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for being so absent over weekend.
it takes about 6 weeks to flip one's schedule from nights to days- couple that with these days i need to stay up until noon or get up at 2pm for appointments, and 'm not there yet. i keep thinking i'm just going to get it all organized, but ... not yet.
arm is better. sore as hell after work, but with rest it gets better. growing muscles, which is both happy-making and embarrassing- when did i lose them in the first place?
infected 'spider-bite' (which was probably not spider bite after all, no idea what started it) better also. have never had anything take this long to heal before.
paychecks are really nice things. of course i'd rather be independently comfortable, but since i'm not, it's a good feeling to earn my way.
*waves to everyone* hope you're more or less ok. or if not, that you have the support you need. blessings on your heads.
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Medical, nursing schools need to work together | Healthcare Finance News
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No shit. Ya think?
And it'd be nice to have Nursing's voice taken seriously. Tell the truth- when's the last time (and I love my docs, love love love them) the doctor spent 8 hours at your bedside in ICU, put in your IV in ER, or wiped up your vomit on the med/surg floor? [And if your nurse/nurse's aid DIDN'T, that's not a criticism of nursing. It's a criticism of how thinly stretched nursing is.]
I'm inviting responses, dialogue, criticism, commentary, and your stories. I've got something brewing that can't quite come to a boil, yet, about all this and the health-care/health insurance/public health/personal health debacle/debate that's going on nationally, but I need more points of view, more facets, to properly focus the light so I can see what I'm really looking at.
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| 2009-11-10 05:02 |
| National Memory Screening Day is November 17, 2009 [USA] |
| Public |
| health, memory, thinking |
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http://nationalmemoryscreening.org/index.php
seems like a good idea. dunno if I'll make it- the 17th is a sleep-day for me- but I'm going to call a couple of the places near-ish to me anyway, see what their hours will be.
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So. two months later, much physical therapy, and generous help and support from friends, and I'm back at work tonight at the lad's house.
some things have changed- i'm more careful about how i do things. the family's is supposed to change a couple things, haven't yet. dunno if they will. but now i have the agency's backing, so eventually change will happen.
lad himself is doing well- smiled when i took his vitals, went right back to sleep.
brought my putty, my elastic bands, and my yoga mat. so if you email or ping me and i don't answer, it's because i'm busy getting sleek and fit. or, you know, something like that.
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I would be remiss if I didn't link to ![[info]](http://s.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png) alliwantisanelf's marvelous series of posts from last year in honor of Fire Prevention Month, including the very useful stuff people brought up in the comments. It's too easy to take for granted that our cities won't burn to the ground, but in fact, it's always a danger- this is why I support my local fire department's fund-raising activities, and hope you support your local fire department, too.
That said, anyone bring the marshmallows?
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So Fucking much
AND the creativity of the Original Poster.
theme music for the WIN.
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And I could really use the business. Am on worker's compensation while this shoulder gets better (got to love a good physical therapist, I'm tellin' ya!), but the money from that won't be coming for a while. So, to keep the purse from turning inside out, I'm reminding y'all that I Sell Books (&).
I have a selection of Usborne books; I have classics, I have science, gardening, art, children's books, poetry, fiction, travel, health sciences, movies on VHS and DVD (all NTSC/Region 1 though, sorry my international friends!), psychology and esoterica, philosophy, politics, biography, autobiography, and historical novels; I ship internationally as well as provide expedited shipping if need be.
If, dear friends/readers, you were willing to do a shout-out in your journals (only if you want to! no pressure! honest) I'd really appreciate it.
EnjoyIt! books&. I know, I'm still with Amazon- am still looking for another place, but so far I've not got one. So please- if your conscience will let you order from me, or recommend me, I'll really really appreciate the help.
Thank you for your time, and have a good weekend/week (whenever you read this.)
