I couldn't resist another post this evening.

But there was a GREAT joke in one of the bathrooms today. Going to the bathroom is always interesting in the hospital. With all the weddings I have come up this summer, and all the weddings co-workers have coming up this summer and fall, I thought it was pretty good.

Jane's wedding day was approaching, and she couldn't be more excited. Nothing, not even her parent's recent, nasty divorce was going to spoil the day. And her mother had found the perfect dress! She looked AMAZING in it and she would be the best dressed Mother-of-the-Bride ever.

Soon after, Jane discovered that her fathers new young wife had bought the same exact dress! Jane was mortified! She explained the situation and asked her if she would exchange the dress for something else. The step-mother adamantly refused, "I look like a million bucks in that dress, there's NO WAY I'm returning it!!"

Jane went home and told her mother what had happened. Her mother said , "Don't worry sweetie, I'll get another dress, it's your special day." So Jane and her mother went the next day to look for a new dress. They were very successful, and Jane's mother bought another stunning dress. Jane asked her mother if she was going to return the first dress, she really didn't have another occasion she could wear it to.

Janes mother replied, "No sweetie, I'm not going to return it. And I have the perfect occasion to wear it to, I'm wearing it to the Rehearsal Dinner!"

Ta Dum DUM!!!

TEE HEEE!!!!!

My week...

Well it hasn't been bad, busy, and yet seemingly uneventful.


Our Seder's were really nice. We went to our Rabbi's home for the first Seder, and my parent's for the second Seder. It was nice to be able to do a full Seder with singing and discussions etc the first night. My family doesn't do a full Seder; we basically read a 5-minute schtick about the Exodus story and the 4 questions and then eat.

And cooking for the Seder at my families was nice. I have this new matzah cookbook. And you can make all this stuff that’s AMAZING with matzah. Not QUITE like normal, but pretty close. And MUCH better than anything else I've ever tried. It’s all about preparing the matzah so that it's soft and pliable etc. So I made this "noodle" kugel with matzah instead of noodles, and it was AWESOME! I don't like sweet kugels, but my family does, and this came out great, and it really didn't taste like matzah at all. Almost able to say that you couldn't tell that it was matzah instead of noodles. THAT'S GOOD! And also made an artichoke frittata (YUMMY!) And Rob made a hazelnut, raspberry, coffee whipped cream cake. DOUBLE YUMMY!!

On Monday, (Note, April 25th)Rob and I went "hiking" in this park that stretches between Stamford and Greenwich. Mianus River Park. I quote hiking because there aren't any mountains to climb in this part of CT. But we were walking on a trail in the woods along a river and there were some hills. It was a REALLY nice day. (The PERFECT date!) Not too hot, and not too cold, all I needed was a light jacket! We had a good day/date :) We walked/hiked. we saw dogs, we saw a river, we got lost on the interconnecting trails, we got to spend time together enjoying nature, it was fun. And matzah hadn't gotten old yet.

Tuesday I went back to work, and went back to Employee Health Services to get my clearance to be a PT again. My Shoulder/Back feels better, still a bit achy at times but pretty much better. And I got the clearance to be a PT again and so I did. :) But not with that psycho woman who hurt my back. Instead with another woman who also was adamantly refusing to get OOBTC. Only this time, she was tiny, and she eventually let me. Only in the process she told me I didn't know what I was talking about, we had to do it HER way, and I was absolutely wrong. Ahhhhh. Old ladies. BUT to make up for it I saw the cutest patient in the world. I've BLOGged about her before. A 76 year old woman who plays golf and runs and does yoga. She had an infection in her spine causing pain and surgery and weakness. She had gone to rehab but she came back because she was sick and in pain. And she came back complaining that she wasn't getting enough rehab, she wanted more. And how she needed to be on the golf course by the end of the season. She was so cute and so nice and it was an absolute pleasure to work with her. :) Oh yeah and I started to get sick of matzah.

Tuesday evening was my last painting class for the semester. :( No more till the summer. When I get some time I'll take some pics of my paintings I did this semester and post them up. But someone baked fresh brownies and chocolate chip cookies for the last class and they were still warm and smelled so good, it was KILLING me not to have one. It was hard. Matzah STINKS!

Wednesday was uneventful at work. Matzah still stinks.

