Comment on a little inside joke.......

In our unit, you may end up needing a helmet to ride the short bus

Luckily we can provide those for you......

(Gail just got hers-she's excited!)

Comment on the burning flame......

Jan*

Last night at my place of business we discovered that it was Jan's birthday on Thursday, yet it was Jan's last shift for the week. We didn't want Jan's birthday to go uncelebrated-we had to do something! Luckily, Danette had brought in monster cookies (for those who haven't had the monster cookies they are amazing!). Unfortunately we couldn't light a candle-it's against regulations, but in a burtst of inspiration I fashioned a candle out of a toothette (a mint-flavored sponge on top of a sucker stick used to do oral care) and cut out a 'flame' with paper and a yellow highlighter.

I won't go into detail about how hard it was to get Jan to let us sing to her and give her the cookie because I wouldn't want my readers to think that we are anything but serious at work, but there was some wrestling and hiding under desks. She's small but she's strong people. Anyway it all worked out in the end-and I'm so proud of the cookie! My favorite is that in the flash of the camera the candle looks like it's bright and shining! Just like Jan!

In other work news:
It was chicken nugget night!
We infiltrated the 1:00 lunch group-well, only 2 of them-but watch out!
I am officially passed off on the surgical/sepsis part of Intermediate III!
I haven't laughed that hard in weeks!

Don't you wish you worked at my place of business?

*Jan's picture was taken after obtaining informed consent with the understanding that it would be posted on this blog

Comment on my favorite (misinformed) medical shows.....

It's no secret that I'm a huge fan of medical shows. I stayed true to ER for however long that was on, I'm holding strong with Grey's, love House, Three Rivers helps pass time on Sunday nights, and Scrubs is great for laughs.



Watching these shows now that I know more about the medical field is a whole new experience. I recognize that they have to get around certain things for creative license or whatever, but still things are quite laughable.



For example-in House, Three Rivers and ER they have thrown patients on ECMO and within a small amount of time the patient is off ECMO and walking out the door. Really? is all I have to say. My fave was on Three Rivers when the dude is in heart failure yet on a nasal cannula, goes on ECMO and is still talking and not intubated and the ECMO pump is just this teeny thing and there's no nurses at the dude's bedside. For your information-this is an ECMO pump:

It's a little more than a no-man operation here.

While I'm writing this I'm watching Grey's, an episode from season 2 where they have the baby quints in the NICU. This is my fave:

The one kid has hydrocephalus and immediately got a shunt-really? REALLY? Yeah, first you have to evaluate for a reservoir which takes weeks, then another several weeks/months before they even THINK about placing a shunt.

One kid has gastroschesis (guts on the outside). Apparently they're doing a staged closure but the remaining intestines are all wrapped up close around the baby's abdomen. They should be up in a bag with no pressure on them so you can evaluate for necrotic bowel.

One kid apparently has hypoplastic left heart syndrome and they're evaluating for a norwood-I'm pretty sure that kid would have to be bigger and probably needs to be on more support than this 1kg kid is.

One kid has bad lungs-no big deal-The kid gets apneic and immediately they're intubating. Really? We wish! It's called blood gases, increasing O2 support-pulling out high flow, cpap, then intubation. Usually takes hours.

Anyway I used to hate people like me who complain about the medical misinformation that gets tossed around on these shows. And it doesn't deter me from watching these shows-if I didn't what would I do with my time?

Maybe I just wish that in the real world things would happen as fast as they do on television.

Comment on missing 3 posts!

Bad cold.....

Comment on being (a) patient.....

This is me an hour ago, in the doctor's office with my offending ankle that doesn't feel like it's healing.

Prognosis? Go see a sports medicine guy.

I think I'll wait a bit.

I hate going to the doctor.

Comment on not worrying anymore......

Today I went to the gym a little later than I had planned which isn't a big deal. However, since it was later in the evening I decided I would do my grocery shopping on my way home. This meant that I ran around Wal-Mart and Harmon's in my Nike workout pants and my grey sweatshirt. Now I don't like running around town in my gym clothes but I'll do it if necessary.

However, I don't feel bad about that anymore due to this little gem:

Yes, folks, this is a picture of an actual person at Wal-Mart which has been posted on peopleofwalmart.com. So next time you feel like you can't leave the house without make-up on or if you've just come from the gym, just keep in mind that there are more shocking things out there.

Also as a side note, it's interesting to note that a lot of the pictures sent in to peopleofwalmart.com are from the southeastern section of our country yet there were not pictures from Utah.

And then I saw this:

I guess no state is exempt......

Comment on my motivation....

This is me and Steffy P back in 1999, a mere 2 hours before I made the infamous phone call that got me fired from NuSkin back in the day.

But that's not the point. The point is that I love this picture-I was in my "prime". Since I've put on some weight in the past year (I blame the depression and anxiety but really how long can that be an excuse?) my goal is to find that body again. Shouldn't be hard right?

That's what I keep telling myself.

The best part is-I thought I was fat!

Which makes me wonder-will we (as women) ever take off those dim-colored glasses (not rose-colored by any means!) that keeps us from realizing how fantastic we really look?

What do you think?

Comment on Christmas in July.....

At least they waited until AFTER Halloween-can't wait to see what happens next year-maybe they can start after Labor Day.......

Comment on a conversation.....

Earlier today on the phone:

Mom: Your father would like to talk to you
(phone gets passed)
Dad: So you're road raging now?
Me: It happens when I get frustrated
Dad: Can't you control yourself?
Me: I was in control of the car the entire time!
Dad: Where did you learn to road rage? Your mom never does that!
Me (laughing): Well I seem to remember that you struggle with elderly drivers
Dad: I don't recall that
Me: That's interesting
Dad: It's not road rage so much as instructing others on the proper way to operate a vehicle.
Me: Huh.

