Tawni Welch, (Pediatric) RN... (Insert favorite swear word here)

On what planet would it be a good idea to make me work in Pediatrics?  This isn’t a rhetorical question (in case you were wondering), I really do want to know.  I mean really, I’m kind of awful with kids.

Well I got the ominous news that the Pediatric floor would be my new workplace this past week, and according to Elizabeth Kubler-Ross, I’m now in stage two of grieving: anger.  I moved on from stage one, denial, fairly quickly because it’s pretty hard to pretend you still have your old job when you walk past the floor you worked on and all the patients are gone and none of your coworkers are there.  So naturally, I’m just angry now… and quite a bit sad.  Sad because this means a probability of no more wounded soldiers, no more communicating like adults (I suck at baby talk… parents will hate me), and of course, no more Georgian marriage proposals or inappropriate - yet somewhat humorous – comments from the soldiers (turns out that outside of Utah flat-chested brunettes stand a much better chance).

But, what’s done is done, and now it’s time to be a nurse of the child variety.  You know, I’ve never tolerated screaming kids well, so I’m worried about how this new job is going to play out.  Ever since I received this disheartening news, I’ve been acutely aware of just how scream-ish and unruly these small humans are.  Now when I’m at church, out shopping, you name it, I want to yell at these parents “Corral your children!” (ode to Lauren Hansen).  I doubt yelling such things is going to go over well at work. 

Now I’m just hoping that I like it more than I did in nursing school.  It's ironic how drastically what we think we want to do changes.  I remember – before even getting into nursing school – that I thought I wanted to do Pediatrics.  Then when I finally got to that particular nursing class, I learned rather quickly that I didn’t like it.

So yes, I’m going to miss taking care of the soldiers… a lot.  I really felt like my job had an awesome purpose when I took care of the Wounded Warriors.  What a humbling and rewarding experience!  But now it’s time to try something different I guess.  Maybe there’s some great purpose behind me having to be a Peds nurse now… or maybe not.  Whatever the case, I think Elizabeth Kubler-Ross had it right with the five stages of grief.  Eventually I’ll have to move on to acceptance, and maybe by then I’ll learn to enjoy doing something new.  Until then, I will continue to eat chocolate.  Because hey, chocolate fixes just about everything... except the obesity epidemic.

In the Blink of an Eye

The last thing you ever want to hear a doctor say to one of your patients is, “You have a large mass in your colon that has spread to your liver.  We think it’s cancer.”  No one likes the word “cancer,” it’s toxic… literally.  And the word becomes even more repulsive when you’re hearing it being said to your patient who’s in his early 40s with three young kids.

You knew that as soon as the words, “spread to your liver” left the doctor’s lips, it was Stage IV cancer; nursing school taught you this.  You also know that this means a probable death… and soon.  Then you meet the wife and three little kids and their reality hits you like a ton of bricks.  Do they understand the seriousness of their husband and father’s condition?  Part of you hopes not, because as you see the six year-old daughter lying her head on her dad’s chest, asking him if the needles hurt and if he’s being brave like she wants to be when she grows up, you want her to have as much “normal” time with her dad as possible.  But then the other part of you wants them to understand what the reality is to soften the blow later.

And then, after all this, you find yourself thinking, “maybe it’s not cancer, maybe they’re just benign masses.”  But you know they’re not, and this is confirmed when you ask the provider, “So what is the likelihood that these masses really are Stage IV cancer?”  And the response is, “100 percent.”  You knew this was the case, but you really thought (or maybe just wishfully hoped) that this guy was the one-in-a-million miracle case.  And maybe he still is.  Unfortunately though, science is not on his side.

I had this patient this week, and only for a day before he flew back to the States for intense chemotherapy and radiation, that is likely only going to prolong his life, and even more likely to decrease his quality of life.  My heart breaks for this patient and his family, bad things happen to good people and it’s not fair.  But as a nurse I’m thankful for these days.  They remind me how lucky I am to wake up every day and have the opportunity to live a normal, healthy life.  So yes, days like these are hard, but I think everyone needs one once in a while as a reminder of just how fragile life is and everything we have to be grateful for, because in the blink of an eye, it could all be gone.

