Adventures of a YMN

Picking Blueberries

2007-01-31T11:59:00.000-08:00

Yesterday Mum and I went picking blueberries. For those of you who dont know blueberries grow on a small bush and they pop off like little flowers when they're ripe. We had so much fun. I got down on the ground and got all the big ones under the tree. It was so exciting when you found the biggest purplest blueberry and you just know its going to be delicious. Today I'm baking a blueberry pie and muffins.

Travel Blog

2007-01-14T02:07:00.000-08:00

Andrew and I have made a travel blog to write about all the things to do with our trip www.aliceandandrewstravels.blogspot.com

an adventure of this ymn

2007-01-02T19:49:00.000-08:00

Well its nice to have something other than work to blog about. Andrew and I have just come back from a camping holiday in Mapua. Yes, this is the infamous nudist beach, but fortunately only in Feb and March. Its a great spot actually, nice clean facilities, beach really close and a cool bar/restaurant looking out over the water. Every night we were there there was a live band playing and big drums of fire keeping the beach illuminated. Anyhow heres some pics.......

We found this octopus stranded on the beach so Andrew found a stick and we put it back in the water. It was really white when we found it and as soon as it got in the water it went bright red.

Last Night

2006-12-21T16:56:00.000-08:00

So, I've just finished another set of quiet nights. Last night was the most interesting I think. I was mistakenly first on the list to go away and fully expected to do so. After the last two boring nights I actually thought it would be nice to go hang out somewhere else for a while. But no, the duty manager didnt have anywhere for me to go so I ended up floating round ICU for the night. We did some turns, made a tea trolley and sat round chatting for a while. Not long into the night I got a phone call from one of the ortho wards. The nurse on the phone seemed quite nice but a bit stressed. She told me that her patient was having an anaphylaxis and her doctors wouldn't come. She told me her sats and GCS were dropping. TRUCKS!!!!!!! I grabbed a reg and we headed up to sort it out. Immediately when we got there I could see that the patient was fine, she was warm, well perfused, ABC intact and told me she actually felt a bit better. The staff were probably in a worse state. The arrest trolley was there, but the airways box was still on the shelf. I did my assessment, covered up this poor lady who'd been left half naked while everyone was flapping and stood back to listen to the goings on. She had a SBP of over 240 and a ST around 120, sats were 89% on 5L. There was nearly nothing to suggest she was having an anaphylaxis. It was a good thing we came because the house surgeon (who I presume was extremely new to the job) was about to line her and give adrenaline. VERY VERY bad idea. More doctors arrived, the flapping carried on and eventually we left them to it. I like doing call away jobs, its so extremely different from a clinical emergency in the unit. It made me think I'd like to develop a better system for myself in those situations.
The rest of the night passed by pretty uneventfully. I was allocated to helping in the infectious room so that meant I dodged the burns room. I sneaked into the cardiac unit which was closed for the holidays to have a sleep. Theres a store room there that always has a huge pile of mattresses and is usually quite quiet. When I woke up I realised that there was someone else sleeping in the main bit. I tried to sneak past but I wasnt sneaky enough and I think I gave him a bit of a fright. The turns were all done by 530 and Helen let us go at 6.

Things I like about Shifts

2006-12-19T10:28:00.000-08:00

Night Shift
1. The tea trolley (especially Germaines bean dip and Rachelles chilli chicken pizza)
2. Sleeping in
3. No visitors
4.Warm cuddles at 3am
5.Reading a book
6.The slight crazy effect it has on everyone
7.The feeling of getting into a warm bed when every part of your body is completely weak
8.Sleeping on Andrews side of the bed
9.Coffee, coffee, coffee, coffee
10. Crossword puzzles and the latest celeb goss

Morning Shift
1. Feeling human
2. Eating proper meals
3. Sleeping with Andrew
4. Ward rounds (I actually have a love hate thing going on with the rounds)
5. Lots of things to do
6. Washes, shaves and nice smellies

Working Nights

2006-12-19T09:35:00.000-08:00

Today was my weekly 24 hour day, that is 24 hours of awakeness. I had a busy and I must say fufilling day at home painting, grouting, washing, gardening and doing the dishes. I saw my friend Sarah and her two precious boys. Ollie is very shy but seems to be warming to me, he nearly dribbled all over me which seems like a good sign. I started my week of nights with a really nice long term patient. Its great being able to communicate with patients sometimes. I read a whole book on shift tonight. Was the first time I've ever done that. Once I read Angels and Demons in two nights. I had a sleep for an hour which helped me feel a million times better. Its amazing how comfortable an old chair in a store room can be at 4am.