Thursday I had off. I went with my Mom to Macy's. This one is a HUGE Macy's on LI. It's a stand alone store, not attached to a mall, so it's larger and had more stuff in it's departments, and had more departments than most of the other stores. I went mainly to get the watch my parents were getting me for my birthday, which is at the end of May, and to get shoes. Well, I got the watch. It's actually the same one that I had before, only this one works. And well, I'm a creature of habit. And it was still the nicest one in the case. And it had all that I needed. Two toned to go with everything, waterproof so I can wear it in the shower and swimming, and it has the date AND the day of the week. Something I LOVE because I never know what day it is with my crazy work schedule.

Ok so I got the watch, and THEN I got makeup, go figure. And then my Mom insisted on buying me 2 Dooney & Bourke pocketbooks, one black and one white. The ones with all the colors, one with the hearts, and the other with the DB's. And yes I guess I needed more than just a beat up purse to hold my wallet and phone and keys. Something to use when I go out or get "dressed" or something like that. But I'm SO not a girl, and I'm SO not comfortable with this kind of stuff, and these are EXPENSIVE bags! And I HATE to feel expensive, and I felt worse because she had just bought me my makeup and a watch. It just seemed like so much. But my Mom was insistent, I HAD to have the bags and they're really nice, and well, I couldn't but but but and argue anymore. And it made her happy so I let her get me the bags.

But OY, then there was the clothing. I paid for these, but Oh my gosh! I have NEVER bought so much at one time before. A dress with a sweater to go with it, a skirt and shirt, and another shirt. My mom btw, was going NUTS in the store trying to get me to try on and buy all this stuff, I had to take a lot out of the pile because I just don't have the $$. But she was literally SCREAMING in the dressing room when I tried on the dress. Apparently it makes me look hot. I'm so not fashion conscious, so not a girl and so not into fashion and clothes and makeup, and pocketbooks and all the other things girls "need." I mean I knew it fit and looked good even, but hot? Well, Rob agreed whenI got home and tried on the dress for him so I guess it's true. Anyway, so if my Mom had her way I'd have bought out the store, but I had a limited amount of $$ to spend... And I had gotten some shirts and pants at Ann Taylor Loft (all on sale WHEEE!!!) for work earlier in the day. So I was tired and still needed shoes. And they didn't have what I needed (DARN IT!), but OY; I was so tired by the time we left the store. I am SO not a shopper. I'm not a girl. Being a girl is too much work for me. I'm so much more comfortable in my jeans and a sweatshirt, or just khakis and a t-shirt for work. It's so much easier. Shopping is too much work for me.

Friday was another uneventful day at work. And today was another uneventful day at work. Oh yeah, and matzah is starting to make me sick. Tomorrow at sundown it's all over. I'm down to the last 27 hours or so of matzah. And then I'm FREE for a YEAR! As soon as it's time I'm going for Pizza. And Monday morning on my day off I'm taking myself out for breakfast for pancakes. WHOO HOO FOR BREAD! So many people have told me this week that they like matzah. And my response was that I liked it too, until I had to eat it as a staple for 8 days... And another thing about Pesach, You NEVER realize how much of what we eat has corn syrup (often the high fructose variety) in it until you can't have it. It's absolutely amazing how processed our food world has become. But what I'm looking forward to most when Passover is over is protein. No beans and no tofu, and no rice and no peanut butter and cashew butter on whole wheat bread or 12 grain bread (YUMMY!), and no soy stuffs has wiped me out this week. There's only so much cheese and eggs you can eat in a week. I'm starting to feel malnourished.

And Rob took off for a 4-day hike in VT with a friend so I'm all alone until Tuesday. I get the house to myself, which is kinda nice and also kinda lonely. Poor Rob though, I know he likes hiking and all that, but it's POURING outside, and is supposed to stay like that for the next few days.

ANYWAY so that was my week. Coming up this week: Work tomorrow, off and errands Monday, Student starts Tuesday (YIKES), working 6 days in a row, Tuesday through Sunday, progressively packing all week, and then next Monday I'm going to Chicago for the ABA conference! YAY!!!! WHOO HOO! I'm really excited and WHOO HOO it's getting closer and I have some time to do sight seeing outside the conference so I' excited etc. Anyone from Chicago, or who's been there have any recommendations for must sees if you only have about 2 days to explore? I'm definitely going to the Art Institute Museum, but anything else I should see? Any good restaurants? Any places a veggie could eat in a meat and potatoes town? Where's the best deep dish pizza? A New Yorker at heart, I have to compare....

