My ankle feels much better, thank you.
My mother left town again very last minute to go to Utah to help take care of my sister who just had ACL surgery.
Which leaves me again in charge of 2 dogs, a bunny and a hormonal 15-year-old, but this time, add to the mix a grumpy 54-year-old man who pesters me simply cuz he is bored and has nothing else to do but pester me.
So Izzy is back in my bed again.
I have to wake up every morning at 5am to make sure my sister gets up for early morning seminary. Please hold your 'my children wake up every day at 4am' comments. I am not married, I have no children and if I want to sleep in till noon, I will.
Izzy has a nightly pee break at 2am. Which works nicely with my nightly pee break at 2am except I do not have to go outside to piddle.
Also, Izzy has taken to sleeping with her head on my laptop which is in my bed at night. Weird. But to close to my head for comfort. Specifically cuz her stench wakes me up at night when she creeps to the top of my bed. She is sooo stinky. She is going to the groomer tomorrow. Thank goodness.
My mother comes home on Tuesday.
Tuesday, February 1, 2011
Tuesday, January 25, 2011
Dumb dogs
My parents went out of town last week. Which in all theory should be a wonderful time as I live in my parents basement ( I know, I am super cool) and when my parents are out of town, the whole house is mine and there are no parents around to pester me. The problem being is that my family has two dogs that love my mother more than anything. She loves them more than anything also, which includes her children...dogs or kids...dogs win hands down with my mother. So my mom goes out of town and the dogs go into major depressive mode. They wallow. They whimper. Izzy tries to get sick and die. They have to be petted 24/7. Izzy poops/piddles in the house. Izzy dumps the bathroom garbage out and eats and scatters throughout the house used female unmentionables. Shelby refuses to eat. Izzy starts limping as if her leg is broken. ALL BECAUSE MY MOTHER IS GONE!!!
Now if I did not live in Hell, it would not be -23 without windchill. And if it was not -23 without windchill, I would just toss both dogs outside to bother anything and everything but me. But since it was -23 without windchill for 99% of the week my parents were out of town, the dogs could barely go outside to do their business, which left me having to deal with them inside, the entire blasted time.
Now before you go feeling bad for my poor little puppies who miss their mom, let me tell you what a great doggie babysitter I am. I took the dogs for a walk every day that is was only -10 and above. I took them for car rides. I scheduled 2 doggie play dates for Shelby. I played with Izzy. I bought them special doggie treats. I purchased a back scratcher for Shelby which she loves greatly. I pet them, I love them, I feed them AND I give them treats. And what do they do to repay me? Well, Shelby ran away. (we found her). Izzy repeatedly wrapped herself around the column outside requiring me to go outside EACH AND EVERY TIME and unwrap her to get her back inside. (Definition of an idiot: Doing something over and over again and expecting a different result) Though one could argue that the dog got exactly what she wanted, while it was me who kept having to go outside in the -23 degree weather and unwrap the stupid dog to let her back in. I reached my limit though on Monday morning at 5am. The parents had been gone a week and both dogs had been very unappreciative of my attempts to keep them happy. So Monday morning, 5am, approximately -20 degrees outside and of course, dumb dog Izzy had wrapped her leash around the pole outside. So I go trotting outside, in my not so warm pj's to untangle the dumb dog when I take a step down the stair and my ankle folds (yes, the same ankle that I hurt a year ago), my ankle folds and I end up in a snow bank. I just sat there, to tired to be mad at the stupid creature who was to dumb to not tangle herself up around the pole. I climbed out of the snow bank, my pj's covered in snow, my hands frozen from being in the snow, and my ankle on fire. Of course the dog was all sorts of happy. And now, two days later, my ankle still hurts. Dumb dogs.
Now if I did not live in Hell, it would not be -23 without windchill. And if it was not -23 without windchill, I would just toss both dogs outside to bother anything and everything but me. But since it was -23 without windchill for 99% of the week my parents were out of town, the dogs could barely go outside to do their business, which left me having to deal with them inside, the entire blasted time.
