Today my patient taught me...

ilovehotcoffee:

It’s okay to cry after your patient dies

Keeps your friends closest

Theres that old saying “Keep your friends close and your enemies closer,” and I think thats a load garbage.  These past few weeks have been really hard as I’ve struggled with a shocking blow that left me feeling disrespected and betrayed as well as questioning the integrity (among other things) of a person that I loved for a long time.  During this hard time, all of my friends rallied around me.  I know that at any time, be it 1:00pm or 3:00am, I can count on someone being there to talk to or a shoulder to cry on.  During the first week, I received messages daily from my friends just checking in to see how I was doing and I continue to receive them periodically.  I’ve gotten countless hugs, incredible advice, hilariously inappropriate presents, and I even got a cake!  I have been overwhelmed with the amount of love that has been sent my way during this time and it has made things so much easier.

I have always considered myself a strong, independent woman and have hoped that others viewed me in that light.  However, sometimes its not enough to be strong and independent and you need your friends there.  I am so thankful that I have wonderful people around me who love and care about me.  These past few weeks have made me more appreciative of friendships I’ve maintained and have also made me realize that some people are more amazing friends than I could have ever expected.

The quote I mentioned at the beginning of my post focuses on the negative in a person’s life rather than the positive that is there.  It is a waste of time to pay attention to people in your world who make it less than it should be.  Instead of focusing on the negative, we need to remember to appreciate the wonderful and beautiful people around us and hold them close to our hearts.
 

Exciting news!

So I got a job in the ICU as a nursing attendant AND I’M SO EXCITED! I just want to learn EVERYTHING!  It going to be a great way to observe teamwork, intersectoral collaboration, family nursing, and all sorts of interesting things that I’ve never seen before.  I promise to blog more about my experiences since the last time I wrote about my experiences in the hospital was last summer…wow.  To be fair, I don’t work as often during the school year and am usually busy writing papers that the idea of writing more even for leisure is not so enticing.  I can’t wait for my first day!!!

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So…I have shingles!

Lucky me.  Except not at all. However, I did get to experience what it feels like to be the patient on isolation.  On Saturday night, my Mom called her friend who is an infectious diseases doctor because she was pretty sure I had shingles.  He said to go to the hospital immediately because time is of the essence when a person has shingles.  

I went in to the emergency room and luckily only had to wait an hour to see a doctor.  However, for that hour I was put in a room right next to the waiting room and was asked not to come out.  Its an interesting feeling being on isolation.  My boyfriend was going to come see me, but was worried I could infect him with whatever I had.  Silly.  I also wanted to ask one of the triage nurses a question, but was worried they might get annoyed with me if I left my isolation area.

When the doctor came in, he took one look at my rash and announced I had shingles and wrote me a prescription.  Thank god because my skin hurts, my rash is ugly and it also itches like no other but the second I touch it, it hurts…now I might start to get better.

I went to pick up my prescription from a 24 hour pharmacy because it was now 2AM.  When the pharmacist gave me my prescription, I asked him if my rash would get worse before it got better.  He explained that if shingles aren’t caught early, they can get worse before they get better because the virus has to reach its “crescendo” before it will start to subside.  I then told him that I had this rash for 5 days in which his response was “yeah you should’ve gotten on it sooner.”  THANKS ALOT! First off, I had gone to my doctor on Wednesday and was wrongly diagnosed.  Secondly, blaming the patient is hurtful and inappropriate.  I wanted to tell him to be more careful with his words, but instead I took my prescription and left quickly.

As healthcare professionals, it is easy to forget what it is like to be the patient.  From my experience, I was reminded to choose my words carefully and to also keep in mind what the patient might be going through when they are put on isolation because they are “contagious.”

I now have the great fortune of putting up with the feeling of my skin being itchy, burny and tingly for the next week or so.  You’d think getting shingles once (at age 4) would be enough, but apparently baby jesus has to have the last laugh.