Comment on why I couldn't tell you what day or night it is....

6:10pm Leave for Work
6:45pm Arrive at work
7:00pm Start Shift
9:50pm Get Caffeinated Beverage and Bran Muffin
2:00am Go to Lunch
4:00am Feel Like Zombie
6:45am Give Report
7:20am Drive Home
7:35am Talk Self Into Not Crashing Into Other Cars
8:00am Fall Into Bed
3:00pm Wake Up
3:30pm Go To Gym
5:00pm Shower, Make Dinner, Pack Lunch

Repeat x4 days

Comment on the little things......

So after last night's road rage and an entire shift of alterntating between being ticked off at stupidity and outrageously funny sarcasm, I've decided to try to be more kind and loving towards others today.

Easy, right?

Well, considering that there's something about working that can turn me into a bitter old NICU nurse it can be tough-but I'm determined to fight it tonight! And in that tone I decided to list the little things that I'm grateful for so that I can focus on the positive things in life.

Here is what I'm grateful for:
*Various people at Lifetime Fitness who turn in my gym card when I leave it in the lockers

*The last bran muffin in the cafeteria that was waiting for me when I went to get my beverage and small snack

*Listening to general conference talks on the way in to work to avoid road rage because how can you road rage when you are listening to apostles speak?

*My uninterrupted sleep-you know, that kind of sleep where you wake up in the same position that you fell asleep in and you've slept like a log and you weren't woken up by the garbage truck or dogs barking in the trailer park acrossed the fence-it's a good feeling!

*The Office episodes on my Ipod that I fall asleep to

*My DVR that records past episodes of Desparate Housewives so that I can catch up on what I've missed

*The rockin' roommates that I have at work tonight!!

I could list more but I'm feeling pretty good about things tonight-and I will keep trying to have a positive attiude and not want to strangle people on the road or at work because that would be wrong....very wrong.....

Comment on road rage....

You'd think that as a strong member of the LDS faith, with a strong desire to be Christlike. But that all goes out the window when I'm driving.

Case in point: Tonight I was driving to work. It was my first night going to work after the time change so it's completely dark outside when I left at 6:15pm. Now keep in mind that I have a hard time at night guaging how close cars are coming when I want to change lanes.

But I digress.

So I am driving along at a cruising speed of 80mph, so I make my way to the fast lane where fast people belong. All of a sudden there's brake lights everywhere and we all slow down. I debated risking the fine and jumping into the carpool lane but I decided against that. After inching along for about 10 minutes the right lanes start clearing out. My fellow drivers were able to inch out of our lane that was at a complete stop, but due to my inability to guage the spacing between cars I was stuck in my lane.

Finally as I was ready to kill somebody, the middle lane started slowing down for us so we could get over. That's when I noticed that just ahead of me, in my lane, there were 3 cars with their hazard lights on, and in the first car was a little old man (at least I think it was-I could have been wrong.

Now I don't know if the car had broken down or if there was a fender bender there, but it had stopped all of us! I was so mad! While I felt bad for the man, it did not stop me from yelling at the top of my lungs various words that are usually reserved for work during a code situation.

Yeah.... It's definitely shameful. It's kind of like one of those things that only you know you do, and well, the old man in the car, since I was yelling and my windows were rolled down, and I contined to yell until I got to my exit. But now that I've confessed to my readers I can put it behind me and hopefully do better-until the next traffic jam.....

Do Utah blondes have it better? - ABC 4.com - Salt Lake City, Utah News

Do Utah blondes have it better? - ABC 4.com - Salt Lake City, Utah News

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Comment on trying.....

So my goal has been to celebrate National Blog Posting Month this year by posting every day in the month of November.

So far I'm not reaching my goal. I started out a day behind, then yesterday my internet wouldn't work, neither did blogging from my Blackberry (the one downside I've found to my fancy phone). So I will have 2 posts today-does that count? I think it does!

I appreciate the comments I got on my post about hair color, both in-person and via the blog comments. Basically it seemed to be mixed-people liked my hair both ways. I decided to go darker for the winter (with white-blonde highlights-my favorite kind!). Of course the next day Channel 4 news does a story on the benefits of being blonde in Utah.

Maybe I should have gone to the salon AFTER seeing this story*




*Look for the next post to be the story-you can actually send a story to your blog so everyone can read it! How fancy is that??

Comment on going home......

Asking someone where they are from seems like a simple question that should provide a one-word answer. Unfortunately for me, that isn't the case.

Through my childhood/teenage years I lived most of my life in Provo, and part of my life in Albuquerque. When I graduated high school and went to BYU my parents proceeded to move all over the country. Well, not really but it felt like it! Therefore, whenever it came time to go "home" for the summer or for Christmas break, I wasn't going back to the place I grew up, I was going to wherever my family lived at the time. While this helped me grow closer to my family I missed having that sense of going home to a place that was familiar and that I knew like the back of my hand.

But that's all changed. My parents 'settled' down in Pocatello back in 1998-and have actually stayed there (kind of) since then. The ward they were in became mine as I left for my mission from that ward, and then when I returned I decided to live in Pocatello and go to ISU for my nursing degree. I got to know Pocatello really well from doing title inspections and working for a doctor's office where I could interact with a lot of people from the community. It became my home.

Now that I've moved back to Utah, I love coming home to Idaho. It's the sense of familiarity that I enjoy. I love that I see people I recognize when I go out and run errands, I love that I know shortcuts to get from point A. to point B., most of all I love our house and the fact that it represents love and family.

It was also hard (and still is) when people ask me where I'm from-initially I stuck by my old standby of Provo since I've lived there the most number of years, but let's be honest, Idaho has become my home and I'm proud of it!