AMERICA!!!

My High School newspaper teacher wouldn’t let me write for the paper, I was only allowed to copy edit.  She told me this was because I wasn’t a good writer.  She was wrong.  And now she can regret not allowing me to enhance the quality of the newspaper, and as a result, her career.  Her loss.  But whatevs, I’m moving on.

This here post is all about my two weeks back in the states.

And now I’m having a brain fart…

Okay, I’m back; just had to recall everything that happened, which was a lot, and it happened so fast that it’s hard to remember it all!

It started off with a trip to Disney Land and Sea World with the fam bam.  Now you might think that traveling as five so-called adults would make the trip more relaxing.  You’re wrong.  When Adult A, let’s call him Bagel, wants to walk at a six mile per hour pace, and Adult B, let’s call her Fan (refer to said person’s birth certificate… you had to be there), wants to walk at a 2 mile per hour pace, and Adults C, D, and E, want to ride Indiana Jones, eat something (typical), and go to the beach, you end up with five annoyed, over-heated (literally and figuratively) people.  However, despite our differences and disagreements, I think we all can say that the trip was generally a success.  Here are some highlights.

-       Tower of Terror:  Ridden three times.  Round Two we were each going to be one letter of “Y-M-C-A,” plus an “!”.  Take a look at the result…  

Apparently it's fun to stay at the "YMMA."

-       The Log Flume: We tried to get to this ride like three times before we finally got to it when it wasn’t closed for something.  And for whatever reason we all decided to try to pose for the camera again.

Typical.  Someone had to mess it up.  Not surprised it was Fan this time.  She does what she wants.

-       Seeing Shampoo the Killer Whale.  In 5 million degree heat.  With a blazing sun all day.  Good thing I tan easily… not.  P.S. Apparently Shampoo the Killer Whale is not just one guy anymore.  Turns out he either cloned himself, or has died and been replaced with five others… all named Shampoo.  My childhood was obviously full of lies and deceit.  

-       The two and a half hours spent in the car in rush hour so my seester could go to the beach and touch the ocean.  Not actually a highlight for 60-80 percent of us, but it turned out okay in the end anyway.

-       Posing for inappropriate pictures (inadvertently, of course).

-       And the final highlight, spending hours and hours either flying or in an airport coming home from California… Not.

After I got home I ran around like a chicken with my head cut off in an attempt to visit everyone I wanted to see and hadn’t seen in almost a year (some longer than that).  Unfortunately, I wasn’t entirely successful.  But I did manage to see quite a few of them.

I got to see my besties from high school, Holley, Jamie, and Val.  We pretty much partied it up… except for the entire part where we didn’t because Holley’s an old, married woman now.  So instead we sat around knitting and wearing reading glasses while discussing Queen Elizabeth’s atrocious wardrobe.  Okay, so it wasn’t actually like that.  It was, in fact, much better.  It included McDonald’s hotcakes (an old favorite), pizza (not at the same time as the McDonald’s hotcakes), and other exciting things like discussing our future education plans.  We sure know how to have a good time!

I also got to spend time with my ROTC and nursing school bestie, Melinda.  Just like old times, we visited Paradise Bakery – this time without 20 pounds of nursing textbooks in tow – and did our best to make up for 10 months worth of talking and catching up; not sure we quite made it, we probably could’ve used another two weeks or so.  Also, I got to see her son - and my boyfriend - Reid.  Some might say I’m robbing the cradle because I’m 18 years older than he is, but age is just a number after all.

Aside from all the family and friends I saw, I got to spend plenty of time shopping.  I miss American shopping.  Actually, I just miss America.  Pretty sure I wore my mom and myself out with the seemingly endless trips to different malls and stores.  Good thing I batted my eyelashes real pretty like at the person weighing my bag at the airport on my way back to Germany… I’m fairly certain that with all the stuff I bought I would’ve had to pay that extra fee for a heavy bag if I hadn’t.