But much more on all that later, this post is long enough. Hmmm, maybe my week was more eventful than I thought. Ok lady I luv you BYE BYE!!!

Caught in a Judgement

This afternoon I was caught in a judgement. Yes I know I'm not perfect, and I like many people judge others. I try not to, but I get caught every so often. It's enough to give me a kick in the buttocks to make me wake up and re-evaluate how I think about things. Not that judgement is always bad, or always good, but it is good to get these kicks every once in awhile. It prevents you from being too cocky, and it helps you to become a betterer person.

Rob and I were at Stop and Shop this afternoon, getting our last minute Pesach groceries. I got most of it all last week, but I didn't get my produce and dairy stuff. I ususally save that stuff for the day or so before so it doesn't spoil.

We were on the checkout line, and I noticed the woman in front of us was buying shmuira matzah (REALLY KOSHER SUPERVISED MATZAH) and hotdog buns. I thought it was funny. I made the judgement that she wasn't so religious and wasn't keeping Passover, and that was bad of her. Not only that, I was thinking bad stuff about her that she had the nerve to buy Super Kosher Matzah along with bread. Just that, in many peoples minds, would negate the kashrut of the matzah. Part of me did find it funny on top of all the judgement, and I pointed it out to Rob in what I thought was a non-challant, not obvious way.

Well, she must have noticed, because she called me on it. We kinda made a joke, thought it was weird etc. Turns out she's having company tonight and the'yre eating outside because the house is kashered, and they need to eat supper etc. so hot dogs on the grill it is. It's a perfectly plausable reason, but immediately my mind jumped to the wrong conclusion.

Maybe it's my background. My family never keeps Pesach, we have a sort of seder and eat, but thats it for the holiday. Then again, I keep it to a pretty strict level, and I know people who are more strict than I am. Rob and I are going to the first Seder at our Rabbi's home. Our second seder will be with my family. And that's fine. I get to have my full all out seder, and I also get to spend time with my family. It's a bit of a jump for me sometimes, but I guess I'm used to it. Going back and forth from my family's and my own religious circles is a jump I'm used to. But it's not always easy. And I guess sometimes I still do some judging. I guess it's normal. I'm human.

But what I SHOULD remember, is that everyone has their own levels of comfort and spirituality. No one person is better than another because they follow the rules more strictly. I do what I need to do, and you need what you need to do and that's ok. I won't preach to you if you don't preach to me. Usually that's my philosophy. I always try to respect peoples thoughts whether or not I agree with them. It's hard sometimes, but I do try. But I'm human too, and I make mistakes and I guess I forgot today, and let it kick me in the buttocks. Embarrassing, but a good kick to make me think.

It reminds me of a story I once read in a book about different peoples different levels of practice. True story.

David, is an Orthodox Jew and keeps Kosher all year round. He was at a business meeting woth some collegues during the intermediate days of Passover. At the lunch break, others went out to local restaurants, David remained at the conference table and took out his matzah and hard boiled eggs. As he unwrapped it, a collegue joined him and unwrapped his lunch. It was ham and cheese.... On matzah. The collegue looked at David and smiled. "Boy, I'm glad I'm not the only one. It's hard to explain Passover, isn't it?"

I guess so.

Pesach Perspectives

Cleaning and preparing for Pesach, Passover, is A LOT of work. If you've ever done it, you know what I mean. It's something you dread all year, something you prepare for months in advance. Cleaning every tiny corner in your house, scrubbing, wiping, vacuuming, walls, couches, ceilings, furniture, EVERYTHING to make sure that there isn't any Chometz around for Pesach. And then you have to change your dishes, cover your countertops, re-kasher your sink and oven and stove.... you get thie idea. It's A LOT of work.

