Dimple's Discoveries

Schmidt is my favorite TV character in a show called New Girl. In one of their best episodes he sees something he wants, and in his limited view of the world he's furious that he can't have it and throws a tantrum. Later on he gains the proper perspective to move forward, but not before fixating on it and getting seriously injured in his pursuit of it.  (Click the link below to watch a clip) Why can't I have the things that I want?!   I feel like Schmidt. I've had some recent setbacks that have really thrown me for a loop. Tyler has had to install nanny cams throughout the house to film any seizure activity I have so the neurologist can see exactly what's going on. I have new meds that make me sleep like a narcoleptic goat. I want things right now that I can't have: I want my seizures to stop, and I want my seizures to stop so I can have a baby. I want these health problems to stop interfering with my job performance. I want my body to calm down...

The call came as I was wandering the canned foods section of the grocery store in my pajamas. 'Of course! Stupid Murphy's law.' I thought to myself. I had fifteen minutes to be heading to the scene, which meant a rushed check-out, a scrambled change, and I had to leave the groceries in the trunk as I sped to the meeting spot. Miraculously I made it with two minutes to spare, and we were off. The call was about ten minutes north of us, so we hopped on the freeway and collaborated on what we knew from dispatch. Usually we have a good idea of what is happening on scene before we get there, but this time the only warning was "It's a child". My heart sunk, and the car was quiet as we pulled up to the house.  After talking with the two officers on scene and one of the women involved, we finally had the full story: a mom with three boys ranging in ages from 4-8 picked up a homeless woman she didn't know (who admittedly was manic depressive, bipolar and off...

I have moved back to school, and am currently working as a Victim's Advocate at a Crisis Center, and yesterday I was privileged to be able to have a few hours to go serve there. I was helping to decorate some windows, and then my boss called me over and handed me a stack of files and asked me to do follow-ups. Follow ups with clients means that you go through their file, read all the history, incident reports, protection orders, etc. and then call the victim and ask how things are going, and then offer the services that they might need from us (ie: diapers, food, counseling, court advocacy, etc). I sat down and started reading. Some files had just one report, others had inches of reports from years past til now. Some were young, some were old, some were married for years, some had been dating a couple weeks. Some successfully left, some have since returned to the predator. Some had several children, some had none. All of these women were very different in many ways, but they ha...

This blog post is an original post written by Christopher Berry, whose mom has been an RN for almost twelve years. This is his perspective of the work his mother does, and how it has affected his life.  "It was a lot of poop" my mother said as we all sat around the dinner table eating chicken and dumplings. "It took me a lot longer than usual to clean him up, but I was able to get him showered and back in bed without much problem." We smiled and laughed a little, but continued eating our dumpling-filled soup as if all was normal. Because it was normal. While most would find this kind of conversation at the dinner table rude, disgusting, and outright horrid, this was normal for my family. And it's probably normal for any children whose mother is an RN. I remember when she was still in nursing school, my mother would have her study group friends come over to our house to study. None of us kids minded that, 'cause they were some of the nicest pe...

Death is a curious thing. Some fear it, some long for it, some temporarily defy it, but no one can escape it. In working for over two years now as a CNA, I have seen at least a hundred deaths, each affecting me in a different way. Watching patients pass away brings the beliefs and understanding of the afterlife of the aide to the surface very quickly. It is a test of faith. I've watched aides respond in all different ways to death, from crying, to refusing to enter the room, to a quiet acceptance of an inevitable part of life. This week taught me about myself as death approached our facility. This patient had been miserable, she was on hospice and expected to die soon, and had reasoned to herself that we (the nursing staff) were keeping her alive through our efforts, so soon all our services were being refused. Showers skipped, toileting ignored, meals sent back, and pleas that we help end her life were an hourly occurance. She was begging every staff member that en...

As CNAs, we give up a lot of things for the people we serve. Our job is physically and emotionally taxing, and not many people see how much it is. In a given eight hour shift, this is a typical schedule: 2pm-Receive report on how the day has gone, any falls that have occurred, etc. 2:30pm-Start vitals on your team (group of patients), as well as answer any call lights, Q2 checks (changing briefs of patients who are incontinent or rotating position of patients who have bed sores, etc.), and handling any emergencies that could arise 5pm ish- Dinner (you are taking note of how much patients eat and recording it for your charting later) 6pm-start rotating breaks for staff members while maintaining sanity on the floor 8pm-snack time. Your showers should be done or getting done by this point, help tag team any patient who is an Extensive 2 or more lift (meaning they cannot be transferred or done without at least two aides) 9pm-Your I&Os need to get to the nurse, (measuring h...