Today was my fourth work day in a row. I rarely even do three shifts in a row because it is pretty tiring working 12-hour shifts. I am not sure I have EVER worked four in a row, but I need the extra money and I had a pretty good group of patients to be around for 50+ out of 96 hours! I tried to go to bed early last night and that did work pretty well. However, 5:30 comes early no matter what time you go to bed!
To make matters worse, apparently I must be drinking a little TOO much water because the past four days I have woken up with a start between 4 and 4:30 needing to go to the bathroom. This morning was no exception. Waking up at 4:30 is NOT fun when your alarm goes off in an hour. And then, if THAT wasn't enough, my cell phone started beeping at 5:15 because the battery had somehow died during the night even though there were two bars when I went to bed. I finally rolled out of bed a little after 6.
I always listen to my iPod while I take my morning shower (and bring my cell phone with me in the bathroom so I can check to see how much time I have to get ready). Well, my cell phone was in another room charging since there are not enough outlets in the bathroom. So, I figured I would just use the clock on the iPod. For whatever reason, my iPod would NOT turn on! No matter what I tried, it would not work. So, I showered in silence and hoped that I didn't take too long (I also kind of judge how long my shower is by the number of songs that play while I am in there!)
I managed to get ready in time and leave a little after 6:40 (a tiny bit on the late side, but I already knew who my patients would be, so it didn't matter that much). As I was leaving the parking garage, a guy held the door for me. As I glanced up to say "thanks", I realized I knew him. Three, maybe even FOUR years ago, I "hung out" with this guy for a few months. When I say "hang out", that is what it was for me. On one occasion, we did kiss and then I actually never really talked to him again. I was REALLY not nice and basically didn't return his calls. Not really PROUD of this whole thing, but apparently he was heartbroken over the whole thing (I think he really liked me). I have seen him a few times (he actually attends my church) but he pretty much refuses to look at me and definitely doesn't say anything. Pretty sad, but I must have hurt him pretty badly. Anyway, once he saw it was me, he seemed to "book it" across the street and into the hospital. Now I am a fast walker, but even I was unable to catch up to him...not that I was really trying because I had nothing to say, but it was pretty crazy.
I relayed these crazy things to my co-workers in morning report and hoped the rest of the day would get better. It was, after all, my fourth day in a row and I had no idea what I would be facing (especially since Mondays are typically they day to "fix" what happened over the weekend!)
Since I had a pretty good routine with my patients on my fourth day, I thought I had a good "game plan" for the morning. I gave my first patient his meds at 8:00 since he was going to have a procedure later. Thankfully, no issues there (he was my "problem child" yesterday morning, so this was a good thing!) I thought I would give my second patient her meds at 8:30 since I had teaching to do with the mom of my third patient. I carried her pills in a med cup along with a few other things and what did I do...oh yes, I dumped the pills onto the floor. So, I had to call the pharmacist for new doses which would take at least thirty minutes, so there went THAT idea!
At this point, I decided to take a seat and may have even poured myself a cup of coffee before attempting anything else. I started my teaching about 9:30 with the mom of my third patient. It took a lot of patience watching her do things that take me less than 10 minutes take nearly 40, but I reminded myself that this is what I do for a living. Anyway, when it came time for her to give the ONE med, she was telling me that she was a "genius" for coming up with a different way to do this. (Mind you, I DID tell her about the crazy stuff that had happened to me before I got to work!) As she is saying this, she promptly squirts the med into the air and I'm pretty sure it hit the ceiling. Second call to pharmacy asking for another dose.
I stepped into the hallway to use my little portable computer to do some charting and my computer decided it no longer wanted to allow me to log in, even after restarting it. Oh my goodness, can I PLEASE go home!
The rest of the day wasn't NEARLY as exciting, thank goodness, but there was a bit of drama that I cannot really discuss in this venue. I was pretty frustrated byt some things, but thankfully this was today, and not Saturday because today I was mostly able to keep my emotions in check and didn't say anything I would regret (at least not that I can think of right now).
Come 3:00, I was pretty delirious and felt a bit like I was drunk (my patients were fine and I wasn't REALLY drunk, so this is okay!) By 4:00 I hit the "low" after the "high" and really wanted a nap. Thankfully, there were plenty of snacks and chocolate to help pass the time (yeah, I guess that means I am done with the healthy eating!)
7:30 eventually arrived and I was on my way home. To mom and dad's, actually, since my dad cooked his "famous" meatloaf (yum) and boiled potatoes. Oh, and a couple glasses of wine :o)
I have tomorrow off, and then back to work on Wednesday. So, I'd better think about going to bed. My dad wants to go to the horse races tomorrow, but I also need to go to the grocery store and get gas before that, so will have to get up earlier than I would like for my one day off. But, it will be fun. Tomorrow night, I start my new Bible Study. I'm looking forward to that.
Good night (and hope for a little less crazy morning tomorrow!)
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