FZ1Tom

It does sound a bit odd. I recall, however, working in a group home a couple years ago where one of the residents was simply going beserk 24/7 - violent, self abusive, wired to the hilt, a true danger to everyone and everything around him. Yet the QMRP at the time, a person I never trusted as far as I could throw him to begin with, flat out refused to have him taken to the ER or psych ward for evaluation, I suspected because of money (the company has to pay for hospitalizations). We must have written AT LEAST 75 incident reports! It got to where everyone from the team manager on down suspected the QMRP of "disposing" of the IR's, and so we ended up copying them if it ever came back on us. One of the shift supervisors, a person of considerable integrity, kept them in a safe place. Alas, the QMRP was able to claim the guardian deep-sixed the request for hospitalization (I never believed that), and so things kept on the way they were. :angryfire :angryfire :crying2: What that Q did to all of us was just damned unforgiveable, IMO. :angryfire I'm glad he's gone now, even tho I left the company before he did. Tom

I'm just learning how to self-cath also, due to a diabetic neurogenic bladder It's not painful, but my arms are too short, and I'm on the (very) chubby side too. I've been looking around, and I found this, which might be helpful for the young lady you mentioned as well http://www.astratech.it/Main.aspx/Item/154074/navt/11/navl/47219/nava/47220 Good luck! Tom

Let me guess, you were wearing shorts. Tsk, tsk.......I strongly support motorcycling, and by all means encourage you learning and riding, but PLEASE, PLEASE, invest in and wear good riding gear. Helmet, gloves, leather or textile riding jacket, boots and riding pants (at a minimum, sturdy jeans), in that order. It doesn't cost a fortune, except the helmet, and that will be worth every hard earned penny you spent. I grew up riding dirt bikes as a kid, with various exhaust systems. Once I grilled myself on the instep halfway up my thigh on a left side exhaust system....yep, wearing shorts. It wasn't very big, about silver-dollar sized, but the top layer of skin did eventually come off after a while. Fortunately, never got infected, etc. You say yours is 6cmx9cm - that's pretty big IMO. I'd at least get it checked out. As the other posters have said, infection control is key. Now, get back out there and have fun! Tom

I'm saddened by it, though not suprised either. Back in college (I never joined a frat, and it wasn't the end of the world either) I did my fair share of drinking games........and let me tell you, better to drink too much beer than too much water! Once, we played spades...the losers drank a liter of water. After a few rounds people became notoriously unwilling to continue playing. :chuckle we never had any medical problems - just trips to the bathroom ever 15 minutes for the next 3 days. I've dealt with psychotic individuals who drink too much water - difficult. The psychological angle is VERY understandable. I've nearly killed myself due to severe dehydration twice, and once you've done that you feel pretty strongly compelled to drink more fluids even if its really too much. Tom

Hello blondebritbrat (cute name btw), Welcome to the board, too! I'm not a nurse (caregiver) but I'm mostly deaf as well (mom had German measles when pregnant). Having a CI wouldn't work in my case so far as I know, I wear a hearing aid in my left ear (right ear's totally dead), and it took me a long time to use a telephone OK, even now its still a real problem if the volume's weak or connection's bad. Thank God for cell phones - they've really come a long ways. I used the telephone setting on the hearing aid for years, and while it worked well enough after a fashion, I found out that a phone with good, loud volume worked even better with the hearing aid on its regular setting. Background noise is a big problem for me. Like llg said, the workplace isn't a very friendly environment for disabled folks in general. Good luck! Tom PS: Now if they could only do something about those AWFUL tinny/scratchy sounding intercoms at fast food drive-thrus!

I work with MR/DD individuals, er clients I mean........ I don't care for the term either. I realize you have to say SOMETHING to describe who or what you're working for, but they're human beings too. Most of the official (state and agency legalese) paperwork I've seen refers to clients as "persons served" (awkward, huh?) or "consumers" (never could quite figure that one out), other terms are of course "residents" (IMO appropriate for someone living in a group home and "individuals" (again, IMO appropriate for someone living in a supported living home, which is where I work) Despite the fact that political correctness runs rampant in LTC and mental health care, I think the more important thing is that you treat the people you work with in a respectful and sincere manner befitting their age and do your job well. The rest'll take care if itself. Tom

