Yo estoy enamorada!

I really do love Valentine's Day.  This year I wondered how excited I should be.  February 14, 2012 is the second best day of my life so far.  How could any subsequent Valentine's Day hope to compare?   The day was going to come, pale in comparison and then it would pass.  I guess I finally resigned myself to that fact.  And that like every other day I'd just have to move on too.  I checked back over the years to see how often I'd managed to blog on February 14th.   Though I've always had a post dedicated to Valentine's Day I was sad to see it was only 2 of 5 actually on the day itself.  Figured I'd make it on time this year and make it a solid 50%, 3 of 6.

HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY!!

Many YouTubers post special videos for the holiday.  I thought I'd share two of my favorites from this year.

First of all of course, ThePianoGuys.   

Second, from Wong Fu Productions.

Happy Day of Love and Friendship.  I love you all!  God Bless

Hasta!

Yo estoy orando por ti.

Blogging three days in a row?  Can you tell I'm snowed in, and not on call? 

 The sun finally peeked through Saturday morning shedding light on what Nemo had left behind for all of us. 

Although it had cleared up and roads were manageable in New Rochelle by noon on Saturday, that was not the case in CT.  My trusty little Honda would not have done well had I attempted going North.  That being said....when I finally went down to check on my car....I'm not sure I could have even gotten my car out of the parking lot anyways.  However, I do remember one particular snowstorm at ISU when cookie sheets and plastic drawers became shovels for a few hours!! A little imagination and determination can go a long way.  On the other hand, temperatures are going to be in the 40s this week.  This time I think I'll let Mother Nature give me a head start.  And while I'm waiting for that, a quick walk to the corner store for the essentials (a.k.a. milk) it is.

Funny, I would have thought New Yorkers would know the difference between spreading salt and dumping salt!!

Hasta!

Yo estoy varada.

Sun is shining and roads are cleared where I am, but CT is another story.  Looks like I'm stayin' put and joining my church family via the WorldWideWeb this weekend. Sigh.

Wanted to share with you a short prose poem with you.  There's something for everyone in it.

Desiderata by Max Ehrmann 

Go placidly amidst the noise and haste, and remember what peace there may be in silence. As far as possible without surrender be on good terms with all persons. Speak your truth quietly and clearly; and listen to others, even the dull and the ignorant; they too have their story.

Avoid loud and aggressive persons, they are vexatious to the spirit. If you compare yourself with others, you may become vain and bitter; for always there will be greater and lesser persons than yourself.

Enjoy your achievements as well as your plans. Keep interested in your own career, however humble; it is a real possession in the changing fortunes of time.

Exercise caution in your business affairs; for the world is full of trickery. But let this not blind you to what virtue there is; many persons strive for high ideals; and everywhere life is full of heroism.

Be yourself. Especially, do not feign affection. Neither be cynical about love; for in the face of all aridity and disenchantment it is as perennial as the grass.

Take kindly the counsel of the years, gracefully surrendering the things of youth. Nurture strength of spirit to shield you in sudden misfortune. But do not distress yourself with dark imaginings. Many fears are born of fatigue and loneliness.

Beyond a wholesome discipline, be gentle with yourself. You are a child of the universe, no less than the trees and the stars; you have a right to be here.

And whether or not it is clear to you, no doubt the universe is unfolding as it should. Therefore be at peace with God, whatever you conceive Him to be, and whatever your labors and aspirations, in the noisy confusion of life keep peace with your soul. With all its shams, drudgery, and broken dreams, it is still a beautiful world. Be cheerful.

Strive to be happy

Hasta!

Yo estoy sobreviviendo la nevasca.

I woke up this morning, looked outside, and started singing...

  "Here comes the snow

Do, do, do, do

Here comes the snow, and I say 

It's all right..

Do do do do, do do, do do"

...And I've been singing it ever since. Stuck in my head it is.

Mr. Loco was not there to meet me when I returned to the hospital on Monday.  We've since had others presenting with some psych problems, but I don't know...they just all seem to pale in comparison now.

A little old lady came in with vomiting and diarrhea.  I liked her though because I got to speak with her in Spanish, and whenever we'd enter the room she'd say, "Ay! Doctorcito!!"  She always has her 49ers blanket neatly spread over her bed.  I d0n't have the heart to bring the subject up with her though.

A bed ridden old man came in with dangerously high levels of sodium in his blood. (high everything to be honest)  A problem like that actually takes quite a bit of math and a lot of monitoring to set right, so a bit of brain power was required there.

To tell you the truth...I really haven't studied anything Internal Med related in over a year.  I've always got surgery books with me instead.  So it's my own fault I'm so rusty when calculating free water deficits and infusion rates.  Oh well.  I'm trying to dust out the cobwebs that have collected in my brain, but it's a rather tiring process.

I would like to make it to CT this weekend as I'm not on call.  But for now the snow is still coming.  We'll see what tomorrow brings.

