Early Saturday Morning

Hello...my the days are just flying.  I've been off since Thursday morning, and I can't think of what it is that I've done besides sleep a lot.  But then, I haven't been doing a lot of that lately so I guess I've needed it.

But boy was Wednesday night at work c-r-a-z-y until about 2:00am.  I got there and the charge nurse had called in sick so it was me.  The first hour was "DeLana...DeLana...DeLana...DeLana...DeLana" until I said "I'm changing my name!".  I had put myself out in triage and I couldn't even get out there for a whole hour.  I did bring one patient back during that time, but I didn't check anyone new in.  I just kept looking at the computer to see what their complaints were and they were all "fast-track" things like sore throats and hurt wrists.  But the ambulances!  Oh man they didn't let up for hours.  I needed monitor beds for this person, but not for that person so rotating beds and rooms.

I had drunks being brought in addition to the ones already there.  Car wrecks.  Every nurse had four rooms, and that is alot in an ER.  We had people in the halls.  Then finally about 1:45am this one fire guy said "I think we should you give you guys a break and go somewhere else for a while."  Oh gee, you think?  Thanks!  Oh the joys of my job.

Then the head honcho doctor who is the Medical Director of the ER was working and he saw his "chest pain" patient up walking in the hall and he got mad.  He was like "Why is my chest pain wandering the hallways?"  I'm like, "I don't know, maybe she had to go to the bathroom."  He's like "No!  Chest pains do not wander the hallways and she needs to be on oxygen."  Okay.  Not everything is that black and white, but until weknow what is going on with that person, the nurse should have asked before letting her up.  So I said "I'll take care of it."  And I thought I had.  I got the patient back on the monitor, added oxygen, and spoke with the nurse about it.  About an hour later the nurse said "Did you tell Dr. that it was me who let the chest pain patient up?"  "No, because until I hooked the patient up and asked her let her up Ididn't know who did it."  He said, "Oh because Dr griped me out."  So I was like "Oh. I'm surprised, because I said I would handle it and I thought I had."  He was like "Oh...okay."  But geez, come on.  Any ER nurse should have known better than that one.  This guy is a traveler and drives me crazy.  He was here a few months back and then went to Hawaii on an assignment and started working here again about a couple of months ago.  No one likes working with him, not because he isn't a nice guy cause he is, but because he is lazy and always cuts corners.  And he used to get off at 3:00am and I would always get furious every time I followed him.  But now he gets off at 7:00am. I can tell you his contract might not get renewed if day shift is getting pissed off.  Sad to think that it takes day shift getting mad to do anything about something, but that is the way the world turns.  Okay, that is probably more than you wanted to know, right?

 

To catch you up on this urologist that I saw earlier this week is that she will probably exhaust me if she doesn't kill me first, lol.  I'm supposed to go 2 times a week for the next 3 weeks for a "bladder rescue" so to speak.  Basically, the medication I have been taking orally will be used with other medications to help heal my bladder quicker.  She is also going to do a scope the first time (yea!) to make sure she knows what my bladder and urethra look like.  That should be fun.  But, at least she is being very proactive.  She and her staff were very professional and nice, a big change.  And I told her why I'm not going to see the other doctor anymore, too.  She also listened to me more and what I had to say about my "female" issues and that I felt that was a contributing factor in my bladder problems.  She agreed.  Wow!

 

The only thing I didn't like about her is that she tried to psychoanalyze me.  I can put up with that to a degree to get what I want done.  She said that I don't like to think about things and that equals added stress to my body, yadda yadda yadda.  Even threw in sexual abuse as a child issues.  So not!  I told her flat out and she just smiled.  What?  Were we all abused as children or just her?  Anyway, I can put up with that to a degree. I did come out and tell her that "I'm not listening to you...I'm ignoring you" several times and she just laughed.  She said "at least your being honest". 

 

Another thing is that I was upfront and honest about being a nurse and David being a doctor.  The only thing she chastised me for was self-treating without making sure what was really going on, i.e. infection versus inflammation.  She has a point.  But I think we all are guilty of this in the medical profession to a degree, and she agreed.

