"THE" Flu

It was bound to happen. Doesn't matter how good my immune system is. And, let me tell you, after working in ER, my immune system is advanced. You get a little sampling of every wonderful disease, virus, and bacteria out there. But in the ER that I work at we have had a HUGE surge of patients coming in with "flu like illness". With all the coughing and sneezing going on it was bound to happen. My last set at work I lost count of how many patients we had in the department with "flu like symptoms". So when my days off began, I was elated to be away from all the germs. But 3 days into my days off, WHAMMO! I got a little gift from one of my patients, or many of my patients....I got the swine flu, also known as H1N1. Yup, no joke.

I have now been quarantined in my own home for 5 days now. I officially have 2 more to go, but if symptoms don't disappear...sigh...could be more. The symptoms are slowly disappearing. It began with a high fever (39.5 at its highest), cough, body aches, sore throat, and chills. I am now fever free for 24 hours, and the aches are almost gone. The cough remains, and remains with a vengeance. The cough knocks the wind out of me. I have been taking Tamiflu since onset of the symptoms to help decrease the severity and duration of my flu symptoms, and it appears to be working. It does not however, do anything about my boredom.

Being forced to stay in your own house for 5+ days can become maddening. I have never spent quite so much time on facebook playing farmville, cafeworld, and bejewlled blitz in my life. I have watched more hours of TV in the last 5 days than I care to tally. I am a very social person, enjoy my job, and enjoy being out with friends. So 5 days without any of this, is enough to drive a girl mad! I spend my days on facebook and watching tv, reading, coughing, trying to nap but just really coughing, making tea, pouring glasses of water and juice, blowing my nose, taking my Tamiflu and vitamins, and repeating said cycle over and over and over. I am not even really talking on the phone, because, as you can imagine all this coughing has left my throat raw and sore, and has therefore left me with little voice. I wash my hands so often they are cracked and dry, and smell of my cucumber melon hand sanitizer as well. My poor mother has been cooking for me and doting on me as much as she can, but not wanting to make her sick, I try to avoid her.

Ok, I think I am done my whining post now. I will leave you with a picture of my daily needs. I am slowly getting better, hopefully sooner than later this will all be a distant memory. H1N1, I will beat you!

You might be an ER nurse if.....

