Monday, May 23, 2016

Mindless

Where has my head been these past few years? I found out today that a person who I knew for many years died back in 2009. What the hell! Have I been so disconnected with the world and life that all these years have gone by without me knowing this person died? She was only 49yrs old. I knew her husband had been sick for many years and even had a liver transplant. I just found out he died a year after his wife. Again, What the fuck? I do not know what her cause of death though at such a young age it could be anything.

Thursday, May 19, 2016

What Is Going On

I just finished reading "The Last Lecture" by Randy Paush and though the book was upbeat and positive I could not help but hear an under tone of narcissism in regards to this man and the way he spoke. It was a quick read. I read it in two nights. It appears I can go through at least two books a week. It appears the more I read the more I want to read. I did enjoy America's First Daughter. It was well written and very interesting. Though the book was about Martha "Patsy" Jefferson Randolph, the book took in account the history of the era including how women were viewed in general. Reading the "The Last Lecture" was kind of a let down after being so absorbed in America's First Daughter.

Aubree has been really sick the last few days. She was running a high fever then broke out with blisters covering her body including inside her mouth. She has been extremely uncomfortable which resulted into two sleepless nights for her and her parents. In the meantime, I had ordered her a Minnie Mouse Car Seat (She loves Minnie Mouse) and it arrived yesterday. I hope it will bring a smile to her face. The doctor told Josh & Lynee that Aubree had a virus and the virus had to run its course. The pharmacy did make up a special mouth wash that numbs the inside of her mouth so she can get some relief. Hopefully, Aubree will be back to her "Happy Self" real soon.

Spoke to Joey today. I usually speak to him two or three times a week. He completed classes to be a "Peer Specialist" and he is working fulltime running groups and counseling. It is nice talking to your son about work as we can relate to the work we both do. Josh completed classes last Fall at Villanova and he is currently a Recovery Specialist. He will be sitting for his state boards sometime this summer. Shaun is a L&I Inspector for the City of Philadelphia. It appears the boys are all doing their own thing and making their way in this world. We have a new normal and I believe we are all working to acceptance of this new normal.

Speaking of work, I had a patient from Slovakia who had a translator during his entire inpatient stay. My first reaction and thought was "How am I going to be able to counsel through an interpreter"? It was a little strange in the beginning however as time went by I was really surprised how well we could work together through a translator. We had to bring in a Polish speaking interpreter as it was as close as we could come to the Slavic dialect. By the time, my patient discharged I was able to communicate with him through some of his words. It was an amazing experience for me as I could tell how he was feeling just by his body language and tone of voice even when I could not understand what he was saying in those rare times when the translator was not there. I am really grateful for the experience and he was an amazing kind man. I hope he does well in outpatient.

The weekend forecast is rain. It does not matter. We still are driving to the shore. I have not been down there in three weeks due to personal and work obligations and I need to get some things done down there this weekend. However, I would not mind some sunshine.

Tuesday, May 17, 2016

Latest Reads

  1. America's First Daughter by Laurie Kamoie
  2. Rose by Rosina Harrison
  3. Professional Integrity by Michael J Sullivan
  4. The Courtiers by Lucy Worsley
  5. How to be a Tudor by Ruth Goodman
  6. The Vatican Princess by CW.Gortner