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First the not so good, or kinda not so bad: my shoulder injury is most consistent with a partial tear of the supraspinatus muscle, one of the rotator cuff muscles and the one that covers the bursa or capsule of the shoulder joint. It's possibly been tearing in little bits over a long time- after all, I started working in jobs where what I mostly did was lift people and move furniture when I was 12- but I did something in my last 10 days at work that aggravated it. So, here we are. There are exercises that will help. Rest, Ice, NSAIDS (for me, Naprosyn) and exercise for the next two weeks and then we'll see. *sigh* I miss the lad. I really do. And I whacked off about 10" of hair because I couldn't get my arm up high enough to pile it all on top of my head...I'm glad it's naturally curly and grows fast, but I miss my hair. *dramatic sigh* (lol)
The good news is, the physical therapist said that as long as there is no prolonged or heavy or over-head lifting with my right arm involved, I can re-open the bookshop. Which is very pleasing, because I have lots of good home-schooling books (Usborne and others); classics, out-of-print reference books, and so on. So if you're needing books, or, indeed, anything from Amazon, go in through my bookshop EnjoyIt! and if you buy, I get referral points, too.
Ok, I've got my cellie set to remind me every half hour to go play with my new toys: a stretchy band, over-door pulleys, and putty [my physical therapist gave me TOYS, how cool is THAT?] so, must be off and go have fun in a good cause.
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(taking a cue from a friend here, with the + and the - and all)
(+) I have awesome friends, online and offline. AWESOME, awesome friends.
(+) my Presto plug-in water kettle has an automatic shut-off for when I get distracted and it boils dry. Thank you. Presto you have saved my kettle.
(+) because I like to stock up I have plenty of lovely teas and evaporated milk and good honey for said teas, and also Chai Maté.
(-) about two weeks ago now I injured my right shoulder at work. around 4 am after I did my checks and chores (in home care we do a lot of the care of the patient's environment, too- laundry, cleaning, etc.- and because I have AWESOME quietness skills I can do a lot while the lad is sleeping without waking him or his family) I sat down to chart and my right bicep felt very tight and sore, as though I'd been lifting 100lb sacks for an hour straight. I rested it for half an hour. The tightness and soreness abated. But at the end of my shift, when I have some amount of lifting to do, I found my right arm was weak.
what I SHOULD have done, in retrospect, is stop by work on the way home, report it as a work-place injury, and start worker's comp right away. Even though I was exhausted, it was going to be HOT, I needed to get to sleep, and starting the whole w/c thing takes HOURS. HOURS.
what I DID was go straight home, put ice on it, and try to get to sleep before my bedroom hit 95 degrees. And kept working. Compensating. Because, as smart as I am, as much as I would have advised anyone else to report it right away, I. Kept. Working. Because that's what nurses do. We compensate, and we keep working. We Do.Not.Stop. Oops.
So, not better by last week. went to see my doc, she wrote me off for a week, NO LIFTING so no modified duty. And in talking with her I realized I have to make the worker's comp claim. If my agency paid sick time, this wouldn't be such a big deal. If I'd saved more last year, not just enough to cover Europe but some cushion, too, it would not be such a big deal.
HOWEVER. I have started the process now. So at some point there will be some money. I've called my creditors (the few I have- student loans, etc.) and set up grace periods/deferments/lower payments/canceled accounts. I've got food and some money for fresh if I can't get it from gardens/freecycle, and enough gas in the car to get me to and from Physical Therapy. So it's ok for the next coupla weeks, and I'll know by then how it's going to play out, when I can work, and what W/C is going to come through with.
so (+) I have a job with W/C as a benefit. *whew*
(-) AND (+) EnjoyIt! is closed while I rehab. (-) because it would be a bit of income. But (+) because I can double check all my listings, see what's not selling and decide if I want to donate it instead, and work out (in my head) how I want to organize the books for easy shipping (which changes as they sell, as my stock gets smaller). So, that's good.
