15 days from my last post...and the only reason I'm able to blog at all right now is because I showed up to clinicals an hour early to go to noon conference (like I normally do)...only it was cancelled, and nobody let me know!
So I made my way to the library and decided I had 2 options: 1.) I could try and squeeze in some homework or the discussion postings for this week, OR 2.) I could check out facebook and my blogs since I haven't done it in, oh FOREVER!!
Guess which one won : ) ???
The lack of blogging(and FB'ing for that matter!) probably has something to do with the insane amounts of homework that my professors have tried to pile in. Make that, "they did pile in!" I'm TRYING to get it all done!!
I officially have 3 papers left...one for each Monday this quarter. Then it's off to an AMAZING Mexican fiesta for 10 days with my family! I CAN'T WAIT!!!!
And then 10 more weeks til I'm officially a Nurse Practitioner!! OK, well at least until I'm a Masters graduate. The NP will come once I pass boards and get credentialed...details schmetails!
Over the last 2 weeks, the E.R. was every bit as exciting as stated in the last 2 posts. I'm still baffled at the lack of "Emergency" there, but it is what it is!
This week, I am going to a Press Ganey conference for 2 days. It will be 16 hours of fun learning about how to improve our patient satisfaction scores. While I know the days will be long, I'm actually excited to go b/c I know that I'll learn some great stuff to take back to my unit, and the hospital as a whole!
My times up, but before I go, I want to leave you with a funny story from work the other day. My patient's mom, who I know very well, came in laughing and so excited to tell me something!! Her husband was in a pretty bad accident and needed to have surgery (that's not the funny part)- he needed bladder surgery. Only, instead of telling people he had bladder surgery, he kept telling people he had uterine surgery!
What's even more funny is she said NONE of their friends even caught on!! They just said "Oh my gosh that must be so painful" and "Wow, I can't believe you had surgery on that!" She had to calmly (I'm sure she was laughing hysterically!) explain, "Honey, you do not have a uterus. Nor do any other men!!"
Ohh, people can be funny!
K, well that's all for my break. Time to make my way to the exciting life of the Emergency Room for the next 10 hours!!! Hope you're doing something just as exciting tonight as well : )
Tuesday, May 17, 2011
Monday, May 2, 2011
Day 2 in the Room of Emergencies (AKA: ER)
I have to believe that at one time the Emergency Room truly fulfilled its name.
Maybe it's because I'm a PICU nurse at heart, and we truly do care for PICU patients. Once they no longer fit that criteria, they go to the general floor.
However, the ER is definitely NOT that way!! Apparently anyone can come in, at anytime of day or night, for any reason.
Your kid chops his finger off? Bring him to the ER!
Your lovely daughter drank your entire bottle of perfume? Take her right to the ER!
Your 2 year old has a cold? Welcome to the ER!
Your four year old is crying too much? Oh yeah, ER!
Stubbed toe? Ringworm? Rash? Definite ER!!
You would think the average person reading the above list would be able to differentiate between the appropriate ER trips, and the not so appropriate ones! But I'm begging to differ!! People bring their child into the ER for the SILLIEST reasons ever!!
Take Ms. Black for example (name totally made up). She decides that her 8 year old son who has autism has been acting "all wrong" for the last 2 weeks...ever since he got bit by an unknown animal in their house. So she brings him to the ER.
When trying to gather all the information about what brought them their, we had to revisit the whole "animal bite" incident for which they were in the ER 2 weeks ago. Apparently some animal in their house (maybe a rat, maybe a possum, maybe a raccoon) bit the kids hand right by the thumb.
Now first of all, before we move on...how many people do you know have possums or racoons routinely in the house...and close enough to biting distance!? Apparently this lady says they come in all the time and she sees their footprints on their walls when they wake up in the mornings.
So now they are wall walking, not supposed to be in the house, animals.
As a side note, she also said that the toys she puts away at night are all over the living room floor int he morning too. Great, now we're dealing with a possum/coon who likes to play with 8 year old toys in the middle of the night.
Not that the 8 year old is getting out of bed to play. Of course not!
So back to the bite. The "wound" if it could even be called that was cleaned, a steri-strip was placed, a few labs were run, and the patient was sent home.
However, the patient is now in the ER because Ms. Black says that "The venom of whatever bit my son is turning him the same. He's been biting me all week long!"