Tiling

2006-12-18T17:01:00.000-08:00

Today I have learnt that its better to follow the instructions on the back of the grouting packet than try to invent your own way of grouting. Its much faster and doesn't make your husband complain that your grouting sucks. Either way I think grouting altogether sucks. I hate the grittiness of it and the fact you have to mix it yourself to exactly the right consistency without having any idea of what that looks like. Laying the tiles is much more fun. The adhesive smells kinda nice and has a nice putty consistency.

Micheal Buble and Pigs

2006-12-18T01:24:00.000-08:00

I had quite a fun day today I must say. I meant to get up early and go for a swim before meeting my friend Erin for coffee. Since I spent half of my sleeping time last night writing blogs I decided to sleep in a bit instead. I had a really nice coffee with Erin, who is American and has a really great accent and perspective on American culture. After that I did pull myself into the pool, despite my temptation to be lazy. It felt so good for my arms and legs because they were so sore from Sat night. I talked to an old lady on my way round and she said she wished she had my energy. I thought she was doing pretty well to come to the pool and exercise even though she was so old. I had hopes to meet my friend Sarah after that but she has a crazy life with two young boys and a sick husband and it never worked out. So instead I went into town and had a walk round the gardens. It was so nice because it was so sunny and warm and I was listening to Micheal Buble on my IPod. It made me feel very happy. Actually I havent had this in ages but it was the kind of happy that you couldnt help but to smile as big of a smile that you possibly could.
Perhaps it looked a bit strange to other people. Oh well, the world needs more smiles.
My walk ended in the gardens when I ran out of garden. I made my way to the lawyers to drop off a christmas card and box of chocs and headed into town. Town is quite interesting. First I saw a guy playing the bagpipes and it made me jiggle a bit. It was a shame I didnt have any change for him or I might have jiggled a bit more than I did. After that I saw a girl walking her Rotwheeler dog and 3 tiny puppies that were peeing all over the pavement. I'm not sure if they were together but behind her was a guy walking a pig too. The pig didnt have a lead, just seemed to follow this guy where ever. Weird.
After a bit more ambling I went to receive my cert for finishing my critical care course. It was a nice do, even the DON made an appearance. Its weird because the only time I see her is when shes making an appearance at some do. Its like thats her job. The food was really budget compared to what the trainee doctors get which amuses me to no end. Some really nice people were there and at the end we had a photo. Once again my shortness not only put me in the front, it put me kneeling on the cold concrete. Germaine was next to me and she got cramp, I couldnt stop giggling.
I am so tired after my busy day.

Good times in scummy town

2006-12-17T03:22:00.000-08:00

Andrew and I had another great experience together last night. At 9pm I was given the whole night off on leave and it just so happened that we had a party to go to. I felt slightly guilty about that afterwards cause I heard it went crazy and they probably could have used my help, But anyway..
We got to Nikki and Georges party about 10 and were meet by George and Mike, George filled up our glasses with eggnog and we meet a new friend called Madison. Shes a trainiee doctor and a really cool chick. During the course of the night I meet some more people, (weirdly, all nurses from the hospital who I hadnt meet before), danced in the middle of the lounge despite being completely sober and the only ones doing it and dressed George for town. We headed into town with Sam, George and Nikki. As soon as we got there there was this huge fight in the middle of the street that blocked off all the traffic and attracted 5 police cars and a paddy wagon. It upset me alot cause I hate violence so much and the boys seemed to get off on it a bit. Then we had a terrible time at the Treehouse, which I used to think of as really scummy but I now realise that its on par with all the other bars in Christchurch. After hearing Oak do his song I meet another nurse who seemed really nice until he realised I was married. We left there and had a strange run of being turned away from nearly every bar on Manchester Street. Finally we convinced the bouncer at the grumoy mole that, No, Andrew was not kicked out of here eariler in the night and yes we were well sober enough to enter. The rest of the crew left then and it was me Sam and Andrew booging away until we were the only ones left and they put a bugs bunny "thats all folks" cartoon on the big screen. We walked around for a while after that, which usually would feel quite unsafe to me but because I was with two guys it was really fun. Andrew wasnt let into the Viaduct where another crew of people we knew were so we settled for the boulevard where we only got in because some girl pashed the bouncer while we were walking in. All the broken glass on the floor kept getting into my jandal and since Andrew had already cut himself twice Iwas a wee bit worried. Despite this, the bad music and the heavily obese Maori guy watching us dance I had a pretty good time dancing with the guys. Its weird being a girl in town, theres definitely predatory type guys all around you that you cant help noticing. After that we went to the outside bit where Sam did his thing trying to buy a cigarette with no luck-even though it was strangely obvious that one of the bouncers was smoking drugs. Thinking back on it now it seems so weird to put myself amongst such dodgy surroundings. Anyway after that we walked back into town for some KFC, where I saw the biggest most disgusting mess I've ever seen. I also learnt that KFC is open Christmas- sucks working Christmas but even more it sucks being the person who has to work Christmas at KFC. We had some good talks and I drove us home safe and sound. Such a fun time.

