beckymcrn

I couldn't have said it better my self!!!!

Here is what I thnk about this whole thing. I do not know what her husbands motives are, but her parents want to take care of her. They will completely take her care out of his hands all he has to do is divorce her and go on with his life. (Which he obviously has already done). Problem is Terri never left a living will so we do not know what she may have wanted in this battle. I do not for a minute think that a feeding tube is a heroic measure. I have patients who have feeding tubes for years and years. The mere fact that she has lived this long with only a feeding tube tells me she has the will to live. So who am I to say we should starve her of food and water. So I would have to say I am on the parents side.

1. Time to spend with patients 2. ability to hold hands of patients and family members 3. empathy 4. knowledge of oncology ( although no one person can know all you should keep up to date on diseases, treatments,side effects, etc....) 5.ability to teach patient at what ever level of education I do think all of these are actually about equally important. The most part of being a GOOD onccology nurse is to CARE!!!!, and to let your patients know you care.

If I could do it all over again. I would not change a thing. (Except maybe helping the one lady on skilled nursing who insisted on wrapping her arms around my neck before she feel to the floor!!!) :uhoh21: But I would be lost if I were not a nurse!!! :)

If a patient is for some reason immuno suppressed the body's only defense against the bug (bacteria or viral) is a fever. I am assuming the doc wanted the cultures drawn before the tylenol and ATBX to get the true cultures before anything could ulter with the results. I know tylenol does not fight against bacteria and/or viral invasion, but if you just treat the fever you may never know the true source. Thus drawing cultures first then medicating is a valid pratice. We do it all the time, of course after the cultures the tylenol and ATBX are usually given in a timely fashion.

Ok Tom, I will answer your questions. No they are not serious photographers. Just point and shoot people. My daughter carries a very small purse so she will not be carring the camera in her purse. I would probally buy a case for her. They are both pretty much out door people. By the way I did bookmark the web site for my husband to check out too. Thank you Becky

Thank you I appriciate everyone's help. please forgive me I know minimal about computer stuff. Lets see I want to spend about 200-300 dollars. I do not know anything about megapixels. What I actually want is a camera that will take good pictures and last. I actually have a minolta camera (not digital, regular camera) I have had it for 20 years!!!!! And it still takes great pictures!!!!!

Hello Everyone, I hope you had a great holiday. Mine was good, I was supposed to work but because of low census I was called off 2 days in a row. (It is ok, its a second job prn thing). Anyhow now that the Christmas season is upon us and it is time to buy gifts I need some advice. I want to buy a digital camera for my daughter and son-in-law. I do not want to spend a fortune but I do not want junk either. I have a kodak digital camera my self which seems ok to me. But, I was wondering should I get something differnt for them? I heard that the normal camera brands kodak, cannon, minolta are not that great in digital. Since my son-in-law is my computer geek and I can not ask him I thought maybe someone here would know be able to help or atleast tell me about your cameras. Thank you for your time. And May I be the first to say Merry Christmas!!!

I was thnking maybe a school closer to home would be a good idea. Nursing school is hard you need much support. I could not imagine going to school and being far from home. Atleast you were excepted to this prestigous school it does give you bragging rights for a long time. You can reach a counselor throuugh most schools. It is a good idea to talk to someone if you are having feelings of depression and withdrawl. It is important to recognize the signs and get help. ((((Hope it works out for you)))))

(((((((Sherry,))))))) My thoughts and rayers are with you in your time of loss. May the memories of your husband be a blanket to wrap around you on a cold and lonley day.

I completely understand how you feel. I too am 200 something, menpausal, and have been struggling with the yoyo diet syndrom for more than 20 years. I made a pact with my self to loose this weight before I was 45. I am now 43 and still here I am. But, now I suffer from HTN, DM, hyperlipidemia and terrible arthrittis in my neck, knees, and ankles. ( Infact I went to have my knees checked a few months ago before I knew I had arthr there and the doc told me they were bad enogh for replacement surgery, but since they new knees would only last 20 yrs he wanted to hold off as long as he could. So I just live with the pain) I too am active considering my ailments. My doc has been talking about by pass surgery for a while now. I am scared. Are the complications of surgery really worth it, then again are the compilcations of my ailments worth it? I just signed on with a weight loss research study for diabetics at our hospital. I will be on a monitered diet for 6 months. This is my last straw. I pray this works. If not I will probally look deeper into the surgery.

