dear nurse #1

this question comes from playful professional....wondering what i can tell her about allergies. well, this is a very broad subject im afraid....and there are sooo many different kinds of allergies. especially based on the climate you live in, the pollutants, environment, etc. its crazy, but all of these things will affect ones allergies. my daughter jaelynn was a healthy child until i moved to Wisconsin. the change in environment, (and putting her in daycare) threw her immune system for a huge loop.

there are several different allergy medications on the market-millions of them....a few of which have recently become available over the counter. some lingo you may want to familiarize yourself with....

antihistamine-well-ill try to give a brief overview of what a histamine is in 'lay mans terms'....and what an antihistamine is and what it does, etc.... a histamine is a compound in the body that is released in the body in response to an allergic and inflammatory reactions causing contraction of smooth muscle and dilation of capillaries. therefore....an antihistamine.....is a drug that inhibits the physiologic effects of this-or STOPS this.... what YOU need to know when you are shopping (FOR OVER THE COUNTER MEDICATIONS): antihistamines will make you SLEEPY. ***it is important to note that in children--they can do the opposite of sleepy and can cause children to be hyper or restless. (benadryl causes one of my daughters to sleep and the other to be a maniac) Benadryl is one of the most popular antihistamines on the market. it is commonly used as a sleep aid, too. (i use this to help me sleep-it is non habit forming and works wonders.) most prescription and non-prescription allergy medications are antihistamines or have some type of anithistamine in them. some cause more drowsiness than others-and some cause none.

decongestants: simply are medications-oral or nasal, used to relieve nasal congestion.

steroids/corticosteroids: typically used in more severe allergies-often breathing related, they have various metabolic functions, but help to decrease inflammation. these are always prescribed medications.


Here are some of the more popular drugs out there currently: *some are over the counter and some are prescriptions*

Zyrtec Oral (this just came out as OVER THE COUNTER, so you no longer need a prescription) : This medication is an antihistamine which provides relief of seasonal and perennial allergy symptoms such as watery eyes, runny nose (rhinitis), itching eyes, and sneezing. It is also used for hives.

Allegra Oral: is an antihistamine that provides relief of seasonal allergy symptoms such as runny or itchy nose, sneezing, itchy throat, and watery, itchy, or red eyes. It is also used for hives.

Nasonex Nasal: This medication is used to prevent and treat seasonal and year-round allergy symptoms of the nose (stuffiness or congestion, runny nose, itching, and sneezing). It is also used to treat growths in the nose (nasal polyps).


Claritin Oral(this also just came out OVER THE COUNTER-so no prescription needed): is an antihistamine that provides relief of seasonal and year-round allergy symptoms such as runny nose, sneezing, and watery/itching eyes. It may also be used to treat hives.

Decadron Oral: is used to treat conditions such as arthritis, blood/hormone/immune system disorders, allergic reactions, certain skin and eye conditions, breathing problems, certain bowel disorders, and certain cancers. It is also used as a test for an adrenal gland disorder (Cushing's syndrome). (this is a steroid)

Fluticasone Nasal (flonase) medication is a corticosteroid that works directly on the nasal passages to reduce swelling and inflammation. Fluticasone is used to relieve seasonal and year-round, allergic and non-allergic nasal symptoms such as itching, runny or stuffy nose, postnasal drip and sneezing in adults and children 4 years of age and older.


well, i am not sure if this helps....but allergies are a complicated little guy.... :/ i am one of the very few, fortunate ones to never really have suffered from them...occasionally, i get a bout of seasonal allergies, but not really. what i do know of them, is that it is a lot of trial and error. some medications that work for one person, may not work for another. this can be frustrating, BUT the positive thing is, that there a lot of medications out there-so you have options. i hope i answered your question.... :) until next monday.... nurse tera signing off.....

my aching neck...

