Life ain't always Beautiful

I was in the ER last night. I showed up and wasn't even on the schedule but the CC wouldn't let me leave once I got there. Yes, they were desperate (as always). I ended up in charge in the Green ER with one ER nurse, 1 new nurse and 2 supplemental staff nurses. Lets just say it wasn't a stellar group that I was in charge of. Honestly, it was not a bad night.... until the end.

Everyone ends up at our hospital at some point. Someone I highly respect and value as a professional and a friend ended up with us last night. How do you handle that? He was not the patient, but the family of one. It was a bad situation... I had to call the cop and "decompress" after leaving. He is going out of town for a friend's bachelor party while I get a peaceful evening at home. I had planned on riding with the EMS supervisor in the city but after last night I think I just need a night off.

Crap

This is such crap. Tonight is the first time I have called out to work in 4 months. I can't breathe through my nose, have a sore throat and haven't stopped sneezing. I am such a bad patient, I bitch and moan a lot. The cop is worried that I may OD on benadryl.... Tempting as it may be, benadryl gives me the most fucked up dreams. Last night I dreamt that my dog had a head bleed and the vet called to put him to sleep.



Ugh.... I think I need a nap. Maybe the creative juices will be flowing better after the benadryl hangover.

Spring

Ugh... what is it about spring? As soon as it hits the vernal equinox my body tunes in and my allergies go haywire. If I could mainline Sudafed I would. My nose is red, eyes puffy and I feel like ass squared. There HAS to be another way!

I'm back at another high school tomorrow doing our community project. This school had a 16 year old drunk driving on New Year's who hit and killed a well known bartender. Needless to say, we get all the attention we need from these kids.

Asshole

Ok, update on court. The asshole's drunk girlfriend didn't show up. Not sure how her testimony is vital since she wasn't at the last THREE dates that I got subpoenas for. So it was continued AGAIN! By the way.... lawyers are scumbags.

Court

I should be off today. I picked up a princess shift in the ER tonight, but I should be able to sleep, study, make calls for the wedding and spend time with the cop. Am I? NO.... because some dumb ass motherfucker drove drunk. I have to go to court.... again. I mentioned this moron in earlier posts. We have him, no questions asked. He was already convicted for a first time DUI, which (as a misdemeanor) he has to pay a fine (less than $1000.00) has probation and loss of license for 6 months. The jackass got off EASY and he is appealing it to circuit court. SO I get to get dressed up (you have to dress for circuit) and carry my ass to the other side of town to testify against this asshole.

I'm a sweet girl..... until you get me to court. Then I'm the ER bitch. I hope this guy fries! I'll let you know how it goes!

boys

The last night (Thursday) that I was in the ED there was something in the air. The moon was out, and you could just tell that things were not right. As I turned onto the highway a helicopter flew over. It was the State Police medical helicopter en route to the hospital (I could tell by the direction they were going). When I got to the trauma room there was an 18 year old high school senior intubated with a head bleed after a rollover. I seriously thought this kid was going to die. He looked like shit. His pupils kept getting really big and not reacting to light, and then they spontaneously would. We also found out that he had a BIG ol spleen lac that was actively bleeding.

I went in to the ICU last night and guess who was my pt? My kid from the trauma room. He is still tubed, but stable and doing much much better. He will go home and probably be no worse for the wear. The good thing??? While he probably was driving like an 18 year old, he was neither drunk or on drugs. Way to go buddy!

On the other hand, a sad case is in the unit now. 21 year old, related to a trooper was "just a little drunk" (that would be a .15 In our world thats low)He hit a tree with his face (wear your seatbelt kiddies!) and avulsed his eyelids and nose. Essentially his whole face was almost sheared off. He also had a head injury that we can't fix. He herniated (Brain death) as I was leaving.

It was a sad way to end the night.

High School

I hated high school. I was shy, and a good student so therefore was never very popular. Going back as the "guest speaker" in a class is a whole different perspective. Neuro ICU has a program that they have been doing since the 80's that is designed to help teenagers make better choices. The point is that we know they are drinking, doing drugs, etc... we just want them to find a better way than driving while impaired or riding with someone who is.