Hate to say it, but being overweight seems to increase the risks for a LOT of unpleasantries, be it kidney stones (been there, done that......the pain was ferocious, and I just had really little ones......I think?) diabetes, or whatnot. I can't eat them Krispy Kreme donuts either (funny how I never really thought much of buying donuts before that place opened), but they sure do taste good, espescially when hot off the rack like that! Alas, the darned store is right down the street from where I work, and so I have to resist the urge to turn the steering wheel ever time I drive by! :chuckle

I long ago learned the fine art of sleeping with one eye and one ear open......its really quite fascinating and weird to hear yourself snoring or your whole body seemingly feel like dead weight when your eyes are open and staring at the ceiling! Seriously, though...... I suppose it depends on where you work. Hospitals, I'd think you'd be plenty busy but I could see how someone would nod off while doing charting or working at a computer monitor. I've nodded off doing the books a few times....quite a sight to see, I suppose. You could even see where my handwriting would go south, literally. Get plenty of rest at home is about all I can say there! My line of work, caregiving at supported living homes, that's a lot tougher. Partly because the job itself is easier (and yet still very difficult) in a way. Many, many homes have to have a staff, working alone, in them 24/7 no matter what the weather is like. While housecleaning and diaper care is pretty common, the truth is that in a lot of homes there's not a darn thing to do except make sure the home doesn't burn down late at night. Staying awake then becomes........difficult. A few homes I know of actually have sleep overnights (before you say something, just remember the pay is about 7.00 to 7.50/hr, and very lousy benefits), depending on what the clients' personal plans specify. You try to find something to do, watch TV, read a book, do an extra cleaning chore (I always made it a point to do that One Extra Good Thing on overnights), read the policy manuals (ours was a stack about 2 feet tall), SOMETHING. I drank soda pop and ate a lot of carbs, but the obvious problem is its bad for your health in the long run...almost certainly hastened the onset of my diabetes. All those danged bottles of Dr. Pepper. A gal I knew at work even spiked hers with SUGAR CUBES back in the day......as if there wasn't enough sugar in the stuff to levitate a horse. Brr! In the end, you just have to fight the nods as best you can. I do not think we as human beings are constructed to work irregular hours (I worked a lot of daytime hours too, went without sleep in excess of 60 hours several times) for extended periods of timewithout falling asleep at one time or another. It's like that old wag about masturbation........3% are telling the truth, the other 97% are lying Your thoughts? Tom PS: I no longer work overnights. While those sleep overnights I hear of sound like a cool way to earn money, I'd rather work days and interact with the clients and supervisors, actually help out in tangible ways instead of just coming and clocking in, clean for half an hour, stay awake however (or not) then leave at 7. Just wasnt really very self satisfying, and then you either lose a lot of worthwhile time sleeping during the day and/or staying up so many hours with inevitable results. :angryfire

I saw this thread yesterday afternoon, but work was looming and I decided I'd chew on it for a while before posting my (long winded) thoughts. I realize that many folks do better taking psychotropic meds, however, I often wonder if the potential side effects are worth it or not. I work for MR/DD adults, often with many other disorders like MI, autism, epilepsy, you name it. Consequently, I've become all too familiar with the various effects of antipsych meds like Ativan, Depakote, Risperdal, Klonopin, Prozac, Paxil, on and on. So many of the clients seem to be just flat "out of it" and not oriented. Some sleep practically all day. Others seem to be totally unaffected by the meds and have the same behavioral issues they always had. I'd think long and hard before going on an antianxiety/antidepressant med, and Lord only knows I got enough reason to be stressed out....broke, shoulda filed bankruptcy, crappy employers, mood swings, hordes of little problems, my current medical issues (diabetes/hypertension, prostate problems and side effects thereof), on and on. I recall a conversation with a NP I had while I was with my previous employer just before I got axed. I had blown my stack a few days earlier at being jerked around and generally abused by clients and other staff (it had gone on for months too) and after forgetting to initial an MAR entry and getting chewed out (its a pretty long story, but I won't bore you with the details) I punched a hole in the wall down the hallway (unfortunately I missed the wall stud), with predictable consequences. Anyway, the NP, a nice lady I thought highly of, asked me if I wanted to take anything for that 'wound up too tight' problem (prolly Paxil, but I dunno). I declined, explaining that I felt medications were often a solution in search of a problem, so to speak, and that while in many cases were appropriate, many folks taking them could do just as well without if they had a workable alternative. To me, I think 'getting a life', so to speak is the single most important factor in dealing with depression/anixety issues. I used to ride a motorcycle, intend to get another one if its the last thing I do, and was undeniably a much happier and more self-satisfied person while I had the bike......sure I had problems just like everyone else, but I also had a constructive outlet. Bottom line is, while I think meds are useful and a necessary component of dealing with depression/anxiety/stress issues, it would be unwise to think of them as a end-all, be-all solution too! Just my .02, tho........ Tom