Well, I did it. I work in a out pt clinic where I am the the clinic nurse, coordinator, surgery scheduler, and general pt checker upper. I have been working with this doc for three years. today he just hit my last nerve. :angryfire Our clinics are usually very intense with very sick patients. We also have our fill of carzies. I have been STRESSED for a few months now. Stressed to the point where my boss called me in the office to see what they could do for me to make things better. Stressed to the point where I recently ended up in the hosp for 3 days with chest pain. I decieded today when he got on my last nerve I wasn't going to take it any more. I almost walked out of clinic, but I contained myself until the end of the day :stone To give you some back ground on my day today. Clinic started at 8:45 am. I was not even greeted with a hello this morning just a confrontation because of an email sent to me a few weeks ago with f/u for a pt that had not been done yet. I immediately took care of the situation and got the specific test ordered, and called the pt with the information. Then he noticed the schedule we had a 2 hour break in between patients this afternoon. (This is a problem that has been happening since we got a new scheduling system in place. We have been trying to fix the problem as the system would allow) At first it was my problem we had this break,as he rumbled order to me to call every patient in the afternoon and have them come in early, then my nurse manager happened to walk down the hall he started to talk to her, I took this as my way out so I started to make some phone calls to my patients. He got loud, obnoxious. (In the hall outside our vital signs room with patients in the room and while I was on the phone with a patient. ) The day pesisited with him going on about what ever he had on his mind. At one point I was on the phone with a pt explaining bowel prep and procedure for a colonoscopy tomorrow to a patient when he called my name. I looked up he circled his finger in the air and told me to "Wrap it Up" I do have to admit this was my last straw. :angryfire Now usually we have a good working relationship. He does irritate me sometimes but has never been this obnoxious. I asked him at the end of the day if could speak with him. He agreed. I told him I thought he was rude and obnoxious this moring to me and to my nurse manager and he owed us both an apology. He asked when so I recounted all of the above to him. He apoligized to me then continued to tell me how stressed he was. I told him I was just as stressed as him. My job in the clinic was every bit as important as his. I also told him if things did not change in this clinic I was leaving. He agreed to apoligize to my nurse manager, which he did, and asked how we could fix things. We are supoosed to have a meeting with our bosses and each other this week. Hopefully this will help us to come up with a plan to eliminate some of the stress from both of us. I do love what I do but I can't always say I love or even like my job maybe this will help. Hopefully it will.

Why a Nurse and Not a Doctor? I have many reasons for being a nurse and not a doctor. 1)I started nursing school when I was married with children. Nursing school was hard and took long enough I could not imagine going through all that school then. ( although now since the kids are grown I will be going back for a higher NURSING degree) 2) Since I have becaome a nurse and can look at both sides of the field I choose nursing. A nurse spends time with patients. The doctor although they do get to form a relationship with their patients it happens in minute amounts of time. I get to spend as much time as I choose with my patients. I am not dictated by 15 minute intervals of time when I see a patient get all their information and make it better. I am the one who after the diagnosis is given and the patient sits devastated in the room trying to figure out what effect this will have on their life can sit and hold their hand or just listen to then as they recount in their own words what the doctor has just told them. I am the one who is THERE when they are given their first dose of chemo therapy, or first unit of blood or blood products. I am the one who is there when they need pain meds or to ADVOCATE for more or different pain meds for them when theirs is no longer working. I am the one who is there when the patient gets back from surgery to comfort and care for them, and/or finally I am the one who is there when the patient takes their last breath to help the passage be a peaceful and painless as possible for the patient and the family. And finally 3) I am a nurse instead of a doctor because of all of the above and I feel some of us are called to be doctors, some nurses, some cooks, and mechanics. Me, I have been called to be a NURSE. There is no other job I would rather have. I can't imagine not being a nurse.

WOW!!!!! :stone This explains alot to me. I was hospitalized a few weeks ago with chest pain. I actually went from my clinic to the ER then to in pt setting. I had to have a cath which was perfectly normal. No one could figure out why the chest pain. It felt like someone was squeezing my heart in the hand. I was terrified!!!!! I wonder now could it be realted to the fact that I had been given Viox after a car accident where my tail bone was broken??? I have read all of these posts and according to them this was associated with long term usage. But, I had only been taking it for 2 weeks (25 mg BID given as samples from my doctor after I was diagnosed.) I really did not associate the two incidents but I did stop taking it in the hospital and did not start again. Again I say WOW!! :stone

mine is just my name becky. mc for my last name and I am a RN No imagination there huh?

