odd day at work

Yesterday was such an odd day at work... we had 3 dementia patients in getting chemo. One patient just slept through the whole thing, the other patient kept calling me over and trying to tell me she has a "young woman problem" (her period) and need me to help her get up and go to the bathroom. We kept assuring her she already had a pad on and was ok.. (she couldn't walk so there was NO way we could get her to the bathroom).

My favorite dementia patient was the cutest old man. I was sitting at the computer eating lunch and trying to get some charting done and I looked over at him and he said to me " don't you think you have had enough?"  I didn't know whether to be offended or laugh lol.. but since I really do need to lose 20lbs I thought to myself I should sit by him more often at meal times and I bet I would lose some... as I slowly put my 3 oreos from home back into my bag.. I felt too self conscious to eat them now lol...

this same man wanted to know if the steroids we were giving him for treatment were the same kind that football players take and if he would develop muscles... he really is cute!

Off to clean house.. have worked the last 3 days and the house is in total chaos!

Hard week...

I absolutely love my job in the infusion center. I love my hours, my co-workers and my patients we come in contact with on a daily basis. I don't even mind giving chemotherapy and all that comes with it. This week though has been tough and made me think question about what I am doing.

I have worked here for a year now. My roots are in med/surg where I worked for 13 yrs and I while I do miss it I really love this different kind of nursing. We get to see our chemo patients every week, either for blood work or chemotherapy, and we get close to some of them and their families. They are always bringing us goodies and then sit there and watch to see if we enjoy them (one of the reasons why I have gained 20 lbs). This week though I am learning the downside of oncology nursing.

One patient is a male in his early 50's who was diagnosed with an extremely aggressive form of lung cancer around April. He went through 4 months of chemo with his wife by his side every day and I remember the day 6 weeks ago when his PET scan came back clear and they told the dr that they wanted to travel. The dr told them to do it sooner rather than later and last week he came back in and the cancer has come back and spread everywhere. His prognosis looks grim.

Another lady has been battling breast cancer. She is from England and is one of the most dignified, beautiful ladies I have ever met. A few weeks ago she found out (after traveling the world with her sister) that her cancer has come back and gone to the brain. She is declining rapidly.

Another patient comes as a pair. They are the cutest elderly couple I have ever seen. They joke with each other and with us. I ran into them in WalMart a few months ago and they met my son and they make it a point to ask about my "handsome" son every time I see them. She found out last week her lymphoma is back and spread to her brain, she is in the hospital and very confused. She is trying chemo again but....

Ms. C has been coming for a few weeks now and she is always upbeat with a smile on her face. Last Friday she was happy and doing great... today she is declining and her sats hover around 90. Yesterday she was in for blood and talked about just letting go. Today she did not show up for appointment deciding to stay home instead.

In med/surg you don't really get the time to get VERY close with your patients. When I worked briefly in a nursing home I got close to patients/family but when they passed it was expected and they had lived a good life. This is seeing the young, vibrant being robbed of life due to the evil cancer.

I really thought long and hard this week whether I was in the right career field, whether I should get as close to future patients or if I can take the heartache it can bring. 

On the other hand the positive that these patients and their families have brought to my life over the past year has been so profound words can not really express. It is hard that is for sure.

Sleep Apnea

Well I finally broke down and went for a sleep test last night. My husband has been complaining for over a year now about my sleep habits.. the worse is snoring that had suddenly started.

Well after showing up at 9pm last night and getting wired from head to toe I was informed this morning that I have moderate sleep apnea. I have to say though that I slept good last night  considering the 100 wires attached to me (well I thought I did). The bed was so comfortable and it helped that yesterday was day 3 of working 10 hr days so I went straight to sleep only to be woke up at 5:30am..


Now to step 2... I go back Sunday night to sleep with a cpap on and see how I do. I have already warned the family... NO Darth Vader jokes

Still alive...

I can't believe it has been since Feb. since I have posted. I am still alive and doing great but life has been so busy this year that I have barely had time for me. There have been a few changes and I should have more time... knocking on wood!!

So many things to catch up on since Feb.....

1. still working at the infusion center and absolutely loving it
2. my youngest, and recently diagnosed with epilepsy, is doing well with her meds
3. my middle son broke his leg, had surgery and physical therapy and is doing great
4. I had carpal tunnel surgery on my left hand and am recovering
5. the earthquake that hit last week.. 50 miles from my house.. scared the heck out of me
6. Hurricane Irene that hit Saturday didn't really bother me at all since I am from Florida and have lived thru a few
7. my oldest is in the process of joining the Air Force... I am so happy for him but the MOM in me is crying inside
8. if any of you are still with me after months of not writing I promise to do better!!!!

taking a moment..