All in all, my trip was a success.  I had such an awesome time being home, and it really made me appreciate the people I have in my life.  I’m so thankful that I got to spend time with them, even if I wish it could have been longer.  Two more years and I’m back to los Estados Unidos to stay... probably.  Until then, Germany will be home… even if I don’t speak Germish or drink beer.

And here are some more pictures from the trip...

Me with the sibs.  We're kinda gangsta... obviously.

The new hair.  A great way to drop a couple pounds.

Ranger Danger.  AKA "The dog."  I'm really more of a cat person, but I learned to like this little guy, and "Maybe I like him a lot."  But "Don't push the 'maybe,' Baby."

Giving my Simba Cat lots of unwanted attention; and looking quite attractive while doing so.

 

Pot Roast and Stuff

I’m bad at being German. 

Nine months ago when I moved here I told myself I was going to learn German, because hey, if people move to the U.S. then they should learn English, so I figured that rule probably applies to other countries as well.   When making phone calls to businesses on the German economy I used to at least ask them (in mangled Germish) if they could speak English.  Now I just start speaking in English and expect a response… in my native tongue.  I’m now a hypocrite.  When I get back to America I’m perfecting my Spanish.

Also, while running the other day I made an observation, and it is as follows: my running shoes make my feet look big.  My feet aren’t big for my height; they’re an average size of 8-8 ½.  Good thing I need new running shoes anyway; this time around I’m buying shoes that flatter my feet a bit more.  It’s important to look good from the ankles - or cankles, as the case may be - down while running.

Okay, time to get on track.  I just like to pontificate on the frivolities that make up my life every once in a while.  And by every once in a while I mean every time I post in this blog.  I digress.

If you’re sick of my inspiring soldier/patient stories, advert thine eyes away from this blog now.  If you aren’t sick of them, read on… it makes me feel good when lots of people at least feign interest in my ramblings.

Anyway, the other day I was humbled yet again by one of my awesome patients.  This particular patient was a young guy with polytrauma (AKA lots of injuries).  I had been taking care of this guy for multiple nights, and what a champ he was!  Some of his injuries included, but were not limited to, two amputations, multiple broken bones, and multiple fasciotomy sites (this is basically a large, open incision done in the OR to decrease pressure and swelling to an extremity).  P.S. Fasiotomy = Pain… and lots of it.  Every night I was with this patient, he was cheerful and joking and so cooperative with all his care, and when I came back on shift each night he was always excited to show me what progress he’d made during the day.  It was so awesome to watch him begin his recovery process!

Caring for this guy really made me think about what I would do in his position.  Well, let’s see, if I was missing a limb, had multiple extensive tissue wounds, was stuck in bed, and was dealing with pain as intense as his, I can’t say I would be a pleasant person to be around.  Geez, I revert to my inner two year-old if I don’t get food every three to four hours.  It made me want to hang my head in shame.

The night before this particular patient was scheduled to fly home, I was talking to his parents.  His father proceeded to thank me for taking care of his son, and he continued to tell me how sweet I was and how grateful he was for me.  I couldn’t help but feel completely unworthy.  After all, I wasn’t in Afghanistan patrolling areas ridden with IEDs in 10,000-degree heat; I was at home, sitting on my cushy couch, watching the Bachelorette (don’t judge me, it’s a guilty pleasure).  All I could think to tell this patient’s dad was that it really was my pleasure to take care of his son; and I whole-heartedly meant it. 

Every day I work I see patients who have been to hell on earth and back, they see and experience things that no person should ever have to, and many of them will live life with constant physical reminders of the sacrifices they made for all of us.  Wow!  What a privilege it is to take care of these people.  They’ve made me kind of mushy, for which I’m about 50 percent grateful, and they teach me every day to not take things for granted, because you just never know when you might turn around and those things will be gone.

Oh, and I successfully made pot roast this week.

