Thursday, March 12

ICU update

The ICU is going great! I should have moved there years ago. I am in week four of my orientation. The hardest part about it is being full time again. That is a huge adjustment for me! Another hurdle has been health issues. In the first week Wyatt got RSV and I had to leave to take him to the ER. It was really scary. He progressed really quickly. The ER doctor told me that he would be admitted to the hospital if he wasn't going home with a nurse and an EMT. They really don't do anything for RSV anymore due to evidence based practice these days. What they would do in the hospital we could do at home. All we could do was nebulizer treatments, suctioning and Tylenol for fever. He turned around very quick. I was amazed. Now, in the beginning of week four I got Strep throat. I don't think I have ever been so sick. I never knew strep throat was this bad. I had a fever of 101.9*, chills, and I head a upper chest cold as well. Let me tell you I am a huge fan of Penicillin now!! Charlie started to have symptoms so he got antibiotics as well. He came home with a fever of 103*!! Who needs work in the ICU when I have one at home?!?

Here we go- What I've learned so far:

-What it feels like to breath through a ventilator. We got to be hooked up to one for a few seconds. Let me tell you it's like breathing through a straw!!

-I hate phlegm. Every nurse has their thing they hate. Mine's phlegm. In ICU we have to do oral care at least every 4 hours when some one's on a ventilator. It helps to reduce ventilator acquired Pneumonia (VAP.) And the ironic part is that both my boys are phlegmy boys!

-2 critically sick patients can keep you busier than 4-5 non critically ill patients.

-Ambulate, ambulate, ambulate!! If the patient can walk assisted or by themselves, make them at least 4 times a day - even if they're 6 hours post heart pass!!

-Breaks are overrated!

-Knowing where a drug metabolizes and excreted from the body is really important.

-Lab values are not just for doctors.

More to come later. I'll try to do week by week. ha ha!!

Aaron's Reward Party

Charlie and I have always struggled getting Aaron to go to sleep and then staying in his bed all night. It has really been frustrating! Our bedtime routine would take us 2 - 2 1/2 hours from start til asleep in bed. Exhausting!! So, in December I made a poster with 4 rows of 7 boxes that made up 4 weeks. I called it "Aaron's Sleep Transformation." (He really likes Transformers so I went with it.) Any night that he slept in his bed all night he got to put a Transformer sticker in a box. When all the boxes had a sticker in it he gets to go to Chuck E Cheeses. He was so excited. He was good for a couple of nights and then had a set back or two, but we just kept going along with it. Half way though we mixed it up a bit and told him that 'when we tuck you in, you have to stay in bed until you fall asleep and all night and then you get a sticker." His response, "Ohhhh, okay Momma. Goodnight." We walked out of the room and he stayed!! A week before Valentine's Day all the boxes were filled and we got to take him to his reward party at Chuck E Cheese. He thought it was the coolest thing! Bedtime isn't a struggle anymore. It's fabulous. He still comes in our room at night sometimes, but we just put him back in his bed.

Disney Live on Valentine's Day

For Valentine's Day we took the boys to Disney Playhouse Live. Aaron has recently gotten into Disney shows, his favorite being 'Phineas and Ferb,' and he had the best time. I don't think he sat down the entire show. Wyatt made it through the first hour and was DONE by the second. Afterwards we took them to McDonald's to have lunch. It was fun and I loved including them on Valentine's Day.

Charlie did surprise me with a dozen orange roses(my favorite!!) and a box of chocolates. I know, you're thinking how original. How ever does he get these brilliant ideas?? Well, regardless of how cliche it was, it was still appreciated since we rarely have time for each other these days!

Hotdog Dance

Aaron showing off his Little Einstein's baton

Handy Manny

Tigger and Pooh

After the show.

-PS: I got both the boys' hair cut a few days later. This picture opened my eyes to how long their hair REALLY was!! Yikes!