first things first..... dear nurse will be on mondays....so pp-i will do my best to try to give you some tidbits....:)


sumo was a blast. but omg, my neck is killing me today. everyone thought it would be so cool for kell and i to sumo each other....well, kelly is solid muscle, and one of these days, ill post a picture of his well muscled body. the only reason they wanted us to sumo was so they could get a good laugh at him killing me..... so we put on a good show, but im paying for it today....and i was all set up to post pics for you to see, but my external card reader is on strike tonight. and doesnt want to work. :( im kinda confused, b/c i got a new memory card (bc, if you all recall, sampson ate/chewed my old one into a millions pieces). i dont understand why it isnt 'reading' when i hook it up to my laptop. grr. ill have to putz with it later. it was a fun time had by all, my parents even sumo-ed each other. very cute. :)

today kell and i took the kids to heckrodt nature center and hiked the trails after church. i seriously bathed in bug spray before stepping foot on the trail. as did my children. we saw mosquito's as big as your head. such craziness. it was beautiful. we love to hike and do stuff like that, so it was very enjoyable. then we went to monkey joe's-which is this place where they have all these huge inflatable slides, mazes, etc. lots of fun, but my neck was really bothering me, so i wasnt as much fun as i usually am.... but we still had a good time.

and...tomorrow it is back to the grind stone. but, i only have work monday and tuesday. then i am off the rest of the week. so i am very excited for a mini-vacay. lord knows i need it.....

hope all of you had a wonderful weekend!

dear nurse

ookay,

so i read all these blogs....and i like how you all have like thursday thirteen (playful professional) or works for me wednesday (motherhood for dummies and playful professional)... and i was thinking...what is something that i can do every week? so, i decided that every week i will write about something related to my profession. either a question you send me-about a specific illness/disease or one i think of on my own. or an intereting experience, etc. so, start thinking of your questions, or concerns.....and bring them forth...i may need to add a disclaimer though....any advice or info i give-is NOT a cure or an answer, but simply ADVICE from a registered nurse....so take it with a grain of salt.... :)

today's dear nurse post:

we will keep it short and simple....
this from ben in my small group bible study-is it really like grey's anatomy?

well ben, actually, in a lot of ways, the operating room can be like grey's anatomy. the surgeon's and staff do have regular, crazy conversations. youd be suprised at the conversation that takes place. rest assured, they are very involved in the task at hand-but they can talk and work at the same time. but NO, we do not have a unisex changing room. drama-yes, there is lots of drama. but thats everywhere....but the chaos, can be very real sometimes. and being like a family-thats a fairly accurate picture, too. we all look out for each other.


who's next???? what's your question???? it can be anything. if i dont have the answer, ill get it for you. :)

'sqito bites and sumo suits

i am fairly certain i lost a layer of skin when i went outside to water my flowers from itching my bug bites. friggin mosquitos. seriously. in the 7 minutes i was out there, i got bit more than 6 times. ugh. due to the torrential rains wisco has gotten in the recent weeks, the mosquitos have multiplied by the millions. literally. not to mention, it seems that they like my latin blood. i swear, they always have. i have always had 3 times as many bites as the person next to me. grr. i am sure i drew some weird looks from passerby's or the neighbors when i was watering the flowers and it looked like i was two steppin' it.....hopping around -you know, in an effort to keep the 'sqitos off me. well, it seemed to work. my flowers are blooming. yay! they look so good.

leah's birthday was on tuesday. happy late bday poop. :) anyhoo-her 'party' is this weekend. picture this--the big sumo suits you rent, you know those big foam or inflatable ones??? yep. thats right. thats what we are doing. renting sumo suits and having a big throw down tournament. alcohol may or may not be involved. i cannot wait. a big group of us all....how fun. much needed fun and a break for sure.....


:)

hump day it is

so very overwhelmed today....


and emotional because im about to start my period.....


not a good combination...



but..i have an amazing fiancee. and a wonderful family.

i need to trust God. and i always forget that i need to do this. i forget who is in control and try to do it all myself when i need to surrender and let Him lead. but its hard.... :/

a face to the blogger.....

