Six-Word Saturday

"Just One More For The Road!"


Twenty minutes before coming off work this morning, one of the staff approached me to say that Mr. P (not his real name) couldn't breathe. I rushed to the room with the vitals equipment, and counted a full minute of respirations - 12. Not good. But the resident is on Morphine (with specifics), has end-stage Congestive Heart Failure, and is basically on hospice. Long story short, I got him straightened out.

Snags like this RIGHT when you're ready to leave ONE part of yourself to morph into quite another, and reverse and change roles for the day just makes me sigh "Just one more for the road!"

Sorry, I am very new to this LINK and am not quite sure if I had to explain my six words, but I did anyway.

Just one more for the road for you guys, haha! Blessings to you, and do come share yours!!

Wordless Wednesday - Smarting Up

Until Aris sets up the other computer for the boys, we will be taking turns using this one. A few days ago, I stayed way too long for the taste of my three-year-old, so when his turn came and he felt like a little snooze, he did it right there in the computer chair to make sure nobody interfered with his watching of Transformers on youtube.

Last Night

Please let me DRONE on, yup, you read it right - I won't bore you, though, I promise, but there's little else to do.

Clothes Talk
I was at work, yeah, yeah, wearing another one of my pretty scrub tops and my patients were going oooh, and my co-workers were like, "Really, Cherie, you wear a size 0? Wow, I've never worn anything UNDER 14." We were not talking about my scrubs - just ordinary clothes, this time. I said, do you know that store called Petite over at Smithfield's? It's MY store, guys, nothing else. Everywhere else, I'll have to try the BIG GIRLS section first - that's MILD for Kid's Section. Well. I like to look good, and every woman SHOULD like to look good. It need not be expensive, but it's almost like the eleventh commandment for me. Come on, now.

Well, one of my favorite patients said to me, "Cherie I don't always admire what people wear around here, but I like your blouse." It was a nice compliment while I checked her pulse.

Rashes
Before going to work, though, we picked up a refill for my Prednisone (remember the poison ivy episode some posts back?) Well, my arms, yes, it's the arms this time, started itching yesterday afternoon, pretty much controlled by Hydrocortisone (Matthew even applied salt, encouraged by tales of my childhood post-caterpillar run-ins). I was fine. Until about 9:30. Boy, the itching! Aaron was kind enough to relieve me from 11:30 till 7 this morning. I said he could have the Hardee's chicken I brought for the staff. (Blanda, the black lady in my post SCRUBBED, made a coconut pie - yum - which I ate a slice of first before leaving.)

I am so tired of these rashes. I am allergic to Penicillin and Aspirin, and was wary of crustaceans growing up. I was found allergic to one brand of lipstick, and another of shampoo. God knows plenty of people irritate the skin out of me, but i'd never been allergic to plants. Aris said I should go for a patch test to see what this is this time. He's beginning to think something from work is doing it. Hah.

Back Home
The boys were bushed but after I showered, I stayed up and a friend came up on my Yahoo Messenger. Imagine my surprise when he said he has Stage 4 Adenocarcinoma of the Right Lung. We are both nurses. My instinct wanted to know how long - you know what I mean, because stage 4 lung cancer is incurable. Surgery is out of the question because this type metastasizes to the other organs (brain, liver, bones, etc.). Chemotherapy will offer palliative relief, but nothing more. So I offerred intercessory prayers. Please include him in yours, too, so at least when it's time to go, it won't be painful.

At 5:57 am
I woke up with an intense itch on my arms and ran to the bathroom to wash them with soap and water. I didn't bother with the cream this time but downed 3 pills of Prednisone. I've never encountered as bitter pills as these in my life, so I always take P with orange juice, and if there's none, I keep a spoonful of sugar ready (Mary Poppins is right about it making the medicine go down, no doubt about that.)

I started reading Mr. Fleckenstein's blogs YESTERDAY so I'll be doing more of that today. I am very interested in how Americans view the Healthcare Reform Bill (with a thousand other names).

We'll go walking when it's not so hot. There was a nice fog over here, too, yesterday morning, we were on the lookout for deer crossing the roads.

Family: Matthew is playing with his friend Mario outside.

AJ is here: he is saying with doleful eyes: "Mom, look at me. I'm sad. I don't want Daddy going out." He is the dramatic actor of all time, and the sweetest, I tell him not to be sad, and give them the biggest hug.

The Daddy: is cleaning the Isuzu, our clunker car. He wants to get a truck if we eventually decide to cash in our old ride. It's good for short distance driving, though, and has served us well all these years, even in the harsh winters of Pittsburgh before we got our Pilot. I guess the bigger the families, the more diverse the needs, the more the priorities change no matter how attached we are to our properties. Well, a good converation piece over lunch between us later, that's for sure as we love all our stuff even the old ones.

I'm still miffed that I didn't get to see Robert Frost's House or maybe Daniel Webster's (gotta check this one out) while we were up in New Hampshire, and it does not help that my brother is ribbing me about going all the way to Connecticut in BAD weather to see Mark Twain's when RF's was right around the corner. Aaaaahhh!! I'll never live this out, but there's always something.

By the way, Mrs. Robin's NOT gone. She's been really busy feeding those big mouths - I am so wondering if the food is WORMS. Aris warns me (he is terribly protective and clearly the worrywart between us two) to keep a good distance because the mother bird he says is just hovering around but is wary of people and strangers, and the birds need to eat. So I am keeping away, and hoping they all get big and fat.

I'm really going now. Please don't say I bored you. Have a blessed Tuesday!

Aching Shoulders, Tired Eyes

Oooohh, just spent the looongest time beating a deadline (more than 15 hours of computer work). My eyes are so blurred, despite the thick lenses, I can't seem to see anymore. My shoulders are sore from the stiff position, and my back's crying for a massage.

Nursing is not all patient care. The paperwork behind it is also immense.

(Not to mention the pressure from the almighties. Ahhh!!)

Thank You, God, I am done! Will get some good rest. Hope your day was better.