And it's worse when your shoulder hurts. But, it has to get done, and yesterday evening I cleaned my kitchen for HOURS! And all month I've been grumbling about cleaning, pulling our 2000something books off of the shelves and cleaning the shelves and putting the books back up, and washing and vacuuming, and all that jazz. Last night I was grumbling too, but then I remembered what my Rabbi had said about cleaning for Passover. About how we can bring some holiness into our everyday lives by fulfilling the mitzvahs and the rituals of Passover. About how the Hebrews had very different types of preparations to make for Pesach, and how we can commemorate and make it special and holy by making our own Passover preparations. And then I thought about how thousands of Jews around the world were at the same time preparing for Passover. And the about how thousands of Jews around the world have prepared for Passover every Spring for thousands of years. Doing the same cleaning, the same covering, the same grumbling. It made it all feel more connected, more special, more holy. And while I was working hard and my shoulder was achy, I felt betterer.

So now, as I finish up, my kitchen is covered in aluminum foil and looking like something out of a 1950's SciFi movie. We move out the bread, and move in the Matzah. We change our dishes, and somehow end up changing our perspective on the world, our souls and our holiness. It's a pretty busy time, and yet a peaceful one as well. I think I'm going to like Pesach much better this year than in the past. Not because Pesach has changed, but somehow I'm looking at it differently.

I wish you all a Chag V'Kasher V'Sameach. A Happy and Kosher Holiday.

Back/Shoulder Pain is STINKY

Yesterday my back/shoulder hurt worse and worse. It REALLY hurts!!!!!!!! ICKY OY!!!

Yesterday I spent my day doing paperwork for the PT department. I was counting all the consults we get and how many treatments and evals and reassessments we have to do, and then putting those numbers into an excel file along with how many treatments and evaluations and reassessments were actually addressed along with how many hours were worked in any given day. And excel came up with a bunch of #s and %s and it allll makes sense why we have to calculate all this stuff thats a pain in the neck every day, it really proves that we aren't meeting the hospitals needs. We can take these numers and show PROOF that we are short staffed.

But I was upset that I couldn't be a PT. I was really hurting. And I was going stir crazy in the office. There's a REASON I didn't take a desk job. And it didn't help that I was hurting worse and worse as the day went on. I was in shock as to how much I hurt. My impression thanks to help for one of the other therapists who's more orthopaedically minded than I am is that I pulled muscles in my upper back, in my scapular area on the right. My rhomboids, and my lower traps. Basically for those of you who have no clue what that means, in my upper back, my shoulderblade and a bit lower, the muscles that help attach my shoulderblade to my back and control its movement. OWIE!!!!! Yesterday after I left work, I went over to the outpatient department and one of the otehr therapists put some etim and more ice on me. YAY for ESTIM! It's a temporary pain relief modality, but it feels SO GOOD when it's on. Like a prickly mini massage. Some people hat it but I LUV IT! Especially in combo with the ice, it really took an edge off for a few hours.

The 3 advil 3 times a day I'm taking isn't touching it. And I REALLY don't want to take the muscle relaxer. DARN CRAZY PATIENT!!! I stayed home today because I hurt and well, I'm no good to the hospital as a therapist anyway... I could be at home and rest, or I could sit at work and do more paperwork. I chose to rest, nice and close to my icepack. I feel a bit better than yesterday, but I'm still sore. And I have SO MUCH more cleaning to do for Passover... I really can't afford to not be able to clean my kitchen right now.... I'm actually in shock as to how much pain I ended up in. I actually glad Ed made me go to employee health and I reported it and all that hassle. I really didn't think it was a big deal at the time, but now I think I really pulled something. It'll heal, and I'll be all right but right now it hurts. And in the meantime I hate not being able to do the things I need to do. I hate having to take off from work, I hate haveing to be stuck doing paperwork when I'm needed as a therapist, when I want to BE a therapist. And I hate that this patient made me this way.

Like I said before, that woman is something else! I won't work with her again. She's not worth the aggrivation and the safety risk and the back pain. GRRRRRRR. Oh yeah and OY!!! OY OY OY OY!!!!!!!!!!!!

Light Duty

Well it's 4:08 am and I can't sleep, I just woke up at 3 and I couldn't get back to sleep. So what do you do in the middle of the night when you can't sleep? You BLOG!! Never mind that my alarm is going off in aboot an hour...

Today I was placed on light duty at work. What is light duty for a PT? No clue. Paperwork apparantly. How did I end up on light duty you ask? OK, well since I'm up anyway and BLOGging, I'll tell you.