Picture one: kelly and i at my sister leah's rehearsal dinner

Picture two: my beautiful sisters and i minus leah(bride) and madison(the youngest)

a childlike vulnerbility

we lost a patient yesterday. in the OR. on the table. sure, people die everyday.it's a part of life. but, it is a very rare occurance that patient's die on the OR table. very rare. so when it does happen, it is a big deal. everyone in the OR clings together in a kinda stunned quietness. we dont deal with death very often. we get traumas, we stabilize them, and if they are going to die, we whisk them away to the ICU where the family can say goodbye. it may sound bad, but that is the nature of the beast.

things were at a stand still. the surgeons were literally running, i mean running from OR to OR to help. the OR RN's too. it was very surreal. like something out of a t.v. show. i was trying to help where i could. we all were. but too many people in the OR just causes more chaos. finally, they asked me to go back and help. so i did. The look on the surgeon's faces, as they were working furiously, is a look that i will never forget. it made me think back to my first weekend on call, when we lost the 2 young girls to horrible trauma accidents. you see this vulnerable side of them-as they are doing everything in their power to save this human being on the operating room table-because its in their hands, literally. well, to an extent. it really is in God's hands, but you know what i mean...and to see the look of defeat when they finally realize that death has won, taken this small child, or this grown man, as it was yesterday, it hurts.

i so often forget that these doctors i work with, they are human, too. i actually like pretty much all of them. there a couple that i could do without, but for the most part, they are just like us. but i sometimes think of them as super human...they feel loss, too. that sense of arrogence we see- is probably a facade. their front. they see and deal with sooo much more. everyone has their defense mechanisms. and since we all think that doctors are arrogant in the first place, well, what you see is what you get...i have gained sooo much more respect for them-in one day. seeing them yesterday-the childlike vulnerbility, not wanting to quit, or give up, knowing that the reality of it was, that the patient was gone...we tend to think they get paid ridiculous amounts of money, and they probably do, but guess what, that's YOUR mom or dad on the operating room table that they just SAVED. or your son or daughter they are working so desperately on to save. i am beginning to think the $130,000 or whatever it is they get paid may just be worth it.

at the end of the day, i saw dr. a, a 6'3, 250 lb. retired professional nfl football player (seriously) walking down the hallway. he was the anesthesiologist in the OR on this case. he had a tired, drawn look on his face. what does one say in these situations? especially since our usual banter consists of pushing of teasing each other. so, i did what i would do with any other person i would do that i care about. i smiled and i hugged him. and said, you did what you could. and he said, thanks, i needed that.

i needed that. lest we forget? a simple gesture. it does wonders.

it never ends

the craziness of my life that is. i get up in the morning to chaos, i come home to chaos and i go to bed to chaos. my two kids, they may as have the names chaos 1 and chaos 2. well, jaelynn is more like super chaos. :) shes a little fireball. but sometimes its so overwhelming....like, i bust my butt all day, i leave the house in the morning, and its clean, and i come home-to a disaster. ONE TIME, id like to come home to a sink with clean dishes, like when i left the house. or books not thrown all over the living room floor. or barbie hair all about the house because sampson decided to chew it to a millions shreds.... agh. i love being a mom. i love my kids. some days i'll be honest, i dont want to do it. id never change anything, i wouldnt. and crazy thing is, sometimes, when i DO have a little peace and quiet, i dont know what to do with myself. i am bored out of my mind and my miss my kids so indredibly much i cant stand it. i feel so guilty not being with them it drives me crazy....i am so utterly used to the constant chaos, that when it isnt there, i dont know what to do! i remember when i was visiting my bff in georgia, jaelynn went to spend the day with her dad. emersyn was taking a nap and bff and i were just lounging in the pool. how relaxing, huh? it was, but i was so restless, bored. i needed to be doing something. i have forgotten how to RELAX. what is this nonsense? by the end of the day, i was ready to pull my hair out.

i guess it is my destiny to be overtired, overstimulated, and surrounded by a life of chaos. and the more i write and think about it, thats how i like it....eh. yeah, yeah. i know, i complain, i just get overwhelmed. dont we all....

a new all time low...

well, i hit a new all time low. no, not my weight. ( i could only wish...) i had to ask my parents to borrow money. eh. sister jen, i know your reading and i dont want to hear it.... i thought these days were over, i know. now i really am feeling like jen lancaster. i swear, she is my long lost bff....we are more alike, every day....anyway, i really must be at bottom, b/c i refused to have to ask them to borrow money ever again, granted, its not 'a lot', just enough to get me thru, but still. it isnt ever a good feeling. i mean, im a grown up. im supposed to have it all together. i shouldnt have to depend on them anymore for this kind of stuff. and it kills me. i feel like crying. i really do. its not a good day today. i wish i could just like win the lottery or something. (i dont play though and we all know the luck i have...).

so, what have we learned class? i have learned that credit cards are the devil. they really are. they have horns and a pitchfork. and will and can ruin your life. thankfully, i have realized before i got in too deep....i mean, yeah its crappy i have to borrow a small amount of money from my parents and live off ramen noodles for the next 3 months, but i have learned.... grrr.

