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...

        Four years ago I went on my first emergency call with police to a domestic violence scene. One call was all it took, and I knew I was made for advocacy. At 18 years old I had already seen my first case of domestic violence at my job in a geriatric center where I literally jumped between the victim and her abuser (do not try this at home!), and knew deep in my soul that I could do this for the rest of my life. I have seen some of the darkest horrors human beings can inflict on each other. I have cried with victims as they've shared their stories from hell and fought PTSD as a result. I've held clients as they shake after a night terror or assessed injuries to determine medical care. For years I've mediated conflicts, counseled endlessly, and encouraged and empowered women to rise from the ashes. Looking back makes me wish that the 24 year old woman I am could write a letter to the 18 year old girl I was, so here are the five lessons I've learned as an advocate...

I have started two new jobs in the last two months, both of which require entirely different skill sets-one expects me to be able to react quickly to dangerous situations, be alert constantly, and to maintain and be responsible for the safety of my coworkers at all times. It is an intense but fun job, and I have been grateful to be a part of it. My other job has been much more of a challenge for me. I was hired at a certain level, and in a turn of events was promoted two levels above that 3 months later. In doing so I am now a supervisor (along with two others) over employees in an office, and it has been one of the greatest blessings and heartaches I have had in a long time. I love my job, but I have also worried, cried, agonized, and poured over this job day and night in a way I have never had to before. As a CNA, I knew my tasks inside and out, I had a natural gift for interacting with patients and staff, and I was able to care for others in a way that satisfied my soul beyond a...

As caregivers, we tend to be loving people. This means that we frequently get hurt. You'll find that caregivers across the board will have the biggest hearts of anyone you could ever meet. Who else could care for patients who can be crude, harsh, cruel, and even abusive for hours on hours without mirroring the same? The weakness of the caregiver is that they feel too much, care for too many, they give of themselves to so many people that they are often getting hurt by those they care for. Why is that big of a heart a problem? Well, patients die. People change. Friends walk away. It's all a part of life. Caregivers have a hard time letting go, even when it is time. I was sent a forwarded email one time that this reminds me of, it's called "A reason, a season, a lifetime". It talks about how we are sent others in our life for a reason, such as to help us through a problem, a season, to guide us through a season or period of change, and finally, once or twice a lif...

Not everyone gets along with everyone else: That is life. However, in the medical field, it can cause more problems than it normally would. You get any bad combination, be it nurse-aide, aide-aide, nurse-nurse, aide-patient, patient's family-administration, (dizzy yet?) and it can cause a lot of headaches on an 8 hr shift. We see it a lot-you get a patient who doesn't like an aide, and suddenly they are rude, demanding, nagging, and in return the aide will be slow to answer the light, put their calls and questions last on priority list, and give minimum effort for that person's comfort, and the vicious cycle continues. It's so hard to break that vicious cycle, and makes it hard for staff as they have to switch patients, etc. in order to adjust to the circumstance. In order to illustrate, I will tell you about a patient we have had for long time at one of my facilities. She came as a hip patient, and we quickly learned she would be a needy patient, not out of necessity...

Tuesday night was a pretty exciting night. My roommates, my close friend and I were trying to decide what to do for the night's entertainment. Wrestling matches ensued, and we were having fun Indian leg wrestling each other. Indian leg wrestling is laying side by side with your heads opposite each other, link arms and connect legs and try to flip each other over. I threw one roommate twice, then challenged another roommate. I flipped her once, and then we went one more round. This one didn't go quite so well. I got pinned in fetal position on my neck for a few seconds, and when I sat up, I knew something was wrong~I had full movement, no tingling or anything, but the pain was dizzying, from the crown of my head down to the bottom of my shoulder blades. I sat for a moment, then carefully laid back down. After a few minutes we started the movie and I started cryotherapy in an attempt to numb the pain and lower any swelling. By the end of the movie I knew I needed a priesthood ble...

Patients often ask in frustration why they are still alive, why they have to suffer through this illness or injury, and I have heard caretakers time and time again struggle with the answer to that question. I don’t have all the answers, but I certainly know one: because sometimes a trial isn’t what you need to learn, as much as what others around you can learn from you. That was how it was with a special patient of mine. This patient had lost her husband a few years prior. She talked about him literally every day, many times a day, and was pretty much in her own world. The trouble with being a caretaker is that you get to glimpse bits and pieces of the patient’s life, but you don’t get the full story. Much like flipping open a random book near the end and reading a few pages but never being able to see how the story began or progressed, we get a little glance and can only wonder at what they experienced, what trials they endured, or what made them what they are today. This sweet pa...

Today I was remembering one of my dearest patients I have ever had, and for anyone who knows me, I LOVE to tell stories about my work, but this patient is one of my very favorite memories, because she helped build my testimony and taught me a lot about life. This patient was one of the very first I ever cared for as a brand new CNA and Med Tech. She had Alzheimer's disease, and she was one of the sweetest women I will ever be privileged to know. I can only remember one time in all the thousands of hours of care that I did for her that I ever heard her get mad, and it wasn't even directed at anyone. She was ALWAYS kind in her conversation with the aides, and for anyone who works in health care you can relate when I say that someone in pain or being cared for isn't always going to be the kindest. She would always say how nice I was or how I was an angel. She had the most beautiful smile. She reminds me of the Rascal Flatts' song "Ellsworth" when it says ...