(+) I have this opportunity to live one-armed, mostly, for some time, so I am learning as much as I can about that limitation while I can't avoid it. I'm well aware it's not the same as a permanent change in my ability. But I'm hoping I can take the time I'd spend whining about not being able to have my own way all the time and use it to learn about myself, about this limitation, and about working with/through it, instead.
thus: (+) I have managed to get the old sheet off the bed, the new one on, and the laundry into the washer! (This is epic today, when it's usually zoop! zoop! with my magic wand, and all done.) I have soup, self-made with beans from one friend's garden (they dried on the vine, he was going to toss them out! oh no you don't! so I have shelled beans! one-handed! and made yummy soup) and fresh veg from another friend's and left-over rice from the housemates, and it is good. I have become adept at resetting my cellphone every 30 mins to remind me to take 5 mins for arm/shoulder exercises.
and I HAVE AWESOME FRIENDS. yes, I do. *nods* So, on the whole, the Early Autumn State of the Slashfairy is more + than -.
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I'll credit Peter Shankman at HARO [Help a Reporter Out] with turning me on to Mothers Emerge Worldwide, an educational and experience-sharing website and fund-raising through micro-business venture. I admire what the founder's done and what the website offers. If you've given birth, are considering pregnancy, or know someone who is, I recommend this new, growing site.
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Roy Rogers' Horse Saves Health Care
Wednesday, 16 September 2009
The Senate cannot pass a health care bill with a public option. The House cannot pass a bill without one. The public wants a public option. The insurance industry wants a private mandate. The White House is in trouble on this and is calling upon the Senate to find a way out of this dark passage.
So, Boys and Girls, return with us now as the Senators will take a page from out of the old West. They are going to do what cowboy hero Roy Rogers did when he got in a jam: Call for Trigger, the Golden Palomino. Trigger, the trusty steed who rode to glory against those phantom cattle rustlers who sold insurance against physical harm, provided however that the small town marks bought the stolen beef.
In this scene Trigger will come off his mount of glory at the Roy Rogers and Dale Evans Museum in Branson, Missouri and gallop to the mount of glory on Capitol Hill, rear up a dazzling 24ft, and by his sheer electrifying presence rescue the US Senate and the Administration from today's rustlers.
It is Washington, DC, so they promptly slap on a confused Trigger a corporate blanket with corporate logos from insurance companies: Pre-Existing Trigger. Lower Cost Trigger. Patient Access Trigger. The Senators will jump on this horse and ride straight for the sunset. Giddy-up Trigger, past that broken down Public Option dray horse. Gallop into the conference committee with full force. Charge!
I am carried away by prospect of rescue by the one horse I can believe in. Sadly, Trigger will never save us from the rustlers. He'll just stand there, mounted, in all of his spectacular equine power ever poised to spring into action, ever ready to hustle out the rustlers, or something like that.
Thank you.
Dennis
http://kucinich.us/index.php
Sept 16, 2009
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Or it's Monday, innit?
Have done something to my neck, probably sitting badly at work every night because there's only an old banged up recliner for the nurse and sometimes I get lazy and just don't bother to get well situated, or get up and do exercises or anything. So am now (thank you, al) doing exercises to regain strength in my right shoulder. *sigh* prevention is so much better than repair. *lifts things*
Flipping through the channels looking for a good documentary or something, came across this description of The 6th Day (Ahnold Governator, back in the day): In the near future, a helicopter narrowly avoids an assasination attempt, then returns home to find he has been replaced by a clone who shares his memories; agents of hte cloning corporation target him...
Wait what? A helicopter's been cloned, and Ahnold plays the whirly-bird? Well hell, that explains California's finances, right? o.O
I don't miss the stress of uni, but I do miss having an excuse/reason/obligation to be outside in the sun, learning new things, getting some strides in, 2 or 3 times a week. Am hoping that with cooler weather and better sleeping I can work out a real schedule that includes studying for the IELTS just in case I can find work in the UK. I'm not really doing "RN level" work here now (according to custom and reimbursement by Medi-Cal), but my agency does give me difficult families who need an RN's understanding of family theory and case management, so I feel like I can at least TRY to find work in the UK. Just in case.
So, I'm just sayin'- I'm back in the study mode some. Funny how that works.
ETA another good site with shoulder exercises including v. short quicktime movies.
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Find out more about National Invisible Chronic Illness Awareness Week and the 5-day free virtual conference with 20 speakers Sept 14-18, 2009 at www.invisibleillness.com.
