Well, my hopes that this weekend at work would be a little better than last pretty much got dashed as soon as I walked in the door on Saturday evening. First of all, I was finally assigned to our resident crazy lady who has been a patient of ours since New Years Eve. Yes, your tax dollars are paying for a woman to LIVE at the hospital because there is nowhere else for her to go. Anywho, I'd managed to make it this long, so I was hoping I could avoid her altogether what with all the horror stories I'd heard. Not to mention the morning I was charge nurse and walked in and she had covered her room from one end to the other in newspaper, had a three foot pile of used toilet paper next to her commode that she was "saving", and I found her lying, butt naked, on the floor, slathered from head to toe in the protective ointment that we give to our people who have sore butts from pooping.
So yeah, there was that whole mess, plus on Sunday night one of my cancer patients took a very unexpected turn for the worst. I felt so terrible for his two daughters because they were so sweet and appreciative and they (no one, really) thought he was going to be dying anytime soon. I went to his room and found him minimally responsive and having trouble breathing, then a mass of late-night phone calls to the on call doctor began so the family could decide if they wanted to pursue CPR if he should stop breathing. Ultimately, they decided not to subject their father to that, and he ended up dying just before I clocked back in on Monday night. Then on Monday I had a new patient who also had cancer, and, who also went bad. And this one totally blindsided me too. He was fine at the beginning of the shift, then I went to wake him to give him his meds a couple hours later and his lungs were absolutely drowning in fluid. I called his doctor, who by the way, is an asshole. He had just told one of my friends who works with him in his clinic that "the night nurse with the brown, curly hair is really good. I know when she calls me, it's not over anything stupid. We need her in the clinic." So, I'm thinking we are on good terms, and I'm explaining my hypothesis on why his patient is going down the tubes, and he gives me a few orders, which take me FOR EVER to carry out, because the patient was one of those people who has to handle their own agenda before they can do what you need them to- no matter how urgent.
I ended up placing a special catheter in this man to start pulling off some of his fluid, and as I'm holding his penis in one hand and cleaning it with the other so I can insert his catheter, he says to me, "I wish it had grown a little bigger back when I was younger." HA!! This man is a step away from death's door and he's wishing his penis were bigger. How typical, right? Anyway, the doctor all of a sudden just stopped returning my pages! In a desperate attempt to save the man, we called what is known as a "rapid response", which brings an ICU nurse, the in-house doctor, and a respiratory therapist to the bedside to determine what is going on. We ended up transferring him to ICU and his doc finally called our floor about two hours later and we informed him that we had to move on without him and his patient was in the ICU and not doing well at all. What a douche bag!
Anyway, with all that, I still managed to stay 100% OP, all weekend at work!!! This is a huge triumph for me! Now, yesterday was not perfect, but I have tracked EVERYTHING, and with three more days until I weigh myself again, I think I can have another loss this week! Yesterday my sleep was compromised because I had to sleep on the couch after work, awaiting the DirectTV guy to come install my satellite dish between Noon and 4pm. So, he showed up at 3:30, and I fought nodding off on the couch the entire two hours he was here, and to boot, my stupid satellite isn't even working this morning! Augh! I had planned on going to D's house yesterday, but I didn't think it was safe for me to drive in such a zombiefied state, so I'm going to be at his place by the time he gets off work today! That gives me all day to work out, eat healthy meals, pack a few things to take to his house, and make a few appointments. I think this plan works out better, as if I had of tried to drive two hours last night to make it to him, I have a feeling I'd be completely worthless and tired all week, and tiredness always leads me to make poor, unhealthy and hasty food decisions. Kind of like I did last night. Boneless buffalo wings and fries. 18 points. Ugh. Well, at least that's over with. Finished up the rest of my WPA, and I think I'll be fine. Just fine. Maybe not the healthiest decision in retrospect, but I tracked it, and I'm back in the swing of things this morning, bright and early.
I made myself a delish breakfast sandwich made of Southwest Style Eggbeaters, Trader Joe's Turkey Bacon (1 point for 2 pieces) and cheese on toast. Went great with my coffee, and I'll have some strawberries sprinkled with Sugar in the Raw (0.5 points for 1 packet) as a little pre-gym snack in a few hours. For lunch, I'm planning on having a Bitch Cakes Salad (I've mentioned this little slice of heaven before) and then my amazing Tofu Stir Fry for dinner. I'll whip it up this afternoon and pack it to take to D's house. He won't go near tofu, but he can manage with something else, I'm sure. I'm trying to keep this trip on the cheap since I'm kind of broke this week. Since he lives in a beach town, I find that we frequently still act like tourists and eat out for way way way too many meals! At least there is seafoood, though!
Oh, and I have an NSV: I fit into a pair of scrub pants that have been too tight for about a year and a half! I wore them to work on Monday night! AND I got more compliments about my losing weight while I was at work. Even a comment from "The Russian", whom I am pretty sure hates my guts.
I have a ginormous pile of clothes that need to head over to Goodwill. I just need to jot down what they all are so I can write that off on my taxes. Maybe I can actually get to that today. Next week is going to pretty much suck in terms of work, too. I have two days worth of dysrhythmia classes on Thursday and Friday, plus a lunch meeting to discuss what is going to happen now that our unit manager has taken another position outside of the hospital at the oncology clinic. I have a bad feeling we are going to be stuck with some lame-o until it's time for me to leave, which will make my last few months all the MORE unbearable.
In other news, I think I'm about to bug D to death for my engagement ring. I can't help it! I know I WANT it to be a surprise, but I also NEED to have some idea so I can actually have nails that don't look like "nurses nails", and good hair that day and hopefully be wearing a dress. I really don't think he will do any kind of public proposal, as we just aren't really showy like that, so I told him he'd better not do it while I was wearing gym clothes or some other dreadful thing! He keeps wanting to talk about wedding planning (DJ versus iPod playlist), how many bridesmaids/groomsmen, riverboat reception or wedding on the beach, etc. I just can't bring myself to start planning until I have the ring. I can, however, tell you that out of necessity, I have started storing mucho websites and pictures on my computer of wedding ideas on the cheap. With my dad out of work for the last two years and back in college, there is no "wedding fund". My mom is trying to save what she can to help out with small things, and I think they will probably pay for my dress or something, but the rest is up to us. I have no idea if I'll even break even when I sell my townhouse, but obviously I'd like to at least make a few thousand to put in the wedding fund. I found ranunculus, the flowers I want to use, on a wholesale website for cheap, and that makes me maybe even more thrilled than finding the dress (ok, probably not). I will be doing my own flowers, and I am really not a rose kind of girl. I am lucky to be a little crafty myself, and I have a lovely friend, Ginger, who just did her own DIY wedding in October and it was spectacular. I'm going to hire her as my planner, but I'll have to pay her in kisses. Hope she is prepared! LOL
I just want my ring! (Shhhh, don't tell D I said that!)
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