A Title-less Post Because I Can't Think of Anything Creative Right Now

“When life gives you lemons, keep them, because hey, free lemons!”  So actually, I’m not sure this quote has any pertinence to this particular blog post, but I saw this quote while perusing the internet (I have to do something to stay awake during night shift), and I thought it was a great way to look at life handing us these proverbial “lemons” that we sometimes just can’t seem to stave off.  Also, you could make lemon cream pie… just a thought.

Sadly, this post is not one in which I revel in one of my awesome traveling experiences.  However, I just think that overall it has been a good week that is worthy of being talked about… or written about, as the case may be.

To start the week off, I went to the gym, where I squatted 155 pounds, which is more than one of me, and I deadlifted 195 pounds… which is way more than one of me, and this makes me awesome.   Also, I threw around some other weights, which may not be worthy of mention… yet.  Give me a year and I’m sure they will be!

On the work side of things, life has been so good to me!  The other night when I called a doctor about one of my patients, I was actually thanked!  And not just a polite “thank you,” which is a rarity in and of itself, but the doctor actually called back to thank me again!  It’s a miracle, and it’s highly unlikely to ever happen again, so this is a first that may also be a last.  But more noteworthy than an appreciative doctor are my awesome patients... 

Where I work, we often get NATO patients; and this week was no exception.  This week I was able to take care of a Polish and a Lithuanian patient.  As I was leaving at the end of my shift, I went to say goodbye to the Polish patient, who was flying home, and he gave me two of the patches he wears on his uniform.  Now maybe this doesn’t sound like anything overly special, but it’s an honor to know that you’ve made an impact on a patient like that.  I walked out of work feeling pretty great about things that day!  

The next night I had a patient who was involved in an IED blast.  These soldiers often come in with multiple injuries, and this soldier was no exception.  As he was trying to go to sleep that night, he hit the call bell; when I went to the room to see what he needed, he asked me if I had just heard the “big boom,” I told him that I hadn’t, and he proceeded to tell me that he couldn’t sleep because he kept seeing the IED explosion he had just been through.  This made my heart hurt.  This poor patient was reliving his experience over and over; it’s bad enough to go through it once, but to keep seeing it again and again has got to be torture.  So I spent some time just talking to this guy, and he was finally able to fall asleep.  The next morning when I went in to do my morning nurse-ly stuff and say goodbye, he stood up on his one good leg (Eek!  Falls Risk!  I tried to get him to stay in bed, I swear I did!) and gave me the biggest hug and told me that he wished all his nurses could be like me.  This just put a huge smile on my face.  What a great reminder about how nursing can really impact our patients for the better or the worse; it’s not about the medications we give, the IV sticks or blood draws we do, or the thousands of appointments we run our patients to throughout the hospital, it’s about being there when they can’t fall asleep, or listening to them when they need someone to talk to.  Nursing can be rough, but this week reminded me why it’s so awesome!

I guess I'm just a lucky girl!  What a great life I have!  I'm sure that not all weeks will be quite as awesome as this week, but I guess the bad weeks just make you appreciate great weeks like this week that much more!

Memorial Day Post (creative title, I know)

Fact: Wearing a neon yellow shirt makes you run faster… or at least it makes you feel like you’re running faster.

Another fact: Running in the heat without properly hydrating may result in quite a substantial headache.  Also, trying to combat said headache with a caffeinated beverage (that subsequently dehydrates you further) is not the answer!  So now I’m going to try and do the logical thing and hydrate (with water… duh) and rectify this little problem.  And I call myself a nurse…

Anyway, I’m not on here today to write about my run this morning, really, I’m not.  I just wanted to pass a little hard-earned wisdom on to all my avid readers – of which I’m convincing myself there are many.  And please don’t tell me otherwise, I quite enjoy living in this particular fantasy.  Okay, now it’s down to business… and by that I mean it’s time for me to actually get on track about what I really got on here to write about.

