| catching up |
[09 Dec 2002|09:28am] |
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mood |
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 okay |
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i finally have a place of my own. i love it. the kitty is happy. after i return from my trip back east, i'll be moving in the birds and the rest of my stuff.
it's nice to not be living in a dark, cold place that smells like dog piss with depressing goth music plugging in the background. though i really miss the girls.
here's what happened at work this weekend:
yesterday, at yWork, i had my first potential flaunt of authority over a
major ethical dilemma for me. well, it wasn't much of a dilemma. it was
pretty clear to me what i needed to do.
anyway, i came in at 6am and asked the night nurses if there was anything i
needed to know about their patients. one of the nurses told me that one of
hers is close to death and "do not resuscitate -- comfort measure only".
then, she proceeded to tell me that he has a siezure whenever he's
stimulated, even on massive amts of anti-seizure meds. so, when i take his
vital signs, he's going to have a seizure and the nurse should be with me.
so, i ask, "if he's on comfort measure only, why are we taking his vitals?"
thinking that seizures can't be all that "comfortable" even if he is on 10
units of morphine.
the response was, "why is he on the heart monitor? why does he still have
the tube down his throat? we still need to turn him....."
then, i started to get mad. i brought it up diplomatically with the charge
nurse who said that we need orders "according to the standard of care" to
decrease the number of times we do vitals. i looked at the standard of care
for "comfort measures" and the charge nurse was wrong.
so, the nurse who was actually taking care of the pt (a new nurse, who i had
never worked with before) said she'd pump him up on tegretol (or something
like it, i think), and we'd move him, do his vitals, etc. all at once. the
charge nurse liked that idea (actually, i came up with that one, now that i
think abt it). we went in there after the meds had a chance to work, i
attached the blood pressure cuff, hit the button on the machine and he
started seizing. his o2 sat went down to 65% (it should be above 90%) and
his heart rate climbed to 245. i looked at the nurse and said that i felt
that it was cruel and unnessasary to do this. he's on comfort measures.
we're clearly not providing comfort. she agreed. i asked if i could stop
the blood pressure cuff. she said it was up to me. i did.
the other part of it was that i asked if i should record the heart rate and
the sat, and she said no, that it would be whacked because of the seizure.
so, WHY THE FUCK WERE WE TAKING HIS VITALS IF A. HE SEIZES *EVERY* TIME AND
B. THEY ARE COMPLETELY 'INNACCURATE'!!!
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| long ass week |
[08 Oct 2002|06:35pm] |
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mood |
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 stressed |
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well, it's been a long ass week. things have been tense on the home/marital front, and, at my new digs.
last week, my housemate theresa tried very hard to convince me to euthanize my cat. okay has been sick for a long time. she has a big nose, which she has trouble breathing through when she is aggitated, or physical, and it sounds horrible. i've brought her to 4 different vets, all of whom do not know what's wrong with her. a biopsy has been negative for cancer, and she doesn't have a fungus. all concur that it would cost thousands to diagnose and treat her, and she's an old cat -- most likely 14 yrs old at this time.
i moved up to town, bringing the cat with me. theresa immediately exclaimed, "i must fix this cat!!" she talked me into letting her friend bring my kitty to a vet she used to work for. i asked to go along, but the friend said that she'd be more likely to get a deal if it was just her. so, i said fine (not being flush with cash right now). the vet immediately exclaimed that okay should be euthanized and i should be reported for neglect.
the next day i called one of the vets who has seen okay over the years and said that i have been thinking of okay as a hospice kitty. some people think it's time to euthanize her and i just wanted to make sure that i hadn't pushed her too far into life. i brought her in, and the vet said that she couldn't recommend that i euthanize okay right now. maybe soon, but that she still had a quality of life (though impaired). she eats, is well hydrated, cleans herself, gives and receives affection. my vet felt that the other vet should be slapped around a little for saying that i should be reported for neglect.
i called theresa as i was taking okay back to west linn to tell her that i had decided, based on what my vet had said, that i wasn't going to euthanize her right now, and i was going to take her back to west linn. the next day, theresa asked me to move out.
so, i think i need to live alone. in fact, i know i need to live alone. there are 3 stable things in my life that actually get me out of bed in the morning. school. the job i have right now. and therapy. i also need a safe space i can go to that's all my own.
