Walk and a TeaParty

Having a good morning. Up bright and early to do work on (complete) my presentation that is due this afternoon.. so if anyone really wants to know the in and outs of hyperkalemia just let me know. Then it was off for a long walk at the trail with Sasha and my friend Jacquie and her dog Sadie. nice and the rain held off. Then it was home for some partying it up with Emily. She is in love with "have Party" (say with soft southern accent)




Love the earnest face

oh dear.. missed aunty mel's cup, good thing for our table cloth

Then it was nummy lunch of Mexican spinach creation and off to RCH. Where once again chaos reigned. I think it must be full moon week or something. The things and the sheer volume of critical patients this week has just been enormous.

Days of Grace 17

1) Absolutely no backed up traffic x2days
2)My first choppered in, vented trauma patient being relativly stable
3)Sunshine for my riding lesson
4)Mom

Psalm 31:11 Be glad in the LORD and rejoice, you righteous;And shout for joy, all you upright in heart!

Social Butterfly

While I have been excessively busy with school, every moment outside of that for the past week pretty much I have spent having fantastic times with family and friends. Birthday lunch/party for my Aunt W. Games night with friends- nothing like epic uno, Mexican train and phase 10. The next day was trust your friends??- taste 15items blindfolded and specifically identify what you are eating....well my tastebuds didn't like that dessert tofu. Then last night was fantastic night with girls I've been friends with for almost two decades !!! two decades I am starting to feel old!!! We picked up Thai and watched Seven Brides for Seven Brothers and proceeded to watch/quote the entire thing. The Rosebooms and Elena and I grew up together and it is so fantastic to have friends that you know so well and know that will always be there.

Anyway here are some pics from A wil's bday lunch

Pre-Lunch primping- three bathrooms and two bedrooms with mirrors but no we need to cram five people into 2square feet to do our hair



Nummy lunch at Uli's, something funny was going down

and spring has arrived

I never knew there would be so many acronyms and pneumatics in ER nursing. The 7 P's of RSI, the 6H's and 6T's that cause death, the MONA-B treatment for a STEMI, and AMPLE history, the A-I assessment, the CRAP of SV that makes up CO that is just a fraction of the ones that are used. I am a horrible speller, thankfully I usually still know the first letter of the word.

Sunday Photo

Happy Thursday

Days of Grace 16

1)Balloons that we can blowup in peoples hearts to make them live
2)Blizzards that are 25cents
3)A dad who knows what is wrong with Clarice and how to fix her
4) Brothers to watch hockey with

Blue Gunk

Triage nurse reports - intentional overdose of unknown substance 5 minutes out, GCS of 4(pretty much completely unresponsive), ingested approx 6 hours ago, non intubated, no response to narcan, BS normal.
Trauma room gets ready people bustle about getting ready. Patient arrives, nasal airway in place, attached to cardiac moniter, IV's started, GCS closer to 7, unknown blue gunk on the cheek and all through one side of the patients hair. ER doc arrives, Comes in for a closer look and.. and.. I can barely say this ..picks up some of the blue gunk and tastes it!!!
ZOPLICONE
she declares to the stunned room who can't believe she just did this. "taste it" she says her her resident who follows her every step (she refused).

I must admit that I did not actually witness the actual act, happened to be the moment I was not in the room but really this is the blue gunk that looks like a cross between battery acid and blue icing, the blue gunk that by my estimate got to where it was after being partly digested.. and she tasted it. Made me think medicine had digressed about 300 years!!!

That my friends was pretty much the drama of the day. The rest a brain busting day full fasinating learning opportunities, I can not believe the stuff I am learning so so cool.

Days of Grace 15
1) Nice sqeaky clean fleet of VW's in the driveway
2)Doing enough homework that I dont feel guilty watching the Canucks game
3)Mango in my salad
4)Sunshine

Sunshine Homework

Its a sunshiny homeworky morning. Since I ditched homework on the Saturday rainy afternoon in favor of a couch and video with a friend (something i do not regret) today it is time to hit the books and get my postings up for the week- explaining the difference in treatment of a STEMI in a rural area versus an tertiary care center aka- if you are having a heart attack in the boonies will you survive if we just give you meds to make your blood skinny or will you survive long enough and will it be better to get you to a fancy hospital where they will blow up a balloon in your heart- and perhaps start on the course assignment. If ++ productive this morning perhaps a river to walk or a hill to climb this afternoon with the mooch.

Sunday Photo

Today seemed like summer was just around the corner

Days of Grace 14

1)New realization that my name is on God's Palm.. he can't forget me

2) Snuggles with new little puppies

3)Good time and talks with a special friend

4)Joel's team winning the division title!!

Waterfalls

How much fun is playing in GaGa's new waterfall!! So so much fun, this summer is going to be alot of fun as I can wash rocks and splash anytime I want!!