So a couple of weeks ago I was able to visit the Dachau Concentration Camp.  Ever since first learning about concentration camps when I was in elementary school, I’ve thought it would be so neat to be able to go visit one and really see what these people were put through.  Now normally I really don’t like history, honestly, it bores me to tears.  Case in point, I put off taking it until my last year in college and had saved my “Credit, No Credit” option for it, just so that I could put in the minimum effort and check that particular box.  However, there is one aspect of history that has always fascinated me, and that is the Holocaust.  Now I know this sounds morbid and disgusting, but how can you not be fascinated by man’s inhumanity to man?  Every time we studied this part of history I learned something new and horrible that had been done to the victims of the Holocaust, so when I finally got the chance to visit a place that so many of these people called “home” – and of course, I use the term loosely – for years, and in some cases, until they died, I was actually really excited to go.

While I was there I saw some pretty terrible things, and for the record, Dachau certainly isn’t the eeriest of concentration camps.  Still, the things I saw will probably stay with me forever.

Most of the barracks that the prisoners - yes, I consider them prisoners, albeit innocent ones - lived in had been torn down, except for one.  Inside, the sleeping arrangements had been rebuilt to mimic those that were typical at Dachau.  The “beds” were not any larger than a baby’s crib, with no cushioning, just boards, and no space between beds.  It’s no wonder that disease spread rampant through the camp.

The toilets were all in an open room, as were the so-called sinks.  I never saw any place for the prisoners to shower, and it’s doubtful that there ever was a place.

What I did see though, were what the prisoners were told were showers… and I think you all know where I’m going with this.  That’s right, I’m talking about the gas chambers.  Now it’s rumored that the gas chambers at Dachau weren’t ever used for their intended purpose of mass murder, but rather just as holding rooms.  That’s a mystery that may never have an answer.  In addition to the gas chambers, I saw the crematorium, which at one point, was not big enough for all the murders that were taking place.

One of the gas chambers at Dachau.

The crematorium.  In addition to serving as a crematorium, this area was also used as a place for hangings.  Prisoners would be killed by being hung off the ceiling posts.

  I also saw where they did roll call every morning.  It was here that prisoners were called out of formation, and shot in front of their peers.  Today, in this place, there stands a memorial to all the prisoners who came and went through Dachau.

This is the memorial that was built, roll call was done on either side of this area.

This is the gate that all the prisoners walked through to enter the camp.

It's hard to see, but these are all the spots where there used to be barracks.  This is just the view from one side, there were twice this many barracks in the camp.  Another interesting fact is that originally Dachau was built to hold 5,000 people, but at one point there were over 30,000 prisoners with no more space than there was for the intended 5,000.

Guard Tower that prisoners were always being watched from.

This gravestone says, "Grave of Many Thousand Unknown."

So in lieu of Memorial Day, let’s not forget to thank the people who fought for our freedoms so that we can live in a place free of oppression, and never have to endure what these prisoners went through.  I know that I will always be grateful to live in a country where I can do what I want to do, believe what I choose to believe, and be who I want to be without fear of mistreatment, or even death.  Thank a soldier, airman, marine (not me… I don’t count) next time you see one.  Their sacrifice is what allows us to live the way we do.

Mind Over Matter

Some people write for enjoyment, some people write because they have to (I’m having a flashback to all those history papers I’ve had to write that taught me how to use big words and lots of quotes to meet my minimum word requirement), some people write because it’s their job.  I write because it’s therapeutic… oh, and because I’m awesome at it.

I think today is definitely going to be a therapeutic writing session, I really need to talk a little bit, and as we all know, the MacBook is the best place to do it.  I mean the MacBook doesn’t judge, and it sits in silence and lets you rant on and on (have you ever tried to vent to someone who keeps trying to give you advice and all you want is someone who will listen to you?  Okay, I admit, I’m THAT person, I want to fix other people’s problems.  But whatevs, I digress).

This week has been a bit rough for me, not overall, mostly just in regards to my physical fitness level.  I have really beat myself up over it these past few days!

Now for those of you who know me well, you know that I’m notorious for my lack of coordination and athletic prowess (Raise you virtual electronic hand if you’ve seen me either a) run into a door or wall, or b) trip over my own feet while walking in an unobstructed, flat area).  Unfortunately, I often let myself become consumed by the words, “I can’t,” when it comes to physical fitness, and this week really tested me in that area. 

