Somebody
tried to tell me today that we aren't allowed to ride around dangling
from the elbows on the cardiac walkers, making TIE fighter noises.
Fortunately I was on a cardiac walker at the time so I just screeched
away with my toes dangling over the linoleum, faster than they could
shuffle after me in their Dansko mules.
We’ve
had some extra-special pts on the ICU lately. Things seem to come in
waves, a month at a time, and this month’s theme seems to be a tie
between “exhausting psych” and “heartbreaking pulmonary
fibrosis.” April started out with a seemingly straightforward
admit: a woman with a fresh spinal fusion, history of chronic pain,
and osteoporosis.
Ellen
Hamm* was the first pt I took with my latest preceptee, Lizzie, who
comes to us fresh from a psych hospital-- sharp and bright and
already jaded as hell. “I hope my experience is useful on the ICU,”
she said, and sighed when I toppled into chair-spinning gales of
laughter.