It's not about me...

In my last post I was feeling pretty rotten about missing that legal draw. I couldn't stop thinking about it and it was in the back of my mind all weekend. So when I headed to work on Monday I needed a little redemption.

I was determined to visit down in the Outpatient Lab and draw a few patients there. When things got cleaned up some in the Main Lab, I went down. I chatted with the main phlebotemist down there. I didn't know her and it was fun to learn a little about what she does and how she interacts with the patients there. I discovered that these patients were names that I recognized through testing but I had never met them. We saw three different patients. They come and chat and talk about their lives. One lady comes in for frequent draws. She had just lost her husband to a sudden heart attack. She wanted to talk about it a little while she was there. Another was a little elderly lady and her caregiver was there with her. She was very ill and had hardly eaten in days. Finally, the third was a little man. He was very slight in stature. He sat down in the chair and waited for us. He had great veins so I asked if I could try. I explained that I am practicing and he was okay with that. I fumbled around a little and I missed, AGAIN.
My phlebotemist asked if I wanted her to do it and the man said, "No, she should try again. That's how you learn, right?" So my phleb gave me some very valuable pointers and it worked like a charm. I got it. The man was very gracious and even complementary. He said,"You are good and you just don't know it. I didn't even feel the needle." I thanked him for giving me an extra shot at it.

Later, when I was back in the lab and running the tests, it dawns on me. I knew that man's name for a specific reason. A Doctor had called me last week and asked that I check on some ordering for one of his patients. It was this man that I had drawn. He said that this man had terminal cancer and he didn't want him double charged for some testing he ordered. I took a minute to dwell on the fact that this man is dying and he could have been grumpy and feeling sorry for himself and justifiably tired of people poking at him. Instead, he was gracious, encouraging and even complementary of me. It's really not about me.

Drawing Blood.

My annual review is coming up and one thing that I really dread is the drawing blood section of the review. I am required to draw one person using correct technique to fulfil my competency report for the year. The funny thing is that when you only do one stick a year, you are not really competent, now are you?

Some Clinical Laboratory Scientists draw blood routinely but at my hospital we have a whole staff of phlebotemists who draw all of our bloods. The time in which I end up having to draw the blood is in legal situations. Only lab technologists and nurses can draw for legal blood draws.

So today, I get an email that my annual blood draw is due. We also had a call out on night shift so it was my turn to stay late to fill in. At the end of my shift, the overhead page calls for a trauma situation in the Emergency Room. We perform testing on this person and they call for a legal blood draw.

I am the only one left to go. Gulp! Unfortunately, I have no one to take with me to help me find a vein. I went by myself and they let me in. I have a sneaky suspicion that the nurse called me because she wants to avoid getting subpoenaed to court for this case. This poor lady is crying and crying and she is in a lot of pain. These are the times that I am glad that I work in the lab because I take these individuals with me home and dwell on them and their stories. Most of the time you are seeing them because they are having a very rough day.

I was brave. I set up my stuff and looked for a vein. Crap! IV's in both arms! They of course, already have the easy veins tied up. Can't find a vein, can't find a vein, the nurses are all sitting around looking at me, the police officer is waiting for me, can't find a vein. Finally, I find one and try it, nothing. The nurse comes in and says, "Did you try over here?" No. But I guess I will. I tried again, nothing. I am so bummed! I wanted to get this draw but at the same time, I felt so bad for this lady. I am looking for veins and she is hanging onto my hand and crying. No one is there with her.

I can't get the draw so I head out to the nurses station. I tell them I can't get it. I feel like a dork. Oh well, I did the best I could with the very limited experience that I have and I did something that scares me. I just wish I was successful. Maybe that is successful, though. If you do your best at something you are afraid of failing at then there must be some success in that?

The other part is the human part. I touched this woman's life for a moment. She was having a bad day and I got a moment to express kindness and compassion to her. Hopefully she will be able to get her life together.

Now, I still have to get that one stick in before my review. Maybe next time.

Tales from a 6 year old's romance.

It happened all of a sudden. Suddenly Brayden was talking about this girl. A girl named Julia. She was his girlfriend. All of her friends told him he was. Then all of a sudden, she wasn't. I don't know what happened but I know how fickle little girls can be but Brayden was really sad. This happened right at the end of school so he has had the summer to talk about it.

He has decided that this is the only girlfriend he will ever have. She is the best girlfriend he could have. He doesn't want any other girlfriend. Then he sadly hangs his head. It is so heartwrenching. Especially when you know, being an adult and all the relationships that are in the future, you want to comfort them with promise of more girlfriends to come. But he is not hearing anything of it.

One day, he is in the kitchen with me and he says, dreamily, "Mom, you know when you see a girl and she has a beautiful face, you just have to tell her, "I am going to be your girlfriend."" I chuckled inside.

Yesterday, he was drawing hearts, one inside the other. I told him it looked like a tunnel of love. He said "Yeah, You and Sophia and the most special girl can go with me in the tunnel of love. Her name is Rachel." When I asked him who Rachel was, he said, "Oh, uh, I mean Emily...no Julia, her name's Julia" I chuckled inside again.

