I Heart My "Southie" Crew and Little Pats on the Back.

OMFG! Today was freaking crazy! Laura, Nicky, Janna and I rocked it hard though! We had a ton of hospitalized patients and a rack full of rooms to be seen. Needless to say, I am absolutely exhausted! It got to a point tonight where we had so much to do and not enough man power to do it. There was an assembly line of IV catheters that needed to be placed, a broken tooth dog that ended up actually being a rat poison ingestion that needed plasma and other various emergencies. Even though we were super busy and backed up with a few hour wait to be seen, only one person acted like a dick.

Back home in Chicago, my old EC was always staffed to the brim with techs and assistants. Here, we do a lot more on our own. Some things really are better if two techs can work on them but sometimes you just have to make due. One of the patients I was working with had bloody vomit, bloody diarrhea and needed an IV with a large bolus of fluids. Nicky was working on the plasma transfusion, Janna was trying to catch up with past due ICU treatments and Laura was dealing with another emergency. I had no choice but to try to place the IV all by myself. While this may not seem like a huge deal, it kind of is. You need one tech to hold the leg forward and roll off the vein so it occludes and stands up, making it easier to pass the IV. I started shaving the leg, prepped it so the area was clean and rolled off the vein. With my right hand I felt for the vein and picked carefully where I was going to poke. I knew I really had to get his right because not doing it well would result in more time than we had to spend. My fist poke was tough, this gal had tough skin! I began to get a little nervous and shaky too. Adrenaline was pumping as it so often does when your EC is slammed. I saw and accessory vein that looked pokable. I often try to avoid that vein if I can because the IV sometimes won't feed past the viafication. Well it must have been my lucky day because I did it! I got it taped in and said to myself, "Oh fuck yeah." I won't lie, I was pretty excited and felt so accomplished. I had a small party and patted myself on the back a little bit. It's moments like those that make me feel as if I'm really getting it.

I had a great night. I love my Southie crew and feel SO fucking blessed to work with them on a regular basis. They are part of what makes my job so great. (We have two hospitals, a North location and a South location. I work South most shifts except for two North shifts a month) At the end of the night, I was laughing so hard I was in tears. Someone mentioned Borat and I was like, "OMFG, I have this picture!" I tried to explain it but failed so I SHOWED the picture of Darren and Durso in the QC hotel room. The room exploded in laughter! Jeez I miss them. Lucky for me, I'll get to see Darren in 5 days and then a week after that for a day!! I couldn't be more excited.

I'm laying here in bed feeling quite proud. I came home and swept, did the dishes and moped the entire apartment! All I have to do tomorrow now is finish cleaning the kitchen counters and do laundry which means I can spend my one day off having FUN! I think I'll hit up my favorite swimming hole and bring my girls with me! Keeper isn't the biggest fan of the water but we'll go spend some time anyways! I also may go looking at kayaks tomorrow too. I'd love to start paddling soon as a way to spend time with nature and get some exercise. More to come.