“My Mom Is Having a Stroke!”

My first nursing job was on an orthopedic unit in a Los Angeles hospital.  A large percentage of the patients admitted there had undergone hip and knee replacements.  The nature of this type of surgery and the populations in which it is generally performed means that there can be significant post-operative complications.  These patients are especially vulnerable in the first few days following surgery.

But I was taken by surprise when the daughter of one elderly patient, who was nearly ready to be discharged home and who had been doing remarkably well up until that morning, came running to the nurses station shouting that her mom was having a stroke.  I rushed into the room, not exactly certain what to expect.

There my patient sat, in her chair, her mouth very twisted, drooling.  She was having terrible difficulties with speech, but seemed mentally clear and was able to follow all instructions.  Her hand grips were equal and strong, she denied having a headache, she denied any numbness or weakness anywhere and was able to take steps normally, she had no vision changes.  I asked her to smile to check on the symmetry of her mouth, but she struggled to do this and was unable to despite repeated attempts.  I didn’t think she was having a stroke, but clearly something WAS horribly wrong.  The symptoms seemed to come on suddenly, out of the blue, and there was no progression.  Her vitals were fine.  I was a new nurse, and I kind of wanted to panic, but the family was all staring at me, counting on me to handle the situation professionally.

Resisting the urge to call for help at this point as I WAS the help, and before sending out the alarm, I decided to calmly ask a few more questions.  The answer that sent a bell off in my head was that the symptoms exactly coincided with the insertion of her dentures.  I asked her to take them out.

When she popped the top denture out we all broke out laughing.  She had put her dentures in upside down!  The twisting of her mouth, the inablity to speak or smile, and the drooling was due to the fight she was having to keep the dentures from falling out!

Boy, would I have been embarrassed to have sent up flares and had a doctor come in only to discover the same thing.

This is one of those patient stories you remember forever!  Don’t have any idea why I was thinking of her particulary today, but just thought I would share that little story.  Moral?  Always take the time to evaluate a situation before panicking! 

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Hope For The Inabled! I LOVE America!!!

AMERICANS WITH NO ABILITIES ACT (AWNAA)

January 21, 2009 at 07:06 pm  

WASHINGTON, DC – Congress is considering sweeping legislation that will provide new benefits for many Americans. The Americans With No Abilities Act (AWNAA) is being hailed as a major legislation by advocates of the millions of Americans who lack any real skills or ambition.

“Roughly 50 percent of Americans do not possess the competence and drive necessary to carve out a meaningful role for themselves in society,” said
Barbara Boxer.  “We can no longer stand by and allow People of Inability to be ridiculed and passed over. With this legislation, employers will no
longer be able to grant special favors to a small group of workers, simply because they do a better job, or have some idea of what they are doing.”

Private sector industries with good records of nondiscrimination against the Inept include retail sales (72%), the airline industry (68%),and home
improvement “warehouse” stores (65%) The DMV also has a great record of hiring Persons of Inability. (63%)

Under the Americans With No Abilities Act, more than 25 million “middle man” positions will be created, with important-sounding titles but little
real responsibility, thus providing an illusory sense of purpose and performance.

Mandatory non-performance-based raises and promotions will be given, to guarantee upward mobility for even the most unremarkable employees. The
legislation provides substantial tax breaks to corporations which maintain a significant level of Persons of Inability in middle positions,
and gives a tax credit to small and medium businesses that agree to hire one clueless worker for every two talented hires.

Finally, the AWNA ACT contains tough new measures to make it more difficult to discriminate against the Nonabled, banning discriminatory
interview questions such as “Do you have any goals for the future?” or “Do you have any skills or experience which relate to this job?”

“As a Nonabled person, I can’t be expected to keep up with people who have something going for them,” said one woman, who lost her position as a
lug-nut twister at the GM plant in Flint , MI due to her lack of notable job skills. “This new law should really help people like me.” With the passage of this bill, she and millions of other untalented citizens can finally see a light at the end of the tunnel.

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Hot Pots (Not To Be Confused With Hot Pockets Or With Mongolian Hot Pots)

This past weekend I did something that was one part rock, one part water, one part mist, one part heat, one part cold, one part darkness, one part light, and 1/100th part creepy.  There were some other parts in their, too, but I think these reflect the most important ones.

I spent the holiday weekend in Utah, in the Heber Valley area.  Dotting the landscape were columns of whispy steam rising in the crisp winter cold.  These whisps were emanating from rounded mounds of what appeared to be snow covered earth.  But which turned out to be rock. 

BAD picture quality, but its the best one I got! 

These mounds are Hot Pots.  Formed over the eons by heated water bubbling up from underground lakes, as the water would overflow the minerals within it would eventually form a mounded “crust”.  The visible mounds surrounded small bodies of this heated water.  One local entrepreneur blasted a hole in a rather large mound which was located on his property.  This hole was blasted at the base of the mound and extended hundreds of feet through the rock into the interior of the mound.  This provided easy access to the fresh smelling mineral rich waters within. 