Now before you go feeling bad for my poor little puppies who miss their mom, let me tell you what a great doggie babysitter I am. I took the dogs for a walk every day that is was only -10 and above. I took them for car rides. I scheduled 2 doggie play dates for Shelby. I played with Izzy. I bought them special doggie treats. I purchased a back scratcher for Shelby which she loves greatly. I pet them, I love them, I feed them AND I give them treats. And what do they do to repay me? Well, Shelby ran away. (we found her). Izzy repeatedly wrapped herself around the column outside requiring me to go outside EACH AND EVERY TIME and unwrap her to get her back inside. (Definition of an idiot: Doing something over and over again and expecting a different result) Though one could argue that the dog got exactly what she wanted, while it was me who kept having to go outside in the -23 degree weather and unwrap the stupid dog to let her back in. I reached my limit though on Monday morning at 5am. The parents had been gone a week and both dogs had been very unappreciative of my attempts to keep them happy. So Monday morning, 5am, approximately -20 degrees outside and of course, dumb dog Izzy had wrapped her leash around the pole outside. So I go trotting outside, in my not so warm pj's to untangle the dumb dog when I take a step down the stair and my ankle folds (yes, the same ankle that I hurt a year ago), my ankle folds and I end up in a snow bank. I just sat there, to tired to be mad at the stupid creature who was to dumb to not tangle herself up around the pole. I climbed out of the snow bank, my pj's covered in snow, my hands frozen from being in the snow, and my ankle on fire. Of course the dog was all sorts of happy. And now, two days later, my ankle still hurts. Dumb dogs.
Saturday, January 1, 2011
1-1-11
Well, as today is the very first day of the very new year, I thought I would blog. Maybe blogging more could be part of a new years resolution?? HAHA!! Probably not. I have not blogged in over four months. Though, very little has happened in those months. School overtook everything I did or did not do. But the good news is...I graduated! Truth be told, it was a little anti-climatic because yes, I graduated, but I am not technically a nurse until I pass my boards. I take them on Jan 12. There is my public announcement so if I don't pass I will be all sorts of embarrassed. But I am hoping to study lots (which is what I am supposed to be doing right now) and I just want to get them over with so that I can finally say that I am an RN!
In the meantime, I continue to procrastinate applying for jobs. No snide comments please. It is on my list of things to do. Which is what I say regarding everything that I should be and am not doing. But it appeases people and they leave me alone. It is on my list of things to do.
In the meantime, I continue to procrastinate applying for jobs. No snide comments please. It is on my list of things to do. Which is what I say regarding everything that I should be and am not doing. But it appeases people and they leave me alone. It is on my list of things to do.
Monday, August 16, 2010
Summer 2010
Summer 2010 is over. Where did it go? I certainly didn't spend it blogging. Though I didn't spend it doing anything blog worthy either, so all is good.
May was the end of school and Ecuador. I still have not posted all of the pictures that I wanted to post or send even one of my postcards that I insisted on buying in Ecuador. I am such a procrastinator. I have all the postcards, they are all written, I just need to finish addressing them and actually take them to the mailbox. Much to much work apparently.
June, well, I missed June. Literally, don't remember anything from June. How sad is that?
July was spent wondering what happened to June?? A lot of my friends turned 31 in July. So old....:) Ok, so maybe I turned 31 in July also. I took a nursing boards review class through Kaplan in July. Even though I will not be taking the nursing boards till January, I figured what else am I doing in July? Towards the end of the month of July, a bunch of the nurses I work with informed me that I need to be applying for jobs 6 months in advance to graduation. 6 months in advance was July. Since then, I have spent the rest of July and so far into August being so freaking afraid of looking for a job, I have procrastinated that also. All I need to do right now is write up a cover letter of sorts and a resume. The very thought of doing so sends me into a shaking ball of fear. What if they say no and I have to find a new plan? Or what if they say yes and I have to move to New York City ALL BY MYSELF!!!???? AAGGGHHH!!!! And yes, I do want to move to NYC. So badly. There is no question that that is where I want to go.
So school starts next week. My goal...write and send my cover letter and resume to the NYC hospitals I want to work for. Though, truth be told, the original goal was for them to go out by the end of July. IT IS JUST SO SCARY!!!!!!!!
May was the end of school and Ecuador. I still have not posted all of the pictures that I wanted to post or send even one of my postcards that I insisted on buying in Ecuador. I am such a procrastinator. I have all the postcards, they are all written, I just need to finish addressing them and actually take them to the mailbox. Much to much work apparently.