Remember that patient who gave me aggrivation and bled all over me? WELL, this woman is SOMETHING ELSE! She can walk pretty easily, she just doesn't want to. And staying in bed is bad for her burns. REALLY Bad. So of sourse the Big Bad Physical Therapist came to get her OOB today. She wasn't having it. "Can't you just leave me alone" "You have no sympathy/regard for sick people" (she said that one twice) "You're the devil's child!" "You're a nightmare come alive" etc etc etc.

All I wanted her to do was get OOB and walk like 3 steps to her chair. OOOOOOOOHHHHH the big bad PT!!!! The MD came in to help me encourage/convince/force her OOB. "Can you get rid of her, get her out of my room!" The MD was on my side, and told her she needed to get OOB. The nurse came in and she tried the same thing. The nurse told her you HAVE to get OOB! And so it went. An hour and a half later, me and 2 nurses managed to prevent her from falling and get her to the chair. This woman is SO UNSAFE, SO UNCOOPERATIVE, SO LAZY, SO RESISTANT, it's just plain dangerous. And the sad part is, that she can do it. I've seen her walk. She just plain doesn't want to. It's absolutely amazing what the human mind can do. The only way I could motivate her was to tell her that the sooner she got into the chair, the sooner I would leave her alone. I told her I had all day to get her OOB and I wasn't leaving until whe was there. Her response, was "I wish you would just leave now, you're horrible!" I told her I wasn't there to be liked I was there to get her OOB. She wasn't too happy.

So imagine the scenario. She had pooped A LOT in bed, didn't tell anyone and was sitting on it. She's semi-oozing from some of her burns that haven't totally healed yet. She's semi-standing, the walker is 2 feet in front of her, her ELBOWS are on the walker, and her hips are bent to about 90 degrees. She WON'T STAND UP. She WON'T LISTEN to me or the nurse helping me hold her up and prevent her from ending up on the floor because she's about to fall from the position she's in. (Did I mention this patient is obese?) She's not listening to the nurse cleaning her behind trying to clean her and help us hold her up. It was just a NIGHTMARE. Finally she's clean and we're trying to get her to take the 3 steps and pivot to her chair, all the while trying to get her to STAND UP, and trying to prevent her from ending up on the floor, because if she ended up on the floor we wouldn't have been able to pick her up again. She starts to semi-waddle to the chair, complaining and being rude the whole too long a time it took her to take the 3 steps. Finally she decides, "I can't stand anymore, I need to sit now" And she sits down. Never mind that she's next to but not pivoted towards the chair. I had to PUSH her into a pivot so that she landed on the edge of the chair and not the floor. And then she had the nerve to tell me I made her fall, it was my fault that she hurt from sitting down the way she did. Like I said, this woman is SOMETHING ELSE. So I got her back in the chair far enough that she wouldn't fall off, and left the room fuming. And as soon as I left the room she called her husband to tell him what a horrible person I am that I actually made her get OOB and sit in a chair. This woman was SHOCKED and angry when she was told that she had to go to a nursing home. She can't go home if she can't walk, so she needs STR in and ECF. AAAAAAANYWAY, so I left the room pretty angry.

AAAAAAAND with a backache. This is the third time she did this to me, was unsafe, almost fell, and hurt my back. Only this time my supervisor happened to be on the floor treating another patient and he made me go to Employee Health. OY! That's the only wor d for it OY! My back wasn't so bad, just a little sore, and not really hurting. But he made me go so I went. And the MD there saw me. And she put me on a muscle relaxer, an anti-inflamatory, and light duty. I can't lift or push or pull. Until Tuesday. I was just so exasperated by then, this whole process was not what I needed I felt fine, just a little sore, and it REALLY WASN'T a big deal. I told the MD, That meand I can't work until Tuesday. I was told the hospital has a "light duty program" I'M A PT!! ALL I DO ALL DAY IS LIFT AND PUSH AND PULL!! There ISN"T ANYTHING else to do as a PT in a hospital. The woman was in shock that I couldn't do anything. PLUS that fact they were going way overboard to cover their behinds because its an on the job injury, ie workmans comp which I understand, but again, I really didn't nee dto verboard, the muscle relaxer, the light duty... We're short staffed enough as it is... FINALLY I convinced her, that if I'm feeling better tomorrow, then I could come back and she would take me off of light duty. Guess where I'm going first thing in the morning...