I am so excited. I have a meeting with someone from the American Cancer Society tomorrow! Our goal try to get something going for young cervical cancer patients. I have had two cervical cancer patients die in the last six months. One from her disease at the ripe old age of 27 (with 4 kids) and the second commited sucide after she found out her diagnosis. The suicide was the last straw I had to do something to inform the young girls in my area just exactly how you get this disease and how it is treated. So I called the local office of The American Cancer Society and tomorrow we will meet and brainstorm on what we can do. I would love to go into the school and talk to young girls, since HPV is one of the main causes of cervical cancer and as we know HPV is sexually transmitted. I do not know if that will happen but atleast we will begin to do something. Our plan is to have a project in place for Jan which is Cervical cancer month. Wish me luck and say a prayer. I will keep you posted.

yes I can honestly say I love what I do. I do not always love my job it can be stressfull at times but I love the people I work with and I love my patients. I couldn't imagine doing anything else

I've read the whole post and repys my heart goes out to you. My prayers are also with you. I agree with all the post that tell you you need to get prognosis from the doctor. Write your questions down so you do not forget what you want to ask. Make sure he /she answers your questions. You need to know if this treatment is really helping him. As hard as it is you may have to deciede if the chemo is actually worth it considering how sick your husband is. I would also approach the hospice issue again too. Hospice is there to help in these situations. There have been patients discharge from hospice care because they got better. SO just because you ask for it does not mean you have given up hope. I think the major problem with hospice is that the docs wait until the very last second for a refferal and the patient and family do not have time to fully use the service. By the way your husband can get chemo on hospice if it is pallative. Again my thoughts and prayers are with you. KUDOS to yourr staff at work they sound wonderful!

I would make sure I saw the pediatricain. I would also suggest to him/her about a neurology consult. I know migraines, and it is possible specially with her age and hormones starting but I do not like the "pop". I would have it intensely investigated.

found this poen one day while searching for something. I love it and thought all of you may too. I Sometimes I See their Faces By Connie Followwill Sometimes I see their faces as I gaze into the stars I feel the echo of their pain. I see the outline of their scars. So many people I have seen lose at the same game. They fight the war most valiantly, but death soon calls their name. Each one has a story that told only to a few select. To the ones who have the time to listen and who know compassion's effect. Being that "one" isn't easy. On your heart it takes a toll. Their stories tug at your emotions. They touch the edge of your soul. But you can't imagine not doing; the job God gave you to do. For even though there is pain, there are so many treasures too. Meeting people and hearing, them tell of all their lives have been. Success, failure, sorrow, and joy, Sometimes you lose, sometimes you win. Lending a hand to someone in need. There is no greater feeling of worth. Then to comfort another, help a friend. It's the greatest feeling on earth. Cancer is such a vicious thing. It strips them of so much. Their life, their independence, their dignity. But it can't take away your touch. Your touch of caring compassion, To let them know you care. And that they are still a valuable person, even if they do not have any hair. My heart dances with those who are winning the battle, I see them healthy and strong. But my heart breaks with those who are losing. I feel their loss in their Swan Song. Each one leaves a jewel with me, that I cannot explain. What little I have to give does not compare to all I have gained. And still... Sometimes I see their faces as I gaze into the stars. I feel the echo of their pain. I see the outline of their scars.