I’ve gone to the CrossFit gym everyday this week, and as we write our times and amounts of weight we lifted on the board, I begin comparing my numbers to everyone else’s.  (this can be demoralizing; don’t do it).  Not only did I see a bunch of numbers that were much better than mine, but everyone else could also see how much worse mine were.  Ugh.  But still, I walked out of the gym everyday telling myself that no one is judging, and improvement is what really matters.  And I’m really trying to believe both of these things.  I’m determined to beat this negative workout attitude I have, and it’s possible that today I might have had a mini breakthrough.

While doing our WOD today (Workout of the Day, for those of you who aren’t familiar with this particular acronym) - which consisted of about 1,000 lunges carrying overhead weight, a bajillion box jumps, and about 684.32 pull-ups - I just about had a breakdown.  I was swimming in my own sweat, feeling like I was going to vomit, and as I headed for the box to do more of the dreaded box jumps, using my legs that felt like nothing more than dead weight, the words “I can’t do this anymore” ran through my head again.   But then I had this thought, and it was a bit humbling for me.  I thought about the patients I take care of… you know, the ones who have lost one or both legs and/or one or both arms.  And I looked at that box and said, for the first time in a while, “you CAN do this.”  You see, I’ve spent so much time trying to be as good as everyone else that it’s actually hindered me being my personal best.  So no, I’m not a natural athlete (this is a fact, not a pessimistic statement), but you know what I am?  I’m a person with two legs and two arms that work!  That’s right, they work… and for the most part – minus the occasional run-in with a wall – they work pretty well.   Maybe my legs aren’t the fastest, and maybe my arms aren’t the strongest, but they are capable, and for this I am grateful!

Now don’t get me wrong, I know there will still be times when I feel inadequate and frustrated with my body, but I sincerely hope that every time I feel like I can’t do one more squat or one more dreaded pull-up, I’ll remember that some people would do anything for a second chance at legs or arms… even if they happened to be a little on the uncoordinated side.  :)

A Year Already??!

As I get on Facebook (let’s not lie to ourselves, we all spend an inordinate amount of time there), I’m noticing (duh) that so many of my friends are graduating college this year.  And what I would like to know is where the time has gone.  I remember my awkward, geeky high school days (okay, so I haven’t actually outgrown those yet) where I wanted so badly to be “grown up,” and to be done with college, have my degree, and be making, what I perceived to be, lots of money.  Now I look back and realize how quickly time has passed and how much has changed.

Yes, I got my degree – still can’t believe it has been a year – and I have my “big girl” job, but I have found that being a so-called “grown up” isn’t necessarily all it’s cracked up to be.  You know those things our parents get in the mail that we used to just throw on the table for them to look at?  I call those bills, and now I pay them.  Boooo!  Oh, and remember how our moms and dads used to deal with insurance headaches, car repairs, and other such pleasantries?  Now I get to deal with them, which, for the record, isn’t more fun than most things.  However, here’s what else I’ve learned… 

1)   The best things in life come to those who work hard.  College wasn’t easy; nursing school kicked my butt on a daily basis, but now I get to take care of possibly the best group of patients there is, our “wounded warriors,” as we refer to them here at LRMC. 

2)   Being away from home does suck, but you know what else it does?  It teaches you not to take your family for granted; it makes you realize that your pesky little sister may not be all that pesky anymore, and that maybe, just maybe, you actually do like her.

3)   Your best friends will always be your best friends, no matter how many thousands of miles separate you.  You know that you can pick up the phone to call them, and even if you haven’t talked for months, you’ll pick up right where you left off without a single awkward pause.

4)   Pets remember their people’s voices, even when they haven’t seen them in seven months, so when you go home, don’t worry, your animal will remember you… although he or she might also shun you temporarily for your betrayal.

5)   You can accomplish anything you set your mind to.  Doubting that you’d ever be able to get into medical school was a sad assumption; you are smart enough and you actually did end up with the grades for it.  You also realized though, that in nursing you really get to leave a mark, you get to know your patients on a different level than anyone else.