So I spent the rest of my day doing paperwork, computer stuff, logging in all the proof on how short staffed we are so we can present it ot the big peoples in the hospital so MAYBE we could hire. Which is important and needs to be done, but not how I wanted to be spending my afternoon. I think my back was more aggrivated from sitting at a computer all day then it would have been if I had gone back to work. There's a REASON I didn't make a career of a desk job... I was going stir crazy all afternoon. Never mind that when I came home I cleaned and cleaned and cleaned for Passover; lifting and carrying and pushing and pulling and my back feels fine...

It's not even my back actually One of the other therapists took a look, I pulled a couple of my posterior scapular stabilizers, ie my rhomboids, and lower traps. So I'm taking Advil, I didn't fill the prescriptions she gave me, I feel fine, and that was my day. OY!! That's all I really want to say now. OY!!!

And on that note, it's 4:42 AM and I'll see if I can get some sleep before my alarm goes off at 5:15. Bye Bye.

Shoes

Do you ever wonder why women's shoes are so uncomfortable?? Why do they have to be so narrow? And so high?? And so pointy?? Some how I don't think women design women's shoes, because if they did, I think they'd be better made to fit a foot.

I HATE shoe shopping. I hate shopping in general, but shoe shopping is hard. I can't ever find comfortable shoes. I have icky feet. Flat, no arch, extra bones, had surgery, wide, hurting, the works. It's SO HARD to find shoes that are comfortable to wear, and yet still look good. Still look feminine. Still look my age and not like old lady shoes. I mean whose feet end in a point? So why are shoes made in a point? Who is truly comfortable in high high heels? I think women are conditioned to think that shoes aren't meant to be comfortable and we just have to suffer, because that's the way it is. Well I DISAGREE!!!! I want COMFORTABLE, GOOD LOOKING shoes. Unfortunately, the rest of the world and the fashion industry doesn't agree with me.

So to find shoes this year which I desparately need, has been hard. Work isn't the problem. I can wear my sneakers, or my Dansko clogs (The Most COMFORTABLE shoes I have EVER worn), and loafers aren't hard to find flat and wide. It's the dress shoes I have trouble with. The sandals, the pumps, the dressy stuff to go out with. It's SO FRUSTRATING!

So last Friday, on my half day off I went shoe shopping on a mission. To find SHOES. To find sandals, dressy sandals in black, white, brown, tan, red, green blue purple whatever..... Shoes for skirts in whatever color, just shoes I can wear out to a nice occasion. I got one pair. 4 HOURS at the mall and I only go one pair. 2 shoe stores, 3 department stores, and a few regular clothing stores that sell shoes too. I ended up getting an entire outfit actually, at Casual Corner, for my cousin's bridal shower. And they had the shoes. White sandals. Small heel, about an inch-inch and a half, heel enough to be dressy/girly, but not too high to make me uncomfortable, had straps enough to be pretty and make my ugly feet look ok, abut not too grandma-ish, I was perty happy. I SHOULD have gotten them in every color, but my funds are limited, so oh well. I can go back another time I guess.

But YAY for finally being able to find shoes. And OY for the rest of the shoes I need this summer for all the events I have because my wardrobe is pretty basic and limited because I have no $$ and hate to shop.

So that's my blurb on shoes and shoe shopping. My frustrations, and my joy of FINALLY finding something, even though the search isn't over. If anyone knows anywhere to get dressyish/dress casual shoes/sandals for skirts etc that are comfortable, lemme know!!!!

Till then, Ta ta!!

More Blood, More Scrubs, More Aggrivation

Today I got blood ALL OVER my shirt and labcoat. YUCKY!!!!!!

I was working with a patient on the burn unit, and she was like MAX assist x 1,000,000 to get up, though we did it with 2. So in getting her to sit at the edge of the bed, and stand her and pivot her to the chair, I got blood all over me. Not to mention my back hurts, I think I pulled a muscle. Did I mention that this patient was morbidly obese and was fighting and arguing with us the entire time? Unfortunately she had been in bed for 2 days, and with a burn that's BAD. So we don't give the burn patients a choice, they HAVE to work with therapy. I was called mean and crazy today. I'm not nice apparantly. I'll agree to all of that when I need to get a patient up and they're fighting me. and I'll tell them so. Ok, I'm not nice, I know it. But if it gets you OOB then that's ok with me , I tell them. I'll do it as gently as possible, and to their tolerance, but there was NO WAY I was letting her stay in bed a minute longer. The Dr. would have my head.