Then she throws in there that he has rabies too.
Good news for the boy. After a thorough physical exam, he is 100% fine. He is acting appropriately for an 8 year old with autism, his lungs were as clear as a bell, heart strong, and rabies symptoms definitely negative!
As I'm telling her all this, and telling her that we would be sending her home with a recommendation to follow-up with her primary care provider who follows his autism, she asks if we can draw a CBC.
"No ma'am, there is no indication of drawing that lab."
Then she brings up the fact that his "urine smells bad, real bad"- to which, ironically enough the patient yells "STINKY CHEESE!" Mind you, he hadn't spoken a word all visit! We discuss proper hygiene, especially as he is a bigger 8 year old who is wearning a diaper and probably sweats a lot.
She doesn't like that answer. She wants a urine dip done.
My answer would have been NO! The resident, just to appease her says, "Ma'am, I can almost guarantee you his urine will come back clean. But just to ease your nerves, if he pees in the cup, we'll run it."
She tells us "That's smart. I know he's got an infection. He definitely has vaginitis."
Hello...back it up!! HE'S got VAGINITIS!?!? Umm, I think not!!
So we run the urine, and wouldn't you know...it's completely normal!!! Vaginitis negative : )
So after running 1 more test that I would have preferred, we finally send them out the door.
Thank you for visiting the ER. Please come again soon...I'm sure Ms. Black will!!!
Maybe it's because I'm a PICU nurse at heart, and we truly do care for PICU patients. Once they no longer fit that criteria, they go to the general floor.
However, the ER is definitely NOT that way!! Apparently anyone can come in, at anytime of day or night, for any reason.
Your kid chops his finger off? Bring him to the ER!
Your lovely daughter drank your entire bottle of perfume? Take her right to the ER!
Your 2 year old has a cold? Welcome to the ER!
Your four year old is crying too much? Oh yeah, ER!
Stubbed toe? Ringworm? Rash? Definite ER!!
You would think the average person reading the above list would be able to differentiate between the appropriate ER trips, and the not so appropriate ones! But I'm begging to differ!! People bring their child into the ER for the SILLIEST reasons ever!!
Take Ms. Black for example (name totally made up). She decides that her 8 year old son who has autism has been acting "all wrong" for the last 2 weeks...ever since he got bit by an unknown animal in their house. So she brings him to the ER.
When trying to gather all the information about what brought them their, we had to revisit the whole "animal bite" incident for which they were in the ER 2 weeks ago. Apparently some animal in their house (maybe a rat, maybe a possum, maybe a raccoon) bit the kids hand right by the thumb.
Now first of all, before we move on...how many people do you know have possums or racoons routinely in the house...and close enough to biting distance!? Apparently this lady says they come in all the time and she sees their footprints on their walls when they wake up in the mornings.
So now they are wall walking, not supposed to be in the house, animals.
As a side note, she also said that the toys she puts away at night are all over the living room floor int he morning too. Great, now we're dealing with a possum/coon who likes to play with 8 year old toys in the middle of the night.
Not that the 8 year old is getting out of bed to play. Of course not!So back to the bite. The "wound" if it could even be called that was cleaned, a steri-strip was placed, a few labs were run, and the patient was sent home.
However, the patient is now in the ER because Ms. Black says that "The venom of whatever bit my son is turning him the same. He's been biting me all week long!"
Then she throws in there that he has rabies too.
Good news for the boy. After a thorough physical exam, he is 100% fine. He is acting appropriately for an 8 year old with autism, his lungs were as clear as a bell, heart strong, and rabies symptoms definitely negative!
As I'm telling her all this, and telling her that we would be sending her home with a recommendation to follow-up with her primary care provider who follows his autism, she asks if we can draw a CBC.
"No ma'am, there is no indication of drawing that lab."
Then she brings up the fact that his "urine smells bad, real bad"- to which, ironically enough the patient yells "STINKY CHEESE!" Mind you, he hadn't spoken a word all visit! We discuss proper hygiene, especially as he is a bigger 8 year old who is wearning a diaper and probably sweats a lot.
She doesn't like that answer. She wants a urine dip done.
My answer would have been NO! The resident, just to appease her says, "Ma'am, I can almost guarantee you his urine will come back clean. But just to ease your nerves, if he pees in the cup, we'll run it."
