10:12 p.m. - 2007-03-31
I see sick people
Today was quite a day. I thought it was going to be a nice quiet day at work and I figured by 4:00 I'd be finding anything I could do to keep me looking "busy" until I got off at 6:30.
I couldn't have been more wrong.
Around 3:30 we got wind of an emergent C-section. I was caught up with my stuff on the floor so I went into the NICU to "record". I hadn't done it before so I was very nervous and just watched for a while. Then I took over. I just stand there with a clipboard and document vital signs, what the doctor does, vent settings, etc. Very nerve wracking! I got to see my first intubation on a newborn, got to watch them start the UAC line, etc. Very crazy. It was very interesting to see everything done and how things flow. What an experience!
By the time I got off at 6:30 I was fried.
Tonight has consisted of mostly hanging out and catching up on my DVR. I got a new one on Friday and we've been putting our programs back in.
My aunt (who is mentally challenged) was also put in the hospital tonight, after I got off work. Her hemoglobin was 8.4 which if you have any medical knowledge whatsoever, that is very low. She was hospitalized so she could have blood transfusions. They have determined the bloss loss is from her GI tract. So tomorrow she sees the surgeon and has an upper GI and colonoscopy to determine where exactly it's come from and how they are going to fix it. Kind of scary. My aunt is in her 50s but mentally challenged, like I mentioned. She is what you would call "retarded". But she was not born with Down's Syndrome...in fact it was never determined if she was born that way (my grandma was hospitalized with a stroke and was on a TON of cardiac meds and didn't know she was pregnant) or she got brain damage from being dropped on a cement driveway when she was an infant. Either way, she's challenged. So my mom has to be with her at the hospital pretty much the whole time and has to sign everything for her My mom's childhood was pretty much taken away from her because she had to pretty much be the sole caregiver of her sister, due to her parents being severe alcoholics and owning a bar. It's a long story that I won't get into here but my mom is basically soley responsible for her. So tomorrow I'll run over there as much as I can and check in on them. She's on the unit right next to mine so it won't be a long walk. I hope they fix whatever is going on with her and that she gets better soon. She's a great aunt who is a lot of fun and I'd be hurt if something bad happened to her.
And with that, I feel the two Tylenol PM that I took kicking in and I need to get my booty to the bed because tomorrow I get to get up early and start over again!!!!!!!!!
But I'd be lying if I didn't say I LOVE EVERY MINUTE OF IT!!!!!!!!