Opinions

2006-12-17T02:54:00.000-08:00

Lately I've been thinking about being an adult and having opinions. Its a weird thing as you grow you develop more and more skills of discernment and are exposed to more and more different ideas. I recently found great enjoyment in discussing, or even at an extreme debating different view points with people. Thats why blogs are great, everyone can be free to share ideas and with an open mind make informed decisions about life. Personally, lately I've come to realise that the lie that everyone can have their own truth is rubbish. Where in actual life do we see that opposite truths can exist as both correct. It would be ludicrous to suggest that 1+1 equals 2 but also equals 19 if one would like to believe that. Deep. Any ideas??? Perhaps I'm walking on shaky ground here and I need to back up a bit. I don't want to offend anyone and I try to be as emotionally removed from discussion as I can be in order to harbor an openess in my thinking. I've also found that its good to not take life this seriously all the time.

Christmas Tree Poll

2006-12-04T13:04:00.000-08:00

Who has got their tree up yet?? I put mine up last night. I decided to go for a minimalist feel this year, just red and gold bobbles and tinsel. Our tree of course is one of the warehouse ones that has more gaps than branches. You can never quite get them looking the same as they do on the box. No one else I know has a tree up yet. It seems to me that everyone is stalled in their Christmas decorating. So, are people getting into the Christmas spirit a bit late this year or is everyone sick of being bombarded with Christmas hype that started in November?

Shrinking

2006-12-02T12:45:00.000-08:00

Last night Andrew took me into town for a night out. It was really fun, we started in this cool bar tucked away off High street called the Vespa room, definitely a cool bar to visit. Then we moved on to another bar that had premixes on tap and a really really loud Jazz band. We saw internet Sam there, and then randomly all over the place for the rest of the night, it was like playing wheres wally but with Sam. After that my memory starts to blur a bit. I remember being impressed with the toilets in the concrete club, losing Andrew in the tree house, exploring a staircase and finding out its a brothel, and BEING THE SHORTEST PERSON IN TOWN. Things have changed a lot since I was last there, actually I think I'm shrinking. I swear all night I was at least a foot shorter than the next shortest person. I couldn't see anything on the dance floor. What is happening?? Are people becoming taller? If thats the case I'm doomed...........

The Firemasters Mistress

2006-11-26T21:13:00.000-08:00

An interesting account of the plotting leading up to the attempt by Guy Fawkes to blow up parliament buildings in early England . There is an equal amount of complete fiction and truth to make this a very interesting and captivating read. It follows the experience of (fictional) Kate Peach and her once lover Firemaster Quoynt through their involvement in the gunpowder plot.
I enjoyed this book, although from lack of background knowledge found myself a bit lost at times. It took me a while to read, and from my experience I wouldn't recommend reading it in parts.
Readinggroupsuk.com give this account

"This wonderful, complex story tears a big hole in a cherished piece of history revealing a shared delusion four hundred years old, a very surprising and satisfying love story, and a new conspiracy theory that is chillingly appropriate to the present day"

Well personally I'm not to sure how chillingly appropriate it is to today, but neverless a definite must read.

Winner

2006-11-07T18:36:00.000-08:00

I am a winner! Yesterday I won a water purifier (just what I need in Christchurch) and today I won tickets to the Borat premiere. The tickets are actually quite cool, Andrew is stoked cause now he gets to go a week early. Maybe I should have got that big wed ticket.........

