Hi there!
I worked all night again last night and I have to go in and do it again tonight. I told a few people that I needed the hours (to help my son with his legal fees pertaining to his daughter). Well, it worked. I'm getting requests to work for a bunch of nurses.
I have to go in for my first treatment using my port next week and depending on how that affects me, I'll try to work as much as I can for as long as I can. I had been working the bare minimum of hours to pay the bills. I could work a shitload of hours in one week and make enough to pay my bills for the month. I had been doing that lately because of my health problems but I'll do whatever I have to do to help my son...not to mention my daughter who lives in LA and is having a tough time making ends meet in one of the most expensive areas in the entire country.
I don't mind working a LOT of hours. As a matter of fact, if it weren't for the chemo, I'd be doing it this time of the year anyway. For some reason, people get sick about this time and the census at the hospital goes way up. At the same time, the staff takes a bunch of vacations (or just a lot of time off). So, a nurse could work as many hours as she wants to. In January, the census goes way down and the staff is coming back to make up for the hours that they can to pay off bills from the holidays. Then it's tough to find as many nurses who want time off. So, I'll take the hours while I can.
So, if I want a LOT of hours...this is the perfect time to get them. I do and my co-workers aren't letting me down one little bit. I'm getting calls every day to work for one nurse or the other. Last night I worked for one nurse on an ortho unit and tonight I'm working on a telemetry unit for another nurse. The other night I worked with pregnant women, something that I ever wanted to do. They seem to be especially hormonal and they cry a LOT. I'm just not good with people who are crying uncontrollably. It's sort of the same reason I don't work pediatrics. The kids are either so sick that it makes a person want to cry right then and there OR they're just sick enough to cry incessantly. Neither one of those scenarios is any fun for me.
Last night was ortho and ortho is a TOUGH unit to work because all of the people there have either broken hips, suffered football injuries or fallen out of trees. You push so many narcotics that it makes you worry about how many drugs you're giving out.
It's amazing how many men fall off of ladders. (Oh...to be fair, one of the guys said that his boss knocked him off of the ladder.) Last spring I had a patient who had climbed a ladder WITH A CHAINSAW to chop down a branch that had fallen halfway down...he wanted to make it come all the way down. The good news is that the chainsaw fell clear of his body. The bad news is that he fell smack dab (smack dab? What the heck does that mean?) into a large patch of poison ivy. The poison ivy did him more damage than did the fall. I've NEVER seen such a hideous reaction from poison ivy...his entire body was totally covered in the rash. It was so bad that serous fluid was leaking from his skin and crusting over his entire body. He wasn't amused then, but he has a GREAT story to tell his grandkids.
Last night, one of my patients went to the supervisor to tell her how well I had treated him. I got a commendation, my first one. I was rather excited about it. It only took me a year and a half to get one of those suckers.
Anyway, unless the baby mama pulls another fast one...we should have the kids tonight. I hate to be working when the kids are here but under the circumstances, I have no choice. I hate it when the kids are here while I'm working because I'm gone all night and then I have to sleep all day. The last time I did that, I woke up with sparkly nail polish on my fingernails and toenails. I wouldn't have minded too much, but she did it right after I had gotten a manicure/pedicure. I've fixed my finger nails but I haven't had time to fix the toes...they'll have to just deal with the sparkles for now.
Ah, once again, my sister is doing the dishes as I write this. Since she doesn't have a job yet, she said that she wanted to "earn her keep" by cleaning my house for me. She said it makes her feel better to do that. Well, I don't want her to feel badly so I'll let her keep doing it. So, I have household help. She's sort of my Alice. Like Mrs. Brady, I may stop in the kitchen and peel a carrot...but I'm not really doing much at all. She's gonna spoil me so badly that I won't really care if she gets a job at all. I like having my house cleaned while I'm sleeping.
I'll pop back in to make a video in my uniform before I leave. For now I have to get dressed for work. See ya soon,
Meg
I worked all night again last night and I have to go in and do it again tonight. I told a few people that I needed the hours (to help my son with his legal fees pertaining to his daughter). Well, it worked. I'm getting requests to work for a bunch of nurses.