She tells us "That's smart. I know he's got an infection. He definitely has vaginitis."
Hello...back it up!! HE'S got VAGINITIS!?!? Umm, I think not!!
So we run the urine, and wouldn't you know...it's completely normal!!! Vaginitis negative : )
So after running 1 more test that I would have preferred, we finally send them out the door.
Thank you for visiting the ER. Please come again soon...I'm sure Ms. Black will!!!
Sunday, May 1, 2011
Oh the ER...day 1
I had my first week in the ER this past week. Part of the lateness of this post is my attempt to completely block out that first day.
Yes, it was THAT bad!!
But thank goodness for a much better second day (that will have to wait until a later post)!
Day 1: I walked into the physicians room where I was supposed to be meeting the resident I would be working with. Instead, I was greeted by an extremely frustrated and chaotic attending who said "Great...so glad you're here. There's a head trauma in room 1, URI in room 2, and ringworm in ring 3. Take your pick."
I'm pretty sure I just stared at her for a few seconds before words even came out of my mouth. I reintroduced myself to her her, told her I had never been in the ER before, had no idea where these rooms were that she was speaking of, and didn't know where to go from there.
She looked at me like none of these were good excuses, and said "Umm, ok which one are you seeing first???" ...and continued to stare.
I figured why not go all out and take the head trauma!?!?
Really?? In situations like this, you'd think I'd pick "ringworm boy"- but nope, I figured, Go Big or Go Home. OK, that's not really true, b/c at that moment I REALLY would have rather gone home!!
But either way....
So I walk into little 2 year old head trauma room. Thank goodness this was more like "ran into the dining room table" head trauma as opposed to one that you would've seen on ER the TV show!! I take my history, do a quick exam and go out to present the patient to the doctor. So far, I'm just assumming this is like my primary care clinical.
So I get to the end of what I gathered, and she says, "OK- diagnose him and let me know what you're going to order for him."
HELLO!!! First of all, again, this is my FIRST day...no, first SECOND here in the ER!! Second of all, even if I appropriately diagnose and treat this kid, I do not have access to order entry to do these things!!
Then, she tells me I need to "hurry up and put in a note" so that she can complete hers. What I later realized is the residents do all the work with the patient, put in orders, and then write a complete write-up (or note) that the attending then puts an addendum to.
Their oh-so complicated note writing goes a bit like this: "This MD agrees with previous note per X MD. See that note for full history, physical exam, and order entry."
Yeah, I know...feel bad for the big attendings. They get the crazy hard part of the job!
Unlucky for her though, she would be having a bit more work to do that day b/c I didn't have access to their notes. I mean, I entered one, but she wasn't allowed to just add an addendum to mine...because I'm a student!! She was SOOO ticked off when it wouldn't let her!
So my first 2 hours went pretty much like that. I had to tell myself to take nice, slow breaths several times. I figured that was the best option. Option 2 was to scream, which among the other screams in the ER may have gone completely unrecognized. And option 3 was to cry, but really, that's just not appropriate!! So slow, deep breathing it was.
And finally after 2 greuling hours alone, the resident decides to show up. THANK GOODNESS!!! Apparently, she was double booked at both the clinic and the ER for those 2 hours, and clinic won. Thanks for the notification!!!
Unfortunately for her, the attending jumped all down her throat the second she walked through the door as well, and the rest of the evening (until a new attending came on) went pretty much the same. The Peds ER really wasn't crazy AT ALL....but this woman sure was making it so! After she left, the last 4 hours of my shift weren't so bad at all.
So it was a nice welcome to the world of the ER (*note sarcasm). It was NOTHING like the PICU...which made me miss my job even more!! But the adventure must continue...and so I returned for day 2 in the ER the next day.
All I can say (for now) is the second day was much better. There was a much more relaxed attitude (thanks to a totally different attending being there), and there were even some laughs...at the patient's expense of course...but either way, it made for a much better day!!
I guess when a first experience is horrible, it can only get better from there. If that's true, the end of my six week ER rotation should be INCREDIBLE!!!
Yes, it was THAT bad!!
But thank goodness for a much better second day (that will have to wait until a later post)!
Day 1: I walked into the physicians room where I was supposed to be meeting the resident I would be working with. Instead, I was greeted by an extremely frustrated and chaotic attending who said "Great...so glad you're here. There's a head trauma in room 1, URI in room 2, and ringworm in ring 3. Take your pick."
