Yesterday was my last day as a full-time VALOR. And boy did I get a lesson in patience and saying "no."

So my patient assignment was a 63 y/o gentleman...a C4-5 Incomplete Tetraplegic. He was admitted to our Spinal Cord unit from Fresno VA for would care. Apparently we have a great SC unit and it's known for its wound care program. Well on the 13th he came to our unit with hypotension (SBPs in the 50s), altered mental status changes, and possible sepsis. Over the course of the the last couple days he's been intubated, extubated, RE-intubated, extubated, r/o for TB and aspergillus, so of course put in respiratory iso and then taken off.

So I picked him up yesterday. My preceptor gave me some lovely insight before I started. There are two types of spinal cord patients.

1. Completely independent and only need help for activities depending on their level of injury. Can be demanding at times and feel they know better than you. Can be assholes.

2. Completely dependent and need help for pretty much everything. Won't try to do anything on their own and love the fact they now have a nurse to do it for them. Can be demanding at times and feel they know better than you. Can be assholes.

I had the second type of patient. Literally, I wanted to slit my throat. It was 12 hours of constant "Scratch my nose, give me ice chips, I want water, stretch my arm, I'm in pain, shave me, when are you going to shave me, can you shave me now?" There's more, but my headache is coming back just thinking about it.

I was supposed to get the second OR...the L CEA, but my preceptor told me I should just stick with my guy b/c it's a good learning experience and I've had a couple CEAs from the OR already. SHE just didn't want to deal with him either. HAHA.

So he kept asking and at first i kept doing. But then it came to the point where I had to be like "NO." He was lucky he was my only patient, but if I had that other one that came in, it would HAVE to be a different story. So I straight up told him. "I have other things to do. If it's something urgent that needs to be done right now, I can do it. Other than that you're going to have a wait a little bit." It helped for a couple mins then he would just go back to the way he was.

It was tough but I learned a lot from that one day.

When Kee and I were windowing shopping in Tahoe, I saw this yellow bag that I really wanted. The store was closed, so we went and ate breakfast and came back to the store when it had opened. This bag was a mustard yellow with 2 outer side pockets (which I love!). And it was BIG! So I go in and check out the price...$678. Screw that. I loved the back, but not THAT much. (I'm trying to be good and save money...I've got bills and bigger purchases lined up).

So this past weekend, my sister and I did our bi-monthly pedicure day...and we mixed in lunch and shopping as well. We went to Stoneridge and walked around. Then we walked into Bakers and there it was...the bag! Well, it looked similar to the bag in Tahoe. So I go up to it and check out the price...it's basically like $615 cheaper! So it was meant to be. And I bought it. And I love it. Here it is:

Cute, right? I KNOW!

And just for fun, here's a pic of me and my paintball gun and my mask...'cause I think it's funny.

Hot, I KNOW.

I got back from Tahoe on Sunday evening. The wedding was sooo fun! It's a trip that people I grew up with are getting married and whatnot. But anyways, they had a photobooth which was super fun! (I'm going to scan the pics and post them up on the 'space, soon) and instead of a wedding cake, they had a Ben & Jerry's Make-Your-Own-Sundae bar. So fun! And the weather was gorgeous! Sorry I couldn't see you, Mary! I ended up going to brunch with the bride and her fam on Sunday and it lasted longer than i expected.

So today at work I got to take the Heart surgery that came in! It was a redo AAA repair and AVR (composite graft). I wasn't the primary nurse b/c obviously that is just way to overwhelming for me, but I did get to be the second nurse. And I got to do all labs and drips and all that fun stuff. I guess the Chief of Cardiothoracic Surgery has a problem with any students touching his surgical cases, so everytime I saw him, I ran out of the room. LOL Good thing the Chief Resident was cool and let me do things. So yeah, good day today!

Just wanted to say congrats to Caroline on your last day tomorrow. My baby girl is all grown up! *sniff*