June, well, I missed June. Literally, don't remember anything from June. How sad is that?
July was spent wondering what happened to June?? A lot of my friends turned 31 in July. So old....:) Ok, so maybe I turned 31 in July also. I took a nursing boards review class through Kaplan in July. Even though I will not be taking the nursing boards till January, I figured what else am I doing in July? Towards the end of the month of July, a bunch of the nurses I work with informed me that I need to be applying for jobs 6 months in advance to graduation. 6 months in advance was July. Since then, I have spent the rest of July and so far into August being so freaking afraid of looking for a job, I have procrastinated that also. All I need to do right now is write up a cover letter of sorts and a resume. The very thought of doing so sends me into a shaking ball of fear. What if they say no and I have to find a new plan? Or what if they say yes and I have to move to New York City ALL BY MYSELF!!!???? AAGGGHHH!!!! And yes, I do want to move to NYC. So badly. There is no question that that is where I want to go.
So school starts next week. My goal...write and send my cover letter and resume to the NYC hospitals I want to work for. Though, truth be told, the original goal was for them to go out by the end of July. IT IS JUST SO SCARY!!!!!!!!
Friday, June 18, 2010
Pictures from the Damien House
One of the things I learned before I even went to Ecuador was the details of leprosy. We had a speaker come talk to our class about leprosy and the many myths that so many of us believe about leprosy. I previously thought it was a highly contagious, horrible disease that made your body parts fall off. Nope. I was wrong.
Sadly, I am not the only one who is misinformed about leprosy. It is such a scary disease to most people that we were instructed not to call it leprosy in the countries where it is more common because of the general fear and misconceptions behind it. People are shunned if they have leprosy. Leprosy is also called Hansen's disease. The term of Hansen's disease does not instill fear in people so it allows for better treatment of the patients.
Hansen's disease (leprosy) is in fact, not very contagious at all. Only 5% of the entire human population are even susceptible to it. And if you are one of the 5%, you have to have long periods of time (months to years) of direct person-to-person contact. It can not be spread through skin or by touching someone who has Hansen's disease. It is spread similarly to a cold, through the droplets in the air.
Hansen's Disease is rare in developed countries such as the United States. But it is very common in third world areas of Asia, Africa, and South America. However, "leprosy could be eradicated worldwide, if that goal were to be set," according to Dr. Julie Gerberding, the director of the United States Center for Disease Control.
The kicker of this disease is that if it is diagnosed early, it requires a very simple treatment. The treatment??? One little pill. Most cases are not diagnosed early and are far into the disease before they get treatment. If this happens they require a longer regimen of treatment, 6 months to 2 years. But no matter how long they have had it, leprosy is completely curable. The side effects of the disease with those who have had it for a long time, unfortunately, are not curable.
Patients who have had Hansen's disease for a long time suffer from neuropathy, similar to diabetics, they lose feelings in the fingers, toes, feet, etc. Since this is mainly a third world disease, most of these people work with their hands and are on their feet every day. So what commonly happens is they hurt themselves while working and they can't feel it so they keep hurting themselves over and over again. Eventually, the human body starts to withdraw itself from recurrent injury, which is why many patients have hands and feet that look like they are missing fingers and toes.
This is obviously my description to Hansen's disease. If you want a more comprehensive and/or professional explanation, http://www.thedamienhouse.org/index.html. Which is the web site to the actual place we went in Ecuador, the Damien House. The Damien House is home to 60 Hansen patients and treats about 700 outpatients.
We brought a lot of medical supplies to Ecuador. This is a picture of the supplies we brought to the Damien House.
The men playing dominoes...
This is a picture of Sister Annie, a nun who has been volunteering here since the 1980s. She totally transformed the Hansen's disease wing of the hospital and created the Damien House. She has been there ever since. Pretty amazing woman!! The guy in the picture lives at the Damien house, it was his birthday! I don't remember how old he was, but he was over 80!
This picture has a funny story! This is a room where new patients stay and get treated. They turned off the guy's TV while we were there. Once we had left, Sister Annie tried to turn the TV back on, for a good couple minutes, before the cute old man informed her that she was trying to turn the TV back on with the air conditioning remote control!:)
Me and one of the men who live at the Damien House.
