Bingo, PT

This is my moms' dog, Bingo. He is half Border Collie, half Standard Poodle and mom got him from one of her patients when she was a home health RN. He was an outside dog until my Dad left the house. Bingo moved right in and remembered that pee-pee-pottying is for outside, not the floors. He is one of the most gentle dogs I have ever seen. I don't remember when exactly Moms got the idea, but she decided he was a pet therapy dog. No, he did not have any formal, training and she doesn't claim he has any certificate or anything. He is just so good with people, like he was put on this earth to comfort. Now he does get quite demanding in the petting category by constantly nuzzling your hand towards his body. He stops if you blow in his face though. He is also well traveled. He joined Moms in her trip across the country and back living in Oakland and PA. He did just fine as a city dog.

But back to the pet therapy part. Moms is now a Nurse Practitioner and worked in some nursing homes with her last job. She started to bring Bingo and he went to work! After a few visits she let him loose and he has his own schedule beginning with greetings to the administrative offices, then right to the little old lady who always throws her eggs in the floor. There he has a little breakfast and it is off to let other residents pet him. They just love it! He would wear a tag on his neck that would ring an alarm if he tried to escape, but mostly it served as an introduction every morning. On the loudspeaker someone would announce "Bingo is here!" and all those old people would get so excited. Some days he just lounges around in the main office out of where Moms used to work. He lets them know when he needs to go outside and acts exhausted when he gets home. (I know his job must be soooo difficult!) Recently Moms started a new job, but once or twice a week Bingo still goes to the old job as he hasn't stopped working there. He has a name badge and everything! I must say I have seen the smile Pet Therapy can bring and I think every health care facility should offer this service for those who wish to partake. Pets are amazing, aren't they?

Gephyrophobia

I was in a patient's room doing an assessment last night when his wife turned the TV up. We all watched the breaking news for a moment in disbelief. A huge bridge like that could just fall? WITH PEOPLE ON IT?! The first words out of the wife's mouth was that she hoped it wasn't an act of terrorism. The next words out of the newscaster's mouth was that is was not thought to be due to terrorism. I watched for a few minutes, but had to get on with my rounds. I caught bits and pieces of the news the rest of the night.
Can you imagine going about your business on any old day going to work, home, running errands-whatever normal thing you always do and suddenly BOOM. In the water, or crushed by some huge structure, or teetering over the side of a split in that bridge. I imagine the confusion of those who survived even for a moment afterwards--of what in the world just happened. I saw an interview with a lady who was the first 911 call. She claims it was so quiet right after the collapse. I wonder if it really was silent, or if it was just her mind-silent with the realization of what just happened, trying to grasp the enormity of it. . There are a few horrible things I have witnessed in my life where I could swear to the "silence" as well.

What I don't get is why action was not taken in the past two years when that bridge got poor ratings upon inspection. Why weren't the levies in New Orleans fixed the first time they knew it needed repair? System failure. Red tape. The cost. Not a priority. Believe me I know all about this. Say there is a problem with something, and it doesn't get taken care of due to policy and procedure, or needing approval from 10 thousand different people, or because it is deemed a low priority, etc. It takes something really bad to happen in order for a long needed change to come about. In my mind it seems so simple--something is not right here, so let's fix it. Unfortunately, it usually is complicated by bullshit. I wonder if all the cities are checking their bridges like crazy right now. I also believe in most instances not restricted to bridges or levies, but anything,. if people just do what they are supposed to do, be it because it is their job, or even ethically, a lot less complications would arise. Just do your job people,-the right way. The correct way. The moral way.
I have known people throughout my life who are scared to cross bridges. Gephyrophobia is the fear of bridges. I have always thought this was silly. I don't think I will develop this phobia, but I will probably think about this disaster every time I cross one. Please pray (or think about or whatever you believe in) for these victims and their families and friends and try to make a conscious decision to be thankful for your life because you never know when it will end. Sometimes it only takes a second and that's all for this life we know here.

MBT update

So I wore my new shoes to work last Friday night. They said you are supposed to wear them for short periods of time at first, but I didn't feel like lugging my size 10s along with my back pack to work. My toes hurt so bad by 02:00. Then I came to a conclusion. I had not cut my toenails in a while. They are usually longer than they could be due to the fact that I like to have them french-pedicured. I was wondering about this aloud when a fellow nurse said she had a pair of clippers in her bag. I went outside for a break and chopped them off and it felt much better! I Like the way it feels on my body to walk around in them for sure, but my dawgs were barkin by the end of the shift. After the toenails were chopped down, my only trouble is I can't seem to get the bottom of my feet comfortable when I am sitting down charting. Guess I need to get used to them some more. I have 3 more days before I can't take them back anymore. Maybe tomorrow night will be fine.