I'm pretty sure I just stared at her for a few seconds before words even came out of my mouth. I reintroduced myself to her her, told her I had never been in the ER before, had no idea where these rooms were that she was speaking of, and didn't know where to go from there.
She looked at me like none of these were good excuses, and said "Umm, ok which one are you seeing first???" ...and continued to stare.
I figured why not go all out and take the head trauma!?!?
Really?? In situations like this, you'd think I'd pick "ringworm boy"- but nope, I figured, Go Big or Go Home. OK, that's not really true, b/c at that moment I REALLY would have rather gone home!!
But either way....
So I walk into little 2 year old head trauma room. Thank goodness this was more like "ran into the dining room table" head trauma as opposed to one that you would've seen on ER the TV show!! I take my history, do a quick exam and go out to present the patient to the doctor. So far, I'm just assumming this is like my primary care clinical.
So I get to the end of what I gathered, and she says, "OK- diagnose him and let me know what you're going to order for him."
HELLO!!! First of all, again, this is my FIRST day...no, first SECOND here in the ER!! Second of all, even if I appropriately diagnose and treat this kid, I do not have access to order entry to do these things!!
Then, she tells me I need to "hurry up and put in a note" so that she can complete hers. What I later realized is the residents do all the work with the patient, put in orders, and then write a complete write-up (or note) that the attending then puts an addendum to.
Their oh-so complicated note writing goes a bit like this: "This MD agrees with previous note per X MD. See that note for full history, physical exam, and order entry."
Yeah, I know...feel bad for the big attendings. They get the crazy hard part of the job!
Unlucky for her though, she would be having a bit more work to do that day b/c I didn't have access to their notes. I mean, I entered one, but she wasn't allowed to just add an addendum to mine...because I'm a student!! She was SOOO ticked off when it wouldn't let her!
So my first 2 hours went pretty much like that. I had to tell myself to take nice, slow breaths several times. I figured that was the best option. Option 2 was to scream, which among the other screams in the ER may have gone completely unrecognized. And option 3 was to cry, but really, that's just not appropriate!! So slow, deep breathing it was.
And finally after 2 greuling hours alone, the resident decides to show up. THANK GOODNESS!!! Apparently, she was double booked at both the clinic and the ER for those 2 hours, and clinic won. Thanks for the notification!!!
Unfortunately for her, the attending jumped all down her throat the second she walked through the door as well, and the rest of the evening (until a new attending came on) went pretty much the same. The Peds ER really wasn't crazy AT ALL....but this woman sure was making it so! After she left, the last 4 hours of my shift weren't so bad at all.
So it was a nice welcome to the world of the ER (*note sarcasm). It was NOTHING like the PICU...which made me miss my job even more!! But the adventure must continue...and so I returned for day 2 in the ER the next day.
All I can say (for now) is the second day was much better. There was a much more relaxed attitude (thanks to a totally different attending being there), and there were even some laughs...at the patient's expense of course...but either way, it made for a much better day!!
I guess when a first experience is horrible, it can only get better from there. If that's true, the end of my six week ER rotation should be INCREDIBLE!!!
Friday, April 22, 2011
Catching Up
WOW- where did the last 2 weeks go!?!? They just flew by for me!!
Wait a sec...have I blogged this before?? Or is this just de-ja-vu??
Either way, the last 2 weeks were so busy they literally just flew by! And I'm grateful! Because now I'm done with my second of 5 clinicals!
My time with infectious diseases is over. It's bitter sweet. I'm glad to be moving on...one step closer to graduation. But this rotation was awesome! I learned SO much, was SO not stressed (who freaks out over which antibiotic to choose!?!?) and just really enjoyed the attending that was teaching me.
But next week I start my ER rotation. I guess ED depending on where you're from : ) Either way, I'm excited about it. The ER is a little bit like the PICU in that each day can be something totally new. And it also shares some of the stress level and adrenaline at times.
So while I may not be sitting back, listening to infectious disease journal club, or infectious disease conference, or infectious disease lecture (yes, thursdays were like 6 straight hours of ID discussion! See what I mean about the low stress??)...I will be doing some suturing, triaging sick kids, and doing whatever else they do down in that ER!
