your patients' coolest histories

[Red Kryptonite]

Dang HIPAA that I can't tell you more, but I just found out that one of my patients tonight pitched in two World Series and WON one of them! In the past I've cared for a former Green Bay Packer old enough to have been drafted into WWII and a lady who was a nurse in London during the Blitz. Another memorable lady told us of her wild youth in Hollywood and dalliances with some pretty famous names, and her husband backed it all up.

What are some of your patients' coolest histories?

[loriangel14, RN]

I cared for one gal that grew up in the UK and as a young lady was invited to a garden party at the palace.This was around 1900. she had pictures and everything.

[hookyarnandblanket]

I cared for a lady whom everyone beloved to be 109 at her death. Truth be told, no one knew how old she really was. The birth records which could identify her age burnt in a fire when she was young. The only way they could guess was a photograph in a newspaper in which she was about 6.

I've cared for many veterans and a man who played summer and college baseball with Mickey Mantle. The veterans have been my favorites to sit and chat with because they like sharing their experiences.

[NutmeggeRN, BSN]

One man I cared for was on of the first members of the OSS which later changed to the CIA, very cool man.....

The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) has long been the nation’s top spy agency responsible for uncovering information about threats to the United States and carrying out operations to neutralize such threats. Born at the beginning of the Cold War, the CIA came of age at a time when the U.S. was in constant fear of being taken over by the Soviet Union, which produced a legacy of dirty deeds by the agency. Critics have questioned the effectiveness of the cloak-and-dagger agency, especially in recent times when former officials were caught selling American secrets to Russia, and the CIA leadership failed to warn of the attacks that were carried out on Sept. 11, 2001. That failure caused the CIA to lose some of its standing in Washington D.C., although the agency has worked hard to rebuild its trust by implementing some of the most controversial plans in the Global War on Terrorism campaign. It scored a success in 2011 with the U.S. killing of Osama bin Laden, who was located in Pakistan, after more than a decade of intelligence tracking by the CIA.

[SnowballDVM]

I LOVE chatting with seniors; they have so much to share. Being very interested in WWII, I especially enjoy talking to veterans of that war. One of my parents' friends (not a patient) is a D-Day vet and has always been embarrassed that he was in the fourth wave, not the first.

When they got to Paris, he bought a sampler of French perfumes for his girlfriend (who's been his wife now for almost 70 years). We're so spoiled today, that we can travel so freely and buy almost anything we want online, so I just LOVE thinking of how surprised she must have been to get such an exotic gift from the middle of a war.

[Fiona59]

German WW"II vet who showed me his blood group tattoo.

I hate this new format! My keyboard seems to lag!

[mindofmidwifery, ADN]

Hungarian resident from Germany who used to be an engineer :-) I know we're not supposed to have favorites, but he's probably my favorite.

[ShortFuse_LPN, LPN]

I have cared for an ex NFL player and a survivor of a WWII concentration camp. Loved them both.

[JBudd, MSN]

I care for an older man, who told me the history of his Native American name, and about his grandfather showing him which hills the grandfather's raiding parties would use for cover during raids.

[Missingyou, CNA]

I cared for a 1950's beauty pagent winner. She didn't like to talk about it but her daughters and granddaughters would mention it now and then and she would blush a bit and try to push it aside as no big deal. :)

[kbrn2002, ADN, RN]

Our residents include a former Broadway dancer and a former NFL player. We also have a really neat lady that was as Woodstock, boy does she have some stories! My favorites though are some of the really old ones, the changes they have seen in their lifetimes are amazing. Imagine living in a world before running water and electricity were common, before cars were on all the highways, way before telephones, TV's and computers were even a blip outside of science fiction. It fascinates me listening to the oral history of our country through their experiences.

[vintagemother, BSN, CNA, LVN, RN]

My clients histories are quite interesting as well. I work in psych. I've learned, over time, that some of my most polite residents have killed people. Some of their histories involve being horribly abused as children. When I used to work in a dementia unit, I loved hearing stories about them reminiscing about their childhood and old homes.