(no subject)

[fredericks]

I love confronting my own insecurities about my future while working (in the same way I love starting out my day by sticking my finger up a random woman's rectum - manual disimpactions for the win!).* Had another patient who I found living in squalor, home in utter disrepair, no known family around to assist. The one saving grace was that the gent was obviously in the grips of dementia and believed that he had a companion staying with him, so he wasn't lonely. Just, you know, living in a home with no working stove or kitchen sink or toilet and ordering out whenever he remembered to eat (which, judging by the fact that he reported having lost 20 pounds over the last couple of months, wasn't very frequently). I had to send him back to the hospital and pray that the social workers there do the right thing by not discharging him without a solid long term plan besides "call the home care nurses and let them take care of things."

I just...no. Picking through the meager and slightly moldy contents of a person's fridge? Never fun. Realizing a little old man is all alone in the world with a terminal diagnosis and no fresh food or resources (or bank statements or financial information) available? Depressing as hell. But at least I was there to (nicely) scream at his doctor for dropping the ball and help this guy into a cab on his way back to the hospital (he went with someone, never worry).

Outside of that sucktastic scene? today was lovely. Did a lot of walking throughout the Village and Chelsea making my rounds. And I was given the option of not working tomorrow so I get a day of respite and still get two days off during the week. Score!

Happy Weekend, everyone.

P.S. - I've been humming and/or singing along to Lambert's Pick U Up all day. When I hit a theme I damn well stick to it, don't I?


*There is NO WIN involved in manual disimpaction or self-reflection. Lots of shit all around.

Comments

[captainschlumpy.livejournal.com]

ugh, ugh, and suckage for you! yeah, when I hear stories like that I tend to worry a bit myself. Self reflection makes me want to eat lots of carbs and sit in a corner sucking my thumb. Yay for days off is all I can say. I wish I'd known you were in the village, I could have directed you to the crazy doll meet I was at and at least you might have been able to walk by and get a good laugh!

[fredericks.livejournal.com]

Ditto with the carbs and turtling. Mom made hot cross buns for Easter; best believe I ingested way too many since shift's end yesterday.

And I keep missing these kooky meetings. You must tell me the schedule.

[paradise-city.livejournal.com]

You are awesome for what you do, just in case no one's told you lately.

[fredericks.livejournal.com]

Thanks for that. You're awesome for the support. :)

[darker-one.livejournal.com]

That sounds awful and depressing. But I'm so glad (and you should be too!) that you were there for him, and were able to set him on the path to get the help he needs. You are awesome! I couldn't do what you do.

[fredericks.livejournal.com]

You're job is awesome and thus you are awesome; you make a positive difference to the lives of all the folks you help every damn day. Maybe you couldn't do what I do, but what you do rocks so very hard. So there! :)

[orpheus78.livejournal.com]

If I haven't said it before, I have a lot of respect for nurse. I think something like being a shrink or a social worker can be emotionally daunting, but being a nurse just seems to such challenging.

It takes a person of a certain nobility to do that job.

[fredericks.livejournal.com]

A certain amount of insanity helps, I find. :)

Thanks for sharing that, btw.

[emily-goddess.livejournal.com]

Sometimes I think about having kids just so that doesn't happen to me. But they'll probably abandon me anyway, as people seem to do in this culture. So fucking sad.

[fredericks.livejournal.com]

Me too. Either produce some kids or make sure my bank account is padded really really well so I can afford a private hire aide in my old age. It's so hard to take care of elders financially nowadays, and society doesn't support it socially (imagine trying to get a day off from work so you can accompany your parent to their medical appointments on more than one occasion).