She told me her husband wouldn't like that I was doing this. I asked, "Your husband wouldn't want you to get OOB? " "He won't like that you're torturing me!" was the response I got. I swear, I get the weirdest comments from patients. It's amazing how people just think that laying in bed is good for them and that PT is BS. Or that they won't get PT after a knee or hip replacement. "No one told me I needed therapy afterwards!" Yeah... right.

As I digress.

So we FINALLY got her to get OOBTC, and I walked out of the room and the nurse was like Carie, you have Blood ALL over you. I looked down and it was ALL OVER my shirt and labcoat. My pants were spared. From where on the patients body the blood came from, I have no clue, but there it was. They told me to go down to the OR to borrow a pair of scrubs. So I run downstairs feeling completely gross, and I ask the nurses at the OR reception desk for a pair of scrubs, I have blood all over me.

"Who told you to come down, here?!?! We don't do that anymore! You can't come here! They have personalized scrubs here, we can't give them away!" They were SO RUDE!!! And they weren't going to tell me where to go. So I said, What do you want me to do, LOOK at my shirt! So they finally gave them to me, but I had to sign them out and swear on my firstborn child that I would bring them back tomorrow. SHEESH!!! what did they want me to do, walk around the rest of the day with blood all over me?!?!

So that was my afternoon. Blood, scrubs, aggrivation. And a little bit of back pain. And some how, I still LOVE my job. Go figure.

My Grandma Sherry

My Grandma Sherry, my Father's Mother, passed away this Friday evening. It was rather sudden, and a blow to my family. She was living in a nursing home though relatively healthy. Friday afternoon she developed chest pain, was sent to the hospital, and before they could figure out what exactly the problem was, she died of what we think was a pulmonary embolism. In other words a blod clot got stuck in her pulmonary arteries blocking the blood flow to her lungs. It was fairly quick, and a shock to all of us.

Her funeral was Sunday, and my family will be sitting shiva the beginning of this week.

My favorite most recent memory of my Grandma was the last time Rob and I went together to visit with her. She wanted to know "When's the big day??" She wanted to know when he was going to propose to me, because I needed to get married. And he was a good Jewish boy so what were we waiting for?? She made me leave the room, she kicked me out, so she could talk to him and find out when we were getting married. It was a rather amusing afternoon.

She, being a Jewish Grandmother, was ALWAYS trying to feed us. When we were little she gave us Peanut M&M's and Potato Chips when we went to visit. When she was in the Nursing Home, she always wanted to feed us her food. She would save the extra rolls and cereal boxes and ginger-ale cans to give to us. Her tray would come and she'd eat some and then say, "Now what do you want? Take some!" We would always protest that she should eat her own meal and we weren't hungry and she would be upset that she couldn't feed us. She kept asking, "Are you sure???" "Do you want some soda? Or some cereal? How about my fish?" Ahhh, the Joy of Jewish Grandmothers...

Her hearing aides never worked and every time I called, I spent more time letting her know "I'm Carie!" "No, not Faith, Carie!!!!" "YES GRANDMA, I'M CARIE!!!!" I'd shout to her. I'd end up with a sore throat but hey, that was talking to Grandma. Again, she became comical in her old age. When Rob and I went to San Francisco and Wine Country she told me "Don't get Schnockered!" and "Ride the Cable Cars!" Well, I didn't do either. Oh well.

My cousins Faith and Marin are each having simchas this year, Faith being pregnant, and Marin getting married. She was SO looking forward to the wedding and she couldn't wait for the baby. She called it "Junior", even though she knew it was a girl. "So when's Junior coming?" She was always asking about hetting her a dress for the wedding, she wanted to make sure it was all in order and would be perfect. She had her specific colors planned out on what she was going to wear, and then she would change her mind. It was pretty cute.

We will definately miss her, I will definately miss her. She was a perty cool Grandma to have.