*sigh* i want to crawl in a hole. and not come out until all the debt is gone....oh wait, that may be never. gah.

itll get better, i know....i have been extremely rigid lately with my finances. i mean, extremely....like, riding my bike to work and i wasnt kidding when i said living off of ramen, $.13 a package.....cant go wrong....my sodium intake may go thru the roof,buying generic diapers (sorry dad, cant afford huggies right now) generic everything...but hey, it is what it is.... :/

feening like a mo fo'

my internet is broken. as emersyn would say. or i may or may not have forgotten to pay the bill... oops. actually, i DID pay the bill. late. but whatev. its not working. and ive got the chills, night sweats, diarrhea, and am nauseated without it. its official, im addicted to the internet. i mean, i didnt think it was a problem. (isnt this the first sign of addiction-denial)i mean, i dont ever use it until the kids are in bed. thats when i get on it. i dont watch TV, i hop on the internet. so last night, after kids were nighty night, when the cable was out due to the torrential, and i DO mean torrential rain and storm, for like the 200th day in a row, i had nothing to do. it was tortorous. aaaaaaagh. i paced the house. picked up lint off the living room floor. clipped sampson's toe nails and gave him a manicure. (okay, i didnt really do that.) but i thought about it. finally, i remembered that i had jen lancaster's #2 book! YAY! so, it wasnt so bad....i laid in bed and giggled, thinking about how similar our lives are alike-in the sense that i am crazy broke, and she once was, too....

so now i sit being unproductive at work, blogging. not good. i keep looking over my shoulder, surely to get busted by my boss. i better sign off. it will be a quiet weekend on this blog, i am sure with not internet..., so enjoy...

and to all the father's, happy father's day!

i heart.....

chris brown. okay, so i know he is like um, almost 10 years younger (isn't that a show?) but he is absolutely adorable. and he can sing to me any day. not to mention, his dance moves-ah-may-zing. dimples- gah. im in love.

jen lancaster. you are my new bff. please call me asap. seriously. we must meet. if you havent checked her out....do. her blog is www.jennsylvania.com. just finished her first book 'bitter is the new black'. almost peed my pants several times. caught myself laughing out loud on more tha one occasion which resulted in weird looks from my co-workers. :) (but then they wanted to borrow when i told them what all the fuss was about).

french manicured toes. i dont think i need to add much to that. its just too cute. even if i cant afford to get them done, i can do a bang up job myself, i must say.

flowers in the summer. which mine are finally starting to bloom. yay. i have managed to keep something alive! (my kids dont count.-i HAVE to keep them alive ;)) my track record with keeping things like pet fish, flowers, plants, things of that nature alive-um, not so good.

alone time. ah. yes. i am on call, for the second weekend in a row...and lest i may say....so far today has been rather, ahem, qui....i cannot finish the word, for fear of jinxing myself....but it ends with 'iet'. and so i have stayed close to home waiting for the shoe to drop, because i am sure it will....its 90 degrees and sunny....everyones outside. someone is bound to break an ankle or get run over :/ and i am sitting outside on my swing typing away on my laptop....in peace and utter quiet...

jaelynn's eyes. i have dark brown, almost black eyes, thanks to my mexican background. so how i ended up with a green eyed child, i dont know....but jae has the most amazing green-blue eyes and thick eyelashes-you know, the eyelashes we ALL wish we had? yeah, she has them. but they are the windows to her soul. you can see everything in her eyes. the joy, sorrow, anger, all her emotions-are in her eyes. its funny because i always wanted a green eyed child....and i got her.