Becky and Bill entering the mound…

Inside the mound there is a place to remove outer clothing and to don a life jacket.  Down the tunnel all you can see is mist.  In warmer weather the air is clear, but the mist adds a wonderful and ethereal quality to the space!  As you enter the mist the water comes into view.  Dimly lit from below by a few lights, it dances green and warm.  A small hazy shaft of light comes down from above through a small natural vent at the top of the mound. 

The water  below is 45 feet across in each direction, and extends 65 feet deep.  Though it is 20 degrees outside, it is warm inside.  The water remains fairly constantly 94-97 degrees.  And it gets warmer the deeper you swim.

 

Becky, Susi, and Bill warming in the seated area before entering the swimming area

We shared our swim with scuba divers who come to get their certification, usually for a winter vacation to somewhere warm.  What a great place to get excellent diving experience.  I will admit that the when these divers swim underneath you that the bubbles which arise from the bottom of the little warm lake can be a bit disconcerting, and creepy feeling when you aren’t expecting them.  It is mostly dark down in the water and it’s easy to imagine monsters and slimy things reaching up from the deep to grab unsuspecting bathers!  We were assured however, that these waters do not support any life. 

There are some of these warm lakes which haven’t formed the mound yet and are open and free to the public.  When we first decided to get warm and wet, we weighed the option of using one of these random free ponds or pay to go in the big hot pot.  “Free is good” was my initial response.  But when we arrived at the location, we had to drive through mud to get there, and the pond was filled with what looked like possibly naked, maybe beer swilling local types with the requisite hound running around.  And since it was outside and not surrounded by the mound, it looked wicked cold!!!  “Free is good, but sometimes paying is better” became the new mantra.

It was worth the $10 bucks admission, that’s for sure.

A dreamy little vacation within a vacation! 

I attempted to find more information on the pots to share here, but there is very little to be found.  Not even a Wikipedia entry, which surprised me! 

In the end, if you ever find yourself in the Heber Valley part of Utah, make sure you add this to your list of things you must do.  The pay to enter Hot Pot is at the Homestead Resort.  Check out the website.  Click on “The Crater” for more info and a few more pics.  Call and ask for the activities desk to make reservations.  You won’t be sorry!  And you should stay at the Invited Inn while you are there.  It’s a fabulous little swiss style B&B with the most delightful proprieters (Bill and Susie, pictured above in the hot pot.)  More on this lovely Inn in a post to follow.

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StarGazing

This weekend marks the 25th anniversary of the Sundance Film Festival, started by uber-star Robert Redford at the Sundance Ski Resort, or at least I think that’s how the story goes.

 

Becky (one of the girls from my Malawi team this past summer who is visiting me) and I are in Utah staying with my mom’s cousin and doing some local Utah stuff.  Like Becky is a snowboarder and brought her equipment.  So we went up to Sundance so that 1) she could spend some times on the slopes, and 2) perhaps we could see some of the beautiful people who are in town for the festival.

I kept saying “Oh look, it’s Ben Affleck”.  Becky’s “Oh look” star of choice was Will Smith.  At some point it stopped being funny and we stopped looking, so when I said “Oh my gosh, that’s Pierce Brosnan who just walked past us!” nobody moved their head one inch to look in the direction I was trying to point in in a surreptitious manner.  I don’t think they believed me! 

Later, in the restuarant where my cousin and I had decided to have lunch, he walked past our table a few times, and sure enough, it was Pierce!  He even smiled at my cousin!  And Becky saw him walking past by the ski lift as well!  Pretty cool, really.

AND then, Becky saw the man himself near the deli counter after she finished snowboarding.  Robert Redford right there, big as life.

Weird to see them out and about like regular people.

I took the picture below with my camera lense swiveled and pointed under my arm without a flash.  Cameras weren’t allowed in the restaurant.  I guess so that their guests aren’t pestered by paparazzi.  But I thought I’d try to get a picture nonetheless.  Can you tell it’s him?

I’ve met (and cared for as a nurse) lots of pretty darn famous people, but even so, it’s fun to “run into” a face that you’ve only known on the big, or little screen.  He was just walking about like a regular person.  I never saw any one approach him to ask for an autograph or a picture. 

Perhaps tomorrow we will see Ben and Will…

Believe me when I tell you that they won’t get off as easily as Pierce and Robert did!

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No More Pharma Swag??? Is It a Good Idea??

I will admit that I love the stuff that pharmaceutical companies give out.  Pens, sticky note pads, T-shirts, magnets, mugs, tote bags, goniometers, penlights, etc.

New voluntary guidelines by some pharmaceutical regulatory agency makes it so that the companies will no longer be dispensing these little goodies.

