My heart's desire...

Waiting on the Lord.

Seeking Him alone.

Fighting the battle daily....Praise the Lord it has already been WON!

Finding rest and contentment in Him.

His perfect timing.

Pray without ceasing.

Stool softeners, Jugular veins, Chest tubes and Cookies!

My job.  On a daily basis I question perfect strangers about their bowel routine, literally I want to know...."if everything came out alright".  A question most people don't REALLY want to know the answer to.  Last week, I had a patient tell me she was "shaking on the inside"  and I looked up to see her jugular vein literally shaking in her neck.  In that moment it took everything within me to remain calm, cool and collected....which only became more difficult when I was assessing the situation and I realized that I couldn't really hear her heart!  Problem?!  Yes!  I made a few quick decisions and notified a doctor and within a few minutes and several tests later....my patient was enjoying the rest of her dinner.  Today I cared for a patient that has a chest tube.  I don't know if you know what that it is, but it is exactly like it sounds.  It is a tube that is inserted into the lung to allow drainage to drain out of the lung so as to prevent someone from drowning in their own fluid, essentially.  FYI...chest tubes can be scary, as you can imagine....if something goes wrong the lung could collapse almost immediately....not cool!  

Not only is my job odd...it is stressful.  When I really think about the things that I do on a daily basis and who and what I am responsible for....it makes me sick to my stomach, still....3 years later.  I often dread going to work because I know the next 12+ hours are going to be full of stress.

But....there are days like today that make it all worth it.  Today I cared for a lady who was riding a motorcycle and was t-boned by a car (my chest tube patient).  She is one sick lady.  All day long I was anxious as I thought about all of the possibilities that could go wrong for her.  Thankfully, I was able to witness incredible improvement in her today!  Today, she stood for the first time!  Today she held a real conversation!  And today, she told me what a difference I made AND today,  her family gave me homemade chocolate chip cookies!  Today....I love my job.

Yes, my 95 year old patient did ask if I wanted to see her tattoo?!

She was kidding....of course.  But let me tell you, this grandma cracked me up!  It is not everyday that I care for someone who is 95 years old, let alone 95 and with it enough to know they have lived for 95 years!  When I walked into this patient's room, I knew right away that this woman was not your average 95 year old!  I saw a very thin woman sitting upright in bed with a pair of trendy plastic framed glasses, wearing a wig (slightly askew) cut into quite the cute hair cut!  I introduced myself and began asking typical admission questions.  Everyone that is admitted to our hospital is asked if they have a living will.  (You know...the document stating how you would like to be cared for in the event you are unable to make your own decisions.)  FYI: most elderly people have one.  So..I ask "Do you have a living will?", to which she quickly replied with plenty of attitude "No, do you?!"  Like it was weird that she might have one, and I didn't....I mean, she is ONLY 70 years older than I am!  So, next I ask about heroic measures.  (DNR/DNI: Do Not Resuscitate/ Do Not Intubate vs. doing everything possible to keep someone alive)  So when asked what her wishes are she says "Yeah right!  Like I want to pay thousands of dollars to die, if I am going to die, I am going to die FOR free!!"  Good point grandma!

Beijing Olympics 2008

8/8/08....What a day?!  A day that will no doubt go down in history as the day that China showed the world a glimpse into their beautiful culture.  Last Friday marked a special day, not only as the start of the world coming together to compete in the Olympics, but a day that I hope and believe gave the world a new and different view of China.  So much of what the Chinese people displayed in the opening ceremonies is part of what I have grown to love about China and its dedicated people.  The opening ceremonies were about the people of China, their culture and what they are capable of with their commitment and respect for each other and their country.  Wow.  

I will be the first to admit that China and it's government has several issues that I wholeheartedly disagree with.  The control the government has over the Chinese people and their questionable issues in regard to human rights, are all not okay.  But, take a minute with me to appreciate how far China has come, even in a few years and definitely within my lifetime.  I think we need to start focusing on the things the Chinese government has made right in the last several years and hope that they will continue to act in ways that benefit the people of China, in ways that will restore their human rights.  We have so much to learn from each other, from different cultures and the Chinese are a very special people that we as Americans have a lot to learn from.  I love China and often wonder why God has chosen to put this group of people on my heart.  Why China?  I don't know, but I do know that I have a love for the people of China that I cannot explain.  Pray with me....for the Olympics, the world's view of China and the country of China on a whole.  

"Will you braid my mullet?"

Eww...you have got to be kidding me?  No, no I am not kidding.  Last week a patient was calling for the help of a CNA or Certified Nurse Assistant.  I was not sure where my assistant was, so I assumed she was busy helping someone else.  Being the helpful nurse that I am, I decided to answer the call, so as not to keep the patient waiting.  I walked into this patient's room thinking he would need his ice water filled or something.  I walk in and my patient is sitting on the edge of the bed extending his hand toward me holding a hair tie.  The next thing I know, this 50+ year old overweight man is asking me to braid his wet waste length MULLET!!!!  I quickly tried to think of a good excuse...but instead found myself holding the hair tie and staring at this man's stringy mullet.  At that point, I just decided to braid this mullet as fast as possible!  Gross!  This is NOT in my job description!  So, yes.  I did braid a man's mullet last week.  I walked out of the room laughing to myself and saw this patient's doctor.  I told this Dr. that I deserve some kudos for braiding my first mullet!  He started laughing and gave me the kudos I was looking for!

Why blog?

So...here it is, my very own blog.  Exciting?  I am not quite sure yet.  People keep asking me to start a blog.  I have never been one to write much about anything.  I don't even journal very well.  So why would I start a blog that I must maintain in order to have people actually begin to become "my readers"?  I am still not sure.  This is an attempt to keep in some sort of "day to day" contact with people in my life.  As I get older,  (and  yes, I am half way to 50!) more and more people that I care about move further and further away.  So, lame or not...here it is.

Today I discovered something about myself that pushed me over the edge into the world of blogging.  It was because of this discovery and the desire to share my new found discovery with others that I decided to start this blog.  

I was at the mall with Jolleen and we were avoiding a sales clerk.  I asked this particular sales clerk to put a pair of shoes on hold for me while we finished our shopping.  Well, when we finished shopping I had decided not to buy the shoes.  No big deal.  Right?  Well...nothing is that simple when Jo and I are hanging out. :)  Earlier, this sales clerk had been hitting on me while I was trying on the shoes.  Ok, by way of clarification, the fact that he was hitting on me was NOT the problem, the problem is that he had a pony tail that went to his waste and he took the liberty of brushing his hands against my bare legs due to the fact that I was wearing capris!  I did not want THIS guy hitting on me!  So, as Jo and I decide to cut through a different aisle as to avoid creepy pony tail guy....I make an AMAZING discovery!  I am hurriedly cutting through this aisle as Jo is acting like she is directing traffic in an effort to hurry me though a group of people because we had spotted creepy pony tail guy!   So, WITHOUT even the slightest flinch of my mouth I say "Jo, you are making a scene!"  It was at that moment that I made my discovery!  I looked at Jo and said "Oh my gosh, I am a VENTRILOQUIST!"  Bouts of loud laughter erupts, you can imagine!  (talk about making a scene...yeah...)  Through laughter Jo wholeheartedly agrees with my new discovery!  She is now by biggest fan, well...only fan.  So...I am not really sure what will come of this new discovery, but Jo has already researched how I can improve my skills as a Ventriloquist, so I guess you will just have to wait and see!