Saturday night, a patient came in by EMS, rolling around on stretcher, moaning and crying. Complaining of left flank pain for 6 hours. EMS said he was beeing a jerk, uncooperative. Went in to assess him, acting like he had a kidney stone so started an IV, fluids and asked the doc for pain meds. His oxygen level was low so I started him on oxygen, his heart rate was high, thought it was from the pain and deydration so opened up the IV fluids to rehydrate. He got pain meds, then went to CT. The CT tech came running back with the patient; patient had effusions to bilateral lungs (fluid in the lungs or below the lungs). No official read from the radiologist so started a second IV, gave more oxygen and more pain medications.
When the official read came back, results were a ruptured esophagus! The effusions were caused by the fluid and food that the patient had eaten that went through the hole and settled under his lungs. 100% fatal without immediate surgery! 25% fatality even with surgery. We did not have the capability at my hospital! So we were on the phone for emergency transport, getting the cardio-thorasic surgeon to the hospital we were sending the patient to. We were able to get him to the OR at Moses Cone. Heard later that he was unresponsive when they got him on the table. Found out last night the he made it through the surery!!! YEAH! This is why I do what I do. Every now and then, what I do with my team in the emergency truely saves a life. If we had waited, the patient would most likely have died. We work together, work hard and move onto the next patient.
Tuesday, September 14, 2010
Tuesday, July 20, 2010
Rough weekend
Kids were willful, husband tired, me--unusually difficult work on Friday night and Saturday night.
Caos in the emergency room--a dozen patients in the waiting room waiting to be seen. Really sick patients and the fools that do stupid things that take up way too much time. On young man was brought in by the police because he ate a gram of cocaine---in front of the police, so he could not be accused. Well...we have our ways of collecting evidence...and saving his life. Tube down his nose into his stomach to suck out the contents, then a liquid called "Golitely"...not pleasant, not an acurate name because you sure do not go "lightly". He ended up vomiting 5 bags of cocaine, who knows how much came out the other end. What came up was enough to convict of selling. So, after monitoring for 6 hours, off he went in cuffs with the police. Would have been a lot less painful for him and for us if he had just given up at the time he was caught...
The good thing about my shift is the people I work with...we all share in the misery and the joys. We have fun when we can and work hard together when we cannot.
This morning woke up with a lot of lower back, leg, hip, knee and ankle pain from the bulging disc flaring up. When I sit too much, it flares. Sunday was calm...too calm--after about 1am, we didn't get any more patients so sitting was what we did. Recovering from the rough weekend. Now I am paying for it. No more sitting for awhile....
One more weekend then Family Camp! Can't wait!
Caos in the emergency room--a dozen patients in the waiting room waiting to be seen. Really sick patients and the fools that do stupid things that take up way too much time. On young man was brought in by the police because he ate a gram of cocaine---in front of the police, so he could not be accused. Well...we have our ways of collecting evidence...and saving his life. Tube down his nose into his stomach to suck out the contents, then a liquid called "Golitely"...not pleasant, not an acurate name because you sure do not go "lightly". He ended up vomiting 5 bags of cocaine, who knows how much came out the other end. What came up was enough to convict of selling. So, after monitoring for 6 hours, off he went in cuffs with the police. Would have been a lot less painful for him and for us if he had just given up at the time he was caught...
The good thing about my shift is the people I work with...we all share in the misery and the joys. We have fun when we can and work hard together when we cannot.
This morning woke up with a lot of lower back, leg, hip, knee and ankle pain from the bulging disc flaring up. When I sit too much, it flares. Sunday was calm...too calm--after about 1am, we didn't get any more patients so sitting was what we did. Recovering from the rough weekend. Now I am paying for it. No more sitting for awhile....
One more weekend then Family Camp! Can't wait!
Saturday, July 17, 2010
Cats whiskers
So I went to pick up our new cat Cookie and noticed that half his whiskers are gone! "Not me" and "I don't know how it happened" are the culprits...Gotta love'um!
Wednesday, July 14, 2010
Riding...and falling
Today, our house sitter came over to see the horses again and the lay of the land. I also wanted to see him handle the horses, since he said he could and wanted to ride. So, I caught Rosie, we brushed and saddled and bridled...then both he and Amilia wanted me to ride first "to get her beans out"...
