Did You Know...

"...the human head weighs EIGHT POUNDS!"
Johnathan Lipnicki in Jerry Maguire

Also, the average length of the human intestine is approximately 25 feet long.



Setting: In my patient's room a few hours after giving him a pretty potent concoction of stool softeners.

Him: What ever that was that you gave me sure did the trick!

Me: Oh good! I'm glad to hear that. That's what I'm here for!

Him: By the way. How long ARE a person's intenstines?

Me: (thinking this is going somewhere I don't necessarily want to go) I'm not sure. Maybe 20 feet. That would be my best guess but I can go look it up if you want. Why? (Why I asked why was purely habitual and impulsive. Ok. Maybe I was a tad curious.)

Him: Because I think I pooped about eight feet.

Me: (laughing) And lost about eight pounds.




My job is done here.

A Cardinal Rule of Radiation Oncology

This room had not been cleared for use
by nuclear medicine at the time these photos were taken.
Somebody should have notified the bird.

I am a participant in Holidailies 2007.

Conversations

According to the Local on the 8's
Currently In My Area

Rain Showers
60°F

Feels Like
60°F

Updated: Dec 7 05:45 p.m. MT

Setting: Talking on the phone with my friend KB, who just nailed her job interview, about those who view nursing as 'just a job'.

Her: It's more than that. It's not just something you do for a paycheck. Something you sit at home and complain about having to go do.

Me: It is when it's cold and raining outside and you're laying on your couch covered by a comforter and a warm puppy!


(I jest. Kind of.)

Letter to Tony

Dear Tony,

It's been almost three years since you passed away. I think about you when people speak of you and when little things happen that remind me of you. I especially think of your mom at Christmas time. I hope that she's doing alright and that you are watching over her because I'm sure she misses you a lot.
This week, I cleaned the house and unpacked my Christmas decorations and came across your old friend, the penguin, who used to adorn your IV pole, which looked more like a Christmas tree this time of year. Just so you know, he is doing fine and we are happy to have him around. I wanted to share some photos and let you know what he's been up to.

It's Nice to See You

It was a little challenging when Dookie came to stay because, well, the destruction of animals filled with stuffing is her favorite past time. Needless to say, your penguin was a bit hesitant to meet her.

Where is that dog?
Which way did she go?

In the end, it all turned out ok.

Meeting Dookie

He does all sorts of things to keep busy and stay out of trouble during the holidays. Occasionally though, he gets a wild feather up his tail and I need to intervene.

Cutting Loose

Most of the time, he's on his best behavior. You would be so proud.

Watching good quality, family programming.

Reading "Santa Claus: The World's Number One Toy Expert" by Marla Frazee

When he's good, he gets rewarded with his favorite holiday beverage.

Everybody loves a cup of hot coco.

He loves to help me write my posts for Holidailies and read my favorite blogs.

Writing this post.

Reading Jenni's blog.

I have just tucked him into bed for the night. He says for me to tell you that he misses you and he hopes you have a Merry Christmas.

Nighty Night.

Thank you for entrusting him to me. He has become an integral part of the holidays.
Merry Christmas, Tony.

With Love,
Kathy




I am a participant in Holidailies 2007.

7 More Things

Seven Reasons Why Working Weekend-Night Shift Does Not Suck

1. No rush hour. There is hardly any traffic on the freeways or service streets. This means I can take another ten minutes to get ready, laze around and goof off.
2. Parking is a breeze since the closest parking lot is usually not occupied by the weekday-ers.
3. No waiting. You are almost certain to catch the elevator immediately. Also, the awesome, weekender elevator crew are more likely to offer you a ride when you need it.
4. No fuss. No muss. Ancillary staff are at a minimum. Procedures, scans and treatments (unless STAT or ASAP) are usually held until Monday morning. Doctors round later. This means blood draws, weights, vital signs and other unpleasantries that wake my patients can wait until later so I can blog chart longer.
   
5. Ativan, Benadryl, Restoril, Xanax are the patients' drugs of choice at this hour.
6. I get to work with the bestest, craziest and funnest people during these shifts.
7. Aside from being named the newest possible carcinogen, while working the weekend-night shift you have access to the best holiday store hours with the least number of shoppers during the week and a legitimate excuse to sleep all day. Hallelujah!
   

I am a participant in Holidailies 2007.