I have to go in for my first treatment using my port next week and depending on how that affects me, I'll try to work as much as I can for as long as I can. I had been working the bare minimum of hours to pay the bills. I could work a shitload of hours in one week and make enough to pay my bills for the month. I had been doing that lately because of my health problems but I'll do whatever I have to do to help my son...not to mention my daughter who lives in LA and is having a tough time making ends meet in one of the most expensive areas in the entire country.
I don't mind working a LOT of hours. As a matter of fact, if it weren't for the chemo, I'd be doing it this time of the year anyway. For some reason, people get sick about this time and the census at the hospital goes way up. At the same time, the staff takes a bunch of vacations (or just a lot of time off). So, a nurse could work as many hours as she wants to. In January, the census goes way down and the staff is coming back to make up for the hours that they can to pay off bills from the holidays. Then it's tough to find as many nurses who want time off. So, I'll take the hours while I can.
So, if I want a LOT of hours...this is the perfect time to get them. I do and my co-workers aren't letting me down one little bit. I'm getting calls every day to work for one nurse or the other. Last night I worked for one nurse on an ortho unit and tonight I'm working on a telemetry unit for another nurse. The other night I worked with pregnant women, something that I ever wanted to do. They seem to be especially hormonal and they cry a LOT. I'm just not good with people who are crying uncontrollably. It's sort of the same reason I don't work pediatrics. The kids are either so sick that it makes a person want to cry right then and there OR they're just sick enough to cry incessantly. Neither one of those scenarios is any fun for me.
Last night was ortho and ortho is a TOUGH unit to work because all of the people there have either broken hips, suffered football injuries or fallen out of trees. You push so many narcotics that it makes you worry about how many drugs you're giving out.
It's amazing how many men fall off of ladders. (Oh...to be fair, one of the guys said that his boss knocked him off of the ladder.) Last spring I had a patient who had climbed a ladder WITH A CHAINSAW to chop down a branch that had fallen halfway down...he wanted to make it come all the way down. The good news is that the chainsaw fell clear of his body. The bad news is that he fell smack dab (smack dab? What the heck does that mean?) into a large patch of poison ivy. The poison ivy did him more damage than did the fall. I've NEVER seen such a hideous reaction from poison ivy...his entire body was totally covered in the rash. It was so bad that serous fluid was leaking from his skin and crusting over his entire body. He wasn't amused then, but he has a GREAT story to tell his grandkids.
Last night, one of my patients went to the supervisor to tell her how well I had treated him. I got a commendation, my first one. I was rather excited about it. It only took me a year and a half to get one of those suckers.
Anyway, unless the baby mama pulls another fast one...we should have the kids tonight. I hate to be working when the kids are here but under the circumstances, I have no choice. I hate it when the kids are here while I'm working because I'm gone all night and then I have to sleep all day. The last time I did that, I woke up with sparkly nail polish on my fingernails and toenails. I wouldn't have minded too much, but she did it right after I had gotten a manicure/pedicure. I've fixed my finger nails but I haven't had time to fix the toes...they'll have to just deal with the sparkles for now.
Ah, once again, my sister is doing the dishes as I write this. Since she doesn't have a job yet, she said that she wanted to "earn her keep" by cleaning my house for me. She said it makes her feel better to do that. Well, I don't want her to feel badly so I'll let her keep doing it. So, I have household help. She's sort of my Alice. Like Mrs. Brady, I may stop in the kitchen and peel a carrot...but I'm not really doing much at all. She's gonna spoil me so badly that I won't really care if she gets a job at all. I like having my house cleaned while I'm sleeping.
I'll pop back in to make a video in my uniform before I leave. For now I have to get dressed for work. See ya soon,
Meg
posted by Meg Kelso | 1:54 PM
2 Comments:
Some advice - your kids are grown, and you need to take extra care of yourself during this time. As you know, chemo weakens the immune system, and working at a hospital is probably the worst place for you to be with a compromised system.
You may just have to leave the extra hours of work to your son, in order to take care of his problems. I'd think he, your daughter, and grandkids would prefer no help from you now, and grandma later, to the alternative...
You're right, of course. But when I see my son in such pain, I can't help myself. The stress of watching my son's heart break would be just as dangerous. I don't know how I'll get through this one...but I will!
Meggers
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