Cruising

2006-11-07T16:59:00.000-08:00

Next year Andrew and I are going on a big party around the world. For our wedding anniversary we are splashing out and going on a caribbean cruise. These trips are crazy. The boats are like these massive sailing resorts. They literally take days to explore. There's a full on red velvet curtain theatre. Its amazing. I've just been watching people's YouTube videos, I had no idea.
Getting quite excited.............

You Tube

2006-10-29T02:43:00.000-08:00

I love you tube. Hasnt our world changed so much that now we can just watch whatever we want whenever we want to. Relationships can be formed over distances that would have never been possible before. Cultures can be witnessed and explored from the comfort of our living rooms. I think its great. Its great that people are so free to express themselves and share thier lives with the world. Kinda like blogging I suppose.

Depo Provera

2006-10-26T17:22:00.000-07:00

To all contraceptive using women out there, please please do not put this drug into your system. It is not safe. There have been insufficient clinical trials in humans to prove its safety and in animal trials it is associated with a 25% increase in cancer. The FDA has just released a warning that states long term use of this drug will cause decreased bone density.
Before now I had only heard good stories, or the occasional weight gain story about this drug. Please know that it is much more harmful than this. The drug itself is a synthetic steriod which depletes your natural store of progesterone. This causes a heap of imbalances such as anxiety, depression, over eating etc. The mechanism of contraception is that it prohibts a fertilised egg to latch on to the lining of the uterus. This sits very badly depending on your view of when life begins.
If you chose to take this drug please please please be informed. Its your body.

Some Memories

2006-10-24T21:18:00.000-07:00

This is my biscuit making an extremly bad attempt to catch the fly above her head.

This is me just before I almost went to space

This was a silly photo session we had after being out at a messy house party. Looks like Andrew has a handbag. Actually, its not his, he just used it for the photo.

Martha Stewart

2006-10-24T20:59:00.001-07:00

Have you ever seen the Martha Stewart show? I have. It boggles me. Is this what women are supposed to be like? The other day I was watching and I heard Martha describe a stencil. This stencil wasnt just any old stencil, this was a special Martha Stewart stencil and actually indespensible to a household. Isnt it a shame that how we learn the job of a housewife is from terrible shows like this. How many women in the world even have stencils? Well I'll make a stand and declare that not only do I not make table decorations, I dont know how to bake a cake and I dont host fancy dinner parties. I have one knife in my kitchen that is nearly blunt and I wouldn't know when to use a mallet. I dont use recipes and I wouldnt know where to get fancy cheese if I ever needed any.
I am making tea tonight. I was inspired by a tin a saurkraut I found at the shops yesterday so I made up a dish. I'll call it Alice's Special Noodle Chicken. Yum

Fitness

2006-10-10T01:08:00.000-07:00

Its a strange thing. I used to think very differently about it. Like a commitment to struggle for the sake of health. The struggle was mostly pychological I think, although until now you would have never never seen me running down the street. Slowly and magically exercise has transformed itself in me. I'm not really sure how I got to this place. Perhaps just a constant gentle battle until I began to enjoy it. I never thought this would ever happen to me. I've tried it at the gym, I've tried it with walking and I've tried it with biking. Never have I had cravings for exercise.
2 weeks ago I decided to get back into the lanes after a long period of plodding along with the aqua joggers. At that stage I could do a half length of freestyle (thats 25m of the 50m pool) before I was gasping for air. Today I did every second length freestyle and arrived at the end with only a slight increase in resp rate. I have discovered that with just a tiny push one can do twice as much the next time. I was actually swimming along today thinking about what it would be like to compete in this way. Dont get me wrong, I'm a million miles away from that, but if one can advance so much in 2 weeks I ponder what level I could achieve by the end of the year.
It feels great by the way. Such a unique buzz. I wouldn't go back to my lazy ways any more, well I hope so anyway.

Silent Hill

2006-09-17T04:38:00.000-07:00

This movie, based on a popular video game, is about a ghost town,Silent Hill, that has been abandoned due to toxic fumes from a coal fire. It follows Rose, the mother of adopted Sharon, looking for her daughter who is mysteriously lost in this place. Rose's determination to find Sharon is the only excuse for the continual bad choices this character makes. This does however have the effect of making you want to scream at the screen DONT GO THERE. I found the story line reasonably easy to follow although Andrew and I couldn't agree on what happened in the end. I think its obvious but I guess there is an element of viewer interpretation involved.
I would say that this movie is the most well disgused zombie pretending to be a scary movie that I've seen. Quite different to what I was expecting, and a tad disappointing. See this movie if you like a bit of gore, weird zombies and girl fighting action. Dont see this movie if you want to be scared out your pants. I thought it had great set design, direction and I loved the costumes (altough even the normal looking people's clothes looked a bit costume-y).