 

Look at me.  It's 6:00am and I'm up.  I laid down with Caleb and slept for a few hours and now I'm up.  I'm getting sleepy again so I'm gonna log off and try and get some rest.  We've got to run to the library and get a book Hannah needs for school, and then I promised the kids we would go to the movies.  Caleb wants to see "Night at the Museum." Looks good, ought to be fun.

 

Hope you all have a great weekend!

 

De

Tags: work, urologist, kids, sleep

Wednesday - Already?

Okay, short and sweet.  Gotta hurry up and jump in the shower in a minute and get ready for work.

David woke me up this morning at 9:45 and said "the alarm guy is here" like I was supposed to know he was coming today.  I'm like "don't you know I have to work today?"  And he's like "you didn't tell me that when I scheduled him"  So I'm like "you didn't ask me when to schedule him".  Ugh.  Gonna be a long night ahead of me.  I hear Starbucks calling my name!  Ugh.  It's gonna be a long day.  Hope I don't get too grouchy.  I did manage to sneak in a couple hour nap between so maybe not too bad. 

 

I did go see that new urologist yesterday.  I think she was trying to save my soul, lol, but I like her anyways.  I'll have to catch you up on that later.  I'm off the next couple of days.

 

Oh and incase it takes me a couple of days to respond, thanks to all my J-land friends who visit me and leave such nice comments all the time.  And thanks to the newbies as well.  Come on in, sit down, stay awhile.  You're sure to find something to laugh about and make you feel better about your own less hectic lives, at least I hope. :)

 

De

 

Tags: wedneday, alarm, urologist

Sunday - After 11 Hours of Sleep

Okay, so I'm in a better mood today.  Got some sleep last night.  I finally gave up the fight and went to bed around 10:00pm.  That was 32 hours awake.  Oh I know I shouldn't do stuff like that, but I didn't feel that tired, but I sure crashed like I was.  I laid in bed trying to watch the news and I don't remember much else until David's alarm went off at 9:15 this morning.  Kind of mad me all irritable since he wasn't even in the bed.  I tried to go back to sleep, but I guess that was all she wrote.

I didn't tell you how Caleb's martial arts "graduation" went yesterday.  Let me start off by telling you I'm used to much more rigid testing and events.  And this ended up not being a "test" like I thought it was going to be, but some demonstrations of what they all do in class.  Caleb didn't hardly do much except stand at attention, say his class mantra, "This is a black belt school, etc", and flip his numchucks a little bit.  Boring!  Even Caleb thought so.  And then when it was over all they did was pass out the belts.  No black belt but the new belt on!  I didn't like that.  But we put it on for him and here is the boy...

  I think he is all happy it is over.  Ha ha, so is Mom.

Hey I got some energy today and actually...drumrolll please...c-l-e-a-n-e-d.  Alas, all good things comes to an end and I ran out of steam before I got to finished.  But I rearranged my spice cabinet and my coffee and tea cabinet.  I moved my pots and pans around into a more organized manner.  Washed some laundry.  Cleaned the kitchen.  Then I attacked this big pile of boxes that Stephanie has stacked up over the last month or so.  She makes me so mad because her idea of cleaning is moving stuff around and placing them into stacks.  She doesn't actually put anything up, so it's much harder on me that way.  I'm going to tell her to not clean if all she is going to do is stack stuff. 

Lindsi has been working out really well, which is good because I don't know how much longer I am going to use Stephanie at all.  She has four shifts this month, that is it.  Next month maybe less if she keeps this crap up.  Ugh.  It's so hard since she's David's daughter.  I have to keep the peace and balance that with letting her know that the job she is doing for me is less that substandard.  Is anyone seeing my ugly step-mom warts yet?

I'm working tomorrow, so if I don't touch base, have a great couple of days!

De

Tags: sleep, martial arts, cleaning

Sleep Deprived and Other Subjects

Okay...I've been up for like 31 hours and I'm feeling a little, let's say, witchy ().  So I'm just gonna jump right in and say I have a message for my stepdad...

...because seriously, I think it should be.

Sorry to all my J-Land friends if I offend you.  Sorry most of all to my Mom for the way you've been treated.

I love you, Mom!

 De

Tags: mom

Friday! Whoo Hoo!

Hello one and all!  For those of you who have a traditional work week...it's Friday!  For those of us who have different schedules every week and month, at least you don't have to worry about the kids and school tomorrow.  Yea!