6)   Oh, and you actually can cook… if you have patience (working on it), and persistence.

So in lieu of everyone graduating and preparing to go be “grown ups,” I just want to say that although parts of this past year have been rough, and there have been times where I wished I could do a Harry Pothead and apparate back home, I wouldn’t change it, and in another year, who knows what will happen, maybe I’ll be putting in my med school application… Ha ha ha!  Gotcha!  But seriously, I might be going through school withdrawals; Nurse Practitioner school is continuing to look progressively better… Who knows what tomorrow will bring…

Babies and Broken Soldiers

You know that moment when you’re at a wedding and the bride walks down the aisle? Everyone stands up to watch the beautiful bride. But who do I like to watch? I like to watch the groom. While everyone is oohing and awing (spelling?) at the bride, I’m watching the facial expressions and body language of the groom; they say everything. I feel much the same when I’m in the delivery room with a mom and dad who are about to have a baby. While everyone is watching the mom (and of course, the baby) as soon as the baby’s born, I’m watching the dad. Very rarely will you see a man cry - society tells them if they cry, it will emasculate them- but this stupid rule seems to fall to the wayside in the delivery room. I LOVE seeing a dad (especially a first-time dad) see his new baby for the first time.

Now you may wonder why this is so amazing to me. Well, think about it, for approximately 40 weeks, the mom has been bonding with this child, she has gone with it everywhere, and done everything with it, she knows that baby, and that baby knows her. When mom sees her baby for the first time, it’s not like a first meeting, but for dad, reality finally hits. It’s at the moment when the baby is born that he realizes that he’s a dad, that that baby is his. Wow! It just never gets old!

I am so grateful for the opportunity to have been in Labor and Delivery this past week; it was a nice break from the tragedy and trauma that I normally see working at LRMC. Thank heavens for the healthy babies and new families who have reminded me of one of the happier sides of medicine.

On another note, I return to Med-Surg nursing this week. It has been nice to rotate through the hospital and get an idea of what options I have, and despite the fact that it can be pretty difficult seeing some of these soldiers being so beat up, I can’t think of a better population of patients to work with at this point in my life. Never would I see a population like this on any other Med-Surg nursing floor. These patients have already taught me so much, not just about medicine, but also about myself and my ability to care. I remember in nursing school being told that while understanding medicine is important in nursing (I would hope nurses have a good understanding of medicine), sometimes all the patient needs is someone to talk to or to be there for them. Of course, at the time, I thought, “Yeah, yeah, yadda, yadda,” because I was in nursing school to get the technical education on how to help people get better, not to learn how to be all softy and emotional. Well, now I certainly wish I could go back to day one in nursing school when we were taught the importance of holistic healing and pay more attention, because my instructors were right. But, hindsight is 20/20, and I’m glad that now – even though it took a while – I can really appreciate that being a nurse means more than just treating physiologic problems.

So maybe this post is a little mushy and whatnot, but I can honestly say that I think I have one of the best jobs in the world. I love being a nurse and taking care of people. Unfortunately, sometimes we deal with tragedy, but sometimes we really get the chance to make a difference, and seeing a patient succeed and do well makes it all worth it.

London, England (Say it with a British accent, it's much more fun)!

London, I have wanted to go here ever since I saw “Parent Trap” (the one with Lindsey Lohan before she went… well, you all know that story). Anyway, I must say that it really did live up to my expectations. It was awesome! Let’s start with a list of the attractions London has to offer that I was fortunate enough to be able to visit…

1) Big Ben. He really is BIG! And did you know that he wasn’t named “Big Ben” because of the size of the clock? In fact, “Big” refers to the bell, and “Ben” refers to Sir Benjamin Hall, a politician at the time Big Ben was built.

2) Westminster Abbey. Obviously a must see for a Westminster College graduate (no correlation between the two, just a name commonality). However, I was quite disappointed. Maybe it’s wonderful and amazing normally, but when I saw it there was a bunch of construction going on detracting from its appearance. But still, I can check that block.