Sleeplessness

2006-09-14T04:46:00.000-07:00

I cant sleep. Andrew is snoring beside me. Before I leaned over and kissed him on the cheek and he just itched that spot and turned over. He just laughed I wonder what about? I try to confuse him sometimes in his sleep. I told him just before that the pink shoe was above his head, he goes "what?" and I said "ïts to do with the cigar". It didnt work that time though cause he just goes "you're trying to confuse me" and turned over. Its funny to play tricks on him but I know he needs sleep so I wont.

1985-1993

2006-09-14T04:32:00.000-07:00

I found it!! I was right about the bells but there were also letters and other objects these kids had to find to banish the baddie T bag. It aired from 1985-1993. Crazy

Tea Bags

2006-09-14T00:40:00.000-07:00

Today at the pool I found a tea bag sitting on the side. It didn't look used but obviously wet and unuseable.
It reminded me of a TV program that used to be on when I was younger with a witch or some kind of baddie called tea bag. Does anyone remember this? There were some young people and they had to go places and find things. One time I remember they went to the desert. Bells!! I think they had to find bells....its all coming back.
Another show I used to LOVE was a kinda days of our lives show but for teenagers. I think the title has swan in it. Does anyone remember these shows??

My Quiet Nights

2006-09-13T03:04:00.000-07:00

Last night at work there were only 3 patients in the unit. One was a ward patient and the other two were well enough to be in a day/night routine. There were 10 nurses rostered on and only 2 wanted leave so as you can imagine it was a fun night with more coffee and movies happening actual nursing. My patient was a bit rocky at the start of the shift but by 11 he was settled and slept mostly for the rest. One of the charge nurses was making a poster and wanted to take some action shots of spinal care and I volunteered to be the patient. Its a strange feeling being the one on the bed, being turned by 4 other people, at one stage I felt as though I would topple off the edge and instinctively grabbed hold of the first nurse.
I finished my book and couldnt take any more of staring at my monitor so I went home at 3am. It was a great time to get into bed and I had all of today to do stuff.

Waiting Lists

2006-09-11T18:24:00.000-07:00

Isnt it funny how the papers make everything seem different to how it is in real life. During a conversation the other day with one of the big wigs around the hospital I found out exactly what the waiting list debarkle is all about.This mass "culling" of the waiting list is actually a reorganisation of care. People aren't being deined surgery, noone is being left to rot as the papers would have you believe. The waiting list that is being disestablished is the non-urgent list, the 2-3 year waiting list. Instead of being left on an ever growing list where patients must be at the beckon call of a free theatre spot, they are being reffered back to their GP to care for them until the time thier theatre need is immenent.Of course in an ideal world patients would get surgery as soon as a problem arose, but that has never been the case and without paying a crapload of taxes it won't be. I see everyday that people who need surgery get it and quite frankly it rubs me up the wrong way to see all these whiners who thibnk that noone else could possibly be as sick as them. Actually most people are quite reasonable about it, I think these few only come out for the media's benefit. Anyway the aim of this whole thing is to ensure people are cared for appropriately and not just left on a neverending list. Quite a different perspective than you are lead to believe.
There are three approaches one can take to this situation.
Accept the deal and make sure you have a good GP
Whine and go to the newspapers hoping to make YOUR life a bit better
GET HEALTH INSURANCE

Tomorrow When The War Began- John Marsden

2006-09-08T13:27:00.000-07:00

I was given this book by a friend of mine last week to help me get through my boring lot of night shifts. I wouldn't have picked it myself, but thats the great thing about book clubs- I'm inspired to read book I would never pick up. Anyway, this book is set in small town Australia and written for a young adult audience. Personally I'd classify it as a mix of adventure and sci fi. The story progresses well and never leaves you bored. The ending seemed a bit unfinished, but I'm told that this book is the first of a series so I guess you have to keep reading. A reasonably easy read and I was able to keep going at 4am(usually known as womens weekly hour). If this book doesnt sound like you, I'd recommend you give it a go and predict you will be pleasantly surprised.