Well, how is it going?  I'm still trying to wake up after being "awake" for about 2 hours.  I guess I better since I've got to work tonight.  Hopefully this fully moon that is wanning will have less effect on the goings on in the ER tonight that they did the last shift.  Our security guard, Sue, said "I'll be glad when this full moon night is over!".  We did have a few crazies.

Even though I don't have to get to pick Caleb up from school tomorrow after working all night, he is going to have his first belt test in Martial Arts tomorrow at 2:00pm.  He is going to be so cute!  But...Yawn!  I'll have to do something like take pictures and bore you with them later so I can stay awake, lol.

I'm going to post something here that I received in an email from my friend Jude today.  I know it is probably making the email rounds and many of you may or may not have read this yet, but with the changes going on in the Cabinet and in Congress this week, I thought it would be appropriate to remember that no matter how you personally feel about this administration or the Iraq War, we must always, first and foremost, support the brave men and women who die and risk their lives everyday to make sure that our freedoms are protected.

May God continue to Bless America and each and every one of you!

 Best explanation I have ever seen---
Cindy Sheehan asked President Bush, "Why did my son have to die in Iraq?"
Another mother asked President Kennedy, "Why did my son have to die in Viet Nam?"
Another mother asked President Truman, "Why did my son have to die in Korea?
Another mother asked President F. D. Roosevelt, "Why did my son have to die at Iwo Jima?"
Another mother asked President W. Wilson, "Why did my son have to die on the battlefield of France?"
Yet another mother asked President Lincoln, "Why did my son have to die at Gettysburg?"

And yet another mother asked President G. Washington, "Why did my son have to die near Valley Forge?"

Then long, long ago, a mother asked, "Heavenly Father, why did my son have to die on a cross outside of Jerusalem?"

The answers to all these are similar -- "that others may have life and dwell in peace, happiness and freedom."

IF YOU DON'T STAND BEHIND OUR TROOPS, PLEASE, FEEL FREE TO STAND IN FRONT OF THEM!!

 

De

Tags: Freedom, Iraq, Troops

Wednesday - Holiday Update

I'm sitting here in front of the 'puter (duh) trying to get up and be productive.  Not being very successful.  I don't really feel very good today.  So, not that I'm seeking pity (but feel bad for me if you want, lol), I thought I would update you on the holiday happenings.

Christmas Day:  Flew out to DFW and arrived in good time to my sister, Gennie's house for dinner.  I was starving, so I had to eat a little bit before the big meal.  That way I didn't eat more than my share.  Daddy and Rita were there,too, for the celebration, but had to leave early as he had to open the pharmacy the next morning.  Later on the little kiddos exchanged gifts and we grownups, or nearly grownups  played Dirty Santa.  A holiday tradition made necessary by our ever growing family.  Thank goodness the baby making is over except for maybe Kathryn, who brought her boyfriend, Scott.  I don't think my feeble mind can keep up with much more, lol.

Tuesday:  We slept in and missed the big breakfast cooked by Mom, darn, not!  Ha ha!  We were so tired.  David  had worked Christmas Eve and I had only slept 6 hours in 3 days so we were beat.  We got up and wandered over to Gennie's and hung out a little bit.   Elizabeth & Alan drove down, yea!  We all ate dinner, but I can't remember what exactly, ha ha.  Oh geez, I must be brain dead because David & I bought CiCi's pizza for everyone.  That was 11 (count them) large pizzas!

Wednesday: Again, slept in some.  Got up and hit Target and Town East Mall on our way over to Rockwall to visit David's parents, Paula & Bob.    We had a nice visit and Paula cooked some yummy homemade sour cream chicken enchiladas.  I'll have to get the recipe cause they just disappeared.

Thursday:  Okay, you know we had to do a big shop, right?  We slept in again (are you getting the pattern here?) and drove up to Grapevine Mills, which is an outlet mall.  We hit the stores, and then all watched Happy Feet.  Now Caleb & I had seen it before, but no one else had.  It was so good.  After that, Elizabeth & Alan had to drive home, boo, hoo.  We stayed up a little late getting some pre-packing done as we were leaving the next day.  Darn it, shopped too much, gonna have to buy another suitcase just to get home.  Geez!