If you have an invisible chronic illness and are interested in blogging a post please go to:
http://ow.ly/nhgv
thanks, imafarmgirl for the info, and the insight.
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| 2009-08-31 04:42 |
| So, yanno? I'm a nurse. It's my job: sometimes (often) I worry about our (communal) health... |
| Public |
| despair work, economics, environment, ethics, health, hope, native american issues, nurse-intuitive, nursing, political science |
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What I watched on TV tonight at work:
Water's Edge: Profits and Policy: Behind the Rising Catastrophe of Floods
Mountain Top Removal ( Wiki article ) ( series on youtube )
I have some thoughts about it all, but cannot avoid sinking into horrid and vicious cynicism- and while that might feel good for a moment, it's not an appropriate response for someone with my education and background. I'm trained to look at this from a community health perspective: as an RN, I have an obligation to do just that. Risk management, genetics, environmental safety- those are all within my purview as a nurse. So it behooves me to stop, just a moment longer, marshall my thoughts, and organize them so that I can pursue this with some clarity.
Because right now? I'm just pissed.
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At the end of this month HR 646, The Federal Acupuncture Coverage Act of 2009 will be voted upon. This Act will provide for coverage of acupuncture services under Medicare and all Federal Employees' Health Benefits programs.
Passage of HR 646 would mean that 25 million people who could receive acupuncture as a part of their covered health plan.
The best medium with which to write in support of HR646 is an old-fashioned one--handwritten, paper letters. Note that the deadline for letters to be submitted is approaching fast! All letters should be submitted to the AAAOM National Office no later than May 20, 2009.
American Association of
Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine
PO Box 162340
Sacramento, CA 95816
916-443-4766 Fax
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Swine Flu: This is the real deal, according to a friend of mine who's a very experienced infection control nurse.
So, what can you do?
1. Don't panic. Get educated. Be smart. Yes, it's infectious. Yes, it's scary. So be intelligent.
2. WASH YOUR HANDS. Early. Often. I don't usually like anti-bacterial soaps, but right now, I'm carrying Purell Hand Sanitizer with me (on my keychain, in my backpack, a bottle in the car...- yeah. Before and after the ATM, etc...) and using the sanitizer wipes at my grocery market's entrance. Yes, I know some people are sensitive to it, and can't use it. That's ok. Soap and water works just fine. But them as can, could, and that'll help keep germs from spreading via all those publicly shared things like ATMs and grocery carts. (and everything else you touch: doors, bus bench backs, etc. etc. but ATMs and grocery carts are known to be great reservoirs.) I've been informed about Vicks Foaming Hand Sanitizer also available. I put the whole listing so you can choose where to order from.
3. If you're really worried, get some masks. Just enough to keep your coughing from spreading in its usual 3-feet-in-all-directions cloud, and enough to keep other people's cough-cloud from getting into your nose and throat. (The only really useful scene in the movie "Outbreak" is the one of how airborne infection can spread. The rest of the movie is more or less melodrama, as well as geographically insanely incorrect.)
4. Remember: Infectious agents need very specific things to spread. A useful model is the Chain of Infection model: infectious agent, reservoir (where it lives when it's not infecting someone), portal of exit, means of transmission, portal of entry, susceptible host (and back around to the infectious agent, ready to swing through the chain again).
Break that chain at any point, and the power of the infectious organism is broken, too. This is why hand-washing works, why you should cover your mouth when you cough or sneeze (preferably not with the hand with which you're next going to touch the ATM or grocery cart, but by sneezing into your shoulder or the crook of your elbow).
To my friends who live in places already affected, my very best love and good wishes to you. To the rest of us, let's be good, and wash our hands.