While I will the miss the goodies myself, I wonder how the swag industry will survive the loss of the 4 billion dollars that big pharma pumps into the novelty business every year.  Really.  It concerns me that in these rough economic times that a whole industry is potentially put at risk because giving away plastic, ceramic, and fabric junk could be perceived as quid pro quo or something.

I think it’s a silly guideline.  It’s one thing to eliminate the giving of expensive gifts to doctors (like trips/vacations) but has a doctor ever truly been manipulated into using a drug by a salesman giving away trinkets to the office staff?

I don’t think so.

It’s another one of those policies, like zero tolerance policies in public schools for weapons, that has gone awry.  There’s a good idea in there at the bottom level, but when a kid shows up at school with a plastic table knife in his lunchbox and all hell breaks loose…or a pharmaceutical rep shows up with a pen that says Sanofi-Pasteur on it and all of the sudden he’s bribing doctors, well, then you lose me on the idea.  The implementation of the good idea becomes a monster that no longer makes sense.

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Karma, What Goes Around Comes Around, Kismet, Do Unto Others, Etc.

Whatever you call it, I think this news story underscores the principle:

Somali Pirates Drown With Ransom After Freeing Saudi Supertanker

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“Price Does Not Include Taxes, or Cheese” AND Gas Prices

Do you ever have the radio on and realize that you aren’t really listening when something catches your attention and then you WISHED you’d been paying attention  when you hear that quick and low voiced lawyer generated disclaimer at the end of a commercial that says

“pricedoesnotincludetaxes,orcheese”?

That happened to me today.  What sort of specially priced item do you suppose required that disclaimer??  I was laughing!  It’s just so odd!!  I bet I’ll never hear it again either so it will be a mystery forever!  Some lawyer actually got paid to come up with that.  I bet he/she is laughing, too, all the way to the bank!

Also, I think that my question of just how low gas prices can get has finally been answered.  A few days ago the gas at my favorite gas station was $1.32/gal.  Today it was $1.35.  All the stations in town have recently bumped their prices, so I guess it’s over. 

Watching the gas prices tumble was fun while it lasted!

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“Andy Warhol Duck Bathroom”

This was the search criteria entered by some dear reader that brought them to my blog.

Scratching my head! 

I crack up sometimes at 1) the things that people actually search for, and 2) how the search engine decided that my blog fit that criteria!

Andy Warhol I get.  But Duck Bathroom in addition???

LOL.

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Just WHO Is a “Flat-Earther”, Mr. Gore?

Al Gore calls me a “Flat-Earther” because I don’t believe him when he speaks of “climate change” and “global warming”.

I have, for the most part, spared my blog and its readership from listening to me try to dispel the myth and the con that is “global warming”.  I just don’t have the time, the energy, or quite frankly the vocabulary for it.  I am all for “reduce, reuse, and recycle” where it’s possible.  No need to be wasteful and a resources glutton.  However I have always believed in my guts (I grew up with lots of greenies around me long before the term ever existed), and later when I was able to learn and comprehend scientific principals more, I believed in my head as well, that “climate change” as it has been sold to and bought by the American public especially,  is bunk and a sham.  With some snake oil (carbon crediting) thrown in, to boot.

Enter Mr. Harld Ambler OF THE HUFFINGTON POST OF ALL PLACES (!!!!!) who has written an article of such clarity that I feel compelled to say that I only WISH I could have written it…

Brought to you by the Huffington Post, a GREAT article on the great con…

Read this incredibly well-crafted article and see what you think about it.

Do I believe that Al Gore, the Goracle, will ever step back from the embarrassing, simplistic, and overreaching stand he has taken on “Global Warming”?  No, I do not.  He is making way to much money on it, and I think in his heart of heart he actually believes that he is 100% correct.  It begs the question….”Just WHO is living on a flat earth?”

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“Aspenglow” – Words and Music by John Denver

Not unfamiliar with the music of John Denver by any means, I was amazed listening to the radio the other night to hear this song.  How did I get to be as old as I am without ever hearing one of the most practically perfect songs ever written?  The lyrics are uncomplicated and not profound, but they are woven together with a light and delicate musical arrangement and sung in the crystal clear voice that only John Denver possessed.

See the sunlight through the pine
Taste the warm of winter wine
Dream of softly falling snow
Winter’s gold, Aspenglow

As the winter days unfold
Hearts grow warmer with the cold
Peace of mind is all you know
Winter’s gold, Aspenglow

Aspen is a life to live
See how much there is to give
See how strongly you believe
See how much you may receive

Smiling faces all around
Laughter is the only sound
Memories that can’t grow old
Winter’s gold, Aspenglow

Aspen is a life to live
See how much there is to give
See how strongly you believe
See how much you may receive

See the sunlight through the pine
Taste the warm of winter wine
Dream of softly falling snow
Winter’s gold, Aspenglow

Unable to find an online player that would play the full length song, I resorted to a YouTube video.  Listen especially to the music.  It’s divine.

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