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[01 Oct 2002|09:33pm] |
I Am A: True Neutral Half-Elf Mage
True Neutral characters are very rare. They believe that balance is the most important thing, and will not side with any other force. They will do whatever is necessary to preserve that balance, even if it means switching allegiances suddenly.
Half-Elves are a cross between a human and an elf. They are smaller, like their elven ancestors, but have a much shorter lifespan. They are sometimes looked down upon as half-breeds, but this is rare. They have both the curious drive of humans and the patience of elves.
Mages harness the magical energies for their own use. Spells, spell books, and long hours in the library are their loves. While often not physically strong, their mental talents can make up for this.
Find out What D&D Character Are You?, courtesy of NeppyMan!
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[23 Sep 2002|07:02pm] |
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mood |
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 hungry |
] |
i'm waiting for sean and kylie to get home from kylie's volleyball game. i'm super hungry and i still have to cook. wah!
today i started anatomy and physiology. the teacher is tre cool, smart, funny, easy on the eyes. he also seems to be a good teacher.
i had a moment of serendipity. i went to buy my $1.50 lab handout set, and as i was leaving, i saw a "free book" box. i looked thinking that free books are always a good thing. turns out that the last edition of my A&P textbook was in the box and in good condition. the instructor said in class that it would be fine to use the previous edition because not much has changed re A&P -- one new muscle has been discovered in the last 100 years. so, that saved me $120, which is more than a day's take home pay for me.
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| i *heart* my mac |
[18 Sep 2002|09:08pm] |
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mood |
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 satisfied |
] |
i have been getting my old g3 together to take with me up to portland. it's quite cool. i still love it even though it's old and slow and has no USB ports on it. i think it will do just fine for e-mail, surfing and the like.
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| productive day |
[17 Sep 2002|06:28pm] |
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mood |
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stressed |
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music |
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guantanamera -- tito puente |
] |
i've had a productive day. packed about 10 boxes, cleaned up my stereo and put it in the car. things are slowly coming around with my move up to portland. thursday is a potluck. 10 people are "maybe" and 7 are "yes".
tonight we are going to watch monsters, inc. and then taxi driver (after the kids go to bed). i'm going to make a bolognese sauce for fettucini. i think i have watched too many hours of the sopranos over the last couple of weeks. i keep wanting to say "bu-gats!".
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| today is sunday. really. |
[20 Aug 2002|05:18pm] |
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mood |
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 tired |
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music |
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Angelique Kidjo -- Tumba |
] |
we took the puppers to the dog park today. they loved it. romped around. the best part was someone said, "these dogs musta had a bath cuz they're really soft." sean was wearing black, so he was covered in dog hair. kylie moped around in her 13 yr old way.
the sky had all kinds of clouds in it threatening rain. it's finally getting back to being oregon weather.
today i finished reading must love dogs and started reading lovely bones. _must love dogs_ was cute. am enjoying lovely bones moreso.
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| feelin' good |
[12 Aug 2002|12:50pm] |
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mood |
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peaceful |
] |
i got 12 hrs of sleep last night so i actually feel human again. had 2 12 hour shifts this weekend and not a lot of sleep between them. i was very, very dragging yesterday.
earlier in the week i watched someone die. she was an elderly woman who had choked on a piece of meat. her heart wigged out, she aspirated, then at the hospital was on life support. the family decided around 3am to remove the life support, and she died soon after that.
it was a very different thing to watch. quite profound.
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[08 Aug 2002|12:41pm] |
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mood |
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okay |
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music |
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OPB on the radio |
] |
i'm checking this out for the first time. i really like livejournal. it's very cool. more later after i get my settings tweaked.
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kirstenl's journal