Tuesday, November 14, 2006

Conversations with my Granddaughter

                      

                      Knock knock Gramma

                         Who's there?

                            Boo Hoo

                          Boo hoo who?

                           Long Pause

        Wait Gramma I need to start over

                   Ok sweety, Go ahead

                           Who's there ?

                               What?

               Wait I'll start over again.

                       Knock knock

                Giggling..... who's there?

     Silence.........Daddy what joke was I telling Gramma?

                         Ok, Knock knock

                         Who's there

                            Boo

                         Boo Hoo

                  Don't cry Gramma

     These are tears of laughter Granddaughter,

             Don't you just love children?

            

               I can't believe Thanksgiving is next week already.  Time is going by so fast. 

     We are not doing the Thanksgiving dinner this year due to finances, well unless my son gets a Turkey coupon from work, so in a way that takes a lot of the stress out of the holiday.  Also I have to be at work by 7. 

     I have been battling that for weeks.  Thanksgiving is suppose to be my holidayoff.  Since I work nights my holiday starts at 11 the night before the day.  When I am off and I work a holiday they make me work my usual 12 hour shift, even if the first 4 hours is not technically the holiday.  So I think I should get the entire 12 hours off when I am suppose to get it off.  Now I am off Wed. anyway.  So by making me come in at 7 they are making me work 4 hours of the holiday.  That way I never really get the holiday off. 

    Christmas this year I work Christmas eve 12 hours and Christmas 12 hours so that holiday is shot also.  See why I have so much trouble getting into them these days?  The only thing is I get paid very well to be there.  Almost $60.00 an hour, so since I am so broke I am going to just stop fighting it and go in.  I am actually even looking to see if anyone is wanting it off and will work for them.  I told my MIL to accept any offer she had for Thanksgiving this year, we are having chili or something, LOL.  Maybe Turkey chili!

     I didn't do a darn thing on my day off.  Just relaxed and played this new game my son got, Final Fantasy.  Love it.  I got killed though so have to start from my first save.  Did I do any housework?  No, not a lick.  I am doing some today, have to go to the library, my book Death of Common Sense has come in, and go to the antique store to see if I sold anything and need to put more items there.  I was going to start the gym today, Really Honest but that crud I was coming down with has sunk into my chest and I really don't feel up to running on the treadmill gasping for air and sweating with the oldies.

   I am fighting with my husband.  I made him an appointment to get a physical.  His blood pressure has been so high, he is going into A-fib a lot more often, he is tired all the time and just looks like crap.  He has had this crud for 2 weeks and is so worn down. 

    Chopping wood last week he went into A-fib and almost passed out.  Since he hadn't told us where he was going he would have laid there for hours in the woods until we might have found him.  Makes me so mad.  Also his Dad died of prostate cancer and he has never gotten his checked. 

     We have a really beautiful exotic looking female doctor.  "No way am I letting her put her finger up my butt",  he says, "and have you seen her nails"?  LOL.  I made him an appointment with a male.  Now he tells me he is cancelling the appointment!  Just until we can afford it!  I told him I can afford the 20 for the doctor's visit more then the thousands it would take to bury his sorry butt and if he cancels I will kick it also.  I am going to call the doctors and tell them not to let him cancel if he tries to call when I am not around.  Easy to do since I sleep during the day.  Then Thursday I will drive him there myself.  Darn men! 

    We are lucky as he has rarely been sick.   Besides his A-fib he is usually very healthy.  This year though he hasn't been as well.  He has ringing in his ears constantly, sleeps all the time and his color doesn't look good.  It is always hard to get him to go to the doctors.  I tell him preventive is best, nip it in the bud, but he rarely listens.  I may have to resort to tears, that still works sometimes,  Oh boo hoo, if you loved me you wouldn't risk your life this way, sob.......

   Anyway, that is my day.  Work tonight and tomorrow then I start my long stretch off.  I wish I felt better, but no helping that. 

    Nursing is a mental as well as physical job.  I am not sure if people really realize that.  We are constantly checking your appearance without you even noticing it to see your color, how you are breathing, using accessory muscles to help you, having trouble saying a entire sentence without gulping for air, are your legs more swollen, your nailbeds dusky, is your lab still good, your vitals normal, are you peeing out as much as you are taking in?  Is your heart beating normal and your blood pressure in the best range.  Am I missing anything?  Check and recheck and make sure you get better.  Force you to walk when you don't want to.  Make you use you incentive spirometer as often as ordered.  Take away your fluids so you don't drown yourself,  gently kick out visitors so you can rest.  Not to mention pulling you up in bed 8 times a shift as you slide down, turning you to the side when you can't do it yourself, helping you out of bed and letting you pull on me to get up.  It is hard work and believe me, your nurses keeps you alive almost more then your doctor many times.  We call them at night and risk getting yelled at to tell them of a change in condition, we get the resp. therapist here to fix your breathing, we nip problems in the bud before they become life threatening.  All this while many times we are short staffed, not feeling well ourselves, getting yelled at by family members for not letting their loved one rest.  It is not a easy job.  But it is a job worth doing.  I know many times people are here today because I did my job.  Am I patting myself on the back, darn tooting.  They don't call me Goddess at work for nothing, LOL.

                                   

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