Today I worked my last evening shift as a nurse at the Evergreen Hospital Medical Center. What a relief! These past 3 days I had a really heavy patient assignment (2 total-care demented "screamers," 1 patient who couldn't stop throwing up, & another one who had several MRSA-infected wounds (he was my easiest one)). Today was the type of a day where you don't use a restroom for 8 hours, take a short dinner, & no breaks (there is just not enough time). All 4 of my patients were diabetics, so I had to check their blood sugars before dinner & at bedtime (8 total times!). 3 of them were poorly-controlled diabetics, so I had to call MD for new insulin orders. I also dealt with one patient's anxious family, treated another patient's dangerously high blood pressure with IV antihypertensives (resulting in more frequent vital sign monitoring), changed several wound dressings, put in a new peripheral IV, helped turn patients unable to turn by themselves in bed, & dealt with a multitude of various small tasks. I will certainly not miss the craziness of hospital bedside nursing & the overwhelming feeling of having too much to do in short 8 hours (while not accumulating any overtime & taking your full dinner break).
A couple of weeks ago I had a suspicious mole removed off my left lower leg. I watched the Dr. Oz show on signs of melanoma & made an appointment with dermatologist since my mole fit 2 of the 5 melanoma criteria (irregular borders & various shades of color). Well, the shave biopsy report came back as moderately dysplastic pagetoid conjunctional nevus (in lay language, moderately abnormal cells that have spread below the superficial layer of the skin), so now I need to go back for the 5 mm "margin control," or re-excision (to get all of the abnormal cells that may have been left behind after biopsy). Not fun! I will have a large ugly scar on my leg, not to mention the pain of recovery. I am just glad the abnormal mole wasn't on my face or ear. I tried to talk my way out of surgery after researching the subject on my own, but the dermatologist would not hear of it (she called the act of not re-excising a "malpractice"), so I will have surgery next Tuesday. I will need to be off my feet for several days. I don't have much sick time at my new Nurse Practitioner job, so I am planning on going to my 1st day of work on Wednesday. There is no way I could be on my feet all day while working as a nurse, but since Nurse Practitioners have many opportunities to sit, I will probably be OK. It looks like the year of 2010 is dedicated to taking care of my health!
Immediately after finding out the biopsy result I went online (Sierra Trading Post) & bought the UV-protective long-sleeved clothes for the children & myself. The Ultraviolet Protection Factor (UPF) shows how well a fabric protects one's skin from solar UV. UPF ratings range from 15-50+. The clothes labeled UPF of 25-35 provide very good protection blocking 95.9-97.4% of the UV radiation, & clothes labeled UPF 40-50+ provide excellent protection blocking >97.5% of the UV radiation.
I will be wearing long-sleeved shirts & pants from now on to prevent any more UV damage to my skin. I am already taking vitamin D3 supplements, so vitamin D deficiency will not be a problem. Most of the skin damage occurs in the first 18 years of life so I'll be keeping a close eye on the kids for years to come. The article by the Federal Trade Commission has also suggested staying out of the sun between 10 am - 3 pm (even on cool & cloudy days), dressing the children for maximum protection (long-sleeved clothes & wide-brimmed hats), & wearing sun glasses to prevent eye damage.
This week Sophia went to her new daycare for the 1st time. She handled it better than I hoped. I was dreading our initial separation, but she got so busy playing with other children & toys, she didn't even notice me leaving. I called from work to see how she was doing on Wednesday & Thursday & got positive reports both times. Vladimir, the daycare owner, said Sophia is similar to Gerritt because she likes to eat & sleeps well. :-) I insist on packing her food from home since I want her to have mostly organic meat, dairy, fruits & vegetables.
At home, she is almost sleeping through the night. After the 2nd day of the new daycare attendance, Sophia slept from 7 pm until 6 am (!). I can't believe she'll be 10 months old tomorrow! Her two top teeths are almost out, so soon there will be 4 teeths all together. She really enjoys gnawing on a banana or a piece of toasted & buttered bread. Actually, that's one of my favorite ways to stop her from crying - just give her something edible to hold! :-) My other way of stopping Sophia's crying is singing to her. She especially loves "If you're happy & you know it, clap your hands. If you're happy & you know it, stomp your feet, etc."
In the beginning of March Sophia was ill with Roseola. Of course, I didn't know it was Roseola until the characteristic generalized rash appeared immediately after the fever stopped (the fevers lasted for 3 days). They say girls are hardier than boys, & Sophia handled it better than Gerritt did when he was a baby. While Gerritt refused to eat completely & got dehydrated, Sophia continued to eat, just smaller amounts. While Gerritt was lethargic & would probably sleep all day if I let him, Sophia refused to be put down & fell asleep only in my arms. I even watched a whole movie one evening while she was sleeping on my lap! The fevers were pretty scary (up to 104 degrees F), but we just gave her some Tylenol & Ibuprofen, & hoped for the best. Sure enough, she was back to normal as soon as the fever stopped & the rash appeared right after. She now has immunity to another group of viruses!
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