I'm sure it will prove to give me some good stories...especially since I will be in a pediatric section of an "all-ages" ER...in a not so great section of town. Oh, and I work from noon til 11 pm. So there's bound to be some crazy drunks or crazy adult fun that I don't normally partake in. So it'll be interesting : )
What have you been up to these past 2 weeks??
Wait a sec...have I blogged this before?? Or is this just de-ja-vu??
Either way, the last 2 weeks were so busy they literally just flew by! And I'm grateful! Because now I'm done with my second of 5 clinicals!
My time with infectious diseases is over. It's bitter sweet. I'm glad to be moving on...one step closer to graduation. But this rotation was awesome! I learned SO much, was SO not stressed (who freaks out over which antibiotic to choose!?!?) and just really enjoyed the attending that was teaching me.
But next week I start my ER rotation. I guess ED depending on where you're from : ) Either way, I'm excited about it. The ER is a little bit like the PICU in that each day can be something totally new. And it also shares some of the stress level and adrenaline at times.
So while I may not be sitting back, listening to infectious disease journal club, or infectious disease conference, or infectious disease lecture (yes, thursdays were like 6 straight hours of ID discussion! See what I mean about the low stress??)...I will be doing some suturing, triaging sick kids, and doing whatever else they do down in that ER!
I'm sure it will prove to give me some good stories...especially since I will be in a pediatric section of an "all-ages" ER...in a not so great section of town. Oh, and I work from noon til 11 pm. So there's bound to be some crazy drunks or crazy adult fun that I don't normally partake in. So it'll be interesting : )
What have you been up to these past 2 weeks??
Thursday, April 7, 2011
Thursday's Thoughts
On this lovely Thursday, I'd like to part with you some thoughts of wisdom that I have:
1.) If you are "invited" to join a gang, don't do it
2.) If you choose to join said gang, don't partake in their violent acts
3.) If you choose to partake in gang related violent acts, don't announce your plan on your Facebook status
4.) If on the way to gang related violent activities, make sure your gun is safely tucked away and not ready to fire
5.) If said gun fires while you're riding your bike to your gang related violent activities, stop drop and roll. Oh wait, that's if you're on fire. OK, well if you shoot yourself on accident...umm...what were you thinking!?!?
Thursdays Thoughts were generated by an upstanding adolescent of the PICU. Yes, this really happened!
The details of where the gun was (in the sweatshirt front pocket vs. jeans pocket vs him holding it) is a bit unclear, but what was NOT fuzzy was the fact that he hit a pothole and it fired!
The bullet went in his left lower chest, just below his heart, and straight through. This dude is lucky (he'll be completely fine!)!!! Stupid, but lucky!!!
His poor mom sitting by his bedside watched the evening news and said "There's my baby on the news. Yup, he'll be known as the gang banger who shot himself while riding his bicycle!"
So on this Thursday, if you find yourself wanting to take a bike ride... with a gun... to shoot up some opposing gang members, I hope you can take these thoughts to heart. Perhaps by listening to thought #1 you'll stay out of this mess, and maybe not shoot yourself right in the chest!
But if you choose to ignore these thoughts, there will always be this PICU nurse ready and willing to heal your wounds... trying to hide the smirk on her face for the ridiculousness of your actions! Oh I love being a PICU nurse!
1.) If you are "invited" to join a gang, don't do it
2.) If you choose to join said gang, don't partake in their violent acts
3.) If you choose to partake in gang related violent acts, don't announce your plan on your Facebook status
4.) If on the way to gang related violent activities, make sure your gun is safely tucked away and not ready to fire
5.) If said gun fires while you're riding your bike to your gang related violent activities, stop drop and roll. Oh wait, that's if you're on fire. OK, well if you shoot yourself on accident...umm...what were you thinking!?!?
Thursdays Thoughts were generated by an upstanding adolescent of the PICU. Yes, this really happened!
The details of where the gun was (in the sweatshirt front pocket vs. jeans pocket vs him holding it) is a bit unclear, but what was NOT fuzzy was the fact that he hit a pothole and it fired!
The bullet went in his left lower chest, just below his heart, and straight through. This dude is lucky (he'll be completely fine!)!!! Stupid, but lucky!!!
His poor mom sitting by his bedside watched the evening news and said "There's my baby on the news. Yup, he'll be known as the gang banger who shot himself while riding his bicycle!"
