Blog 6: For the Children...

    After months of "radio silence," I'm back with a few words to write. First, an apology and an explanation for the time that has passed since I've last posted. I've been prioritizing... School work and sleep unfortunately takes precedent over posting blogs. Now that I'm safely on the other side of the spring semester, I've got a few things to write about...
    The longer I work in this profession, the more I feel like I view the world through different lenses then I used to. Just when I think I've pretty much seen everything, something happens that leaves me in tears for the entire drive home from work. Not that every experience is negative, but the negative does seem to stick around a little longer... At any rate, I'm actively putting the old adage of turning lemons into lemonade to the test. Let me explain... If you've been paying attention to our local media the last few months, you may have noticed story after story relating to child abuse. I've never really paid a lot of attention to these stories except to feel a momentary pang of pity for the child that I don't know and have never seen... until recently. Several weeks ago, I had the pleasure of meeting two of the most beautiful little girls in the world, with a jail bird for a mother and foster parents who somehow let these little girls get into their meth stash. I don't know if they will be OK, because we sent them to the local children's hospital and I have no idea what happened after that, but it literally broke my heart. The youngest of the two hadn't been to sleep in days, and as we were waiting for the pediatric ambulance transport, she fell asleep in my lap. It just blows my mind how anyone could cause harm to something so precious.... I can't remember if I already wrote about this or not, but  awhile ago, we had a 11-year old girl who had ran away from a group home in Montgomery and made it to our area... We think that she may have ended up in a trafficking situation, but, she was located by law enforcement and her social worker drove down to take her back to the group home. Obviously, the group home was worse then whatever she was experiencing here, because she literally bailed out of the car as it was going up the ramp onto the freeway... The poor child was one big road rash from head-to-toe. It took one of the paramedics and myself close to 2 hours to clean all the gravel and debris out of her skin... A few months ago, a 14-year-old girl showed up in the ER with abdominal pain and turned out to be pregnant, which isn't so unusual except that she was in foster care. A week later, she was back with an STD.... I'm pretty sure I already wrote about the cute little man that was brought to us by his grandma and ended up staying for hours until DCF could come get him. His daddy was allegedly trying to kill him, his mama was in jail, and his grandma couldn't handle it all, so she left him with us and walked out the door without looking back. There are more stories like these... but I think you get the point. And then, sometimes we have to take care of the perpetrators, the ones who committed terrible acts of abuse against an innocent child. How do you stay neutral in this position? A few weeks ago, someone was arrested for child abuse and hung himself in his prison cell. I wasn't at work when he came in, but I heard from the other nurses about it... He was given care just like any other patient. To me, that situation sums up the nursing profession! I look up to these nurses that can put on their "nurse face" and walk into the room and just do their job when they know that the person lying on the bed has committed some of the most unthinkable acts on an innocent child. That is true mental strength and fortitude! I'm not sure I'm there yet!... Interestingly, I've found a way to channel my frustrations from these experiences into something that will hopefully be a positive experience... A few days before the little meth girls, I had a patient with a broken foot who was a child advocacy manager with a program called Guardian Ad Litem. In short, Guardian Ad Litem is an organization or an agency that is the legal voice of the abused, neglected, and abandoned child. Guardian Ad Litem works closely with the Department of Children and Families or FFN (Families First Network) to make sure that a child that has been placed in foster care or with a relative is safe and properly cared for. I don't even know how the conversation got started but the lady with the broken foot told me about a great volunteer opportunity with the Guardian Ad Litem for pretty much anyone who had a heart for abused children. She wrote down her number on a piece of paper and told me to call her if I ever got serious about volunteering my time. Well, a few days later, when the little meth girls came through the ER, I decided maybe it would be a good idea to see what becoming a GAL (Guardian Ad Litem) was all about. I've met the local GAL team, taken a couple of classes, and been assigned a CAM (a child advocacy manager) who happens to be the same lady I met in the ER! I'm ready to take on my first case, hopefully, starting this next week! This means I will be assigned a child that is placed either in foster care or with a relative and will be responsible to visit that child at least once per month, basically just to make sure the provisions of the case plan are being met and that the child is doing well. However, I can spend as much time as I have with this little one. I can take him for ice cream or to the park or just spend time reading him books. If it's just an hour or two every month, it's something positive in his tragic little life! I'm so excited about it! It seems a little crazy to start something like this when I'm still in school and life is so hectic, but, hey, it's only once a month unless I have time for more visits! As much as I'd love to be married with a little family of my own, I kind of feel like this is a chance to learn about the foster care system and how it all works. Who knows, years from now when I can be a little more self-sufficient, this will turn into more than just being a GAL! As we all know, God works in mysterious ways!
   In other ER news, I've pulled two bugs out of ears recently, which, in the scheme of things isn't very exciting, I know, but it really is so satisfying! One was a long skinny cockroach and the other was a bed bug... People at work know I have this thing about getting things out of ears and come get me for the job. I bought this little gadget off Amazon that is a camera otoscope that connects to your phone. This way the patient can hold the phone and see what I am doing in their ear. I can look at the screen as well instead of always having to pull the otoscope off the wall where it's attached. It's literally only $28 on Amazon! I'm telling you, it's the coolest thing ever!
   During my clinical rotations this semester, I got to make a couple rounds through surgery. I don't know if surgical nursing is really my thing, but I do find surgery very entertaining! It's very fascinating to watch people being put to sleep... one minute they are awake and talking and the next minute, they are out like a light and floppy as a rag doll. The nurses and the surgeon were very good about letting us get as close as we could without entering the sterile field, and I got to see some pretty cool stuff up close and personal... a thyroid removal, a cancerous mass removal, a human bite repair, and, of course, a good ole' colonoscopy with a GI bleed. I am also fascinated with cauterizers (I'm not sure what their technical name is...but anyways) I love how it zaps the vein and sends up a little whiff of smoke, a little human BBQ.... 😝 That's weird, I know! Which reminds me, I have one of these at home now if anyone has a bleeder that needs cauterizing! I was helping on of the PA's with a head laceration a while back and we used one of the ER's one-time-use cauterizers. We only used it for a couple zaps (He let me do it! I was so excited! LOL!) After we were done, he handed it to me and told me to clean it up and take it home. He said it works really good for starting fireworks... ??? Do I especially look like a person that spends a lot of time lighting fireworks? I guess I must, Idk???
   The summer semester starts on May 29. This semester is only 10 weeks long, so it's going to be fairly intense! From what I understand, we'll be in class or clinical 3-4 days a week, which will put me back to working every weekend. I've gotten to know my classmates fairly well by now, and I have to say, it's going to be entertaining! Most of us have to work as well as go to school, so we are all tired and a little hysterical on those early, early clinical mornings. It's made for some really, really, good laughs and some good times,... I am so lucky to have classmates that are easy to get along with! I'm excited for this semester, but I'm also nervous and dreading the lack of sleep and early hours. I usually have to drive an hour or two to clinicals, and the drive home is pure misery! I've already learned where good parking lots with shade are along the way so I can pull over and get 10 minutes of shut-eye! I've also spent a lot of money on delicious Tropical Cafe smoothies for the drive home, but it's worth it if it helps me stay awake!
   I'm guessing I won't post again until I'm finished with the summer semester, for better or worse! Wish me luck! Thanks so much to all of you who posted encouraging messages on my last post! I read all of them! Much appreciated!
Have a wonderful summer!
PS. If any of you are bored in the least, I can forward you the volunteer information for the Guardian Ad Litem program!!!! Out west, it's called CASA (Court Appointed Special Advocates). Look it up on Google! Get involved! I think you'd be great!