Recently I found myself in an interesting position. I was a patient in the hospital where I work. "YIKES!!" After dinner at a local restraint I suffered severe nausea and some pain which radiated into my left arm. Like any good nurse I took a something for the pain and went to bed because although I knew this may be something serious, I also knew it could not happen to me. When I woke up the next morning I was still severely nauseated. I went about my morning activities without breakfast because my stomach would not allow. Now I was thinking I had food poison from my dinner out. I went to work. After a few hours when the nausea did not go away and I started to just feel "weird" in my chest I went to speak to a supervisor who got a doctor and I was off to the Emergency room. While walking to the ER with my supervisor I got tightness in my chest that felt like someone was squeezing heart in their fist and I became short of breath. After a work up in the ER I was admitted to the hospital for what I thought would just be one day of observation. My chest pain had stopped after I was given an aspirin in the ER. My admit was on a Friday afternoon so my one day turned into three, because as we all know you do not get test done on a weekend in the hospital. On Saturday afternoon as I was expecting to be discharged the doctors told me I should have a cardiac catherization. Now I was terrified. I had more chest pain after the docs left my room. This chest pain was different though just a generalized pain across my chest to which I in my profession opinion diagnoses as a panic attack. All my test were coming back negative so the cath was to be preformed as a precaution to see what was really going on in my heart. All I could think of was this is crazy I can't be having heart problems. But the simple truth is I have several risk factors. I have hypertension, diabetes and hyperlipidemia. So it was very possible that this could be a heart attack and that thought terrified me too. I had a cath on Monday morning. Thank God all turned out well and my pain and nausea was not caused by any blockage in my heart. My cath was clean I am told, most likely food poison or stress caused my problem. I learned a lot through this ordeal. First I have to take better care of myself. I never want to go through that again. Only I can reduce the risk factors that I face. Although these risk factors are all hereditary that does not give me a ticket to bad health and obesity. I am the one who holds the keys to my future. So from this day forward I will take better care of my self by eating right and exercising. Second, I gained knowledge from the other side of the bed. I spend my time as a nurse taking care of my patients and going about my daily duties. As a patient I lost complete control. I had to let someone else take care of me. From the emergency room to the cath lab, every nurse and tech that tended me was absolutely wonderful. They each noticed my anxiety and also acknowledged me as a nurse. Every one of them helped to make this experience tolerable for me. I would like to thank each of them and I will with acknowledgement to their supervisors for the great nurses that they are. The moral of this story is simple. You really appreciate what it means to be a nurse when you are the patient, when you have to give over your control to someone else. I only hope as nurses that we can treat every one of our patients as we our selves would like to be treated. Thank you to all the nurses and staff that tended to me on 9 east. This acknowledgement is for you Dayna, Virginia, Lori, Connie and Melissa. Thank you to all of you. I would also like to thank Chris the ER nurse that tended me. I only hope I can help my patients the way all of you helped me.

I just used old fashioned pencil and paper It worked for me. Didn't have to worry about loosing it from some computer glitch.

If you are having a problem you need to talk to your doctor. Preferably your GYN. Let him/her do an exam and possibly an utrra sound or CT scan abd/pelvis. That should give you the answers you need. A GP doctor can be great but when you think something is wrong and can not get answers you need to go to someone who specializes in what ever you are having a problem with.

I work with GYN Oncologists everyday; infact one of the doctors I work with wrote the test book on the subject. The problem with the CA-125 test is it is inclusive. You can have an elevated CA-125 for many reason such as inflamation, endometerosis, heart problems, and more. The marker is only helpful to us if it is extremely elevated. A normal CA125 ranges from 0-35 anywhere in that range is normal. I have had patients with ovarian cancer, primary pertoneal cancer and fallopian tube cancer who CA125 have been in the normal range or only slightly elevated when they were diagnosed. We also had one patient whose CA125 was in the thousands and she turned out to have a benigh tumor of the abdomen/pelvis. I am told by the docs a new screening test for these cancers is right around the corner. As for now 90% of all ovarian, pertoneal and fallopian tube cancers are found either at stage 3 or 4 because that is when the disease becomes eveident with ascites, increasing abdomenal girth, indigestion, maybe constipation and/or diarrhea. How are the other 10% found purely by accident. Someone may be in a car accident and have abdomen and pelvis CT or US (which actually the best US to show female pelvic organs is a tranlady partsl US) it will show a mass. (a translady partsl US is not a routine test because it is an invasive procedure) A pap smear can not detect it. Pap was designed to detect cervical cancer and is very good at it. (SO I do encourage every one to get a pap every year. Even after menapause) A pap smear can not even detect endometerial (uterine) cancers unless they have advanced into the cervical area. So bottom line is you can have a CA125 drawn every year if you want to but it is not as valid a screening test as a PSA.

You can not loose your job because of a medical problem unless your job is immediately affected by it. If for example you were to put pts at risk. To fire you otherwise would be discrimination. I have severe arthrittis and I have worked steady for 8 years. Infact I have arthrittis so bad in my neck it hurts to have a stethascope on my neck. I am honest when applying for a job; and there have never been questions about. My cousin has epilepsy and she has worked steady for 10 years. Your medical history may hinder some employers to hire you but you can not loose a job because of it.