My guy has slept all day.
He spent 4 hours in dialysis, which by the way, is a fucking frightening process to watch. The mere fact that pints of blood are being exchanged from the human to the machine and viceversa. Im not afraid of blood, i am however afraid of people and their stupid/irratic behavior. All it would take is for someone to pull out a tube, just one tube and dude is fucked. It doesnt help that this guy is prone to such behavior.
The day before he threw a chair through a window and spent the rest of the day tied down like a lunatic in arkham asylum.
When we returned his wife spent the entire afternoon with him so i watched tv down the hall with a group of older ladies. Not a terribly stressful day.
Things did get a bit interesting when he spent the last 2 hours of my shift wandering back and forth in his room. Once in a while he would run for the door and i would have to stand in front of it to prevent him from leaving. That part was amusing.
Since that shift was particularly uneventful i will add this second shift that occured most likely that same week.
Have a guy with Alzheimers today. Its sad as fuck. He has the same look in his eyes as my dog had in the last few hours before we had him put down. Sorta like hes lost and sad but has no clue as to why. Dude cant be any older than 57. His wife was a sweetheart. I feel horrible for her as she has to watch the man she loves decay into a vegetable like state. I can only imagine how the children feel, if they have any. They seem young enough that they would have been in and around my age if they existed. Cant imagine what itd be like to see your father, a man usually held in high regard, the breadwinner, man of the house hold become a babbling, diaper wearing, blank slate. There is nothing you can do about it. Nothing. Worse yet, you may fall prey to this and your children and possibly their children will have to endure the same.
He spent most of the day mumbling in a low voice nonsensically. Every once in a while i felt compelled to give him a hug or pat him on the back just to let him know that there was some sort of human contact there for him. We spent a period of time waiting outside a doctors office. I kept my head on his shoulder. I had to redirect his hands away from his catheter as he kept wanting to touch it. Dunno if it helped but it felt necessary to talk to him like he was still a functioning human being.
PS
I had a 15 minute conversation with a nurse who gave me her tips on how she beats constipation.
Gross.
SeeqPod - Playable Search
Wednesday, October 15, 2008
Friday, October 10, 2008
Poop and prejudice
Im back in with Mr Eddy again today.
Although yesterdays shift was predominantly uneventful i did managed to squeeze in one of the most nastiest things ive ever seen. Pun intended.
This particular incident involved poop.
Hence the title.
There was so much poop involved that it spilled out of the diaper on to the bedspread. This nastiness was only enhanced when one nurse looked at the other nurse and I and mouthed the words "Its warm".
It would seem that my boredom, lack of stimulation or combination of the both has caused me to suffer from an acute case of prejudice.
I must say for the record that I am generally left wing in my political leanings. I believe in womens rights, the rights of minorities, the rights of teh gayz, right to religion blah blah blah. Everyones got rights but the hippies. I digress. It seems that my political leanings and all the understandings that come with them have been dropped for 12 hours.
The section in which i am stationed is predominantly women. As a result it is quite noticeable when there are men around. I have seen two men, both of which have caused me to laugh out loud at their vivacious swishy ways. Its obvious that these traits are only characteristics of a small part of the gay community which is equally vibrant and diverse as the hetero community. Regardless, I cant help but giggle like a school girl.
My particular favorite moment came from a porter who was dressed as if he was a customer at a night club. His elongated S's would put Buddy to shame. For some reason i was thrown off by his terrible haircut as arent all gay men supposed to have impeccable grooming and style. Obviously one notable exception would be Robin De Groot of Restaurant Makeover fame. Then again this is Halifax we are talking about.
Another incident in which i found myself passing judgement involved a Jehovahs witness Rep who had come to visit my patient.
I had just been reading an article on the religious nut Bruce Balfour, who had returned to Canada after a short stay in a Lebanese prison. He had been planting ceders so that they could be harvested to build a second (3rd?) temple in Israel as a means of making way for the second coming of Christ.
Crazy.
Anyways, thankfully i had not made any comments to my patient about crazy christians, as moments later he was visited by his 'friend'. He left me with some pamphlets about bullying in schools and passage into Jehovah. What the former could do for me, a 23 year old male, or my patient, a bedstricken man with intestinal problems, i do not know. As for the latter of the two pieces, i suppose it might lend hope to Mr Eddy- as i know there is no hope for me. I will say that he was polite, especially when he thanked me for my contributions to Canadas Healthcare system. Dude, im getting paid to do this. Paid poorly. Its money none the less.
SeeqPod - Playable Search
Although yesterdays shift was predominantly uneventful i did managed to squeeze in one of the most nastiest things ive ever seen. Pun intended.
This particular incident involved poop.
Hence the title.
There was so much poop involved that it spilled out of the diaper on to the bedspread. This nastiness was only enhanced when one nurse looked at the other nurse and I and mouthed the words "Its warm".
It would seem that my boredom, lack of stimulation or combination of the both has caused me to suffer from an acute case of prejudice.