I hopped up in shorts (ow!! for the calves!), rode her around the paddock at a walk, trot then canter, held my own...surprised myself because it had been so long. Then Todd hopped up, we adjusted the stirrups and off he went, around the field and off Rosie onto the ground. Neither Amilia or I saw him fall; he says that Rosie stumbles in a hole and the saddle was very slippery---the scarry thing was that his boot stayed in the stirrup! He is used to riding western and we put him in an English saddle. Rosie did not move when he fell....yeah, what a good horse! He got back on, rode around for about 15 minutes then Amilia got on. She has not ridden at all in a long time because she did not want to ride Rosie and Princess was unreliable. She did amazing! She surprised herself I think...handled Rosie without any difficulty at all. Walk, trot, canter...and she did not fall.
Later on tonight, Todd messaged me on his phone that he hurt himself...ugg...but he was laughing....
I hopped up in shorts (ow!! for the calves!), rode her around the paddock at a walk, trot then canter, held my own...surprised myself because it had been so long. Then Todd hopped up, we adjusted the stirrups and off he went, around the field and off Rosie onto the ground. Neither Amilia or I saw him fall; he says that Rosie stumbles in a hole and the saddle was very slippery---the scarry thing was that his boot stayed in the stirrup! He is used to riding western and we put him in an English saddle. Rosie did not move when he fell....yeah, what a good horse! He got back on, rode around for about 15 minutes then Amilia got on. She has not ridden at all in a long time because she did not want to ride Rosie and Princess was unreliable. She did amazing! She surprised herself I think...handled Rosie without any difficulty at all. Walk, trot, canter...and she did not fall.
Later on tonight, Todd messaged me on his phone that he hurt himself...ugg...but he was laughing....
Tuesday, July 13, 2010
Tetnus shot
Today Nathan got his "going into 6th grade tetnus shot". He was very brave, did not cry until he got into the car and we were done. The nurse that gave it was very good. She was no nonsense, just came in, talked with Nathan about school and then gave him his shot...he didn't really even have time to think about it. I find I do the same thing with my patients in the ER. On Sunday, I was taking care of a 15 year old who had a severe allergic reaction to something and was covered with hives and was itching like crazy. The best and quickest treatment is IV benadryl, IV pepcid and IV steroids. He agreed but when I came in with everything, he started to freak...I just kept talking to him, took his arm and stretched out. Told him I would not stick him without telling him when I was going to, cleaned the spot and then quickly said, "1, 2, 3 stick" and stuck him...slid the catheter in, took the needle out and he went "thats it?". So the fear was greater than the actual pain. However, I will not tell any of my patients that it will not hurt; because it will...I am sticking a needle in! His mom kept saying, this won't hurt and I kept having to tell him, yes, this will hurt, but not for long...
We have been working with training with the horses. Rhanda is doing great, she seems to be picking up the training quickly. I would love to be able to ride her soon. But we really need to do a lot of ground work first. We are using the Clinton Anderson method and it is easy to follow, and it works!
Amilia is working with a tutor over the summer. She is moving quickly with her reading abilities. The teacher is one from school, we will probably try and keep her working with Amilia through the school year because the one on one is making a huge difference. And her confidence is building. I see her stuggle with things that seem so simple to me but recently, she has had more "aha" moments, putting together the way words and sounds work. She really struggles with reading short i, short e and short a...to her, they sound very similar. Her teacher is actually teaching Amilia how her mouth should go with each sound. It has help alot!
Nathan is working on the Walter Farley series. He has read the first two books, will probably bring two or three to family camp. I remember reading those books over and over again growing up. I am thrilled that Nathan is enjoying them!
I am off work until Friday. I hope to get a lot of stuff done this week. I want to sort through the basement and figure out what I want to keep and what I want to sell. I have a bunch of stuff I need to take pictures of and post on Craigslist to sell. I just need to get motivated to get going!
The kids are creating their own chore charts today with a huge reward at the end of the summer for working hard and following the charts as much as they can--a day at the local water park. We are going to put small rewards in too. Nathan has been very helpful lately without any prompting so I slip him some money every now and then. Amilia has been getting paid to give me back and foot rubs!
We have been working with training with the horses. Rhanda is doing great, she seems to be picking up the training quickly. I would love to be able to ride her soon. But we really need to do a lot of ground work first. We are using the Clinton Anderson method and it is easy to follow, and it works!
Amilia is working with a tutor over the summer. She is moving quickly with her reading abilities. The teacher is one from school, we will probably try and keep her working with Amilia through the school year because the one on one is making a huge difference. And her confidence is building. I see her stuggle with things that seem so simple to me but recently, she has had more "aha" moments, putting together the way words and sounds work. She really struggles with reading short i, short e and short a...to her, they sound very similar. Her teacher is actually teaching Amilia how her mouth should go with each sound. It has help alot!