Not quite relevant to the incident above, which sounds pretty unfortunate but hopefully all's well that ends well. I can definitely attest to those Rocephin shots puttin' a hurtin' on ya.......got them a couple times due to skin infections (diabetic but didn't know it yet at the time) and subsequent visits to urgent care. Right in the ol' butt cheek both times. Must be concrete mixed in that stuff, limped for a day or so. One of the nurses joked that "when we give you a shot, we want you to know about it" :rotfl: Tom

When I was in the hospital back in late September with prostatic abscess, the guy that ended up being my roommate for about 3 days was......well, a bit of a character. A real mental headcase. Seems he has mental and personal issues, and was at a party and somehow was shooting himself in the arm with morphine (now HOW he got hold of it I can only wonder). Anyway, he rolled his nice new truck following said party and the arm got infected. Wasn't really all that remarkable in appearance except for some general redness and minor swelling. Musta had some dependency on the MS because he drove the poor nurses nuts bothering them for the next shot or painkiller, whatever. Anyways, I'm guessing the same sorta thing - missed the vein, extravasation into the IM tissue and general havoc. Maybe something similar with the Demerol? He ended up having a nice chunk of arm excised on his bicep just above the crook of his elbow, musta hurt something fierce.....I wonder what came of the guy afterwards? Anyways, hope it works out for ya. Having a bum arm really blows.... Tom

I can see how it would be a cost thing, espescially in the ER. My experience with them gowns (and I'm a big boy) as a patient is that they're simply difficult to tie behind your back (and isn't very modest anyway). When I was recuperating back in August and also in September, I simply used some extra tape to wrap the gown around me a bit better. Worked after a fashion, but messy. If a gown can be taped......maybe Velcro? Just a thought. Tom

Employers like this just flat burn me up! Back in September I was forced to work an entire weekend, 15 hours Saturday, 12 hours Sunday, and 8 more on Monday with what turned out to be a systemic infection from my acute prostatis. I sweated so much that I passed out, woke up, passed out, woke up again, burned up, froze, gagged, gagged some more, till finally I woke up Tuesday morning virtually unable to breathe because I'd become hypoakelemic (K was 2.6) and went to the ER. All because the weekend on-call coordinator wasn't willing to find someone to fill in for me when I called him and said I probably needed to go to the ER. Said he wasn't happy and would talk to my boss about it - easier to have me fired, I guess. Unfortunately I still work for this outfit and I just found out my prostate is STILL infected and has to be operated on. The urologist said he could do the surgery after Xmas, but I scheduled it for this week anyway (mainly b/c I just want to get it overwith), when I informed my boss she made me feel like I was being punished for my transgressions; after all I've got extra shifts all the way through New Year's (working all of Xmas day and day after) she'd have to cover (I bet that terrifies her). Even had the nerve to say "well do what you got do, but don't cause yourself unnecessary pain" on the one hand, and in almost the same breath "I need you to work Christmas, you already took those shifts." I mean, what can I say to that, huh? Think I WANT to spend my birthday (12/23) and Christmas in the hospital? Surely ye jest! My aunt and I were talking about my previous employer last year and their policies, etc and she asked me "why do you feel you should care about helping them out when its obvious they don't care about you?" and things just went CLICK.......just made complete sense. Okay, rant off.......... Tom

Since I go by a short version of my middle name (Thomas, therefore Tom) I have not one but THREE variations I can call my own.... 1. Pinky Applechunks 2. Goober Applechunks 3. Boobie Applechunks you decide...... :chuckle Tom

Next time, make sure you miss the wall stud! Been there, done that (the wall lost).........but it was still a dumbass thing to do. All levity aside, you might or might not have busted your hand, and the wisest course of action is to swallow your embarassment or wounded pride, whatever it may be and go see a doc. Urgent care costs a lot less than ER. If you DO decide to be thickheaded about it and forego an evaluation, then I have a crooked left pinky finger I'll trade you for (at least its not painful). One way or the other you're gonna have a reminder of your momentary lapse of reason. Good luck. Tom