VivaLasViejas

Hi guys! This is Ben, Marla (Viva's) son. Thank you all for your wonderful thoughts and prayers for my moms passing.

This! ^^

Things have sure changed a lot in the 27+ years I've been in nursing. Back then, I was automatically the supervisor on a given shift because I was the only RN on the floor...or even in the building! I was also encouraged to move up the corporate ladder by becoming a resident care manager, then ADNS, and ultimately DNS. Then there was that time the company wanted me to be a regional nurse consultant responsible for seven states (!), but I was in the middle of a manic episode. Thank goodness I had just enough of my soul left to turn down the job, which I did. Never regretted it either, even though it would have put me into six figures and my own home office, long before the pandemic made it necessary. My point being, I went farther than I ever wanted or needed to on my "little" ASN. But that was a long time ago...education is much more valued now, to nurses' detriment in some ways as the tone of this thread indicates to me. I don't like it when nurses look down on each other because they think lack of a BSN or MSN makes a RN "less-than". I'm proud of you who have stepped up here to discourage that sort of thinking!

It's surreal, that's what it is. Never in my wildest dreams did I imagine our country would devolve into a parody of itself—flag-waving as a form of protest against "the establishment", using the Supreme Court to push a certain agenda, and pushing a candidate for President who ducks the hard questions by pumping a fist in the air and calling for party "unity". What does that mean, exactly? The Republicans are hardly known for their "big tent" politics, while the Democrats make a huge deal of showing off their party's (despite much internal sturm und drang) pride in its liberalism. So what is a Never Trumper to do? Obviously I can't and won't ever vote for him, he is a boil on the butt of humanity. I'm also not thrilled with the Democrats because I'm far more conservative than liberal. But I find Kamala Harris to be a smart, articulate, and thoughtful candidate, and unless anything changes in the next five months, she's got my vote. Believe it or not! ??

Thank you all for your supportive and loving comments. ❤️

Thank you so much! I am honored. So sorry about your friends though. It must be difficult to lose so many within such a short period of time. I'm glad they were able to utilize hospice, even though some people might have urged them to fight. I had a couple folks who didn't want to see me "give up", but the minute the doctor said "less than six months" I knew the battle was over before it could even begin. Every now and then a whisper of a thought will tickle my brain and make me question whether I should have at least tried chemotherapy, but it's easily beaten back when I remember how grueling it was for the patients I cared for during my career. Not all of them died, but their treatment sometimes made them wish to. I never wanted that. And so I go on, slowly fading away in comfort thanks to hospice and my caregivers. In a way, I'm living my best life...I'm still able to enjoy people, events (been watching the Olympic trials) and things such as the huge bouquet of flowers sent to me by a fellow AN Guide. I no longer wish for endless tomorrows, but I'm happy with whatever tomorrows may remain. ?

Thanks, y'all. I'm glad I've made a difference here. That's all I ever wanted, and why I became a nurse in the first place. I'm pretty much holding my own right now, but getting weaker and more tired. I've decided that when the time comes, I'm going to have my son the former LPN announce it here on AN. You deserve to know. I'll have him post under my screen name and tell you who he is before writing of my passing. He won't be all flowery—he's a no-nonsense human being who loves me tremendously, yet doesn't get very sentimental—but he'll give you the details as to when it occurred and funeral arrangements and such. If you happen to want to donate to a good cause, please send your contributions to NAMI (the National Alliance on Mental Illness) or a local group that works with people who suffer from psychiatric disorders. Much better than flowers! Anyway, I still have some weeks or months to live, so you can expect me to lurk here, or even post on my good days. I SO appreciate the messages you've left for me on this thread. You are so kind, and I thank you from the bottom of my heart.

