wildhoney

This is really a weird one but I made it up as a small child. It alway works for me and the people I help. : ) Don't laugh. Take a drink of water Hold it in your mouth stare into the light for 12-15 sec. ( I guess I needed a focal point: ) swallow. : )

I understand some people may need pot for medicinal use. But for gods sake I hope they legalize it for everyone. I've smoked pot before and it turned me into jelly! I couldn't imagine working in a hospital while stoned....let alone driving in a car to get there! Shall we start a thread about the cloning issue next? :)

background info... In addition-- this person comes in hung... and she has to because she was spoken to about her attendance. Not good. This person comes in red, shaking and smelling like alcohol (mixed with perfume and mints!! ugh!). I can't believe the establishment I work for would accept this type of behavior when they're so strict about everything else...like punctuality, attendance, taking breaks and returning on time, etc. It's amazing. I know it's hard for her. She comes from a family of drug addicts and alcoholics. Her brother (who she took in off the streets of L.A. last year, his last year alive..luckily.. I actually found him a cheap place to live that she could afford until the state kicked in) who was a drug addict, had hep and AIDS. I would have conversations with this woman where she would tell me how she was so upset her brother was drinking again. Finally in Feb. he drank a huge amount of alcohol and his body just gave out. She went to pick him up for dinner to celebrate her b-day, and she found him. I think his liver shut down before AIDS claimed him.. or it was a combination of the two diseases. In a way it was suicide, but I have no idea what was stated on the death certificate. I'm afraid to ask her. His family disowned him because he was gay, had AIDS, and was a drug addict. It was only her, his sis who took care of him. It was her enabling that didn't help him-- but she can't understand that because of her problem. In a way she helped but yet hurt him at the same time. I can't say I would do things differently if he were my brother, because you don't know how you'll react in that serious of a situation. I just know I would try hard to get him into some kind of program, no matter what he said or tried to do about it. He was a really nice guy too. He just felt like a major burden to society. I guess now he's at rest. I feel really bad for these people because a lot of them have had hard lives--with major problems growing up, and I'm sure we could all think of a few of those. I can't judge these people, I just feel bad and want to understand. I just think (learning this now) that sometimes we have to be tough on these people or nothing can change for the better. Then I think, it's none of my business, but here it is crossing my path. Anyway, in conclusion : )...... I reallly liked how his mother wanted the body sent home before cremation...so she could see him one last time. She paid all that money to ship him home! Where was she when he needed a mother? Now my co-worker feels terrible for her mother so she sends her jewelry all the time...real stones I'm talking. Oh, look what i got for my mom...yeah, she's had it hard so I want to cheer her up. I want to scream! Well, I can't smack her. During the funeral and cleaning up his apt. she was doing well. Everyone was so proud of her, how she wasn't drinking. I didn't say anything because I knew it was the calm before the storm. Looks as if I was right, these last few weeks have been bad. Sorry to bring you all down--but since we're on the subject ; ) I thought I would share. I know there are many people out there going through the same things and everyone has a story to tell. I'm not alone. But you know something, besides the alcohol and drug problems, it's HIV/AIDS that really bothers me. When I see all the babies and children who are orphaned because of it, I just want to cry. To me that is the worst part of it. I'm sure we've all heard the latest statistics on this, and what's going on in Africa. It's really sad, sometimes I want to jump into the middle of it all, but I have two kids to raise first. That's priority. I just have to stick to small acts of kindness. : ) Now I'm thinking.

Yes, that's a very good idea about addressing her directly. I was actually thinking about that the other day. All of a sudden (after being so sullen all morning long) she was on a high. She started goofing around and laughing with everyone. It was so manic that I almost wanted to say something to her about it. After squirting my legs with a water bottle and walking by me and hitting my hair in the back, and accidentally hitting my neck-- I confronted her with a serious look and said "if I were you I wouldn't do that again." Her reply was "oh yeah" as she flipped the other side of my hair. Of course the the next day (yesterday) she ignored me--everyone said Happy b-day to me, gave me a cake and gifts. : ) Not her, she didn't even smile to me. I'm wondering if I instilled some kind of sobering moment in her....I did say "moment." I guess I have to call her out. It will probably be the best thing for her...ultimately. So you're right, I'm getting to the point of being sick of it. It's beyond playing and goofiness now. Thanks for your intelligent opinion. I'm a bit thick and too nice at times, it takes me awhile to see things sometimes. Hearing it from someone else kinda gave me a reality smack. :)

I want to mention something about alcohol testing. I work with someone who has that done regularly (supposedly) and she's still drinking. I find her to be extremely moody. You come to work and you never know what kind of mood she's going to be in, and quite frankly I'm getting tired of it. This person does paperwork and has no patient interaction (I dont' know if that's exactly better or worse). It's almost as if they're letting this go on because she is so nice, she does a great job and they feel sorry for her. I don't think it's really going to help her unfortunately. You can really smell the alcohol on her so it's not lke it's a secret. People just kinda go about their business. I'd feel like crap if I said anything to HR about it-- because who am I to ruin someone's life? I'm leaving it for someone else to do...for now. Of course if anything serious ocurred I would have to say something, I only hope it's not too late. Ugh! It's funny too-- she wanted to transfer out of our dept. and work in the chem unit. They didn't want her. Maybe it's because that's where she would go for her testing. I can't believe she had the nerve to even apply there. In a way I think it's nice that they don't fire you if you have a problem, they want to help you.. but how much longer can it go on before something serious happens?? I'm afraid she'll just snap one day. BTW-- I'm talking about...drinking on the job!!

"My Squeakin' heart" could be a country song. Oh.. this squeaking heart..... la la la.

LOL! I agree with you. I was thinking the exact same thing when I came across your post. :) Edited to say: his patient's will definitely like him.