That Kind of Night

She* came out of the room, cursed a little under her breath and threw her glove down. This is how it landed, I swear.




*I'm finished with the third person too, I swear.

27/365 W.N.

You had a wife, children and cancer of the esophagus. One of my first patients after becoming licensed, I wish I could have eased your suffering more. After seven years- I still remember your face.




I am a participant in x365.

Heard at Work Lastnight

"My crack hurts. Can I borrow your lip stuff?"

Rosati's To the Rescue

Oncology nurses get similar responses when people find out what they do for a living. We hear, "Isn't it depressing? That must be so hard. I could never do that," to which I reply: Yes, sometimes it's a tough job but I love my patients and taking care of them and their families. Caring for them and seeing them along their journey through diagnosis, treatment and planning for the unforeseeable future is nothing compared to the physical and emotional suffering that they experience every day. If I can help to make that journey a tiny bit easier, then I have done my job. I can not imagine doing anything else.

Note to self: You are human.

This morning, I left work a big bawling baby. A total of four embarrassing melt downs, one of which occurred at a patient's bedside. Six nights on a pod full of confused, yelling, incontinent patients is manageable. Add to that the previously discussed elements of the job I love and it is just a matter of time before the breaking point is reached.

I feel like I'm insane.
No alarm. I woke up at 7pm. I have decided to take tonight off from work. I talked with the designee (charge nurse, head nurse) and arranged a preplanned sick call.

Tonight, I am regaining my sanity with mind numbing TV (currently an ANTM mini-marathon), celeb bashing magazines and junk food. I am going to play with my puppy, catch up on your blogs and eat pizza.

My first bite and I already feel better.






Thanks Head Nurse for the advice on how to do it right.

Weekly News: Tofu, Life and Passing

Asian Chicken Salad from Pei Wei...
minus chicken, plus tofu

My wonderful extern, 'K', and HUS, 'V', were so awesome and went out to get us food for dinner at work last night. The consensus was Pei Wei, a step down from the pricey PF Chang's, but equally yummy. One of the ICU nurses, who happens to be a vegetarian recommended the Asian Chicken Salad but instead of chicken, tofu. Keeping with my low carb, low lipid diet, I decided that this was a good option and decided to try something new. So this week's new experience helped me to stay on course. They forgot the ginger dressing (which everyone who had tried it before claimed it to be "fabulous") so I tried it plain... the mint leaves were somewhat overpowering so I resorted to Newman's Own Italian (my favorite and loaded with bad stuff... so just a drizzle). It was pretty good and I would order it again. I expected tofu to be mushy white ick but it was pretty darn firm and tasty. I was actually surprised that it LOOKED a lot like chicken strips.
On another note... work news. A patient that I had been taking care of for the last four nights passed away. The multitude of family that was there at the beginning of the shift had just left, except for two. I was there with his son and his wife when he took his last breath. It is an indescribable experience to witness such a thing. My heart went out to his family as he came in a few nights ago, walking, talking, laughing, waiting for treatment when things took a turn for the worse. Such a nice person in general. I am so glad that my patient had family there with him when he finally left this earth. Mostly though, I am glad his son decided to stay. He was the one I was most concerned about because he did not seem ready to lose his dad. He will now have this moment and memory that he was there for his dad in his final hour. He passed quietly and peacefully.
When I tell people that I work on an oncology unit I get asked quite a bit if losing patients bothers me or if it gets too depressing. Yes, I have to admit that it is overwhelming at times but for the most part I am grateful that I am able to make such a difficult time for people a little more bearable a burden. When he finally passed, I was sad for the family. I took a long look at my patient and felt more sad knowing what a decent person he was and what a loss it is that he is gone.
It's funny though, that while I was alone with him, cleaning him, packing up his things, that I only began to tear up when I saw, among his clothing, some nice pants, shoes and a pair of suspenders. I'm not sure why it affected me like it did but I can see him not as a patient but as a person I could have said "hello" to at the grocery store or walking down the street.

I am so glad that I do what I do.

All In A Night's Work

"Where is my BRAIN?!"

When I'm working I have to keep updating my patient reports for the oncoming dayshift. This jumbled mess is also known as "my brain", and is not unlike the real thing. It may not look like it but it helps me to organize my 'to-do's', Dr's orders, nightly events, etc. If I misplace it (and it's been known to happen quite a bit) the poor dayshift nurse is in for quite the discombobulated (I love that word) shift report.