Books

First things first, I am done reading Harry Potter and I must say I am very satisfied with the ending.
So what I have been up to lately besides reading Harry Potter? As you know blogging at work is not that easy, but I am doing it now anyway. I just transfered one of my patients to the step down floor and I am left with one patient with Liver failure, portal hypertention and Hepatic encephalopathy.
Well having said that, I have been thinking to post books that I read. I like books that is coming of age. Like The Kite Runner, A fine Balance, The Curious Incident of The Dog in The Night Time, Middle sex and so on.Do you read books? If you do. What kind of books do you like and recommend? I love to hear any suggestion.

Nothing thrills me

Recently, I’ have been thinking about my daily routine. Day in and day out it is all the same. Well, may be not day in and day out, there are unique days but mostly I follow an established routine. I go to work but even the most stressful job in intensive care unit is becoming a routine. I take a salsa dance and I am looking for excuse to stop dancing. I love to read books and sometimes that is also getting me to think the entire books I am reading are also boring too. On Friday, my friend told me she feels the same way. She told me the 12 leads EKG interpretations, titrating drips (potent IV drugs) and saving people during Code blue is no longer exciting. If you are feeling the same way, listen this music Boring by The pierces

Female genital mutilation

Female genital mutilation(FGM). This video(Viewer discretion advised) is used in UK as a teaching tool to increase awarness of the painful culture in Africa and other countires. In the video you can hear an 8 y/o girl crying her heart out for help. It is sad to think that those who are preforming the action are mothers and grand mothers who were done to them by their mothers and grandmothers. After I watched the video, I felt sad for those who went through and for those who are going through this painful experience. Some of you may remeber about an Ethiopian man accused of mutilating his own daughter and sentenced to 10 years in prison.

I can't get this song out of my head

I heard this song for the first time from my 6 y/o nephew when I was visiting Ethiopia. The song is called Lejinetae by Mezmur Yohannes. I love everything about it, from the lyrics to the video. It reminds me of my childhood and luckily I found the video on you tube. If you are one of those people who like to dwell in your childhood memories this video will take you back to that special place.

Harry Potteeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeer

Children, finally the most anticipated book of the year is going to be released on July 21st. Yes, I am a big fan of Harry potter book series. I have read all the six books. Yes, you may think it is so childish to read that book but for me it brings the imaginary, the adventure and the fantasy from me. My nephew and I have already pre- order our book ( Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows) from amazon.com. The author J. K. Rowling told during one of her interviews that there are two significant deaths in the book. My nephew thinks Harry is the one who is going to die. I would like to think that is not the case. I will let you know when I am done with the book.

Wishin' and Hopin'

The heat wave is killing me and I am hoping it will cool down soon . It makes me lazy and lethargic. Really, I am either having a heat stroke or immaculate conception ( wink). I called in sick twice in a week and I haven’t been to work for the last three days. Despite all the days off , I still feel exhausted and light headed.

New Docs

It is that time of the year. July is the month when all the fresh doctors came out from med school. Some look confused, some look excited beginning the new era.. For nurses, July is not fun at all. We have to deal with all these newbies. Do not get me wrong I like them but getting orders and reporting changes on patients status is like telling a child to go to bed early. It is very hard. They would say, let me get through my resident or they would say okay I will get back to you.. When? after my patient crash.. I remember a year ago when one of our obese patient was bleeding through his penis and we couldn't stop it, the nurse called the on call intern and told him the problem. He came right away and the nurse explained what happened. He asked her where u trying to get a penile temperature? All of us just laughed out loud.
Don't you just love being a nurse, the good , the bad ,and the ugly life of nursing.

Appendicitis

I haven't accomplished much lately. One of the reasons was my 16 y/o nephew had an appendectomy last week and I have been taking care of him. When his mom called me and told me that he had been vomiting and been complaining abdominal pain, first i thought it is the quanta he had been eating from Ethiopia. Regardless, I went to see him and found out that an advice nurse told him to take anti nausea medication. When I saw my nephew the way he was sitting, I asked him where the pain and what he had been feeling. He told me it felt burn and took Pepcid. I asked him to lift his right leg straight up in the air and bend it, my nephew was in a lot of pain. That is when I knew it could be appendicitis( an inflammation of the appendix). He had the classic symptoms and signs that were low grade fever, abdominal tenderness, nausea, vomiting, abdominal pain and loss appetite. I told his mother to take him to the ER and to described his symptoms for the ER nurse.
Like what i suspected the doctor thought the same. They took blood and urine and then gave him morphine sulfate. At 8 pm the surgeon took him to OR and my nephew had a laproscopic appendectomy and was discharged the next day.
I was so happy I was able to recognized it(wink) and told his mother to take him to the hospital ASAP despite his mother's hesitation.
Appendicitis has a 90% fatality rate if left untreated. They little tube will burst and spilling infectious material to the body . This can lead to what is called septic shock syndrome( when infection leads to low blood pressure and low blood flow compromising all the organs)