I haven’t gone anywhere :) I was out of town for the holidays, and the rest of my time has been filled up with other adventures. Nothing interesting has happened at work; at least nothing I find interesting. Same kinds of patients. Henceforth, I have little more to offer you than some short story submissions. I suspect most blogs go through extended dry periods at times. I briefly entertained the idea of quitting codeblog, but I don’t think I want to do that.

“JLo” writes:

I had been an LPN for about 5 years when I decided I had had enough of taking crap from RNs [Ed: Well then!!], so I went back to school to be one. I didn’t realize I’d still be taking crap, just from a different group of people.

Anyway, while I was an LPN I did enjoy the patient care and took pride in my patient’s appearence. I had a patient that for whatever reason was difficult to understand at times (it came and went). He was trying to tell me something during his a.m. care, I really did attempt to understand him, but I couldn’t make it out and had to keep moving. He was scheduled for physical therapy and looked rather scruffy so I got him bathed and shaved. He was looking good when he headed down to physical therapy. I saw him being wheeled back some time later, and when he saw me he shook his finger, and said, “YOU, YOU SHAVED OFF MY MUSTACHE EVEN THOUGH I TOLD YOU NOT TO!!”

Whoops that’s what he was trying to say!! Well my intentions were good.

Doesn’t sound very good, but I’m sure it’s done every day across the nation. I have certainly done my share of misinterpretation. Anyway, “Gina” writes:

I’ll always remember the day I took shampoo in to one of the other nurse’s patients. I heard that the patient had given birth while crossing the border. She and her family cut the cord with a calling card, wrapped the baby in her sweater, and walked on. What an ordeal! I expected an exhausted, disheveled woman.

However, when I walked in with the shampoo, I saw an island of happy faces. Two of them were young enough women that one of them must be the patient, but they looked equally healthy and energetic, and neither one was wearing a hospital gown. I had to clandestinely look to see who was wearing hospital armbands. She was going to be sent back to Mexico for now, but at least her baby was going to be able to stay with family in the U.S., since the baby would be a U.S. citizen. I have to say, I admired her family support and her strength, even though she did take a big risk with her own life and the life of her baby. After all, plenty of American women take similar risks giving birth at home just for the thrill of it. And I’m sure she meant to give birth at the hospital, not outside in the dirt.

Well, I’m not sure I’d say that homebirthing women do so for “the thrill of it.” Probably more that they view birth as a normal, natural process that does not need medical intervention. And here is a true confession from “A.D.”:

Well as horrible and embarassing as it is to admit, at one time I became so addicted to pills and shots that I would receive in the ER after my many laparoscopies. I became so addicted to narcotics that I would feign illnesses once a week. It became so embarassing to me that I actually started to hurt myself intentionally so that I would be able to go to the ER with a clear (if you can call it that) conscience. The worst of the worst (and I say this with much shame, behind an anonymous name) has to be the time in which I actually took a .22 revolver and blew a hole through my right foot. Luckily it went clean through without touching a bone. I was sent home with Demerol….probably enough to kill a small elephant. I’m no longer like that and I find it frightening to think that I would ever do that. No therapy, I just snapped out of it. My hat’s off to those medical professionals that have to put up with the likes of me… Weeding out dope fiends while taking care of genuinely ill people. All I can say is….thank you and I’m sorry.

The ER sends people home with Demerol???

Okay, that’s all I have for you for now. Sorry for the recent absence and I promise to be more updative in the future :-)