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!

Happiest of Fridays to you

I didn't run away. I've been busy cramming everything in, so I could have a day off. One project plan, three appointments, a consult, a specialty service visit, four phone calls, one patient portal enrollment, one transferred patient and a grand rounds presentation.

So today, I escaped.The sun came out after what seemed like weeks of clouds and rain. I found my sunglasses and wore them.What a day it was!

I visited friends I had not seen in a long time. I shopped and went out for breakfast, lunch and dinner, which meant no dishes for me to wash ALL DAY. It was like being on vacation at a hotel without leaving.

I also celebrated another birthday this week. It was fun. Health IS wealth, and I feel like a millionaire now that I am almost done with my antibiotics (from whatever URI I got around Thanksgiving.)

Hope you enjoy your weekend wherever you are!

More to come...

The good, the bad, the ugly

The good: the sun eventually came out today. The torrents of rain ended before I was ready to leave the Hotel.

The bad: I had to send my slightly squirrely EKG to my provider today. She never called me back, so I take it that it wasn't anything major.

The ugly: The ways people from our interdisciplinary team manage to talk about how nursing is "so unprofessional" and maybe we need training.

I really wanted to bang my head on the table. Why not? It's just another form of not-so-subtle nurse bashing.

And I get to be the battering ram before our group at an area meeting tomorrow. Nice.

I'm taking backup.

To be continued...

TMBG fun

The sun is a mass of incandescent gas...and ain't it a fun way to learn?  Nothing like a little TMBG to lighten things up.

Hope you're enjoying your weekend, sun or not.