Goodbye Steve

2006-09-04T21:15:00.001-07:00

So very tragic

Good books

2006-08-30T20:33:00.000-07:00

I love good books. Recently at work I have had a few quiet nights and a chance to get back into reading. I have two reviews
A Respectable Trade- Philipa Gregory
This book was nothing like I thought it would be, probably partly due to my lack of attention to the blog at the back of the book. The setting is the shipping trade in Bristol in the mid 1700s. It follows two characters, the wife of a shipping merchant and an African priest who has been abducted for the slave trade. The first parts of this book I found quite disturbing, but as all things based on reality ignorance is no bliss, and I felt convicted to read on.The book gets less disturbing as thestory progresses, and it very much puts life into perspective. I would recommend this book for a great read and some challenging ideas
French Women Don't Get Fat
I was recommended this book by a friend and as with most things of this nature I was sceptical. Brillant book- everyone should read it. Every women at least and I think too if one could convince them, Men would also find this book useful. The book is written by a French woman who now lives in America. It shows an insight into the French attitude toward food and how this is different from that of the american. Very interesting analysis of everyday habits that I would have thought nothing of. it has some good practical tips about how to enjoy food without over indulging and even has recipes. I have promised myself I will read this book every 6 months from now on.

Hungry Nurses

2006-08-21T23:15:00.000-07:00

I am inspired by my husband's recent political lobbing. I am impressed that he has recieved replies to all the letters he has written to MPs.
So it made me think its time I spoke up about the things that irk my world. Ages ago in the hospital there was a food trolley that came around for the nurses on night shift, about 3-4am. It had hot homemade soup, rolls and other healthy snacks. The trolley did very well, a whole huge industrial size pot of soup would sell each night for 2 or 3 dollars a cup. This was of course instead of having a cafe open in the night for the staff.
Then the trolley disappeared one night. Memos flew around claiming profit loss etc etc. As an alternative the CDHB promised to provide healthy vending machines so that the nurses could still be nourished overnight. Sandwhiches, yoghurt and other 'health' snacks were promised. So staff were to go from fresh hot nourishment to packet sandwhiches that would have, no doubt, been sitting there all day.
But the vending machines never came. Currently nurses can revive themselves with chips, chocolate and if in dire need an ice cream. Doesn't this seem strange for a hospital. Shouldn't hospitals, out of everyone, be modeling a healthy enviroment for their staff, and at the very least have healthy options availible??
You may say that night staff should bring thier own food, its not as if every workplace has food ready for purchase.However,
Not every workplace does 12 hour shifts. By the time you sleep, drive and park there are 2, maybe 3 hours left in which to live life. Cooking meals is not always an option.
Not every workplace do you legally have to stay at your beside all shift execpt for breaks.
It may surprise you to learn that in a 12 hour shift only one half hour and two 10min breaks are allowed.

Anyway these things are not the issue, and in fact I don't mind at all doing 12 hour shifts, not leaving my patient and having too few breaks. However WE NEED TO EAT!!!!!!!!
I plan to take this to the board- I'll keep you posted.

Walking on clouds

2006-08-17T20:08:00.000-07:00

Well I must say I was a synic. For a long time I waited to see the fate of the corc owners feet. I bided my time and carefully took note of the walk of the wearers. I watched the green, blue, pink and one pair orange slowly infest the ICU.
And to my surprise I have become a believer. These are the most comfortable pair of shoes I have ever experienced. I got myself a nice pink pair (the hot pink tempted me but I toned in down to a pastel) and put them to trial with a busy 12 hour night. My feet were rejoicing at 2am, and at 4am they were the only part of me not aching.
I dont know how I survived this long. I am stunned and I encourage all the synics of this werid looking shoe to put aside your fears- your feet will thank you.

Tabogganing

2006-07-23T00:45:00.000-07:00

Andrew and I went tabogganing yesterday. It was awesome. We took a picnic and found the most awesome spot for our sledging adventure. We made ourselves at home, put the beers on ice and had this awesome slide to ourselves all day. Andrew was a bit more of a wimp than me but he had plenty of falls too, once he even slid all the way under the fence nearly onto the road. I came away with a really bruised bum and sore arms but no real damage.

