On the Mend

Woke up today feeling a little better but took the opportunity to stay in bed most of the day knowing I had to work this evening.

I climbed out of bed at 3:45PM and woke my roommate so we could get her started on my diet and the rountine! She did really well as she went and bought the book too and read up the night before on what was allowed, the schedule and the food involved.

I made our breakfast which consisted of 1 egg and a fruit.  I cut us up some apples and we were well on our way.  I am almost 2 weeks ahead of her on the diet plan but decided to go back to day one so we could mass cook and I could be supportive of the first three days which are the hardest.

We headed out to the gym for a 30 minute workout and completed a half mile walk/jog session on the treadmill.  The back at the condo, she cut up the salad fixings as I showered.  This will be the only night we do not work together for the rest of the contract.  I showered, dressed and packed my meals #2, 3 and 4 plus my snacks, got my water and headed out the door.  I got to the end of the neighborhood when I realized it was 5:15 and I did not have my phone or enough gas to get to work!  I did a quick U-turn ran in the house and got my phone and then made a pit stop for gas.  I am usually used to having a routine and today I felt like I was still so off since I wasn't feeling a 100 percent quite yet.

I made it to work with 3 minutes to spare!  I get on the unit and see that there are only 4 patients!  So needless to say I had one baby to care for.  This was a good and bad thing.  Good because I still felt weak and ill and I knew I would not be running my behind off all night. Bad, because the time would probably go by sooo slow!

I got report and did my assessments, checked my chart and just as I was sitting down to have my meal number 2 there was a patient coming.  I of course volunteered to get it... this way I could get my work out of the way instead of being the last one of the night to get a patient.  So I took report and this is an adult patient not a baby, so things went along rather quickly.  Got him comfortable, paperwork finished and by 10:15 PM I was back at the desk and ready for my snack.

Midnight rolls around and I do my assessments, chart and eat my salad at 12:30.  I wrote out postcards to the boys and watched patients so another nurse could take a dinner break.

The night is half way over and I am looking forward to 6:30 AM!

The rest of the night was pretty uneventful and I have decided that this may be one of the least stressful assignments of my life and I should take every opportunity to learn how to give more to my patients and families than I am used to since I do have the time.  I am also going to try and learn something new each night I work and share it here with you, whether it be about the Native American Culture or something totally different.

I drove home this morning being more tired from doing less than I normally do and I went through the weather extremes... from rain to sunshine to dense fog to ice then to snow.  Yes people, it was snowing once again when I got about 15 miles from the condo.

Looking forward to the warmth of my bed!