So on this Thursday, if you find yourself wanting to take a bike ride... with a gun... to shoot up some opposing gang members, I hope you can take these thoughts to heart. Perhaps by listening to thought #1 you'll stay out of this mess, and maybe not shoot yourself right in the chest!
But if you choose to ignore these thoughts, there will always be this PICU nurse ready and willing to heal your wounds... trying to hide the smirk on her face for the ridiculousness of your actions! Oh I love being a PICU nurse!
Friday, April 1, 2011
April Fools Played Tricks on Me!!
If it would have been an ordinary day, I may not have thought twice about the events that occurred today.
But, being April Fools, I couldn't help but laugh. At times, I thought I might cry...but instead I found the power to just laugh. Really hard!!
The day started with me waking up on my own, without my alarm. Most days I welcome this, because it's proof I went to bed early enough. But this morning I was woken up by really bad stomach cramps and really loud birds!
Now the first part (really bad cramps) just sucks. If you're a woman, you know cramps suck. And if you're a man, just imagine one of your organs being twisted raw. Enough said!
And the second part (really loud birds) meant that is was WAY too late for me to be sleeping! And more, when I opened my eyes and saw the sliver of light peaking through the lower portion of my blinds, I knew I overslept! It's ALWAYS dark when I wake up! So sure enough I checked my phone (AKA alarm clock) and for whatever reason, it was completely turned off...which meant the alarm wasn't working.
So I woke up too late for my workout, but just in time to get ready for clinicals. I got out the door in time (thank goodness!!!) and headed to the hospital.
And then I realized that I left my school binder at work yesterday which had the schedule of events for the day...and the locations. Great, so now I have no idea where I'm supposed to go. This was only my second day with infectious disease and Monday through Friday has a different agenda spread out over four or five different buildings.
No big deal, I think! So I call work and ask for the room where I know my binder is laying!! I ask the night nurse there what the schedule says for 8 am and the directions I wrote down. I can do this. A little sleeping in and not having my agenda is not going to get me down. And neither are these really bad cramps!
So I head to the area that the resident told me to go on Fridays. Except what I had written down was a part of the hospital that apparently NOBODY knew where it was!! I asked about 30 people in every hallway I went down and walked around various parts of the hospital for a good 25 min.
But I finally found the room, walked in about 15 min late, and sat down. As I looked at the power point being discussed, I knew right away it was NOT the right room. But since I walked in late and everyone looked at me, I was NOT walking back out now! I would just continue to listen to an entire hour lecture on gram negative rods! Good thing I brought my coffee!!
As the lecture was nearing the end, I realized I forgot to ask where I was supposed to be at 9 when I had the night nurse looking at my schedule! My assumption was that I would find the correct lecture place and meet up with the resident I'm working with. Oops, guess that's why they say what they do about assuming!
So I had to leave the lecture 5 minutes early (people probably thought, what is this joker doing!?) in order to call work again, and have another nurse tell me where to go!! The only problem was the nurse told me my agenda sheet said 3 different areas.
Now my guess is it really didn't but she didn't know how to read the sheet correctly. So I decide to go to the first area she told me. Only when I get there it's a dilapidated floor with major construction going on. Nope, this was not the HIV clinic I was trying to get to. Next up, wrong again. Now it's 9:15 and I'm starting to freak out just a bit. I HATE being late!!
So I head to the library area (a good 5 min walk) where I know I can search the pager number of the attending that I'm working with. I page him a "Help, I'm lost" page and give him my cell to call.
But then I realize I have to pee...really bad! Great, I'm going to go to the bathroom, and he'll call then. Nothing like answering my cell phone when I'm on the toilet! Yes, that's glamorous! But that's what had to happen (and did!) or I would have had "peed in my pants" as another "Trick" being played on me!
Luckily, he was running late too and told me to meet him in an area I knew very well. So we drove over to the adolescent HIV clinic. As we were walking up the steps, the sole of my shoe falls off.
YUP! Just falls right off! Not even quite sure how that happened!! It was hanging on my a thread at the very lower portion of my heel, thank goodness, otherwise it would have been sock on cement for the rest of the day!
After HIV clinic we head back to the hospital to visit out inpatients....which takes all of 20 minutes, and the attending says we should call it a day. That would be great, but it was 1 pm. And my clinicals are not based on the amount of days, but the amount of hours. So this was a silly joke.
