Christmas is OVER!

My Christmas was fabulous, thank you very much. I had four days off leading up to and the day of, which in nursing is almost unheard of. I do have to work New Year's, but I think I'll be relatively safe in the ICU. The people in the city tend to shoot their guns off all night New Year's Eve. The problem is... what goes up must come down.

Things in the unit haven't changed much.. those poor pitiful souls I mentioned last post, yeah, the families only let one go. Thats it. The rest cling to some kind of existence between life and death with open eyes and no purposeful response. Fence post girl is doing ok.... after her second operation (the facial reconstruction) she started accumulating pus under her skin (orange, in case you wanted to know) and as it built up it would ooze out of the side of her head. Gross I know. Not exactly a 'holiday look.' She went to the OR two days after Christmas and as of last night was looking much better. The moral of the story kiddies is the same as it always is.... Don't Drink and Drive.

Not sure when I go back to the ER. Have to check out the schedule and email some time. I'm hoping to pick up at least 2 days a week for a while. Now that Christmas is over the whole family is switching to wedding planning mode. So far the airfare is paid for, half of the wedding package is paid for and the deposit is down on the B&B. I have to find a dress, figure out details of transportation the day of and all that other fun stuff. I just want to go out on jet-skis the morning of and people are raising hell. "What if you hit your face and have a black eye?" Well that will be a good story. We are going to do exactly what we want to do...... I think that will make us happy.

Christmas Karma?

SO I am officially off from now 'til Christmas. One of the nurses last night said that it didn't seem like Christmas in the ICU. There were decorations, a tree and Christmas music playing at many of the bedside radios. He said that usually the unit is EMPTY at Christmas. This year there will be a significant number of sad cases that are parked in the ICU. An inmate went in for an aneurysm clipping and did not do well. I was actually the one who wheeled him to the OR. He looked at me and said "I'm scared." The warden is allowing his family to come up Christmas Day and see him, they are going to withdraw care (aka let him die) either that night or the next day. There are a couple of cases like that.... I can think of at least 5. Let me point out that there are only 14 beds in this ICU. So almost half are fixin' to die.... but most of the families just won't let them go. So they stay with us, turn, suction, tube-feed, trach and peg (hole in throat to breathe, hole with tube in the belly to feed) and just lay there like vegetables.

There is another little girl that I must mention. She was in an MVA drinking and driving (for the second time!) and she hit a split rail fence. One of the rails went through the windshield and into her face. The right side of her nose is gone, we are not sure if she will keep her eye and most of the bones on the right side of her face are broken. Let me also point out that this was a beautiful girl. Have you ever seen those women who just take your breath away? Long wavy brown hair, olive skin and BLUE eyes. She was a knockout. Now with a bunch of reconstructive surgeries and rehab, she may get back to her life.... but it will never be the same. I have taken care of her the last 3 nights. She went to the OR again this morning. Her mom was crying when she told me that my mom and dad should be very proud of me. That meant a lot.

So Christmas in the hospital looks pretty sad this year. Glad I won't be there!

So back to karma again. The doorbell rang at 4pm... Maddux went nuts (as usual). It was the Fed-Ex guy. He had the cop sign for a package and left. Ummmm..... it was another IPOD.... engraved and everything. Maybe I'm confused. I told all the peeps that I had gotten it from the neighbor's porch and all was right with the world. I made the cop call and check. Apple said they would have it picked up or we can ship it back. They had no idea (surprise surprise) that I now had two. Yes, I guess I could have kept both..... they would have never known. But like I told the cop.... I would have known. Wouldn't feel right keeping something like that.

So I am picking the cop's 10 year old niece up at 11am for the day and night. Her parents don't pay her a shit's bit of attention so she is going to hang out with us. Sweet girl... but god she wears me out.

Fed-Ex

Soo, Fed-Ex can kiss my ass. I ordered the cop an IPOD for Christmas (he knows... now, it was going to be a surprise). Nice, engraved, just what he wanted. So I've been tracking the package and 2 nights ago, at work in the ICU I pull up the handy-dandy website. Ummm.. yeah, it had been delivered to my front door at 10am that morning (1022 to be exact). The comment section stated that it (the 300 dollar IPOD) had been left on the porch.

Not to be bitchy, but there was no package on my porch when I left for work that night. Nor was there a delivery at 10-ish that morning... through a beautiful twist of fate, I was unable to sleep and was downstairs with Maddux. So I call Apple, speak to a 12 year old who assures me that the package in question was shipped, via Fed-Ex, and should be there. So I check on my patients..... give some drugs and get back on the phone to Fed-Ex. There I spoke to the most retarded woman in Memphis who pretty much read the tracking sheet word for word and didn't understand why I was so upset.