emersyn's curls and smile. i always wanted a green eyed child and a curly haired babe. i got both. :) emersyn's hair was especially curly when i saw her today due to the crazy humidity. mine, too. but her smile melts my heart. just thinking about it, makes me smile. she has this little dimple at the corner of her mouth and her eyes completely disappear when she smiles-shes all cheeks. (yeah, she gets those from me)

game night at the banda's. this is an event you dont.want.to.miss. really. if you like laughing so hard you cry, incessant name calling or even making up new words (which i am good at, even if its not on purpose)-then this is the place for you. your all invited.

watch out....on a rampage...

this is the mean nurse talking. yep. this part of me hardly everrrrrr comes out. so, this is a very rare moment. and you may even catch me saying one, or a few things i may even come back and regret. :/ yeah, its kinda been one of those days. actually, one of those weeks.

so-you dont like 'nurses'. yeah, we are mean, and evil. thats what you think? well, maybe you need to flip the script. spend ONE day in my shoes. and i PROMISE you will kiss the feet i-and every other nurse-walk on. i am not saying our job is hard, i am saying, give the credit where its deserved.

maybe....you should....take responsibility for yourself! what an amazing concept! i mean, really? you are a grown adult, after all. however, if you expect me to babysit you and the 50 other patients that call or i see in a day-then YES your right, i probably will not be a happy person.

You smoke cigarettes? you eat over 3000 calories a day? but you are going to complain about healthcare costs and the care you are getting? psh. dont go there. as far as im concerned YOU are the reason healthcare is where it is.

i deal with more patients poop, pee, puke sputum than you even know. yes, i choose this profession because i love what i do. i care about people. and i DO love what i do. and i think its fair to say that most of them do.

could i do your marketing job? damn straight? real estate? yep. teaching? sure. finance. yeah-i can do numbers. i can do all that. can you do a day in nursing? starting IV's, drawing blood, putting foley catheters in? telling loved one's that they have a malignant brain tumor? or that their son or daughter just died in a car accident? no, i guarantee you cant. so before YOU complain about the job i do or how you HATE medical professionals and the job they do. shut up and think about what we do.

for the record....no one told me i do a bad job.....i know i do a good job ;) something i came across.....

and yes, i do feel better now that i got that out.

frus-ter-ated

MEN.

need i say more?

magnet for meanies

i realized this weekend that i am a magnet for meanies. seriously. i manage to make friends with the people who are the hardest to get along with. i think that says a lot. and yep, im proud of it. (humble arent i?) but, really, i was thinking about it-i have worked with a few, ahem, folks who are extremely hard to work with. but despite their hard exterior, i have never backed down from them and have always remained loyal and respectful. and it has paid off. because now those people love me. for example, when i first graduated my from college, there was a nurse who was horrible to me. she was always rude to me, in fact, i went home in tears on several occasions because of her. she was just UGLY. for no reason. she has been a nurse for over 30 years. so, shes good. but she is unhappy in her job and in life. and takes it out on everyone. my mom told my i should tell my supervisors, but i refused b/c i didnt want to be 'the new girl to complain'....so i sucked it up. but i also got to the point where i didnt let her push me around anymore. i started to give her a taste of her own medicine....and eventually, she began to respect me. i am a good nurse. i bust my butt off and never leave work unfinished. she realized that. and we became friends. when i bought my house, she bought me a house worming gift-she has NEVER done that for anyone. when i left the floor to my current job, she bought me a card. and when i go up to visit, she always gives me a big hug. i dont know why, but the same situation has occurred with a couple other of my colleagues- i think a lot of it is the age thing. i am young, they are 'older'- (in their 50's-60''s) and they dont know if they can 'trust' me or if i am responsible. so i understand, to an extent. but it gets old. but now these ladies all love me, and i love it. :) *sigh*....

workout of the day.

equipment needed:

1 lawn mower (if you dont have one, just bower mom or dads)
1 child (weight varying from 6lbs to 50 lbs-depending on resistance desired-i used 35 since my child weighs this much.) if you are childless, just steal one from down the road, or one of your friends. ;)

Place child on left hip. mow lawn at 3.5 mph pace until fatigued. ('fatigued'= until you near drop child). Switch child to right hip. repeat until fatigued. take a drink break. repeat until lawn mowed. total time: 1.5 hrs.

total time without child on hip: 35 minutes.



this is my workout. or, at least it was today....