[Editorial comment: This is why we vaccinate, even though it's likely that a vaccine for this strain of Swine Flu won't be available soon. Mechanism of vaccination, and some numbers: (Wikipedia article, WiseGeek article, and yeah, I know the objections to vaccination, I do, but I also know the huge dent in my Dad's back from where part of a rib was removed so he could have a pulmonectomy for Diptheria, and how crappy two weeks in bed with Measles worrying I might go blind was, and how scary Rubella was for pregnant women, too, and how horrible the deaths of the children who got Measles with secondary pneumonia in 1989-1991 in California were. {I worked in the PICU at Oakland Children's during that epidemic- It was not good.} If you're not going to vaccinate, fine. Just be prepared for the possible consequences not only to your own or your child's health, but to your community's as well, because it's work, dealing with an epidemic. Yes, the vaccine developers and manufacturers can do a better job. yes, we should hold them accountable. But, yeah- community health is the responsibility of the community, not the manufacturers, not even, in the end, the government. Of the people, for the people, by the people...etc., etc.) End Editorial comment.]
If you're sick, STAY HOME. Tell someone you're sick, but STAY HOME. If you must be out, cover your mouth, wash your hands early and often, eat well, drink LOTS of water (not soda), and go home early- don't linger about out in the world. MomsRising Petition for Family Sick Leave act. Yes, it's only one country, yes, it's only one segment of the population, yes it's a start.
x-posted, sorry for the repitition.
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I know I'm spamming with the Amazon links, so no more of those until I have fresh movies up there, and start putting books up. (My books are so old, and not pristine, but a lot of them are out of print, and I'm pretty sure I'm not going to be reading them anytime soon, so why not let them find new homes, if they can?)
But it's working, it's working- I've made some money at it, I've made some space, getting the movies to new homes, I'm supporting the economy (at least the Postal Service and the mailer-envelope people, and Longs, Walgreen's, and Raley's), and I'm feeling oddly accomplished about it all.
I'm also managing to do some yoga and stretching every night I work (though not always on my nights/days off, there's just not the space in my room). I take my yoga mat and block and strap and pillow and ice packs with me to work, and do what I can. And that's helping, too.
Sleep remains an issue. Mostly that's just night shift. And a bit of arthritis, now, and sometimes too much monkey-mind scampering over the synapses. Otoh, I'm eating more healthily- I know this for a fact, because I'm doing better keeping track of my expenses every day week or two- it's part of the Financial Intelligence track of Your Money or Your Life, and I like breaking it down into the exact things that I buy. It helps me see what habits I'm in, where I'm not paying attention, and where my life energy's leaking away from where I want it to be to somewhere else, somewhere that doesn't contribute to my over-all well-being.
I'm not able to visit as much on AIM or YIM as I'd like. I hit Facebook off and on, but can't really keep up with the green patch goodies and pirates vs. ninjas (sorry). I'm doing a bit of writing, here and there, but most of it's just scraps and doesn't make its way out of the notebooks. When I read, I'm reading Adrienne Rich and Ariel Dorfman and Ray Bradbury and Barbara Tuchman and Howard Zinn, but mostly I'm not even reading, these days. I'm nearly done with the two critical thinking papers (down to the freakin' wire, what?) and will be graduating in May, then off to Europe, and friends, and beloveds, and adventures.
It's ok. I feel, for the most part, accomplished, well cared for, intelligent, able to think for myself and ask for help with things I can't do by myself, and really. That's not bad. Can't complain about that. :)
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| 2009-03-03 10:18 |
| If your heart is in your dreams, no request is too extreme... |
| Public |
| compassion, health, weta |
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Or, if you catch the eye of WETA: who made a mermaid's tail for a woman who lost her legs. God bless you, Richard.
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So, it's not like there's not writing in my head. There is, pages and pages of it. Little AU, other fic, poems. Health/nursing care stuff. Philosophy. Humor. Links dumps. Travel plans. Stuff I've been reading. SLEEP. (oh my god, I could talk about sleep forever, and isn't that just the way night shift is?) Family. WORK (although that's harder because of confidentiality).
I'm constrained by a lack of comfortable places to write (type, keyboard, scribble with a crayon) at the moment.
Anyway. At work, things getting busy, so must move along. Just wanted to drop in and say "hi".
Oh! and people to whom I've promised things: Your Money or Your Life; tea; fic; actual human contact- NUDGE me. When I'm really really tired things get lost in the shuffle, and then when I'm less tired I lose track of which shuffle I'm trying to sort to find the things I promised to do.
Reminders are good for the forgetful. :-)
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