Menopause

mom celebrating "change" on stage at Menopause!!

Friday night we went to go see Menopause. It was a girls date.. Mami, Sandy, and me went to dinner and a show. We had some AMAZING Thai food before the show. I can't remember when was the last time I had thai food but this was so good I've been craving it all weekend!!!

The show was soooooooooo funny!!!!!! It was four women going through menopause that met while shopping at Bloomingdales... From peeing frequently to hot flashes to forgetting things to moodswings and LOVING YOUR SELF.... the show was AWESOME... a definate MUST SEE!!!!

One of my favorite parts was the subject of pleasuring yourself... lol... the lady wanted to bring romance back into the bedroom and the other ladies said "Girl - take care of yourself!!!!" they then broke into the oldies song... "I'm feeling some good vibrations....." The whole skit had me on the floor laughing!!!!

At the end of the show they had all the women go up on stage who were or have gone through "THE CHANGE" - My mom is the one in the red shirt right in the middle of the picture. I LOVE YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The main message of the show was to embrace being a woman and loving yourself... I think I might just do that ;)

xoxo

Weekend Update

Sorry I've been lost!
I was in the keys all weekend moving my mom and dad into our new home. We worked hard and quick!!! Friday night we all had beds in our room and slept over for the first time. The house is SO AWESOME!!! I know our family is going to grow soooo pretty in this beautiful house!

Saturday we worked in the morning then the Uria's came by to check out the house. It was crazy.. we were still moving things and having a party at the same time... gotta love this family!!! At night we headed out to Miami to go out for Adam & Sharrie's birthday. We drank a little at Bougies and then bowled after that. Humberto and Ashley met up with us and it was nice to see them out of scrubs and Chili's! lol

I had a random realization while talking shit that I'm not the same Nancy I was a few years ago... I don't know how to explain it but something about me felt different... more grown up?? married??? It was a very funky feeling and it scared the crap outta me! Threw me off my game all night! I ended up talking to Sandy till 430 in the morning.... she's the bestest most wonderful sister and friend I could ever ask for.... i love her soooooo much! She was really there for me when for just a second I totally got crazy... THANK YOU MAMA!

Sunday we went back to the keys for more work... i don't think we got much done though! lol.. When we got back home I talked to Harold about my funk from the night before... he was sweet and told me he loved me no matter what and that we will grow together..

Monday I got put on-call at work... they idiots didn't call me to tell me so I woke up early and went to work only to find out I didn't have to be there... ugh! that was annoying... it was scary also because its not like I can be taking off days and not getting paid like its all gravy!!! I'm gonna have to find another job just in case crap gets really crappy.... and I'm one of the lucky ones in America with a job!!

Tuesday we helped out in the keys again and today I worked... nothing tooo crazy thank god... well i had a guy who perforated his bowel because he swallowed a tooth pick!! there was a picture in the chart and actually went right threw the tissue! My other pt has an abcess on his neck and spinal cord that's so big its compressing his spinal nerves and he can't move or feel anything from under his lip.. now that's crazy!!! he walked into the hospital in crutches and now barely has a cough reflex!!!! he can't move anything!!!!!!!!!!!

So that's that.....

xoxo

Sleepy Roxie

this is roxie after a long weekend in the keys helping with the move ;)

she got home and passed out... nothing got her out of this chair... she was there the whole nite!! She normally sleeps in between my legs!!!

I LOVE HER!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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Our First Valentine's

Happy Valentine's Day!

We celebrated on Friday because we worked on the 14th... Friday morning harold work up and went to Publix to get bread for breakfast... he came back with flowers and chocolate dipped strawberries!! YUM!! After breakfast we cleaned a little then went to Walmart to try and buy a kiddie pool for Roxie... We came back with sprinkler and a blow up pool!

We had a blast with her. It was so fun to see her run around the yard and play and be happy... We even got in the pool with her!! Too cute =)

For dinner we went to Smith & Walinkski... its a steak house at the beach and it was VERY YUMMY!!! We went to Lincoln road and walked around. When we were in Hawaii we found this AMAZING artist/photographer that had a gallary in Waikiki.... Harold found out he had a gallery at the beach and we went and it was sooooo beautiful! His name is Peter Lik... he's amazing!

We stopped at a wine bar and tasted a few wines then went to a beer bar and had a Blue Moon.. its a beer we found when we were in Hawaii and its sooooo yummy =) We talked alot about lots of things and it was just great. We got home at 12 and since it was officially Valentine's day we opened our cards... Its our first married valentines and it was perfect!