Break Dancing

I was driving to the book store in Phoenix one day when I came across a song I hadn't heard in a while. I caught the name of the group and made a detour to Best Buy to purchase the CD immediately. I love me some Midnight Star!




This song (No parking on the dance floor) takes me back to my days of ........break dancing! I loved it. Let's see. The movie Breakin' came out in 1984 so I was what--9 years old? I watched that movie until the tape in that VCR got thin.



I thought Ozone was sooooo "cute" as I said back then and I wanted to be that white girl in the movie whose name escapes me now because as far as I was concerned back then it should have been KATIE. (Katie and Ozone, sittin in a treee-eeee! K-I-S-S-I-N-G-eeee) OK so not the typical little I-want-to-be-a-princess-type of girl. I spent hours in the middle of my bedroom perfecting my head spins and flips, dancing my legs around each other while wallering on the floor, and doing the robot in front of the mirror so I would be ready in case I was ever challenged to a dance-off ......in ALABAMA. Of course I was ecstatic when Breakin 2 came out. (Electric Boogaloo baby!)



I was a punk rocker every Halloween like 3 years in a row and proudly wore my black parachute pants to school at least once a week. So every time I hear this song (and a few others) I get this overwhelming urge to boogy my legs around and spin on the floor making those cool faces. Can't touch my moves ---YOU DON"T WANT NONE OF THIS!

MBT

I finally broke down and bought these shoes I have had my eyes on for a long time now. When I was on assignment in San Francisco I was browsing nurses feet for an idea of what new shoes I should try next to work in. My Skechers were great, but I was itching for a new pair. I saw some interesting shoes on a supervisor's feet, so I asked about them. She raved about how great they were-how she'd tried all kinds of shoes throughout her career these were by far the best.

Apparently some people did a study on why this particular tribe of people in Africa or somewhere could walk for hours barefoot while carrying heavy things on their head and not have any musculoskeletal problems. They decided it was because of the sand they walked on. So they developed these shoes that mimic this idea. It is supposed to eliminate aches and problems with ankles, knees, hips, and lower backs for people who are on their feet all the time. So I looked them up on line and visited stores that carried them and walked around in them a whole bunch, but couldn't swallow paying that much for a pair of shoes. Recently I changed my mind and yesterday I made the purchase. I figured if I add up all the new pairs I have tried to work in, it comes to as much or more as these. I have 7 days to try them to see if they work or I can return them or get a store credit. Let's see if i am ache-free Saturday morning when I get off work. For more details you can go to www.swissmasaius.com.

Bedroom complete

Can I tell you how much I love how my bedroom turned out? My bed is so comfy and I love my tangerine wall. The other three are the chocolate color. Moms helped me figure out what colors would look good with with my comforter. Next I need to figure out what to do with the bathroom. I like decorating and all, but it is hard not to be able to do everything at once. I need to start playing the lottery.

Donate Blood!

So I was watching the news last night and they said there is a blood shortage. They like to have at least a 5 day supply stored and they only had a 24 hour supply. I was thinking oh hell-I hope this doesn't mean more work for me--having to draw serial labs all night to see how low patients' counts are dropping before they decide to give them the blood they are delegating out. (have no idea if this is how it works). And then I thought we'd be shit out of luck if there were to be a disaster of any kind around here. So I got on the net and found me a blood drive to visit today. I treated myself to some yummy Thai food before I went in case my blood leaving my body decided to make me feel faint. (Siam Cuisine on White Bridge Road--I highly recommend) There was a drive at St. Thomas Hospital and surprisingly (also sadly) there was no wait. If you haven't ever donated, they take you to a private little cubby and ask you some questions, check your blood pressure and poke your finger for a small sample. Then you get stuck with a needle in your arm for the blood..The nurse poked me with a 16 gauge and off went my cells. There was a guy across from me who had not been hooked up long and he says "HEY!.........um.......ifeeldizzyiamflushing is ..this......normal?" So 2 nurses went over and jacked his legs up, head down, and stuck a straw in his mouth to drink some coke. He felt fine in about 2 minutes. When my nurse came back to me she was like--OKOK stop pumping! My bag filled up in like 7 minutes. Now I have no idea how long it is supposed to take, but I got the idea that I have some big strong blood going on. I felt OK, went to the refreshment table and then I was out of there. It cost me an hour of my life and this bruise.



I am going to try to give every time I can. I think more people should do the same. I don't know why I haven't been. I know it is an important thing to do. I hope whoever reads this will do the same. You should also be an organ donor, but I can't get started on that right now. Maybe another blog soon. Give up some blood people! Just call your local Red Cross or go to their website www.redcross.com