This is the birthday boy who brought out his hammocks that he makes by hand! Over 80-years-old and makes these phenomenal hammocks. $20 a piece! What a deal!
Ok, I look like an evil freak of nature in this picture. But it has a good story. We were in a room that had four old men in it, all who were various degrees of sick. One little old guy sang songs for us and than one of our translators sang a song. The lady in charge tells me to sing something. The only thing I can think of is 'Once There Was a Snow Man', which I sang along with all the movements. I looked and sounded ridiculous, but whatever, I was the only one of us who would sing something. And how could anyone say no to these super cute old people?
A picture of one of the men's rooms. There are three beds in this room.
The hallway of the women's area. The bedrooms are on each side.
A picture of the lady's bathroom.
Half of one of the lady's rooms. There are two beds in each of the girl's rooms.
Me and one of the ladies...
The Damien house appeared to be a happy place. Lots of cute people! Most of them made and sold things, like the guy's hammock or the women who made jewelry and sold it to us. Everyone seemed happy and well loved!
Sadly, I am not the only one who is misinformed about leprosy. It is such a scary disease to most people that we were instructed not to call it leprosy in the countries where it is more common because of the general fear and misconceptions behind it. People are shunned if they have leprosy. Leprosy is also called Hansen's disease. The term of Hansen's disease does not instill fear in people so it allows for better treatment of the patients.
Hansen's disease (leprosy) is in fact, not very contagious at all. Only 5% of the entire human population are even susceptible to it. And if you are one of the 5%, you have to have long periods of time (months to years) of direct person-to-person contact. It can not be spread through skin or by touching someone who has Hansen's disease. It is spread similarly to a cold, through the droplets in the air.
Hansen's Disease is rare in developed countries such as the United States. But it is very common in third world areas of Asia, Africa, and South America. However, "leprosy could be eradicated worldwide, if that goal were to be set," according to Dr. Julie Gerberding, the director of the United States Center for Disease Control.
The kicker of this disease is that if it is diagnosed early, it requires a very simple treatment. The treatment??? One little pill. Most cases are not diagnosed early and are far into the disease before they get treatment. If this happens they require a longer regimen of treatment, 6 months to 2 years. But no matter how long they have had it, leprosy is completely curable. The side effects of the disease with those who have had it for a long time, unfortunately, are not curable.
Patients who have had Hansen's disease for a long time suffer from neuropathy, similar to diabetics, they lose feelings in the fingers, toes, feet, etc. Since this is mainly a third world disease, most of these people work with their hands and are on their feet every day. So what commonly happens is they hurt themselves while working and they can't feel it so they keep hurting themselves over and over again. Eventually, the human body starts to withdraw itself from recurrent injury, which is why many patients have hands and feet that look like they are missing fingers and toes.
This is obviously my description to Hansen's disease. If you want a more comprehensive and/or professional explanation, http://www.thedamienhouse.org/index.html. Which is the web site to the actual place we went in Ecuador, the Damien House. The Damien House is home to 60 Hansen patients and treats about 700 outpatients.
We brought a lot of medical supplies to Ecuador. This is a picture of the supplies we brought to the Damien House.
The men playing dominoes...
This is a picture of Sister Annie, a nun who has been volunteering here since the 1980s. She totally transformed the Hansen's disease wing of the hospital and created the Damien House. She has been there ever since. Pretty amazing woman!! The guy in the picture lives at the Damien house, it was his birthday! I don't remember how old he was, but he was over 80!
This picture has a funny story! This is a room where new patients stay and get treated. They turned off the guy's TV while we were there. Once we had left, Sister Annie tried to turn the TV back on, for a good couple minutes, before the cute old man informed her that she was trying to turn the TV back on with the air conditioning remote control!:)
Me and one of the men who live at the Damien House.
This is the birthday boy who brought out his hammocks that he makes by hand! Over 80-years-old and makes these phenomenal hammocks. $20 a piece! What a deal!
Ok, I look like an evil freak of nature in this picture. But it has a good story. We were in a room that had four old men in it, all who were various degrees of sick. One little old guy sang songs for us and than one of our translators sang a song. The lady in charge tells me to sing something. The only thing I can think of is 'Once There Was a Snow Man', which I sang along with all the movements. I looked and sounded ridiculous, but whatever, I was the only one of us who would sing something. And how could anyone say no to these super cute old people?