Nathan is working on the Walter Farley series. He has read the first two books, will probably bring two or three to family camp. I remember reading those books over and over again growing up. I am thrilled that Nathan is enjoying them!
I am off work until Friday. I hope to get a lot of stuff done this week. I want to sort through the basement and figure out what I want to keep and what I want to sell. I have a bunch of stuff I need to take pictures of and post on Craigslist to sell. I just need to get motivated to get going!
The kids are creating their own chore charts today with a huge reward at the end of the summer for working hard and following the charts as much as they can--a day at the local water park. We are going to put small rewards in too. Nathan has been very helpful lately without any prompting so I slip him some money every now and then. Amilia has been getting paid to give me back and foot rubs!
Friday, July 9, 2010
A year later
We have been in our house for over a year, still love it, still have a wreck in the basement...
It has been a tough day today. We had to put Princess down, our first horse that we have ever had as a family. She has had problems with her foot and leg, lost a lot of muscle mass and began to really appear unhappy and in pain despite treatment. The kids have had a major learning experience today. They were there with Princess when she died. They cried, talked about it, cried some more and I think we will get through it easier than when we had to put Blacky the cat to sleep.
Our household now consists of a Husband, a Dog, Two kids, Three cats, and Three horses. We have worked on the land to make it better for the animals. We have to put a barn up. We have a lot of landscaping to do. We started a great garden and then the grass took over...next year we will definitely do things different for the garden, but it has been fun starting it. Just a disappointment that we have not gotten any veggies out of it.
We have had lots of blueberries, the apple trees are coming along great, the peaches and pears are almost ready to pick. Love to eat of the land. Just need to work on it more next year.
We are excitedly looking forward to our Maine, Family Camp at the end of the month.
We have a young man named Todd coming to stay for the time we are gone. He has worked with horses for a long time and I work with him. He came over earlier this week and is comfortable with the animals. He will be coming over again on Tuesday to ride and work with the horses again. We thank God for him. He is a Christian as well and we feel blessed to have him coming.
Jim has a new job-- second or third this year due to the economy. This one came from God..after I got Rosie and Princess, we started getting grain at Davis Feed. One afternoon, Jim went over after the store had closed and the owner came over to get him what he needed. While there, they started talking, he offered Jim a job on the spot. It has been a blessing. We are just about paid off of all of our Credit card debt and will not get into it again! By the end of the summer, we will be free of these chains. This job is flexible, he is able to be home when I need him home. He is delivering water and grain and anything else that they need. He enjoys it. He is working for a Christian business...it is wonderful!
Well, enough for now.
I am going to try and keep this journal more regularly as the kids change so fast and I want to keep up with their challenges and journey.
It has been a tough day today. We had to put Princess down, our first horse that we have ever had as a family. She has had problems with her foot and leg, lost a lot of muscle mass and began to really appear unhappy and in pain despite treatment. The kids have had a major learning experience today. They were there with Princess when she died. They cried, talked about it, cried some more and I think we will get through it easier than when we had to put Blacky the cat to sleep.
Our household now consists of a Husband, a Dog, Two kids, Three cats, and Three horses. We have worked on the land to make it better for the animals. We have to put a barn up. We have a lot of landscaping to do. We started a great garden and then the grass took over...next year we will definitely do things different for the garden, but it has been fun starting it. Just a disappointment that we have not gotten any veggies out of it.
We have had lots of blueberries, the apple trees are coming along great, the peaches and pears are almost ready to pick. Love to eat of the land. Just need to work on it more next year.
We are excitedly looking forward to our Maine, Family Camp at the end of the month.
We have a young man named Todd coming to stay for the time we are gone. He has worked with horses for a long time and I work with him. He came over earlier this week and is comfortable with the animals. He will be coming over again on Tuesday to ride and work with the horses again. We thank God for him. He is a Christian as well and we feel blessed to have him coming.
Jim has a new job-- second or third this year due to the economy. This one came from God..after I got Rosie and Princess, we started getting grain at Davis Feed. One afternoon, Jim went over after the store had closed and the owner came over to get him what he needed. While there, they started talking, he offered Jim a job on the spot. It has been a blessing. We are just about paid off of all of our Credit card debt and will not get into it again! By the end of the summer, we will be free of these chains. This job is flexible, he is able to be home when I need him home. He is delivering water and grain and anything else that they need. He enjoys it. He is working for a Christian business...it is wonderful!
Well, enough for now.
I am going to try and keep this journal more regularly as the kids change so fast and I want to keep up with their challenges and journey.
Wednesday, July 1, 2009
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