School is about to start and I am wondering what kind of spell this Julia chick is going to have on my boy. We'll see.

My Bad Attitude

It is Fourth of July weekend and I am working. Not only am I working Saturday and Sunday. I am also working Friday and Monday. This year, the whole weekend has been sunny and warm and perfect weather to enjoy the holiday. I am in such a bad mood! I don't even care about the weekend and holiday pay. I just don't want to work! Everyone around me is having cookouts and planning parties and doing fun stuff outside. I just can't shake off the grumpy attitude.

I guess it is because we have good friends to spend time with and the kids are at a fun stage to take places. The 4th is such a Patriotic holiday and I am grateful for my freedom. I love all the pomp and circumstance that goes along with the fireworks and the celebrating. New England is a cool place to be on the 4th and I don't like to miss it.

This afternoon a friend dropped off a treat for me at the lab and people acknowledged that working while everyone else is playing stinks and that made me feel better. Next year, I think I need to remember how bummed I was and try to enjoy it even more. Hopefully it won't rain.

Lipstick and gum

Today, as I watched my daughter finish her first year of preschool, I was surprised at how emotional I felt. I can't believe how fast the kids are growing and that there are times that I our days fly by so fast that I forget to pay attention to the little moments. Today, I was more aware of how quickly time can pass while we just do our everyday things. I made a point to enjoy my daughter and to pay attention to what she was doing today.

Sophia is really into lipstick, well, lip gloss, really. At one point awhile ago I showed her how to apply it and then to press her lips together to ensure even coverage. She does it quite well! So everyday, her routine is to ask for lip gloss and "sparkles" (eyeshadow for the rest of us) on her eyes.

She is also obsessed with chewing gum. Well over a year ago, I caught her chewing an entire pack of gum that she found in my purse. Now that she is a little older, I occasionally let her have a piece to chew. But she asks for it everyday, many times a day.

Today, we were getting me ready for work. I did my make up and gave her sparkles on her eyes. Then we went downstairs where Sophia likes to help me put my lunch and snacks in my bag. She knows what I pack and will bring it to me. As we were getting ready she helped me put stuff in my bag and then she studied my face for a minute. Then she said," Mom, you need lipstick and gum." I felt honored. She was taking care of me. Precious girl.

Just bang it out!

Where does the time go? The last time I posted there was snow on the ground and my bathrooms were both in demolition stage of renovation. Today, I am enjoying my two new bathrooms and there are beautiful flowers and green grass in my yard.

Life has been crazy busy since February. I have often thought about something that I wanted to blog. My dear husband has a favorite saying. "You just have to bang it out." Typically, I would roll my eyes but there is some truth in it. Stop being overwhelmed and worried. Stop analyzing and thinking about how you are going to do it and just do it. So, I'm back and I am just going to start writing again and "bang it out" Stay tuned.

Project Bathrooms: Week One

Our bathrooms are twenty five years old. They still have all their original fixtures and 80's charm. But, it is time to make a change.

Norm left town on Sunday for work so I got to be in charge of everyone, kids, cats, contractors. Monday night into Tuesday morning, I didn't sleep. I was in terrible pain, my head, my neck, my throat, they all hurt. The Lab Scientist in me started running through all the things it could be. Starting with the worst things first, of course. I hoped that my son would remember to call 911 if he found me comatose and septic. I figured since I could still think about all those things, I wasn't in that bad of shape.

545am: The phone rings...school is cancelled due to impending snow storm. Snow Storm!!! I know that Norm showed my how to run the snowblower last winter. I am thinking I will need a refresher by phone. Our contractors arrived and began work. They moved my washer and dryer downstairs to the basement and began ripping down the walls and the ceiling in the first floor bath. Brayden asked, "Why are you wrecking the bathroom?" Mr. Bob, as the kids called him, was great. He worked hard to not make it too messy for us and he made sure that he left a vanity and a toilet for us to use. It didn't start snowing until about 500pm and then it snowed a lot! My snowblowing experience is very limited, but I did it.

Wednesday morning I woke up to a foot of snow on the ground. I had to dig Brayden out of the driveway to get him to the bus. My very sweet and helpful neighbors helped dig us out just in time for some guys to come get our old boiler out of the basement and for work to start again on the bathrooms. Mr Bob started pulling out the floors. Sophia is not feeling so well by this time. We hid from all the noise in my bedroom. Since I am not feeling so well either, I took the kids to Friendlys and called it a day.

Thursday there was more construction and more fever. They built the subfloor for our new shower. Friday morning Brayden threw up on the new subfloor. At least Mr Bob and Mr Kevin could laugh about it. They have kids too. I am sure I will laugh too, later.

By the end of week one, both bathrooms were demolished down the studs. We have a new shower ready to go and a usable vanity and toilet. Compared to the snow and sickness, the construction has not been so bad.