I can't believe it has been over a month since I have posted on my poorly abused blog!! Things have been so crazy around here and I honestly feel like a chicken with her head cut off sometimes...   Let's see... in the past month a lot has happened:

1. I am now a certified chemotherapy nurse!!!! I took the 2 day chemo course and passed my test to become an officially certified. Let me tell you that I was more nervous to hang chemo AFTER I took the class then before. I love my job/employer and they gave me a few days of training to hang chemo and get my feet wet. So far so good.
2. I have been working a lot more. Since Ashley was born in 2001 I have only worked weekends but since Sept. I have been working about 3-4 days a week. They let me get my 9yr old on the bus and get home in time to get her off. You can't ask for better than that plus they are closed weekends and all major holidays. That is a first in my 14yrs of nursing I have had a job like that!
3. The down side is that is that the whole family has had to adjust to mom not being home to get everything done. My husband's job is such that he can not really help during the week and I swear every snow day this school year has been on a day I have had to work which leaves me scrambling to make sure the kids will be taken care of. Not to mention going into work when the kids leave and getting home when they do leaves little time to get things done! Praise God Ashley has been healthy this school year!
4. Ashley's seizures are under control (knocking on wood here). We had a neurology checkup yesterday and we are scheduled for another EEG next month but her medicine seems to be kicking in!!
5. My middle son is trying out for the soccer team at high school and that takes up a lot of time during the week. Official try outs are this week so if he makes it I know our lives are about to get more busy!!
6. The dogs.. while I love them like my own children the oldest has been having weird symptoms and lets just say I should have been a vet cause they make so much money!!
7. I have not had time to go to exercise in the past few months and I have gained back over 10lbs which with summer coming up has not made me happy!!
8. My husband did the sweetest thing for Valentines Day.. he ordered me an iPad, had in engraved and mailed to me... he had part of our love song from 1989 engraved on the back.. how sweet is that... not to mention I am totally addicted to it and now use it as an ereader!
9. The taxes finally got done today!! YEAH....
10. I also had a horrible case of bronchitis a few weeks ago that was on the verge of pneumonia and I thought I was dying... I mean literally dying!! When I drug myself to the dr my oxygen sats were in the low 90's and after a breathing treatment (first one ever) they came up to 96! Now I know how my respiratory compromised patients felt!

Well that is it from here. I made a promise to myself to be a better blogger. Hope this finds everyone out there in blog land happy and healthy!!!

Rum Cake

 

My neighbor made us a rum cake for Christmas and brought it over. I think that was the first time I had one, other than a quick sample in Grand Cayman! My family devoured it and asked for more so I went on a search for a good, easy recipe for one. I tweaked it a little and here is my easy rum cake recipe!

Rum Cake

1 package of yellow cake mix

1/4 cup dark rum (this equals one of those little airline bottles of rum)

4 eggs ( I have used egg beaters with great success)

1/2 cup water

1/2 cup vegetable oil

1 (3.5oz) package of instant vanilla pudding mix (I used coconut cream and it was awesome)

Mix all together and put in a well greased bundt pan. Bake at 350 for 1 hour. Let cool when done.

Glaze

1/4 cup butter

1/2 cup white sugar

1/8 cup water

1/4 cup rum

place all in a pan and bring to a boil. I boil my glaze for a couple minutes. 

I drizzle some of the glaze on the bottom of my plate, take out the bundt cake and place on your plate. Poke small holes all over the top and drizzle the glaze over it. I drizzle slowly and let it soak in. There you go!

Chicken fried chicken

 

This is one of my favorite meals and my kids too and it is so easy to fix. I got the main idea from a Paula Dean recipe and made it into my own!

Country Fried Chicken and Gravy

6 chicken breasts

eggs

flour/seasoned salt

oil

country style gravy packs (I use 2)

mashed potatoes (a must for this dish in our house)

1. Pound out your chicken breasts as flat as you like them and dip into beaten up eggs in a separate dish ( I use egg beaters)
2. mix about 2 cups of flour with a few tablespoons of seasoned salt (to your tastes) and after dipping the chicken in the egg dredge it in the flour. Now you can double dip the chicken in the egg mixture/flour mixture again as Paula calls for but it works just fine dipping it once for me
3. fry the chicken a few tablespoons of cooking oil until chicken is done and golden brown, then drain on a plate with paper towels

In the mean time mix up your gravy packs and make your gravy.  Wa-La.... there you go!
If there is any left over gravy I use it over biscuits in the morning!