Discussing dismemberment over a gourmet meal seems perfectly normal to you..
You believe a good tape job will fix anything...
You have the bladder capacity of five people...
Your idea of a good time is a full arrest at shift change...
You find humor in other people's stupidity...
You believe in aerial spraying of Prozac...
You disbelieve 90% of what you are told and 75% of what you see...
You automatically assume the patient is a drug seeker when presented with the complaint of migraine, lower back pain, chronic myalgia (choose one of the above), a list of numerous allergies to meds (except Demerol), and the statement that the family doctor is from out of town...
You encourage an obnoxious patient to sign out AMA so you don't have to deal with them any longer...
You believe that "shallow gene pool" should be a recognized diagnosis...
You have discovered a new condition that you call "loser-itis"...
You believe that the government should require a permit to reproduce...
You debate which is worse, spaghetti and meatballs or pizza and beer, while performing gastric lavage...
You plan your dinner break while lavaging an overdose patient...
You believe that "ask-a-nurse" is an evil plot thought up by Satan...
You believe that unspeakable evils will befall you if the phrase "wow, it's really quiet" is uttered...
You believe chocolate is a food group...
You take it as a compliment when someone calls you a dirty name...
You say to yourself "great veins" when looking at complete strangers ...
You have ever referred to someone's death as a transfer to the eternal care unit...
You believe that "too stupid to live" should be a diagnosis...
You have ever had to leave a patient's room before you begin to laugh uncontrollably...
You have ever wanted to reply "yes" when someone calls and asks "Is my (husband, wife, mother, brother, friend, etc.) there?"...
You have ever referred to the E.R. Doc or triage nurse as a "shit magnet"...
You think that caffeine should be available in I.V. form...
Your most common assessment question is "what changed, --- tonight ,to make it an emergency after 6 (hours, days, weeks, months, years)?"...
You have witnessed the charge nurse muttering down the hallway "who's in charge of this mess anyway?"...
You refer to vegetables and are not talking about a food group...
You believe the waiting room should be equipped with a valium fountain...
You play poker by betting ectopics on EKG strips...
You have been exposed to so many x-rays that you consider radiation a form of birth control...
You have ever had a patient look you straight in the eye and say "I have no idea how that got stuck in there !"...
You believe that waiting room time should be proportional to length of time from symptom onset ("you've had the pain for three weeks...well have a seat in the waiting room and we'll get to you in three days")...
You know the phone number to the local Detox Center by heart...
You have ever had a patient say, ". . .----But, I'm not pregnant; I can't be pregnant; how can I be having a baby?"...
You have ever had a patient control his seizures when offered some food...
Your idea of gambling is an ETOH level pool instead of a football pool...
Your bladder expands to the same size as a Winnebago's water tank...
Your immune system is so well developed that it has been known to attack
squirrels in the backyard...
You have a special shrine in your home to the inventor of Haldol...
You have every referred to subcutaneous air as "Rice Krispies"...
You have thought OD instead of BBQ when asked to get the Charcoal...
You have had to contend with someone who thinks constipation for 4 hours is a medical emergency...
You've ever entered a patient's chief complaint as "I'm drunk"...
You refer to motorcyclists as "organ donors"...
You've ever had a patient with a nose-ring, lip ring, and multiple tattoos tell you "I'm afraid of shots"...
You stare at someone in utter disbelief when he or she actually covers his or her mouth when coughing...
You think that the announcement of an impending arrival in 5 minutes of two adults in a serious MVA on backboards with sirens on and anxiety a level 10 would be a great opportunity to eat lunch....
You automatically multiply by 3 the number of drinks a patient claims to have daily...
You feel that you can diagnose passersby at the mall based on physical presentation...
You don't have to ask "frequent flyers" any medical history questions because you can fill it out from memory...
You can keep a straight face as the patient responds "Just two beers"...

I found most of these quite true, and rather humorous! Hope you enjoyed a few of them.

Summer...so far

Well, once again I am behind in blogging. This time however, it is not because of school, it is because I am busy working and then playing on my days off! I was able to get away a couple times so far this summer and do some camping and other fun day trips etc.

I went camping with my beloved Peters family near Vernon for 5 days and enjoyed my time relaxing, reading, swimming, and boating. The weather was hot and the lake inviting! :) It's great to be able to take off for 5 days and relax, and come home work a few shifts, and then have another 5 days off! Man I love my job!

My next get-a-way was with the fun From family. They let me tag along on their family vacation on Vancouver Island at a beautiful campsite on the beach, where you could hear the ocean waves crashing to the shore at night! I spent my time playing some serious games of settlers (even won once), boggle (which I am not so good at), and apples to apples, and playing on the beach, wading in the ocean, walking/hiking through some trails near by, and exploring beautiful oceanside and surfing towns! I got a chance to watch many beautiful sunsets, an AMAZING lightening storm, and experience some star gazing through a cool telescope! It was a very fun week!

Next, I got to do a day trip in Vancouver and go whale watching! It was a lot of fun, even if the whale sightings were a little disappointing.

This life of working and playing on my days off really suits me! I am loving it. The rest of my summer includes spending as much time with my darling Darla once she delivers her 2nd baby, which will be any day now! It has been a fun filled summer, and I look forward to the rest of it being just as much fun! I will leave you with a couple shots that Michael From took during our camping trip and whale watching tour....I didn't bring a camera on any of my vacations...sigh...silly me!!



A beautiful Sunset, the same night we had lightening!



The northern lights we saw the night we were star gazing



The amazing lightening



An orca


All these pictures can be seen at www.mikefrom.com. Michael took them all! Nice eh!? So he gets all the credit, I just "borrowed" them from him to enhance my boring post! :)

The end is near..errr...here!!