I finally gave up and called the cop. He had an idea what he was getting anyway and I was getting too upset to deal with this and be at work at the same time. I don't know who he called, but people started paying attention. He called again to the local Fed-Ex place, spoke to the manager and arranged to have the driver call when she was done today. So I drove on home, turn onto my street, kinda sad that he may not get his Christmas present. Let me mention that my address is 8513 ... street. I happened to look at 8413 as I drove past and there on the porch rail was a tiny package. NO FUCKING WAY was the driver that stupid. So I hopped out of the jeep, ran up to some strangers door and grabbed my cardboard shipping box. Let me also mention that the correct address was printed on the box in big letters TWICE! Grrrr......

So I hid the present with the rest... the cop is DYING to even look at it. Ummmm... no way Jose' after all the buildup... you're waiting for Christmas for this one. But then again, maybe I should throw him a bone... at least the fucking Christmas lights are up now!

Blacked Out

There was a medical helicopter crash in California yesterday. One of my favorite websites is www.flightweb.com and there will be more details on there soon. This is a situation that the cop and I have talked about. Flight nursing isn't just fluff. People really do give their lives for this.

PS

A little post script for the previous post. Apparantly the cop can tell when I haven't been posting for a while. Something about my attitude. Hmmmm.... I wonder what that could mean...?!?!?

So family bonding this morning.... pizza bites (it is dinnertime) and 'Sex and the City.' What a way to unwind. Oh, and by the way... if its gonna be this fucking cold (19 F) it needs to SNOW!

Rambling on....

SO I have been completely remiss in my blogging lately. As my friend K has so tactfully pointed out... I probably couldn't find home without directions.... I just haven't been there much. So yes, I have been working a LOT! It seems that even my days off are busy as shit. Last Friday was the ER Christmas party. I spent most of the day shopping for shoes and trying to pick a shirt and tie for the cop. The party was fun. It is always interesting to go to a social event with the people you work with. This was black tie optional which was a challenge for some folks. There was (of course) an open bar and too many people who overindulged. There is a picture of one of the pedes nurses dancing on a table (yeah, it was that kind of party). At one point I realized that if there is a major disaster in Virginia, these are the people who will be there to save the day.... all of them on the dance floor to 'I Like Big Butts'.... scary as hell.

Its been sad at work lately. Had a 13 year old die in an ATV crash. She wasn't wearing a helmet. Family didn't want to donate... what a waste. I went to court for a drunk that I drew blood on. The bastard had the balls to plead 'Not Guilty.' I think his lawyer thought he would get off on a loophole or that I would screw up. I used to be scared when I testified in court, but have since realized that unless I get terminally stupid, my ass won't be the one who is going to jail. That takes some of the pressure off. Plus I know I followed procedure... all I have to do is explain that. So the guy was convicted (whoo-hoo score one for the good guys!). He got a $450 fine, 60 days in jail suspended, loss of license for a year and mandatory alcohol abuse program. The cop said that in the city they get a mandatory day in jail too.

I would really like to know how many of the accidents that we see (not just the trauma alert ones) are alcohol-related. I am just OVER the whole drunk driver thing. Its gotten ridiculous. I'm sure we all know someone who has gotten a DUI. ("Its no big deal anymore") GRRRRRRrrrrr.....

Had the trauma room last Sat night. Nothing big and major.... some drunk drivers (go figure) and a GSW to the leg. All in all a good night. Someone asked when the wedding was and I realized..... it was 6 months away! Holy Shit! I have soooo much to do!

Tonight I'm in the unit and all is calm on the western front. We have 5 empty beds and no prospects in the ER. Hell, last I checked they only had 3 patients! So I've done a bunch of Christmas shopping and catching up on emails and my trash websites.

Still haven't gotten a call from the flight peeps. Not sure how long to wait before I just say 'fuck it' and move on. Still is very frustrating. I'm sure Lurch has applied as well. He got an interview last time. I'm gonna be pissed if he gets one now and I don't!

So I looked at my profile views... its like 400! I remember when it was 2 (and I think I was one of them!!) Where have they all come from?!?!?! What the hell am I saying that is so interesting? Oh well, am grateful nonetheless.

Ok, so I have rambled on for a while. Its 4am and time to turn my patient! Fun Fun!!!

My Ulcer

I applied for another flight position today. UGH.. not sure why it upsets my stomach the way it does. I have applied to a bunch of programs and have not gotten an interview yet. Cross what you've got for me. Gonna try to get some of the decorations up and make dinner and then will do a decent blog since its been a while. Lots on my mind.