes.com


Finally, it's about time category
Health insurers agree to end higher premiums for women from www.nytimes.com

Before dawn, darkness

The last few days, I've been feeling pretty terrible. The virus-of-the-month in December worked me over good enough, that I've succumbed to one or two more in the interim. I felt so terrible working on Sunday night that I finally surrendered today. It's been sinus hell and coughing for too many days, thank you very much!

I called the MD to see if I needed to come in or if something could be sent out. Apparently, I'm not the only person sick, so I got my prescription. My day today has been, first, take Bubba to school. Next, go back to bed. Wake up a couple of hours later, and call MD.

In the interim, I called in sick to work. Note: this only takes 7 (yes, seven) phone calls to actually reach a live person. What little voice I had left disappeared by the time I finally got my manager, so I creaked that I had called the MD and was not coming for my regular shift today. Manager sounded a little annoyed (no surprise), but nevertheless accepted. (At least I gave enough time to get a replacement!)

Next, I waited an hour after MD office called and confirmed that a script was sent to my local pharmacy. I got to the pharmacy and I waited, because, they, too were inundated with lots and lots of emergencies. No problem, I found a seat in the empty waiting area and sat with my coffee and a magazine. Got meds, and scurried home to take the first dose of my seven days of huge capsules. Then, it was back to bed again, to sleep a few more hours, before Hubby calls to check to make certain I'm still around...and yes, I was in the same spot...in bed!

The weather's improved markedly in our neck of the woods, but there is a bit of winter gloom still hanging around. One person I know went in for surgery and had complications that have changed her life. She's handling it well, thankfully, but when you look at the grand scheme of things, you wonder. Last year this time, one day her husband was alive, the next he had a cold, the following, he was dead.

I'm still wondering about our cancer patient. He's set for staging soon, and some days, he just won't get up. I've taken his meds to him on my med passes recently and I keep the mood light, just as I always have done, and he laughs. But, I worry for him. Hanging out in bed in a dark room in winter is just so depressing. I wish there was more I could do.

Finally, I read an interesting thing in my ANA Smart Brief today, which I get via e-mail daily. I've posted it verbatim below. I think it tells a story people don't really realize now.

Enrollment in nursing programs nationwide has increased every year for almost a decade and the worsening economy is making the profession even more popular. However, some experts say a lack of available spots in nursing schools and the hard work and dedication required of nurses could be barriers for some aspiring RNs. "Yes, it's a route to some form of job security, but you really have to want to be a nurse," said Frances LaFauci, associate dean of nursing for Suffolk County Community College, adding, "You have to be tough, physically and mentally."

Nursing is not for the faint of heart, or the paycheck. I totally agree with the toughness factor. In a way, I feel like a nurse has a lot in common with many tradesmen. I had to apprentice and learn and then go out as a journeyman (or person as you wish) and ply my trade. Everything I learn colors what I do, and I don't look at things the same anymore.

Builders build and/or maintain infrastructure that last far beyond the scope of their lifetimes. Some never see a completed project because it's so huge. What we do as nurses is immediate and visible in our practice and the lives of our patients, even if we don't see it directly. This is why I really enjoy rehab, since we see this happen literally right before our eyes.

Things change, but we adapt them and integrate them into our practice, and the life-changing component remains. And at this point in time, I can't imagine doing anything else.

One to go...

Ahh, I really like Mondays when I know that I'll be finished with my five-in-a-row schedule. Sure, I only get one day off and then I'm back until the end of the week, but one day off after five on is better than nothing!

I still feel like I'm hanging on to that random Christmas virus I got. A little nose running, a little hacking cough, a lot of perturbed nurse, who's been trying to rest and beat it. Well, we shall see how it goes!

The last few days I've had pretty much the same assignment--two patients and the med wagon again. Even with LPNs on most of this weekend, I haven't lost that. I don't mind really, since I have an easy area to deal with, and I know pretty much what they want after dealing with them all this time.

Bubba has his birthday this week, so I'll be busy getting ready for the party this weekend. We had a little craziness here with the weather, so that messed me up a bit, but now I'm getting all my stuff going. I'll be really busy tomorrow! I'm glad it's my day off!

More later...

Happy hump day to me!

Well, it's not really Wednesday, but I'm on the downward slide of my evening rotation, so this is always a good thing.

My patients have been pretty good and I'm secretly hoping we're fully staffed tonight so I can ditch the med wagon, even if it means I get another patient. I have one good one and one wacky one, so hopefully, if I end up with a third, it'll be a good one to tip the scales and keep my sanity.

I got acquainted with a new drug yesterday--the belladonna/opium suppository. One of my patient's gets this for his pain (he's a quad who's been getting up a ton for therapy since his debilitating illness). He's quite a character. At least, he's liking his CPAP now, but he still needs his "muscle relaxer" once he's ready to put it on every night at 2300. I found out that his "relaxer" is not Baclofen or something else, but rather, good old Ativan.

I still feel cruddy, but with rest and fluids and good old Mucinex, I'm tackling work pretty well. All this resting makes me feel like I'm slacking at home, but I'm hoping it'll pay off later and I'll be done with this virus soon enough.

I'm still working on my CRRN stuff. Since this is the first week of the year, I'm going to have to start a countdown.

More later on that...gotta get ready for work!