So I said, "Bring it PICU!"...and it did!!!
My morning started off caring for "my boy" who I've mentioned here and here- (poor guy has posts written back to the beginning of my blog!). Anyways, he decided he didn't want to wake up...or be arousable at all first thing in the morning. Nothing like a bit of a pick-me-up before all the coffee has been consumed all too early in the morning!
Once that was settled, my other patient was being discharged home. Not too shabby....until I learned they only speak Arabic. Not a WORD of English! Great!!
OK, actually them not speaking a WORD of English was a lie. For some reason they knew the words "donut" and "coffee!" So random! In my book, if you're going to know one word of English, coffee should definitely be it!
Donut? Maybe not! But, they kept offering me donuts, and I just kept trying to say "No thank you." Then after more probing (and practically pushing a french crueller in my face!) I put my hands on my stomach and then hips and wiggled a bit, trying to indicate, "nope, don't want the donut...trying to NOT gain 6 pounds this morning!!"
The dad laughed (in his hearty Arabic laugh of course!). So he either got my game of charades, or he thinks that I was doing some weird American "no thanks donut dance"! Either way, the crueller backed out of my face thank-goodness...that sweet gooey-ness almost didn't stand a chance!
I found myself trying to play charades with them all day, and even threw in a few words of Spanish in with my English. As if that would help us suddenly understand one another!
Once I got that girl outta there, I got a new one just as quickly!
She was a cutie. Her mom was not!
I have to constantly remind myself that these parents act crazy because their child is coming into the hospital really sick. That if I happened to pass them on the streets, they wouldn't grab my arm, or yell at me, or try to tell me I'm not doing my job.
They probably wouldn't do that!
But this mom was doing it all. I just stayed as patient as I could, and continued to care for the cutest little girl having a NASTY asthma attack.
My saving grace was this mom was Asian and had the thickest accent. So all her yelling was kinda funny. The way she said things anyways! And I figure, the things I didn't fully understand was probably a good thing!
What I want to tell parents sometimes is their crazy, frantic, arms waving in the air, yelling behavior is only taking me away from caring for their child. And in the grand scheme of PICU things, their child was not THAT sick! But they don't know this. So I just keep being patient.
Sometimes patience is the only thing that will get me through the shift. That and focus. I just focused (patiently) on my patient. The child one. Because sometimes the parent ones can just as easily become a second patient.
But now it's FRIDAY!!! And I don't have to work!! And I don't have to work for 3 whole days acutally!!! YEAH!!! So I am putting the PICU behind me (for now!).
What do I get to do?? Spend the next 3 days with the hubs! Spending some definite cuddle time with my man while we sleep in or stay in bed extra late catching up on our shows. And of course there will also be some soccer playing, some pumpkin patch'ing, some spending time with great friends and their cutest little twins (!!!), some football watching, and some great food! Now how's that for a great weekend!
But now I must go, b/c the best husband in the world just brought me breakfast! Mmm!!
See?? I've been telling you he's the BEST!!! Happy Friday!
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