Hair-Therapy today

Had a hair-therapy session today with Kim. She always makes me look better! Haha! Got some more highlights and a much needed trim.

Exposed again!

Just checked my work email, and there was an email from Occupational Health. Guess what? Another Pertussis exposure! I really think the VPES(Vanderbilt Pertussis Exposure Study) is hand picking their subjects! Maybe if these children would get their vaccinations, we might not see it so much! Just a thought. What do you think? :)

I'll probably be given another dose (or two) of azithromycin. Antibiotics! Gotta love them. I feel like I've been on them for the last year, due to the sinus issues! So one day, when I really have an infection, nothing is going to treat it, because my body is so resistant!

I'm not bitter...really.

UPDATE: JUST TALKED TO THE OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH NURSE, AND I HONESTLY DON'T RECALL THE PATIENT. SO, IF I DEVELOP SYMPTOMS, TO NOTIFY THEM! THANK GOODNESS.

A great weekend!

What a wonderful weekend! A nice little break away from everything. I got to spend the weekend with my beautiful friend! I was able to meet her two friends: Megan and Megan. Hehe!



Here are a few pics...and a few stories.

This is June. She's a big sweetie. She's afraid of men. Megan (LeeAnna's roommate, best friend) is a manager of a vet clinic. Needless to say, they adopt animals! Haha. June is the recent addition. They have two other dogs, Hank & Tank. I like Tank. He's a beagle/lab mix! He's so cute! :)

And of course, the nerdy part of me had to go check out what use to be our competition (not really). UAB combines their Burn and Trauma patients. They have an ICU and a step down from ICU. It's a little confusing. We also checked out Children's Emergency Department. They were under construction, so I didn't take any pictures. 35 bed unit. (Everybody kept asking me when I was moving to Birmingham! Hmmm...).

Fire & Ice. It's much like Golden Eagle, but I like Fire & Ice better. Locations are Massachusetts, Rhode Island, California, Alabama.

After dinner, we went to a dualing piano bar called Twist & Shout. It was alot of fun! Great place to people watch! :)

That about sums up the weekend. It was really funny how many people I've had lately trying to get me to move to different places: Chicago x 2, Birmingham. I had a great time, and I really do miss my LeeAnna! I love her dearly!

Birmingham Bound!

Can I tell you that I'm super excited to be going to Birmingham this weekend!? :) I'm going to visit this beautiful girl...that I haven't seen since Christmas! YAH! Looking forward to getting away for the weekend and hanging out with LeeAnna. (Plus, I'll get to make more photos with her...this pic was taken at a Christmas party. Posted this pic in December, too).

Apples & Wine

I got this email today, and I liked it.

To all fine women (& men)! Hehe.

Apples and Wine

Women are like apples on trees. The best ones are at the top of the tree. Most men dont want to reach for the good ones because they are afraid of falling and getting hurt. Instead, they sometimes take the apples from the ground that aren't as good, but easy. The apples at the top think something is wrong with them, when in reality, they're amazing. They just have to wait for the right man to come along, the one who is brave enough to climb all the way to the top of the tree.

Now men...men are like a fine wine. They begin as grapes, and its up to the women to stomp the crap out of them until they turn into something acceptable to have dinner with.

Yes, I'm awake...

It's 3am...and I'm awake! It's what you get for working night shift! When I'm done working my days in a row or whatever, I try to get back into a "day shift" mode. Meaning, I try to sleep like normal people! :) However, the last several days I've been off, I've found myself waking up between 2-3am. I'll either fall asleep about an hour before the alarm or just stay awake. (Of course, I'm dealing with a few things this week). This is why I record CSI: Miami, Law & Order, Law & Order: SVU(on TBS, TNT). So for the last two hours, I've been watching Law & Order and Law & Order: SVU.

I'm going to try to go back to sleep for an hour or two...at least! :)

In Memory of Lisa

It was a good service. Standing room only. Lots of tears, lots of laugh. The beginning of emotional healing.