While yesterday was fantastic thing after another interspersed with a ton of driving to get from one to the other=;). I had a fantastic ride in the morning. I have been sadly neglecting my riding for the past three months between work, school and the weather (the story of the past four years).. has equaled no riding for three months. But yesterday def made up for that working on smoothing out those leg yields and noting like the great feeling of flying changes to remember why I love it so much. Then if was off to Royal Columbia. Wow.. first moments were sensory overload!! But then once the brain registered realized who and what everything was.. its not so bad.. just CROWDED and people everywhere. What an example of the population outgrowing the hospital. But you know what its not as scary now that I have been there because really people having heart attacks, hot strokes ect. are heart attacks no matter where you are its just beyond the doors to the three bed trauma room that the difference lies between ARH and RCH. But my instructor looks like she will be topnotch and she is so easy to talk with I think this will be a fantastic experience.
Then it was off to cousinly get together. My cousin B. is down from Alberta for a child free vacation so Elena, Me, B and her sister S. got together for a gab and Catan fest. What a great time laughed and talked for the entire night. Seen just like the old days when we would hang out definitely have a ton of memories from massive restaurant setups, forts, plays ect.

Days of Grace 13:365

1)Kinda sortof dry weather for my riding lesson
2)Fun browsing for spectacles with mom
3)Tea Partys with Emily
4)Tweeting birds outside the window

Sailing

Had the opportunity to sail once again as volunteer crew on the Pacific Grace a few weeks ago. Such highlights of my life when I am on the boat. The closeness to creation, the close community of the crew and the groups we have on board, the focus of reaching these kids and generally having an AWESOME time. I am very blessed to have these opportunities and the crew is so great with me because sailing does not come super easy... for a girl who can keep multiple IV lines straight or put together million piece bridles I can barely tie a knot to save my life!!! Thankfully there is more to sailing and being crew than tying knots like interacting and reaching out to the kids that come as trainee's. This week was the SALTS bursary sail where they connect with a group in the community whose participants would benefit from the program we offer. This week was Power to Be - http://www.powertobe.ca/ They are a group in Victoria that offers adaptive recreational programs for children with development or cognitive challenges ie autism, ADHD etc. They also have a wilderness program for teens who are at high risk and have been referred through programs such as school, justice department or social services.We had a fantastic time with both their participants and there amazing leaders.

Skipper, Keeps us all in line and is an endless fountain of wisdom and knowledge

Sarah, first mate. Always a fantastic time hanging out with her!!, Reason I am still sailing with SALTS

Erin, Cook- They said I would like her. They were right

Drew, Watch Officer, Filled in for Tristan b/c he was sick. Missed Tristan but meeting and working with Drew defiantly made up for it

Sam, acting bosun. saintly patient with me

One of the kids on the trip. Kept us all in stitches with his oneliners!!

Ashore on Saturna Island. Took a short stroll through the trees to end up on the other side of a point overlooking the Strait of Goergia

Where they did some scouting about on the rocks

T. sitting and enjoying the awsomeness

It rained over there!!! but thankfully not on us!!

Skipper picking out music from St Mathew's Passion for us to listen to following devotions. It was the week before Easter so we focused on that. We would read the bible, pray and then by candle light listen to some music.

Not a ton of sailing pictures.. I am bad that the more I go the less pictures I take!!

Sunday Photo

Storm Brewing over the Strait of Georgia

Justin

Some shots of their precious new little monkey!! This little family has a new member Martin and Weiska are so happy and in love with their new son.

Last First Day

Today I started what will hopefully be the last first day of fulltime school!!!. In away feels like I have never left school but in one way will be odd as I was just starting feeling comfortable at work and now I am gone for three months and will be coming back into a slightly different role. But in a way it will feel just like the old days with orientation to yet another unit( only my 6th in 1 1/2 years) and a defined student role. The theory part will be intense and the clinical very challenging. My first placement is at Royal Columbia which will be an excellent place to work- busy, lots of different patient presentations and lots of trauma considering that if we ever get anything exciting that is where they are shipped off to. But also very SCARY!! I am excited by the new knowledge, the varied experiences and the world of opportunity that will open up to me when this course is completed but also very intimidated by the impact my application of the knowledge and my actions will have on people's lives. The knowledge is very empowering but one also needs a few other pieces of the puzzle and in nursing alot of that comes through experience which I admittedly lack. However delving in to the world of cardiac interpretation and management and of course the heart stopping world of trauma is going to be fantastic (ly nerve wreaking)

But however in the past few months I have learned a few things that may be useful all readers at various times in their life!!
1) No matter how much you hate country music.. don't pretend to slash your throat- that exacto knife may not be completely closed!!
2) Punjabi should have been offered in school instead of french
3) Do not get drunk- you will break/burn/cut etc your elbow, leg, head ( insert body part name here)
4) Ensure your family members have have current CPR that includes WHEN to use it. If your mother is saying "stop that hurts" it most likely is not the appropriate time to be doing chest compressions.
5)Do not leave any pocessions with psych patients, they may enough meds in their lipstick tube to do some serious harm.
6) When people turn purple from the nipple line up its a bad thing
7) If you come to the ER at 5 in the morning saying that you cant sleep because you work shift work you may not get to much compassion from the doctor who has been up all night
8) Belt Sanders, Table Saws (insert name of shop equipment) make thumbs look VERY nasty
9)Warm Blankets make the world go round and orange Popsicles will stop most kids from screaming

Days of Grace 12:354
1) Stawberry and Cream smoothies with a fantastic friend
2) The appearance of a waterfall in my backyard
3)Wild Spring Weather
4)Shift Swaps so I can sail this summer