Carotid Burree

2006-07-17T12:48:00.000-07:00

Strange things seem to sometimes happen on nights. You have weird conversations with people that during the day you would only say hi in passing. Im learning that doctors are people too and that actually my time is just as precious as theirs at work.
Anyways last night I sat down after doing my hourly bits and rested my neck on my hand. And there it was, couldnt believe it. Right about where my right subclavian was there was a thrill (which at the time I mixed up as a burree). A thrill is a palpable kinda gushing pulse, not felt normally, but I have in the past on renal patients with AV fistulas. Its a good thing I work where I do and have doctors ready and willing to quiz on such things. We think its just the way I had my neck positioned.

Good People

2006-07-11T22:49:00.000-07:00

After yesterday's rant, my faith has been restored. When doing the shopping today at pac and save the girl who served me smiled, said thankyou and even held out the bags for me to take. It made me realise that actually there have been plenty of times that I've experienced good service. For example:
Tom Gorman, our mortgage man from ANZ is awesome.
Ingrid Taylor, our laywer (who is often still in her office at 9pm sorting out our problems)
the girl at the spa whose name always escapes me
the Jims gardener man who makes our garden beautiful
the nice urology team who looked after Andrews kidneys

Arghhhhhhhhhhhhh

2006-07-10T21:42:00.000-07:00

Bad service- is there any excuse for it?? I am flabbergasted that one could work in a shop and have no idea how their products work. Even worse than that is working in a shop, not knowing how things work, and when questioned about this, making up some vauge response that answers nothing.
Last week I turned up for an appointment (which I was paying for) and found my consultant was mysteriously absent. I went home. When I got home I rang the manager to discuss this with him, he was not there. He never called about. Two days later I called again and he was away on holiday. I turn up again today and no consultant. How does this happen?? And why do I care so much. I think what bothers me so much is that if I was that useless in my job people would die. Does bad service happen because there are no consequences? Do people not have a sense of integrity anymore?
I know, noone really likes to hear someone moaning. Sorry. It helps me.

Jessy Wessy

2006-07-02T20:49:00.000-07:00

Ive just said goodbye to my baby sister. Shes off on the plane to live in Melbourne now. We'll miss you lots Jess.

Onwards and upwards

2006-06-26T21:13:00.000-07:00

Well I passed my essay YAY! What is cool though is it means I can do all sorts of new things and look after the very sickest of the sick patients. Like this PRISMA machine for renal replacement therapy. Or a PICCO which is awesome because I know exactly what my patients systemic vascular resistance is without having to make a rough guess based on how cool thier toes are!!!! I have a 5 year plan to be a clinical coordinator of the unit, or even better a nurse consultant to the wards. I love my job!

Night Shift Bliss

2006-06-22T12:43:00.000-07:00

Well, I've just finished my first 12 hour night this week. So after nearly 24 hours of awake time I am cuddling into my warm bed. Post night shift tiredness is the most amazing tiredness ever. The feeling of getting into bed is really so so so good its nearly worth doing nights for. I got so excited about my bed when I was walking to my car that I got butterflies in my tummy.

flat tires and leaky pipes

2006-06-14T00:31:00.000-07:00

well today was a bit of an adventure. First I got a flat tire, just bang flap flap tire's dead. This happened conveniently close to the mall where I knew Mum and Jess were. So off to the side of the road I pulled and left it there till Andrew could come to my rescue.
After that I got home and found the hot tap turned off but still pouring out hot water- another job for Andrew. So now the boys are in the kitchen banging about with tools. Boys love tools I've noticed. I just dont quite get it. Andrew seems to get a tool for every birthday.
I wonder what I wouldvé done with a flat tire and leaky tap and no competent person to help me. What do old ladies do when this happens?? Would you call a plummer?? Would the plummer be amused at changing a washer??

welcome to my life

2006-06-12T19:23:00.000-07:00

well here I am on the blogging bandwagon, much to my husbands delight I'm sure. Today is not much of an adventure. I'm in bed with the computer on my knee trying to bring myself to finish a case study I have been putting off for days. I have left just to reflect on my care of the post cardiac arrest patient. All I can think to say is "yup I kept him going". That wont fill my 3000 words. I have to find research that shows I did a good job.

I HATE academia.

I have though just had lunch with my Mum. That was fun. The man at the kebab place knows me now and asks me about my day everytime he sees me. Thats nice.