David, Lisa's husband, and another gentleman sang this song below, a cappella.

Some day, written by Olive Stockton

Some day when my last line is written
Some day when I've drawn my last breath
When my last words on earth have been spoken
And my lips are sealed in death

Don't look in my cold form in pity
Don't think of me as one dead
It'll just be house I once lived in
My spirit by then will have fled

I'll have finished my time here allotted
But I'll won't be in darkness alone
I will have heard from heaven
The summons to come on home

And when my body is in the grave
Don't think that I'll be there
I won't be dead, but living
In the place Jesus went to prepare

And after all is said and done
Know that my last earnest prayer
Is that my loved one ready
Some day meet me there

Happy Easter!

Happy Easter!

Easter was my fourth night in a row. However, we managed to have a good time at work. We all brought in lots of good food to munch on all night!

Renee and I came up with an idea to have an Easter egg hunt on the unit. No, not for the kids. For us! Among the 125 eggs we hid on the unit, about 25 of them had pieces of paper with 'prizes.'

• Get out of triage free card (my personal favorite!!!)
• Give away a patient
• 45 min lunch.
• Get to go home early
• Wear a t-shirt(Vanderbilt Children's) to work
• Pick your assignment
• Pick you neighbor

And the golden egg prize was the Charge Nurse had to buy that person dinner. Blaire found the golden egg, but I think she traded someone for the get out of triage free card!

Since Renee and I hid the eggs, we did not participate, which was totally fine. One of the transporters got a triage free card. She was so sweet, she gave it to me! :)

Hope you all had a wonderful Easter!

You just never know...

I don't know how to begin...because I'm not sure what to think or how to feel. I know nothing that I type is going to flow, per se...so, I apologize for the randomness.

My heart hurts; it aches. I am sad. I am numb. I am in denial. I am emotional. I am vulnerable. I am letting my guard down by blogging about this...

I received the news that my closest friend through nursing school passed away today. She was only 43. A husband, two children. She and I studied together, did projects together. We worked together at the Burn Center. We saw each other when we had burn consults in the ED. She was a classmate, a colleague, a friend. How do you take that? What do you do?

I should know how to cope, to deal, right? I mean, I've dealt with death and dying at work...on so many occasions, too many to count. There comes a point where you sometimes become 'numb' to situations in order to deal. Have had some close family members & friends pass. My father is much older than most fathers...I've seen many pass on. I planned my first funeral at the age of 20, my grandmother's.

I've learned this week, that yes, we may become numb to situations in our lives, but we still must consider what we're going through. We can't allow the stress and emotions to build to a point of breakdown. However, I'll be the first to admit that I neglect my emotional and mental needs. Because, that's who I am...I'm a nurse, I'm a giver. I tend to the needs of others...

You just never know what life will bring you...You just never know when your time on earth is done. So be grateful for what you have...those around you. Because you just never know...

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

May the lilt of lush laughter lighten ever road,
May the midst of Irish magic shorten every road.
May you taste the sweetest pleasures
that fortune ever bestowed,
And may all your friends remember
all the favors you are owed.

There are good ships, and there are wood ships,
the ships that sail the sea.
But the best ships are friendships,
and may the always be.

May you never forget what is worth remembering or remember what is best forgotten.

Dance as if no one were watching,
Sing as if no one were listening,
And live every day as if it were your last.

Quote of the day

"A person will sometimes devote all of his life to the development of one part of his body - the wishbone."
~Robert Frost

Happiness...

Happiness is an attitude. We either make ourselves miserable or happy & strong. The amount of work is the same.

Do we expect too much from others?

"Life is under no obligation to give us what we expect."
~Margaret Mitchell

"Oft expectation fails, and most oft there
Where most it promises; and oft it hits
Where hope is coldest, and despair most fits."
-William Shakespeare,
All's Well That Ends
Well (II, i, 145-147)

Vanderbilt LifeFlight. My colleagues, my friends, and my dream.