Yes, that's right folks the end is HERE! As of 2:28pm this afternoon, I have officially finished and submitted my final paper. And let me tell you....IT FEELS GREAT!! The last 6 months have been tortuous, but filled with major learning. Doing a two year program in 6 months is a little ridiculous. I don't recommend it, to anyone. But it is done, all assignments have been completed and clinical time finished. I now get 10 glorious days off to spend time with friends and go camping and relax. I am very much looking forward to my time off, and also my return to work at my home hospital site to use all my new knowledge.

Summer fun and doing whatever I want on my days off here I come!!

So let me introduce myself to you once again. Hi, my name is Stacey, critical care emergency nurse!

Another end is near

Well, soon you wont have to listen to me complain about how much I hate my life, or lack there of, because I will be done my emergency critical care specialty education program in under 3 weeks! PRAISE THE LORD! I will have to find something else to complain about! :)

So the last 6 months have been, *ahem*, hell. I am mentally and physically exhausted and my bran is so full of new knowledge that I think it may burst! However, I cannot even explain how excited I am to have free time, days off, and time for friends and fun activities. I wont have to feel guilty about spending time doing anything but school work.

Also, finally, another end is near. This Friday I officially convocate (graduate), only 6 months after I actually graduated. But Friday is my official day to wear the cap and gown and walk across the stage and "receive" my Bachelors of Science in Registered Nursing Degree. How hard did I work for that one eh? Most of you know it was YEARS in the making.

So as a couple things really come to an end, I am ecstatic to have my life return to "normal", a normal that I have not known for the last 6 and 1/2 years that I have been in school.

So folks, clear your social calendars because I am going to be ready to PARTAAAAY in a few weeks!

Newest Purchase

Ok, so I know it has been a while again since I have blogged. Geez people, I am busy! :) Also, my lack of blogging has had a lot to do with my crappy lap top that was so painfully slow I couldn't get much of anything done. Well I am happy to announce that I have joined the ranks of happy Macbook owners. Here is a quick pic of my new beauty! :)




I have had my new macbook for a few weeks now and will never ever buy a PC again. I am so happy with my purchase. I have spent the last few weeks figuring out all the intricacies that are a mac. It makes me giddy every time I open my computer and it loads immediately and when I click on something it opens immediately. Sigh...it's the little things in life. So with my new fancy purchase, I hope to be able to blog more, and especially once my Emerg course is done....7 weeks and counting! So please be patient with me people and I hope to be able to share more interesting and stimulating stories from my work as an ER nurse with you all very soon.

Putting the Pieces Together

Well, because I was reminded by a nagging friend,(ahem...Darla) that I hadn't updated my blog in a while, I decided it was time to update you all on the goings on in my life over the past two months. As blase as they are.

As of yesterday I completed the 1st half of my critical care course by writing my final exam. I am glad that stress is over with. Working full time and submitting assignments twice a week, a long with many pages of reading, school has been tedious. I am amazed however at the amount, well more the depth, that I have learned thus far. I am beginning to pick up on more and more small details in my patients and that shows me this course has been beneficial.

I now have two night shifts left of my ER mentorship and will begin the final phase of my accreditation as a critical care nurse by completing two 6 week practicums at nearby hospital emergency rooms specializing in trauma etc. I am both excited and nervous about this part of my course. It is going to be a challenge, especially as a new grad.

So school has been busy and work has been the same. I feel like more part of the ER team now, and have made some good relationships with my co-workers. I have been able to maintain a small semblance of a social life, although not nearly as much social time as I would like. The next three months will see much of that social life gone again, but I look forward to some holiday time this summer to camp with friends and "mend" neglected relationships with my very patient friends.

So that is my life in the last two months, school and work...sound familiar? But the pieces are coming together and I can see an end once again. I look forward to closing the "student" chapter in my life in the next few months and focus on new and exciting things that I am sure God has in store for me...hopefully a house of my own...and some new relationships?? We will see what God's amazing plan brings! I am sure I will have a lot more "pieces" to put together!