Only he wasn't joking. He was serious. So I headed home, with mixed emotions! Who wouldn't be excited to get home early....but now I'm short 6 hours (on top of 2 days from last quarter that were cancelled by my preceptor)!!
On the way home I decided I would go for a run at the gym, head to the store for a few items, and head home to make a nice dinner. But the April Fools trickery wasn't done yet!!
Running up the steps in the gym to get to the treadmills, (in my mind, oh so athletically and gracefully!) I trip and fall right on my hands and knees. Brush it off...just brush it off...even though i saw the guy in too short shorts on the eliptical laughing at me! I should laugh at his shorts!
After a good run, I head to the store...and getting out of the car the crazy wind whips my grocery list right off my lap and into a huge mud puddle. My list was a black, soppy mess that I could not resurrect! Again, oh well!
So at the end of the day, after getting ridiculously lost (twice!), not knowing my agenda, being short a half day of clinical hours, having my shoe fall apart, tripping up stairs, and losing my grocery list to a mud puddle, I couldn't help but take a nice hot shower, and laugh....really hard!!!
If there was ever a day that I needed to laugh these series of misfortunes off, April Fools day was it!! And so I did. And that's no joke!
But, being April Fools, I couldn't help but laugh. At times, I thought I might cry...but instead I found the power to just laugh. Really hard!!
The day started with me waking up on my own, without my alarm. Most days I welcome this, because it's proof I went to bed early enough. But this morning I was woken up by really bad stomach cramps and really loud birds!
Now the first part (really bad cramps) just sucks. If you're a woman, you know cramps suck. And if you're a man, just imagine one of your organs being twisted raw. Enough said!
And the second part (really loud birds) meant that is was WAY too late for me to be sleeping! And more, when I opened my eyes and saw the sliver of light peaking through the lower portion of my blinds, I knew I overslept! It's ALWAYS dark when I wake up! So sure enough I checked my phone (AKA alarm clock) and for whatever reason, it was completely turned off...which meant the alarm wasn't working.
So I woke up too late for my workout, but just in time to get ready for clinicals. I got out the door in time (thank goodness!!!) and headed to the hospital.
And then I realized that I left my school binder at work yesterday which had the schedule of events for the day...and the locations. Great, so now I have no idea where I'm supposed to go. This was only my second day with infectious disease and Monday through Friday has a different agenda spread out over four or five different buildings.
No big deal, I think! So I call work and ask for the room where I know my binder is laying!! I ask the night nurse there what the schedule says for 8 am and the directions I wrote down. I can do this. A little sleeping in and not having my agenda is not going to get me down. And neither are these really bad cramps!
So I head to the area that the resident told me to go on Fridays. Except what I had written down was a part of the hospital that apparently NOBODY knew where it was!! I asked about 30 people in every hallway I went down and walked around various parts of the hospital for a good 25 min.
But I finally found the room, walked in about 15 min late, and sat down. As I looked at the power point being discussed, I knew right away it was NOT the right room. But since I walked in late and everyone looked at me, I was NOT walking back out now! I would just continue to listen to an entire hour lecture on gram negative rods! Good thing I brought my coffee!!
As the lecture was nearing the end, I realized I forgot to ask where I was supposed to be at 9 when I had the night nurse looking at my schedule! My assumption was that I would find the correct lecture place and meet up with the resident I'm working with. Oops, guess that's why they say what they do about assuming!
So I had to leave the lecture 5 minutes early (people probably thought, what is this joker doing!?) in order to call work again, and have another nurse tell me where to go!! The only problem was the nurse told me my agenda sheet said 3 different areas.
Now my guess is it really didn't but she didn't know how to read the sheet correctly. So I decide to go to the first area she told me. Only when I get there it's a dilapidated floor with major construction going on. Nope, this was not the HIV clinic I was trying to get to. Next up, wrong again. Now it's 9:15 and I'm starting to freak out just a bit. I HATE being late!!
So I head to the library area (a good 5 min walk) where I know I can search the pager number of the attending that I'm working with. I page him a "Help, I'm lost" page and give him my cell to call.
But then I realize I have to pee...really bad! Great, I'm going to go to the bathroom, and he'll call then. Nothing like answering my cell phone when I'm on the toilet! Yes, that's glamorous! But that's what had to happen (and did!) or I would have had "peed in my pants" as another "Trick" being played on me!