A picture of one of the men's rooms. There are three beds in this room.
The hallway of the women's area. The bedrooms are on each side.
A picture of the lady's bathroom.
Half of one of the lady's rooms. There are two beds in each of the girl's rooms.
Me and one of the ladies...
The Damien house appeared to be a happy place. Lots of cute people! Most of them made and sold things, like the guy's hammock or the women who made jewelry and sold it to us. Everyone seemed happy and well loved!Thursday, June 17, 2010
My favorite part
Warning...hospital pictures. I don't think any of them are that bad but I know some people can't handle even walking into a hospital. So just telling you in advance...
My favorite part of the trip was going to the hospital and seeing how the hospitals in Ecuador differ from the U.S. We went to a county hospital which is where the poor people go. From my understanding, there are really nice hospitals in Ecuador but you have to have money to go to them.
In Ecuador, the streets outside the hospitals are lined with pharmacies. If the patient needs medicine, even in the middle of surgery, it is the responsibility of the patient's family to go across the street and buy the medicine from one of the many pharmacies.
Most of the regular rooms in this hospital had 6 beds to a room with no privacy between beds. The patient to nurse ratio at this hospital was 2 nurses to 50 patients. The ratio gets worse at night becuase most of the nurses go home.
The patient's family stays with the patient in the hospital and really are their main caretakers. This is a picture of a family member sleeping under one of the children beds in the ER. Notice she is sleeping on cardboard. I guess this is common becuase the family is expected to stay with the patient. Also, patients stay in the ER at this hospital for days if needed. I tried to figure out why but never could figure it out.
I was very impressed with the things the hospital workers came up with. The nurses and doctors have the education but not the resources, so they came up with a lot of really good ideas. Like this one, where they blew up gloves to support a patient' heels to help prevent bed sores.
And this is one of their sharps containers.
Ok, so they clean their floors with diesel fuel. I have no idea why.
As we were touring the hospital, we saw a lot of different patients and families. One family chased us down the hall and asked us to come take a picture of their brother. We did. He had been hit by a car and was in a coma. They asked us for a wheelchair to use for him once he got out of the hospital. Sadly, he will never wake up. Not sure if the family understood that.
In the ER we saw different types of traumas. This, I thought, was the most interesting. This man had a snake bite that was being drained manually, meaning the doctor was pushing the venom out of the bite. It was extremely painful but the man did not have pain medication. Remember, they have to supply their own medication.
Ok, enough disgusting pictures. We were able to go into the pediatric rooms. Again, the families were the main caretakers. This little guy was so cute!!
I thought this was a humbling picture. The mom holding the baby's oxygen mask for the baby.
This guy was hilarious! He was blowing kisses at us as we walked by his room!
So naturally we went and got pictures with him!!
This little girl was hit by a car.
Her leg was broken and in traction. Again, they came up with their own way of supplying the weights to hold the traction on her leg. Note the partially filled milk jug.
These two little girls were in the ER with their families.
This one had been there for two days with appendicitis.
This one had just gotten there and was being treated for dengue fever. Dengue fever is transmitted by mosquitoes and has become a really big problem in Ecuador. Interestingly enough, when I went to the travel doctor for this trip, dengue fever was not even mentioned. We left on the trip worried about malaria but we came home from the trip worried about dengue fever.
I watched them put an IV in her hand. She didn't even flinch. Total tough girl!
We also had the opportunity to go into their neonatal intensive care unit. That was fascinating. The rest of the hospital was lacking in so many ways but not this area. It was almost like walking into my hospital. They pretty much had everything we do at home. Even this little guy who was basking away under his tanning (bilirubin) lights!:)
My favorite part of the trip was going to the hospital and seeing how the hospitals in Ecuador differ from the U.S. We went to a county hospital which is where the poor people go. From my understanding, there are really nice hospitals in Ecuador but you have to have money to go to them.
In Ecuador, the streets outside the hospitals are lined with pharmacies. If the patient needs medicine, even in the middle of surgery, it is the responsibility of the patient's family to go across the street and buy the medicine from one of the many pharmacies.