"Snow, snow, snow, here it comes

Snow, snow, snow, here it comes

Snow, snow, snow, here it comes

Snow, snow, snow, here it comes

Snow, snow, snow, here it comes"

"Here comes the snow

Do, do, do, do

Here comes the snow, and I say 

It's all right..

Hasta!

Yo estoy esperando.

I would say this week was perhaps a bit more interesting.  Primarily due to all the crazies landing on our patient list.  How we got so lucky I have no idea.  One such patient came into the ED because he couldn't catch his breath.  His belly was so blown up, so pretuberant not only could he hardly breathe but he could hardly move.  When I saw him for the first time he was sitting on the side of his bed.  When he was attempting to lay back for his belly to be seen, a few times I half feared he was going to fall forward out of the bed instead of back into the bed.  He eventually made it on his back though.  The fact that this man had allowed his abdomen to become in that state in the first place without seeking treatment should have clued us in....hellooooo not in the proper state of mind this one!!!  When the initial tap of this man's abdomen was done 5.5 L of fluid came off, and further ultrasound showed much more remaining.  However, the patient could then breath and walk again and his true colors shown through.  He was paranoid of everything, belligerent and completely inappropriate in his interactions with anyone and everyone.  You'd knock in the morning and enter the room just to be met by a string of profanity.  You'd eventually make your escape only to be followed by a bellowing unkempt individual (at this point smelling way beyond pleasant) into the hallway and all the way to the nurse's station where he'd continue on his rant disrupting hospital life the whole way.  The worst part of this situation is we as medical care providers were stuck between a rock and a hard place.  This patient without a doubt needs inpatient psychiatric care.  However, any such care facility would refuse his transfer as he's not medically stable.  But we couldn't get him medically stabilized because he was noncompliant in everything from taking meds to going for tests.  He wouldn't let us do anything for him, but he wouldn't leave either.  I'm not on call this weekend, and am very curious whether he'll still be there waiting for me Monday or not.

I had a couple of dreams this week.  One I was getting my hair trimmed and a couple of inches got wacked off instead.  I think I cried.  That's actually happened a couple of times this particular hair growing, it's probably set me back a good 4 inches if not more.  And so the idea of that happening again....not happy.  I had originally thought that this summer I'd be good to donate again, and I haven't measured yet, but I'm willing to bet I'm probably a good 4 inches short.  Sigh!
The second one was a crazy crazy dream.  My alarm woke me and I was so disoriented took awhile to realize it was my alarm.  I finally gathered my sense of self enough to hit the snooze and 2 seconds later there was nothing.  Not even a shred of the dream left behind, only the sense that I had lost something great.

Sunrise from my apartment one morning.  One thing about the sunrise in New York.  It's pure gold!  I would have never called a sunrise golden before, that's more an adjective saved for the sunset.  But in NY, it's a rich liquid gold that just flows and engulfs the city bringing a new day with it!  (Of course my picture doesn't do it justice!)

Hasta!
 

Yo estoy dormiendo.

I left the hospital late yesterday afternoon, and as the ER doors slid open and I walked out, a feeling was there to greet me as I did so.  It was a...

November gray,

And cold the day.

Follow me the leader.

....kind of feeling.

Not that it was November...nor was I following anyone, or being followed. 

I think I'm ready to officially say that I don't like NY weather.  And I'm not just saying that because I'm coming from a place that had sun at least 350 days a year if not more.  But NY is so foggy.  There's always fog.  More fog than rain.  More fog than Illinois.  Makes me feel like I'm restrained.  Like I'm not going anywhere.

But, there's some sun trying to peak through today.  It always does.

Hasta!

Yo estoy a yo.

"I think I know I mean a yes, but it's all wrong...that is, I think I disagree."

That was the topic of a discussion held last week which included representation across the various health care services providing care to the patients at Sound Shore.  I had never before been to a meeting such as this.  First of all, there was a moderator appointed for the meeting.  Second of all, that moderator went around the room making sure all services spoke their mind, and what I mean by that is, making sure all services had a chance to share their feelings.  Literally asking individuals, "how did that make you feel?"  I stayed shut up on my chair in the back.  No way was I going to voluntarily tell a room full of people how I felt.  However, what I saw developing as the meeting continued on was an opportunity for these people to vent.  Vent to others who wouldn't shy away, and would understand their frustration.  And that I could understand.  From my own personal experiences, in general the only stories acceptable are the funny, cute and mysterious.  The second I try recounting a frustrating experience, or anything out of the acceptable bubble the listener almost immediately becomes visibly uncomfortable.  What this meeting was allowing was a chance for taboo emotions to be let out amongst a group of people that not only wouldn't back away from them but can actually share in them.  Like I said, it was a meeting like none I've ever seen before.  It was interesting.

Hasta

P.S. bonus points if you know the song the discussion topic comes from! ;)