I must say for the record that I am generally left wing in my political leanings. I believe in womens rights, the rights of minorities, the rights of teh gayz, right to religion blah blah blah. Everyones got rights but the hippies. I digress. It seems that my political leanings and all the understandings that come with them have been dropped for 12 hours.
The section in which i am stationed is predominantly women. As a result it is quite noticeable when there are men around. I have seen two men, both of which have caused me to laugh out loud at their vivacious swishy ways. Its obvious that these traits are only characteristics of a small part of the gay community which is equally vibrant and diverse as the hetero community. Regardless, I cant help but giggle like a school girl.
My particular favorite moment came from a porter who was dressed as if he was a customer at a night club. His elongated S's would put Buddy to shame. For some reason i was thrown off by his terrible haircut as arent all gay men supposed to have impeccable grooming and style. Obviously one notable exception would be Robin De Groot of Restaurant Makeover fame. Then again this is Halifax we are talking about.
Another incident in which i found myself passing judgement involved a Jehovahs witness Rep who had come to visit my patient.
I had just been reading an article on the religious nut Bruce Balfour, who had returned to Canada after a short stay in a Lebanese prison. He had been planting ceders so that they could be harvested to build a second (3rd?) temple in Israel as a means of making way for the second coming of Christ.
Crazy.
Anyways, thankfully i had not made any comments to my patient about crazy christians, as moments later he was visited by his 'friend'. He left me with some pamphlets about bullying in schools and passage into Jehovah. What the former could do for me, a 23 year old male, or my patient, a bedstricken man with intestinal problems, i do not know. As for the latter of the two pieces, i suppose it might lend hope to Mr Eddy- as i know there is no hope for me. I will say that he was polite, especially when he thanked me for my contributions to Canadas Healthcare system. Dude, im getting paid to do this. Paid poorly. Its money none the less.
SeeqPod - Playable Search
Wednesday, October 01, 2008
Unsolved Mysteries
Got an easy one today. He looks like Mr Eddy from Lost Highway. Mostly sleeping when hes not got visitors.
Seems to be alot of religious representatives today. Within the last 4/5 hours ive seen one presbyterian rep and a catholic nun.
Great to see that these religious communities really care for their 'flock'. Ive enjoyed watching these awkward conversations between the people and God's reps.
Honestly prob the best part of the job is watching the interaction between the patient and whoever. Family time tends to be so so as theres rarely an interesting family dynamic. The fun tends to happen with strangers, especially unwanted strangers. Lots of awkward silences and forced conversations. You get to sit and stare the entire time like someone behind a window.
At one point a patient told the presbyterian rep he hadnt been to church in a long time and that he wasnt a church going man. This was followed by another awkward silence and then the rep excused herself to go to another appointment. ou can never be sure whether the reps are there out of the goodness of their own heart or to hopefully scoop up any inheritance/donations. Prob 50/50.
On another note I have developed a crush on a muslim doctor. I know shes muslim because of the hijab (originally had habib written down, thats a common last name like smith or jones, not a fucking piece of clothing, real fucking cultured guy.) Oh the woes of forbidden love!
Oh yeah, Henry fucking Rollins is going to be on Unsolved Mysteries. He said he wants Justice!
For some reason alot of this shift was spent focused on uncomfortable sexual situations throughout my lifetime. It was uncomfortable enough to feel castrated for the shift.
and the next day.
and the day after that.
Here are the usual assortment of songs that were picked in accordance to the different topics that came up in todays post. In some cases some songs were too perfect (see: Slip it in).
SeeqPod - Playable Search
Seems to be alot of religious representatives today. Within the last 4/5 hours ive seen one presbyterian rep and a catholic nun.
Great to see that these religious communities really care for their 'flock'. Ive enjoyed watching these awkward conversations between the people and God's reps.
Honestly prob the best part of the job is watching the interaction between the patient and whoever. Family time tends to be so so as theres rarely an interesting family dynamic. The fun tends to happen with strangers, especially unwanted strangers. Lots of awkward silences and forced conversations. You get to sit and stare the entire time like someone behind a window.
At one point a patient told the presbyterian rep he hadnt been to church in a long time and that he wasnt a church going man. This was followed by another awkward silence and then the rep excused herself to go to another appointment. ou can never be sure whether the reps are there out of the goodness of their own heart or to hopefully scoop up any inheritance/donations. Prob 50/50.
On another note I have developed a crush on a muslim doctor. I know shes muslim because of the hijab (originally had habib written down, thats a common last name like smith or jones, not a fucking piece of clothing, real fucking cultured guy.) Oh the woes of forbidden love!
Oh yeah, Henry fucking Rollins is going to be on Unsolved Mysteries. He said he wants Justice!
For some reason alot of this shift was spent focused on uncomfortable sexual situations throughout my lifetime. It was uncomfortable enough to feel castrated for the shift.
and the next day.
and the day after that.
Here are the usual assortment of songs that were picked in accordance to the different topics that came up in todays post. In some cases some songs were too perfect (see: Slip it in).
SeeqPod - Playable Search
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