And that was our night...

xoox

Dr. Sinestera

Since Harold has been in the ER I've gotten to meet alot of people from down there and even one of the doctors. This one doctor even invited us over to his house during christmas. Super nice and gay guy. He gave me alot of advice on becoming an icu nurse and how to handle emergancies. The day I had the horrible day when they called the code blue he was the doctor that came to the room.

He's a very fiesty guy and wanted to know what was going on with the pt. He raised his voice at us all so that someone would say what was going on with the pt. I was talking to another doctor and couldn't manage to say a word to him during the emergancy. Once the lady was a little more stable I went up to him to let him know that I was the nurse in charge of the pt. He looked like he freaked out when he saw that it was me that was the nurse.

When I got home and was done with my shower that night Harold told me that Dr. Sinestera was on the phone for me. I thought for sure I was in some type of trouble with the hospital. It turns out he was on his way home and wanted to apologize for screaming at me in the room. It was the most sincere "I'm sorry" I've ever heard. I cried like a baby. I told him that he as just doing his job and I wasn't doing mine by freezing in an emergancy. I know he wouldn't have screamed at me if he knew it was me but then again I don't expect special treatment!

He also told me that I was a good nurse and that I need to get into the ER where they will teach things the "right way." He doesn't think the old nurses will do me any good because they do not work as a team and didn't look like they were taking care of me. They do things very differently in the ER and it really is just a different type of nursing. We talked on the phone for about 45 minutes. He was the only person that day to tell me that it wasn't my fault. I broke down talking to him like if he was Harold or a best friend or something... he totally helped to scrape me off the ground.

It was one of the kindest things or experiences I've ever had... he's much closer to harold than me and he didn't have to take time to make sure I was ok. I respect him so much and to tell you the truth I wanted to call him to say that I was sorry..

And just to update on the Code Blue lady... she's doing MUCH MUCH better.. they were able to take the breathing tube out and she was out of bed sitting in a chair on saturday and got transfered out of the icu on sunday =) I guess I didn't hurt her too bad!

xxooxx

Crazy Day

What a day!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

So this morning I get to work and I have only one pt and an empty bed. My pt was the same lady from yesterday.. she had newly diagnosed lung cancer (ca) and had her husband at her bedside at all times. They've been married for 51 years and as he said... "she's everything to me" I've been taking care of this pt since last week and she hasn't been getting any better... today was her day to have surgery to try and remove the cancer and stop the bleeding into her lung.

At about 10 am the doctor comes in the room and discusses different possibilities for surgery and different things he would be able to do... these poor people looked soooooo stressed out and scared. He just kept holding her hands and telling the doctor that he trusted whatever choice he made in the OR room... I knew things were not looking good for my pt at all and it was just so sad to watch them take in all this information. I left the room biting my bottom lip so that I wouldn't cry... all I could think of was Harold and me and my mom and dad... and abuelo and abuela.... it was heart breaking....

In the middle of me dealing with this I find out I'm getting a pt in my empty room from the OR... he was 39 and was getting a pacer put in for his sick heart. On the OR table he coded at 930am and was still in bad shape... its 1130am at this point. At 1145 the role the pt into the room... they're doing compressions, pushing meds.... the works... it was banannas! The guys pacer would go off on its own and give the people touching him mini shocks... i got to say "your clear, i'm clear, we're all clear... SHOCK!" the pt jumps with the bolt of electricity.. its CRAZY!!

The doctor has a tube down his mouth so we can see the heart beat in an ultrasound... the guys heart would pump on its own then flat line... the wiggle like jelly.... i've never seen anything like that before! At one point they let the wife in the room to see her husband... when she found out I was his nurse she looked me in the eyes and said thank you... it was so sad.. she looked so desprate to fix everything... this job is so hard!

at 1:10pm the doctors accepted there was nothing else that could be done and ended the code. WOW... that was a really long time - and that wasn't even the hard part! The family.... now that was hard.... they just cried and cried and screamed... there is nothing I could do or say. It was horrible... it took the wife almost 2 hours to even come into the room to see him once he had passed... he had a 4 year old son =/... it kills me.... the worst thing was the wife hugging me and thanking me for all we did. I couldn't hold it... my eyes filled up... i was able to get to the med room before I really broke down... it was so hard.

That's not the end of my day!!! I got my little lady back from OR... she looked pretty good. They were able to extubate her and she was resting in bed with some pain. I was giving her pain medication VERY little at a time. The husband was in the room with a smile and it was great to watch. I gave her a last dose of pain medication before I went to wrap my other guy for the morgue...

In the middle of taking him down with another nurse I realize I forgot his papers and run back upstairs... when I pass my pts room I see her BP is 70/30... it was much higher before.. I run in the room to make sure she' ok and she does not respond to me. I check for a pulse and feel one and then shake her like a crazy person... nothing.... I run out and grab another nurse... before I know it everyone is in the room and they call a code blue... she has no pulse.