Friday:  Ugh.  I hate getting up early, don't you?  LOL.  Not like we did a lot of it, but when you have to get out the hotel, you gotta get out.  David could hardly move.  He had hurt his back on Christmas Day, and it just got worse.  So...we dropped the kiddos off at Gennie's and went to the local hospital ER.  Now isn't that ironic that here we both are an ER doctor and nurse and are sitting in an ER lobby on our vacation (and no, we did not tell them we were in the medical profession).  After getting  David taken care of we head back to Gennie's in a thunderstorm.  Tornados at DFW.  Great.  I check our flight and it's been delayed from 8:00pm until 10:15pm.  Okay, double, double, triple check it.  We head out about 7:45pm to DFW, turn the rental car in, and stand in line at the ticket counter to check bags only to find out our flight is canceled.  Oh great again.  By this time it is 11:00pm.  We grab a shuttle to a nearby hotel but with no car and hotel room service closed there is nothing but vending machine food to eat.  Triple great.  Now I know how those poor people in Denver felt, ugh.  But bad news.  David lost one of his bags with his computer, checkbook and pain medicine somewhere after we left the ticket agent.  Oh man, oh man!  We call a hundred different numbers and no luck.  Nothing to do but pray.

Saturday:  So we set our alarm to get up and eat some real food for breakfast but everyone is so tired we over sleep.  I mean not one of us heard the darn alarm!  Okay, we didn't starve (which I could use a little bit of anyway) and make it to the airport and check in with plenty of time to grap some decent food.   You will never guess what.  David heads over to lost and found and guess what is there waiting for him?  His bag with the computer, checkbook, and medicines all there!  No way to explain this except a miracle from God!  Merry Christmas!! Meet some really nice people, exchange addresses, etc.  Get on our plane and finally make it home around 6:30pm.  Oh...did I mention I had to work?  I took about a 2 1/2 hour power nap, showered, and went to work at 11:00pm for my 7pm shift.  I did let staffing know the night before and they were very understanding.  Thank goodness there wasn't too much drama at work, I don't think I would have had the energy for it, KWIM?

Sunday:  Was there a Sunday?  Ha ha!  I think I slept most of it away.  I honestly can't remember what we did.  Oh wait, it was New Year's Eve!  We went across the street to the neighbors and actually mingled for the first time since moving into our house in June.  Yes, we are so anti-social, but since the sun had set we knew it was probably safe to venture out, ha ha.  We stayed until after midnight to welcome in the new year with champagne.  Even Hannah had some and felt all "bubbly".

Monday:  Slept in and went to work.  I was in charge (yea) and worked triage.  Thank goodness, again, not too much drama.  We did have this one guy who came back twice w/in 2 hours.  Homeless, just wanted a place to sleep.  But you know what he did each time he was discharged?  He went out to the lobby and called 911.  Well, there is a law against calling 911 from an ER lobby.  It is an abuse of the system and I don't know the exact wording of the law, but you generally get a ticket.  Well, since he did it 3 times he got arrested.  So I guess he finally got his warm place to sleep for the night, huh?

Tuesday:  Hmmm, kinda seems to have gone by in a blur.  Oh yeah, I slept.  Then I cooked dinner (don't die of shock, lol).  And my family actually ate almost every single bite if you can believe that.  It was some lemon chicken, snow peas and potatoes, rice, and peas.  It was very yummy if I do say so myself.  David had to be at work at 10pm and I laid down with Caleb.  Do you know I slept from 9:30pm until 4:45 this morning in the little tikes room.  So now I've been up since then!  So much for not being a morning person, lol.

Wednesday:  Today!  So I guess you know I've been up since before the crack of dawn.  Got little man up for school and literally had to drag his butt out of bed.  Literally!  Then I've just been ho humming around here.  Dishes, laundry, computer.  Running to the grocery store.  Nothing much exciting.  I think the boy will go to martial arts tonight, Hannah too.  Oh, I tried Starbucks new Cinnamon Dolce Latte ...to die for!  Yum!  Go try it yourself and report back to me, that is an order! 

Have a great day! 

De

Tags: holidays

Happy New Year

Happy New Year to everyone in J-Land.  May this year find you happy, healthy and prosperous!

 De

Tags: new year