3) The Houses of Parliament. Located right by Big Ben. AMAZING architecture of this palatial building! Intricate in a way that is completely different – in my opinion – than what you would normally think of when you think about all the older buildings in England.

4) The London Bridge. Really amazing picture opportunities here. I walked this bridge not just once, but twice… and it’s not a short little jaunt… more on this adventure later.

5) St. Paul’s Cathedral. The place of Princess Diana’s and Prince Charles’ wedding. So much intricate detail in the architecture of this building. Definitely fit for a royal wedding. Although as far as I’m concerned, being royalty shouldn’t entitle you to something more grandiose than what the average person would be afforded; but what’s the point in arguing that?

6) Tower of London. I didn’t see too much of this; it was really dark by the time we got to it. Although I did notice that the grass was immaculately cut, and as green as you might imagine a leprechaun’s pants to be.

7) Buckingham Palace, of course. A visit to London would not be complete without a visit to the overly lavish residence of the Queen. Like I said, I don’t think being born royal makes you anymore entitled or special than anyone else, but many would disagree with me on that, and the Buckingham Palace proves this. It really is awesome though. The gates to the palace seem about 5,000 feet tall, inside of which those poor guards stand outside in the windy cold doing absolutely nothing but looking miserable, which I think is required. Anyway, naturally the palace is huge, and I am left wondering what the Queen does with all the extra rooms. Perhaps she’s extra crafty and uses the innumerable rooms as hobby rooms…

8) And finally, I’m about 36% convinced that I saw the guy who plays Pete on “Private Practice.”

Now I know you’re all waiting with bated breath to find out why I walked the entire London Bridge two times (okay, I agree, it would have been more impressive if I said I had walked it seven times, but I can’t lie to make my stories more appealing to my audience). So anyway, we decided that it would be nice to take a boat trip to get a view of all the sites at night. Well, we get on the boat and it just so happens that this boat is only going one-way, not round-trip. This being the case, we end up going from Westminster City all the way to the Tower of London (quite a distance, really). We didn’t think this would be a problem until we got off and found out the train back to Westminster from where we were was closed down. So we walked, and walked, and back tracked, and then walked some more (meanwhile crossing the bridge multiple times) until finally – after two hours of walking in non-walking shoes that resulted in shin splints and screaming feet – we found a train station that took us back to our hotel. But on the bright side we surely got the recommended amount of daily steps in!

Aside from getting lost, I really did some awesome things, to include:

- Eating the best Fish and Chips I have ever had. Now normally I really do try to avoid fried food except for the occasional order of french fries, but when in Rome, do as the Romans do… or in this case, as the Londoners do, and I’m pretty sure that they eat Fish and Chips there all the time; and if they don’t and it’s really just for the tourists, then I think they should start, because they’re missing out on a great part of their very own culture.

- Visiting M&M World. I know they have this place in the states, but I’ve never been, and visiting it in London is exponentially more awesome! I even indulged and mixed my own bag of M&Ms; very pricey, but it’s a once in a lifetime thing!

- Going on a tour of places where Harry Potter scenes were shot. Actually, this was a bit of a letdown, it wasn’t nearly as cool as I hoped it would be, but hey, it’s still not something everyone can say they’ve done.

- Touring Hamley’s, London’s oldest and biggest toy store. And this toy store is substantial! It is five stories full of every toy imaginable (albeit overpriced). They even had a Darth Vedar Build-a-Bear (I almost got it for you, Fawdough B., but it was like a million British pounds, which is like a million and a half dollars… I’ll go back when I reach CPT and make one for you).

- Seeing “Chicago” on London’s version of Broadway. Amazing talent there! I really wanted to see Lion King, but it turns out that that’s one of the most popular shows – go figure - and tickets were 118 pounds… no thanks.

Wow! There you have it! What a crazy weekend it was! I saw some awesome things and even learned a little bit of history (truly an amazing accomplishment for someone as disinterested in history as I am). So here’s to more adventures!