Tornado Warning at the hospital.

Do you ever wonder what happens during a tornado warning at a hospital? Let me share my experience from yesterday. The day was busy, but typical until around 4pm when a tornado warning was announced. The emergency plan involves moving ALL patients and family members into the hallways and rooms away from windows. This may sound simple, but bear in mind that many of our patients are on monitors, ventilators, and various other machines. It was an adventure, but we got everyone moved into either hallways, offices, or a conference room. I had one patient still unconscious from having sedation, so I had to manually take vital signs every 10 minutes, and I had to monitor my other 2 patients at the same time. It was quite the adventure, but we all worked well together and got through the 45 minutes of craziness. I ran back and forth in between checking on my patients, and running and fetching things from people's rooms that they needed. What an adventure...

Tinkerbell and the Midwest

I am continuing my recent tradition of writing blogs about random topics. Okay folks, here's what's on my mind...
I just returned from a day trip to South Sioux City, NE where I visited Andrew W (aka bro). He is the brother I never had and moved to So. Sioux City after he graduated in May. A visit was way overdue, and I'm so glad I went. (For clarification, don't confuse Andrew W--Bro with Andrew H--My boyfriend, or Andrew L--Julie's boyfriend.) There seem to be many Andrews in my life, but they are all awesome people and very important to me.
Bro and I went to Red Lobster for supper, and laughed through a good deal of dinner. It's what he, Em and I do. We find humor in absolutely everything. So, when the checks were brought to our table, the waiter pulled 2 pens out of his pocket so we could sign our checks. He grabbed a purple fluffy Tinkerbell pen, and a regular pen. Without thinking, he gave the regular one to me and the Tinkerbell to Andrew. We laughed so hard, and then as we looked at the pen closer, we realized that Tinkerbell could have used a bath. She was smudged with mud and who knows what else, but it had us laughing for a very long time.
On my way home, I overestimated the power of my gas tank, and as I was driving in northern Iowa, my gas gauge showed less and less gas. This wouldn't have been such a big deal, but I was in the middle of nowhere I was familiar with, and it was at night. My gas light came on for a while, and I decided I had to pull over at the next small town and figure something out. I was in a bit of a panic as I drove up to a gas station. It was closed, but out of nowhere, a girl drove up in a red car. She looked about my age, and just came over and asked if I needed help with anything. I was talking really fast and very flustered, but she was very calm in return and showed me how to use the "older-type" pump that was there. She waited until I pumped my gas to leave, and told me that if the machine didn't work, the person she was with worked at the gas station, and could get into the store and help me. Seriously, an angel must have been watching over me and sent her there to help me. I don't deserve things like this, but am very thankful for whoever was watching over me. I thanked her repeatedly before driving home. It's those kind of people that makes me want to stay in the Midwest. It seems like people look out for each other. So to the girl who helped me with my car problems tonight, whoever you are and wherever you may be, thank you.

Poll--Responses Requested

I am taking a poll because I can't decide how I feel about something. As many of you know, I'm a big facebook fan and many of you may be familiar with how pictures of you can be "tagged" by other facebookers. A friend recently tagged a picture of Andrew and I kissing and put it up on facebook. I'm not upset by any means, but I can't decide if I should be embarrassed or not. It's not a big kiss or anything, but I have never been a fan of PDA and the picture of us seems to be a form of this. Anyhoo, any suggestions??

Disappointment

Please pardon my vagueness with this posting, but the concept of disappointment and its impact on people is intreaguing. It's interesting how psyched people can make themselves, and what animpact disappointment can have. This is something I have both observed and experienced this weekend. Being interested in the thought processes of people and of myself, it lead me to begin pondering... What does disappointment feel like for other people and how is it so powerful? People generally expect things to go a certain way, typically a grand expectation. Often times, things don't go exactly as planned and people seem to continually set themselves up for the "big D word." Any ideas or thoughts on the concept of disappointment?

2 more random thoughts

Thank you to Andrew for putting up with me yesterday when I was cranky and food-less. You are wonderful and I love you.

Erin and I are planning a trip to Europe during the summer of 2007! I'm so excited!

IBS

I have decided to dedicate a short posting to Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS). I have been dealing with this condition every since I was little. My intestines are sensitive to certain foods, stress, and sometimes for no reason at all. Anyhoo, IBS is the reason I am (for lack of a better term) "gassier" than your common 23 year-old. No matter what I eat, I seem to be burp constantly and, sometimes the gas comes out the other end too.... :-D I know this is soooo attractive, but I thought that maybe it deserves a little attention and explanation. Between 15% and 20% of Americans have been diagnosed with IBS, so it's fairly common.
I recently had what may be referred to as an IBS flare-up. I haven't had a flare-up since high school, so this surprised me. I have this pressure in my abdomen that won't go away. I went to the doctor yesterday, they ran some tests, and figured out a diet for me to try. This diet consisted of eating nothing for 24 hours, and then only certain foods after that. I had to stay home from work today because having no food in my body is not fun and the new anti-spasm medication I have made me very sleepy!
Long story short, everything is under control. I'm headed back to work tomorrow. Also, if you are hanging around me and I seem to be full of gas, please pardon me. :-D Okay, I'm done for now. Have a great rest of your week!

Random conversations on an airplane and Lent

Yesterday I returned home from visiting Emily in Oklahoma. It was awsome to spend the weekend with her. We went shopping, ate sushi, got massages, hung out with her friends, and chilled at her apartment. It was just nice to be around her and I'm hoping we can coordinate another trip soon.
As I flew to and from Oklahoma, I was reminded of how much people fascinate me. I love the random conversations that happen on airplanes. On my first flight, I sat by a middle-aged woman. She began our conversation by looking at me and saying "So, you have a February birthday.." I looked at her in silence for a minute a little creeped out before saying "Yes... How do you know that?" She was looking at the amethyst bracelet I wear for Pancreatic cancer awareness. It all made sense to me then, but it sparked a conversation that lasted for quite a while. On my flight back to Omaha, I sat by a lady in her upper 20s. Every time the plane experienced a little turbulence, she frantically grasped the arm rests. At that point, I began a conversation with her and she told me she was scared to death. This conversation was more a therapeutic one as I tried to help her through this experience. It was ironic, I found out she was a counselor... :) Yay for being therapeutic to counselors. I love psychology and psych though....I can't wait to go back to school.
My final thought...Lent this year. I usually give up something that I'm really going to miss, but this year I decided to set a personal goal instead. There are many times that I make random comments that I shouldn't have said. For example, this weekend there was a girl at a restaurant we went to who appeared to be heavily intoxicated. Although she was acting very silly and it was easy to laugh at her and make comments, this isn't right. The same goes for talking about an ex-bf or anyone else I may be struggling with. People have the right to portray themselves to society however they want to without interruption. I believe that people give society a good enough idea of who they are without the help of people like me making comments. My goal (which will go beyond Lent) is to keep negative thoughts in my head and be classy in this respect.