Most of the regular rooms in this hospital had 6 beds to a room with no privacy between beds. The patient to nurse ratio at this hospital was 2 nurses to 50 patients. The ratio gets worse at night becuase most of the nurses go home.
The patient's family stays with the patient in the hospital and really are their main caretakers. This is a picture of a family member sleeping under one of the children beds in the ER. Notice she is sleeping on cardboard. I guess this is common becuase the family is expected to stay with the patient. Also, patients stay in the ER at this hospital for days if needed. I tried to figure out why but never could figure it out.
I was very impressed with the things the hospital workers came up with. The nurses and doctors have the education but not the resources, so they came up with a lot of really good ideas. Like this one, where they blew up gloves to support a patient' heels to help prevent bed sores.
And this is one of their sharps containers.
Ok, so they clean their floors with diesel fuel. I have no idea why.
As we were touring the hospital, we saw a lot of different patients and families. One family chased us down the hall and asked us to come take a picture of their brother. We did. He had been hit by a car and was in a coma. They asked us for a wheelchair to use for him once he got out of the hospital. Sadly, he will never wake up. Not sure if the family understood that.
In the ER we saw different types of traumas. This, I thought, was the most interesting. This man had a snake bite that was being drained manually, meaning the doctor was pushing the venom out of the bite. It was extremely painful but the man did not have pain medication. Remember, they have to supply their own medication.
Ok, enough disgusting pictures. We were able to go into the pediatric rooms. Again, the families were the main caretakers. This little guy was so cute!!
I thought this was a humbling picture. The mom holding the baby's oxygen mask for the baby.
This guy was hilarious! He was blowing kisses at us as we walked by his room!
So naturally we went and got pictures with him!!
This little girl was hit by a car.
Her leg was broken and in traction. Again, they came up with their own way of supplying the weights to hold the traction on her leg. Note the partially filled milk jug.
These two little girls were in the ER with their families.
This one had been there for two days with appendicitis.
This one had just gotten there and was being treated for dengue fever. Dengue fever is transmitted by mosquitoes and has become a really big problem in Ecuador. Interestingly enough, when I went to the travel doctor for this trip, dengue fever was not even mentioned. We left on the trip worried about malaria but we came home from the trip worried about dengue fever.
I watched them put an IV in her hand. She didn't even flinch. Total tough girl!
We also had the opportunity to go into their neonatal intensive care unit. That was fascinating. The rest of the hospital was lacking in so many ways but not this area. It was almost like walking into my hospital. They pretty much had everything we do at home. Even this little guy who was basking away under his tanning (bilirubin) lights!:)
Ecuador in review
I went to Ecuador on a school nursing trip. There were 12 students, two teachers and the nurse who founded the non-profit group, Hands For Humanity. She organizes doctors and nurses that go to Ecuador to do surgeries on kids, specifically club foot, and helps bring kids to the U.S. for lifesaving surgeries. We had a lot of translators with us, some for only a few hours, others helped us for days and days! I can not speak highly enough about the people in Ecuador. Phenomenal.
Ecuador was amazing. I learned a lot, specifically about traveling with different people and in a group.
We stayed in three different hotels. One of which was a 5-star and was super nice. They gave us hot towels when we checked in!!
The food was fantastic! Truly, so good! The fish was so yummy and I could have eaten the rice every day! And the banana chips, which had a name that I can't remember, were surprisingly really good also! They eat them with some sort of mayo mix, also very good!
We went to the ocean....
And I even swam in a sulfur lake...only four of us had the guts to get in. I am proud to say I was one of them!
And, of course, I saw some of these...the famous Blue-footed Booby!!
Ecuador was amazing. I learned a lot, specifically about traveling with different people and in a group.
We stayed in three different hotels. One of which was a 5-star and was super nice. They gave us hot towels when we checked in!!
The food was fantastic! Truly, so good! The fish was so yummy and I could have eaten the rice every day! And the banana chips, which had a name that I can't remember, were surprisingly really good also! They eat them with some sort of mayo mix, also very good!
We went to the ocean....
And I even swam in a sulfur lake...only four of us had the guts to get in. I am proud to say I was one of them!
And, of course, I saw some of these...the famous Blue-footed Booby!!
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