There is a power point slide show set to music which (by my admission) can be fairly cheesy. There are real case presentations of students and families from this area and long term effects of head and spinal cord injuries. Included are some "gross" pictures. That always gets a reaction. The presentation concludes with hundreds of pictures of the roadside memorials in the area.
Afterwards we talk about the different situations and what decisions could have changed outcomes.

Finally we choose two kids to come up front. One is the victim.... the class decides what kind of awful accident this person was in and then what they hit, were they drinking, drugs, etc. We then "dress them up" as trauma patients and play show and tell with the breathing tubes, chest tubes, IV's, catheters you name it. We go through the motions of resuscitation and then placing the pt in a body bag.

Some kids are very responsive, others are what we call 'FTA's" Future Trauma Alerts. Two days of this will wear you out. I was happy to get back to the hospital last night for critical care class. I am a "princess" in the ER tonight and then off tomorrow for the cop's birthday.

The Itch

First of all .... No, its not that kind of itch!!!!

Every now and then I get the urge to get the hell out of the city... or at least the suburb that I'm in and just bail. There are hundreds of places that both the cop and I could reasonably get jobs. Is "just being tired" of a place motive enough to pick up and move? I see Wil in Hawaii, and old friends that have left Va and wonder if I could be next? I came very close to moving to NM about 4 years ago. I had a flight job offer in hand but it just wasn't "right."


Will have to keep pondering this one. Its 4am, I have to get up and go to school (ugh) in an hour and a half and I can't fucking sleep. Grrrrrrrr........

About Time

Finally... a decent night in the ICU! I was late so I didn't get to pick my patients. I didn't end up with a bad pair (fortunately).

The had two actual emergencies in the ICU last night. One of the male nurses (not Lurch, although he was there) had a patient who had a new trach due to a tooth abscess gone awry. Because of the infection his trachea had been pushed to the side and the trach (while scheduled) was a necessity. The weird anatomy was causing this guy to bleed from around his trach and into his lungs. He was awake and kept coughing pretty hard. Blood in the lungs does what any blood will do.... clot. W couldn't bag this guy and he couldn't clear his own airway. We tried to suction with no luck.

I ended up over there when the nurse started to panic. I bagged the patient as much as I could, calmed him down and told him to take a big deep breath as I begged him and then cough. He coughed, but something caught in the trach hole. I went to pull it out and pushed (like the Heimlich) on his stomach. He coughed out a clot the size of a gummy bear into my hand. Then he took a huge deep breath and started to relax. The surgery doc was at the bedside and was very relieved that the problem was solved. The patient did well the rest of the night.

After that I decided I was going to sit down and eat. Just as I was sitting I head one of the nurses yell for help. Her patient, a 97 year old man, was not responsive. Again, this was right up my alley. I ran over and his heart rate was 30.... thats bad. The "more senior" nurses were running around looking for.... who the fuck knows. I opened his airway and called for drugs. The poor patient went into cardiac arrest and I ran the code and helped with the geezer squeezer and CPR. The patient's nurse cried the whole time. Who the hell cries during a code??

Afterwards, I went to change (I got puked on) and ate my cold dinner. The charge nurse and other more experienced nurses came up and told me they were glad I was there.


I'm off for a couple of days. I am headed out to high schools Tuesday and Wednesday to talk to kids about drinking and driving. The cop's birthday is Friday.... still working on the evil plans for that!

WHooo-Hooooo!!

Buffett tickets went on sale today. It is SUCH a pain in the ass to get them and (as a friend says)Ticketbastard needs to rot in hell!!!

I got very very lucky this year. We got 5 actual seats.. at $126.00 each PLUS the venue charge. My asshole is still hurting. Thats not too bad considering the cop and I were both on the computer and he got kicked off ticketmaster about 30 seconds before they went on sale!

Whhhhooooo Saaaaaaaahhhhh! (see Bad Boys II) Goin to bed now!