Not Too Long Before You're Pushing Up Daisies

WARNING: It's about to get deep up in here

Tuesdays are my absolute favorite day of the week (not including the weekend, of course). I LOVE my critical care clinical rotation in the neuro ICU! I have seen some of the most interesting, amazing, sad, uplifting, depressing, educational, (insert 100 more descriptive words here) things and I have only been on the unit a handful of times. Today more than even before, I really tried to put myself in the shoes of the family members whose loved ones I was taking care of.

Without going in to details about any specific patient, I will just say that there were patients who were newly admitted to the neuro ICU and the families were forced to deal with an extremely wide variety of emotions that centered around the health, well-being, and mortality of the one they love so dearly. I really tried to take extra time today to answer questions or even just offer a tissue while they sobbed at the bedside. Maybe it's a sign that I am maturing, but today I really felt like I was there to CARE for patients and families, not just learn something new and rack up clinical hours. I so badly want to make a difference.

So as I walked the halls of the unit today, I couldn't help but try to put myself in the shoes of the families. I thought about my mom, my dad, my husband, my brother, my sister-in-law, etc. What if this was one of them? What if I was the family member sobbing at the bedside? Life is TOO SHORT. We say that phrase all the time, but hardly anyone ever does anything about it. I know that starting today, I am going to try. Does it really matter that my husband always forgets to take out the trash? No. What if an argument about trash was the last conversation we ever had? Life is fleeting and it's just plain stupid to waste time on things that don't matter. Forgive. Love. Appreciate.

Don't forget to cherish the ones you love, I know I won't.

Lent and Ramblings

Let me just start off by saying that this blog was not made for your enjoyment, sorry about that. I have wanted to create a blog for a while and finally decided to after reading my sis-in-law's (Candice) and my friend's (Karahboo... no, that is not her real name). The only previous blogging I have done was for a group project in a Pharmacology class... I will try to make this one a little more interesting than talking about drug interactions and over-the-counter drug abuse.

I don't have much to say today other than I have decided for the first time to give up eating out for Lent. To me, this is probably the most challenging thing I could do. I LOVE food and eating out with family and friends is one of my favorite things. Because of this reason, I know that giving up eating out will not only be good for me physically (hoping to drop some lbs), but it will also be on my mind frequently which will remind me of the reason we give up things for Lent in the first place. I'm nervous about this process, but I have to say that I am also really excited. We'll see how this goes...

Totally random things about today:
1. I stayed home from school and watched the podcasts online which were much more informative and interesting, by the way
2. I lost almost every hand in penny poker tonight with my family
3. The Stars are stinkin' it up against the LA Kings
4. I made a 100 on my Critical Care quiz
5. I somehow threw a pink pen in the washing machine with white clothes and my husband now has pink and white tie-dyed undershirts and socks
6. Jamie Benn just scored a short-handed goal as I am typing this and I almost dropped my laptop

I would say I'll see ya tomorrow... but knowing myself, I will never even get back on this website. Here's to hoping.