Here's the most recent picture I had on my computer, At Marin's Engagement Party last summer. Grandma Sherry with her Grandgirls. Faith, Carie, Marin and Stefanie. WE LOVE YOU GRANDMA!!!

:-Þ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~**

That's all I really have to say at 6:12 AM.
I'm SLEEPY!!!!

As Stoofie would say, Have a Happy Humpday!

I was on TV!

Well, sort of. I didn't get to talk or anything, but I was in a background shot shown in the promo for the story. I was partially on News 12 CT for a WHOLE NANOSECOND!

Today I participated in an International Bioterrorism Disaster Drill called TOPOFF3. You may remember me BLOGging about being a part of the hospital's Decontamination team. Well, today we and other area hospitals as well as hospitals around the world participated in this week long drill.

We got fake patients and got them through our decontamination tent. So we got to suit up in out hasmat spacesuits and shower people and shuttle them into the hospital. Well, I didn't really get to suit up. I half suited up. My job today was to be on the "clean" side of things, assisting patients get from the tent into the emergency department. I was actually kind of miffed. I mean, I know everyones job is important and all that, but I came in on my day off to do this drill, and I don't feel I got adequate practice as a member of the team.

But hey, not everyone can do the same job. And next drill hopefully I'll get to work in the tent and feel more comfortable. And it's always a good experience to be a part of these things.

The drill went pretty well. It was pretty confusing and hectic and there are DEFINITELY kinks to be worked out but all in all I think our role went well. We were able to get people through the tent and into the hospital in a pretty reasonable amount of time. And while we can always improve, I truly hope that these drills would remain always as drills, NOT as real life disasters.

As for TV, well such a big Homeland Security project would OBVIOUSLY make the news, and so the local news channels were there filming us suit up and prepare. I'm in one of the shots helping people get into their suits. But my coworkers, and bosses were all right in there on TV. :)

And that everyone is my nanosecond of fame. :)

I'm Getting a Student!

Conversation one morning last week as follows:

Hey Carie, How about taking a student in May?
Huh? Uh, Ok, I think.
Well Eric was supposed to take her (the student), but he's in Outpatient half the time and I want her to have continuity, Michelle just had one and I'm getting another one the same time. Everyone else is part time, so that leaves you. Are you ok with that?
Um, sure. You'll teach me how to be a CI right?
Yeah! So you'll take her?
Sure.
OH!, There's a class next weekend, a CI certification and training, you should go!
Scramble Scramble Scramble for the rest of the day to register late for the class.


And that more or less was how I came to be going to this CI class this AM instead of going to work. I'm getting my first student in May, and Now I'm learning how to be a good Clinical Instructor, or CI. It was kinda sprung on me last minute and took some scrambling but here she comes and here I go!

The class was yesterday and continues today, and it's pretty good so far. Interesting and interactive and full of good info I feel I can use to help give the student a good experience. Today we finish up discussions and then take an EXAM! YIKES! Well, it's a certification, not just a class, and supposedly it's easy, but still, YIKES!

Mostly I just hope that I can give my student a positive experience. I remember being a student all too well, and I had a HORRIFIC experience on one of my clinicals (my 2nd)(My 1st was goodm, not great but not so bad, kinda mediochre) so I'm scared of giving that student that kind of horrific time. I want her to have a positive and full of learning experience like I had at my 3rd and 4th clinicals. I want her to learn and have fun, get interested and excited about PTing. I want her to not be skeeved out by all the burns. I hope I can answer her questions and teach her well, I'm nervous to evaluate her, be friendly but not her friend, be safe and a teacher but not tough and mean. I hope she's a goodstudent, one who takes initiative, is safe, is an enjoyable student. But who knows. All I know now is that shes a she and she goes to Mercy College in Westchester. It's all just a big ????questionmark????? right now. It's a big responsibility, and I'm excited for it, I WANT to take a student. I want to eventually teach in PT, so this is a great opportunity! But it's still makes me a bit nervous that I've never had a student before. My first student. Kinda like your first kiss. Well, maybe not. :)

Anyway so that's where I'm headed this rainy morning. I feel bad to leave the hospital REALLY short staffed, but I'm happy to have a change of pace and I'm happy the course is fun and interesting. And on that note I've gotta run so I'm not late so stay dry and have a great day!