Luckily, he was running late too and told me to meet him in an area I knew very well. So we drove over to the adolescent HIV clinic. As we were walking up the steps, the sole of my shoe falls off.
YUP! Just falls right off! Not even quite sure how that happened!! It was hanging on my a thread at the very lower portion of my heel, thank goodness, otherwise it would have been sock on cement for the rest of the day!
After HIV clinic we head back to the hospital to visit out inpatients....which takes all of 20 minutes, and the attending says we should call it a day. That would be great, but it was 1 pm. And my clinicals are not based on the amount of days, but the amount of hours. So this was a silly joke.
Only he wasn't joking. He was serious. So I headed home, with mixed emotions! Who wouldn't be excited to get home early....but now I'm short 6 hours (on top of 2 days from last quarter that were cancelled by my preceptor)!!
On the way home I decided I would go for a run at the gym, head to the store for a few items, and head home to make a nice dinner. But the April Fools trickery wasn't done yet!!
Running up the steps in the gym to get to the treadmills, (in my mind, oh so athletically and gracefully!) I trip and fall right on my hands and knees. Brush it off...just brush it off...even though i saw the guy in too short shorts on the eliptical laughing at me! I should laugh at his shorts!
After a good run, I head to the store...and getting out of the car the crazy wind whips my grocery list right off my lap and into a huge mud puddle. My list was a black, soppy mess that I could not resurrect! Again, oh well!
So at the end of the day, after getting ridiculously lost (twice!), not knowing my agenda, being short a half day of clinical hours, having my shoe fall apart, tripping up stairs, and losing my grocery list to a mud puddle, I couldn't help but take a nice hot shower, and laugh....really hard!!!
If there was ever a day that I needed to laugh these series of misfortunes off, April Fools day was it!! And so I did. And that's no joke!
Monday, March 28, 2011
Refinishing the Coffee Table
So like I discussed in this post, our coffee table was in sad shape. Someone who will remain unmentioned put a very hot pizza box right on the table, which may or may not have left a very large white "burn" spot on the table. And with 5 years of use, there are just the general scratches and dings all over it.
In no time, the first coat was on! Either the time passed extremely quickly b/c I was having fun, or because of the extremely exciting lecture I was listening to for school on Antimicrobial dilemas/Antibiotic therapies....I'm gonna guess it was the former : ) Luckily, I found a 2-in-1 stain/clear protective coating so that saved me a step which was nice!
See??? I wasn't lying (ok, so the major scratches on the lower left was b/c I started sanding before taking the pic...but, still, it's bad!!).
So, it was time to refinish it, and I was excited!! I've never refinished anything before. I have repainted my dresser a few times, but never stained anything. I've always really been into do it yourself projects and home repairs. I went to Lowes to get the necessary stuff, and went to work.
I clearly have a very advanced method of sanding! I couldn't find any sand paper that fit the electrical sander, and I definitely wasn't going BACK to the store, so the manual method worked! And I didn't think about getting a mask, so my sweatshirt worked fine!! And nothing like some gardening gloves to protect my hands! 
So after giving it a good sanding, I went to painting. Wow, I look way to focused to just be staining a table! In no time, the first coat was on! Either the time passed extremely quickly b/c I was having fun, or because of the extremely exciting lecture I was listening to for school on Antimicrobial dilemas/Antibiotic therapies....I'm gonna guess it was the former : ) Luckily, I found a 2-in-1 stain/clear protective coating so that saved me a step which was nice!
After I let it dry the standard "6 hours" (AKA overnight- who has time to do all these steps in one day!?), I then had to "sand" it with a very fine steel wool and wipe away the dust.
Once that was done, I put the second coat on and let it dry for another day (ok, really it was like 3 b/c I had to work!)....poor Jon, didn't have a garage to park his car in b/c our coffee table was blocking his spot!
The finished result....free of any pizza box stains...for now : ) I'm still working on the picture wall below...one of the picture frames fell off in October (guess we watch our scary movies too loud!). And then one of the shelves fell off last week : ( Can't keep anything up there. So the layout is not quite what I want...but things from other areas of the house keep having to stand in. Anyways, the point is to show the "new" table with our new rug. I'm loving it!
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