Why is it some days when I'm trying to just get up, shower, pretend I'm human and get them off to school (in no particular order) that I feel like I'm running an anger management seminar?
With me as the lab rat!
<sigh>...
5/9/02 9:50:12 AMThursday Threesome...
Onesome. Hold Me. What's your first remembrance of holding an infant (or if you aren't into kids - a baby animal)? Feel free to talk about other stand-out holding memories... I really didn't like holding babies and avoided it as much as possible in the field. ...but the first time I held an infant was during training when I delivered my first child in-house. ...and I remember others over the years, my best calculations place the numbers in the fifties. ...but my absolutely best recollection of holding a baby was Daniel just after he was born as I carried him back in to meet his mother. That one was special...
Twosome. Thrill Me. Up for a thrilling ride? Tell us, do you seek the thrill rides at the amusement park or is the carousel more your speed? Hmmm... Didn't used to care much for the thrill rides; but in the last several years I've been trying more and more of them. Something about having to have a parent accompany a kidlet. ...and Brad knows no fear!
Threesome. Kiss Me. Come on - kiss and tell - at least, tell us about your first *real* kiss. Oh, my... So, so long ago. Gotta' be in the early sixties, junior high... Yeah. Sheesh. Nevermind...
How about you?
5/9/2002 7:22:30 AMAny thoughts on that?
Kitty lost one yesterday...
...and I started to respond in her comments to some of the very supportive things people had to say. ...and the direct and implied questions. ...and I realized I couldn't do her justice in that forum. So here we are in mine.
We lose people, folks. With all the skills, techniques and equipment we have in-house and in the pre-hospital setting, we still lose people. Not from lack of trying or lack of training or lack of resources; sometimes the deck is just stacked against us. If the patient is too far down the spiral or the damage is too much, sometimes all we can do is hold them for a small slice of time...
...and I'm not going to turn this into a 'gory details' post; I'll be happy to do one of those and stick it over in Stories sometime if you'd like. ...but the stuff the medical professionals would enjoy tends to wreak havoc with the non-professionals, so we'll stay with the current topics. ...like what about getting to know the people you are working on? Yeah, what about that? Well, we all try for a level of 'professional disconnect': you're nice to the patient but you are not part of their life. Easier for the street people, much harder for someone working in-house on a back to back schedule. Still, an hour-long trip in from the rural or a round trip to and from radiation therapy tends to build a little bridge...
...and then there's a very basic issue: many of the people in the helping professions are there because they want to be there. ...and they want to help and they want to make a difference. You've read the story of how Kitty rearranged the furniture in that gentleman's room so he could look out the window. ...and I learned most of my functional street Spanish from a lady I transported to and from extended therapy every week (Berlitz west: she wasn't allowed to speak Spanish while we were in transit and I wasn't allowed to speak English). Now, how can we not form a bond of sorts?
So what happens when we lose one? It depends upon the person and the circumstances. Sometimes it's easy and they're off to a better life. Sometimes you aren't torn by the patient's death as much as you are by the pathos the family is now going though. Some you walk away from knowing you did your best and it just wasn't to be. ...and some you just grieve for.
...and what can you do for the Kitty's of the world? Hmmm... I think you did a darned fine job in her comments today. Personal stories, pats on the head, hugs, invitations to talk about it, support, reaffirmations, stuff to make her feel like she did a good job and she has friends to talk to when the shift is over. It's things of that nature that remind us of the humanity we are part of. ...and that we're working to save.
...and let's get real: I'm speaking for me in the old days here also.
5/9/2002 12:58:41 AMAny thoughts on that?
I feel so special...
I received by first Klez bounce-back a little while ago... Of minor interest: the email address is the one I use here on the blog and in blog related stuff.
So, as a public service, if you have both this address and "sylviamann@hotmail.com" in your address book, the removal tool is here.
5/7/2002 10:25:54 PMSomeone asked...
...about the new pic on the main site.
It's a self portrait I took for John's Cemetery Photographer's Page and decided I liked well enough to keep around for a bit.
5/7/02 3:11:35 PMInterrupted...
Our power went out at 0530, which set off the alarms on all the UPSes.
<sigh> So my plans for over five hours of uninterrupted sleep were interrupted by the uninterruptible power supplies <g>.
Okay, if your not a geek, forget this one...
5/7/02 2:46:37 PMAny thoughts on that?
Kindred spirits...
Any thoughts on that?