Hello everyone, I'm a longtime member here whom I hope some of you will recall. I haven't been around much because of battling serious health problems, but for many years prior to 2023 I visited and posted at least daily. I was a moderator for six years and have been a Guide since 2011. I've always loved it here, but now the time has come to prepare to say goodbye. You see, I was diagnosed with adenocarcinoma of the lung with mets to the other lung and lymph nodes. My prognosis is extremely poor; chemotherapy is the only mode of treatment available for my kind of cancer, and I don't want it. I always said I'd never do chemo because of what I saw it do to patients, most of whom were miserable from throwing up and having diarrhea and not feeling like eating because of the nausea. They lost their hair, their teeth, and a good portion of their dignity. No thank you! I'd rather have six months of "OK" than a year of feeling terrible. So, I've chosen to let nature take its course. No more hospital stays, doctor appointments, scans or procedures. I'm on hospice, which has already helped tremendously with comfort care and things like funeral planning. I have good days and bad days; today is one of my good ones, which is why I'm posting this now. I don't have much energy or strength, and I sleep a lot. Food doesn't interest me, so I've lost a lot of weight. But my soul remains strong, and I'm looking forward to the day when I see my husband and baby daughter again. I know I walk with God and trust him to lead me home. Thanks for reading this rather lengthy post. I've enjoyed being here at AN all these 22 years, and I'll still be around for a little while yet so I'll keep checking in. God bless you. Viva

That's disgusting. Makes you wonder what goes on in some people's heads to make them think they are "victims" who deserve money and attention for being "mistreated" by the criminal justice system.

I hear you! I was diagnosed with mild cognitive impairment in February 2021. By that time I'd been "retired" for health reasons for over six years! The trouble with my STM loss and word-finding ability was it started around the time I was dx'd with bipolar 1 disorder, 8 years before, and I was showing signs years before that. Still, I can say that I've developed a self-deprecating sense of humor and learned how to turn my fumbles and bumbles into comedy routines performed in small venues, usually churches or Grange halls. My advice to you is: find something closer to your heart and your peace. No more hospital nursing or LTC, both are crazy by nature and while some nurses thrive in this environment, many of us find it too stressful to the point of overwhelming us. (Which of course does nothing but damage to our minds and bodies.) I wish you all the best. Viva

Hi there. I worked with arthritis throughout my 20-year nursing career, but I was older to start with (38) and I didn't plan well. I worked in LTC and in a hospital, plus I did management in between them when I was in too much pain to run the floors for awhile. The thing to remember is you won't always be 22, so you'll need to decide early how much discomfort you can tolerate. As a nurse you'll be spending many hours on your feet. That's why you'll also need the best shoes you can find, preferably fitted by a professional to your individual feet. Yes, they're expensive but they will save your feet....which will help save your back...which takes quite a beating from years of lifting, bending, twisting and pushing. Good luck. Go for nursing if it's what you really want. Where there's a will, there's a way.

? Well, shucks, I'm blushing even as I'm reading your message . Thank you SO much for your kind words, they mean the world to me. I haven't been here as much in the past year or so because I've been so busy dealing with one ailment/injury or another since breaking my ankle in January 2022 that I haven't even updated my blog. But I'll be here more often in the future, hopefully daily, if for no other reason than people like you. Bless you.?

Hi Silver Bells, I did indeed work in Assisted Living for about 6 years back in the early 2000s up to 2013. I was the only licensed nurse for three facilities. I did the delegations, made the schedules, served as a staff development coordinator, oversaw staff and residents interacting with each other, wrote policies and procedures, led care conferences, performed resident assessments in the facilities and prior to admission...and any other duties as assigned to me by the administrator/executive director. (One even tried to send me out on sales calls, but I rebelled.) What I didn't do, for the most part, was actual resident care, and for that I was sorry. I simply didn't have enough time for it, as you can see by my job description. Now I'm in a nursing home myself and from the other side of the washcloth, I'm here to tell you that no care facility should EVER be so understaffed that the nurse can't get out of the office long enough to mingle with the residents, learn who they were and who they are, and see them as *people,* not just numbers and insurance information. You have posted about a long and stormy association with your facility, and like the vast majority of allnurses members, I believe you should have quit there many months ago. You need to figure out who you want to be as both a nurse, and a good-hearted human being who needs to grow up a little more. Do it now, the depression, anxiety and feelings of inadequacy won't go away on their own. I wish you the very best. There's more to life than work, and there's more to work than living with a toxic environment. Good luck!?

HAHAHAHA!

If we've evolved from apes, why do we still have them? Why do we park in a driveway, and drive on a parkway? If the plural of 'mouse' is 'mice' and the plural of 'louse' is 'lice', why isn't the plural of 'house', 'hice'? Or 'blouse', ' blice'? I can think of a dozen more but it's 0300 and I need to get some sleep. Good night!