The Best Is Yet to Be

from VivaLasViejas - With the advent of chill winds and falling leaves, it almost seems as if the world is in a hurry to finish its business before winter comes: animals grow thicker coats and store up food for the long, cold months; flowers fade and vines wither; humans stock their pantries in anticipation of the upcoming holidays. And all too often, the change of...

from VivaLasViejas - One of the many zillions of trivialities that spark my hyperactive imagination late at night when I can't sleep: Have you ever thought about what we must sound like to the average layperson when we use 'medicalese'? It's a language that flows as easily as our mother tongue after a few years in the business, but as I was lying in bed last night,...

from VivaLasViejas - I consider myself a reasonably intelligent individual, but every now and again I have to re-learn a lesson that should've sunk in at least the second or third time I was confronted with it. Take the wearing of Halloween costumes. I've donned all sorts of crazy things in the name of fun, including a streetwalker outfit that almost got me...

from VivaLasViejas - All of you nurse-moms out there will get this, and perhaps even a few of you dads. Mom-nesia, for the uninitiated, is a phenomenon that occurs whenever some medical crisis threatens your offspring, instantly rearranging your priorities and rendering you completely ineffective as a clinician. Like when your 17-year-old son falls off the top of...

from VivaLasViejas - As I've grown older (and hopefully wiser), I've become more and more appreciative of the human animal. Each and every one of us is different from everyone else, yet somehow, people under duress tend to behave in certain ways that have a consistency that never ceases to amaze me. And in my estimation, nothing causes duress like being a patient in a...

from VivaLasViejas - If I had a nickel for every time I've had to answer that question, I'd be able to retire tomorrow. It is a question I am often asked whenever I meet new people. After the how-do-you-dos are said and the subject inevitably turns to "what do you do?", I almost always get sympathetic looks and comments on how I must be such a saint to work in a...

from VivaLasViejas - Years ago, I received a greeting card containing a poem which exhorted the reader to do things he/she might not ordinarily do, "just for today". I don't recall who sent me the card or what occasion prompted her to do so, but I've never forgotten the gist of the verse, which was along the lines of "just for today, I will dress becomingly.....speak...

from VivaLasViejas - 10) I get to work in the most comfortable clothing on the planet. When I was a nurse manager, I was going through the worst of my perimenopause.....in polyester and double knits, no less. Now I wear soft cotton scrubs, which are essentially pajamas with lots of pockets. Good times! 9) Sheer variety. There are so many types of nursing that it...

from VivaLasViejas - Since so many of you have enjoyed my nursing-home stories, I thought I'd offer character studies of some of the more colorful "characters" I've had the privilege of caring for over the years. This one is about Ed, the crusty curmudgeon of "ear WAX!" fame from "Elders Say the Darnedest Things". Without revealing too many personal details, let us...