I was in a fog at this point. I was trying to talk to the ER doc and my words wouldn't come out. The husband was standing right outside the door just watching as the start compressions on his wife's chest... what happened????? They ended up giving her some medication and her heart beat and blood pressure came back.... they had to intubate her but for the most part she was ok.

Thank god I'm off tomorrow.... my body is so tense and my head feels like it might pop at any second. I got home to Harold and Roxie sitting outside waiting for me. I fell into Harold's arms and broke down. I didn't need to be strong for anyone anymore.

There is no way to explain to someone what its like to be a nurse. There are so many different aspects to nursing. You have to give so much of yourself... it can be frustrating and rewarding and everything in between. Its CRAZY! The real crazy part is that we go back and do it again... day after day..... crazy.....

xoxo

Busy Day

Just another busy day at work... thank goodness my pts were ok and I was able to help out two other nurses with pts that were FTD (fixin to die)... horrible I KNOW!!! That's the kind of termanology I learn in the ICU!

I found out the things I found out was that I HATE the smell of blood... oh its such a horrible smell!!! I had a really bad (good learning) experience a few months ago with this kid that was bleeding out of everywhere... at the time I didn't know the smell in the room was blood... now its engraved in my brain and I can smell it from a mile away!

On a much cuter note.... everyday when I take a shower Roxie follows me upstairs and waits for me to finish... when I get out she stares at me until I clean her face wrinkles. She's the cutes thing! She snorts like a little pig the whole time I do it and... god for bid I do something else before cleaning her face... she gets all upset and grunts... its so funny! I'll try to video it so that you can see the cuteness!!!!

xoxoox

Vacation Dreaming

Hola...

Nothing too exciting going on with me this week... I was off today and cleaned and did laundry... happy to say that I actually cleaned AND put everything away.... huge effort for me! lol I paid bills and got mad at some cruise people company that are total retards...

Now we have to plan our 1 year together which I'm excited about. This lady from my SeaMiles card called me today and offered me 3 different week long vacations for $2000 for both of us... one cruise and 2 hotel stays a week long each! It seems like a great deal and we have a year to pay it intrest free.... we're gonna talk about it tonite to see what we come up with.

One of the places we can go is Los Cabos... I have been wanting to go there for forever!!! Que rico!!!!!!!!!!!

Back to reality though..... there are bills to pay and money to save... growing up is not so fun! BUT... it must be done! lol Los Cabos will have to stay on my Bucket List... some day my love.....

xoxo

Specail Moments

What a nice weekend =)

Saturday we helped move some outside furniture to the new house. It was SO COLD! Shit!!! The third floor deck came out great. My parents are doing such a good job with everything in the new house... its all looking so good!!! They got some new trees that were planted that are going to grow to be beautiful!!

At night we went to Su Casa for dinner. We hadn't been there since our rehersal dinner. I got so sentimental when I walked in I started to cry. That night was so special and sweet and perfect! With all the craziness that followed with the wedding I don't think I ever got to take in how special that night was. Everyone had such nice things to say. I WISH WISH WISH I could remember exactly what everyone said!!! It was definatly magical and unlike any rehersal dinner I've ever been too!! Perfection.... <3>

After dinner Harold and Papi had some rum and coke and smoked cigars... then sandy and jeff got there and mami finished doing her things... we were all just sitting on the dock and talking crap... It's probably the last time we would do this at the old house. We've had sooooooooo many awesome memories at this house. Our family had grown over the years... there's two new boys and two adorable dogs.... and a whole lotta LOVE... we are so lucky! I'm glad we had that moment on the dock - one last special moment in that very special house as a family =) Today we did some more stuff around the new house and stared at the ocean any chance we got! lol.. it was a nicer day than yesterday but still chilly.. We're gonna need to fill that house up with warm clothes if it doesn't warm up in the summer! It was a great weekend =D xoxo

Babysitter

This is Jaxon =)


Here's Roxie checking out the situation...



Soooo... yesterday I got to babysit Jaxon... Lets just say that Lissette is the shit for letting me practice with her 3 week old baby! It was just about 3 or 4 hours and WOW>.. I just had no idea!!! Really I thought the baby was going to sleep pee and eat.... but no... he cries then is happy then sleeps then cries..... eat... pee..... cry... sleep.... I know the mommies out there are laughing at me right now but I just didn't know!!!

It was great though! He was so cute and those few little seconds when he just looks at you and OH the smile!!! lol.... toooooo freaking cute! And watching harold with the baby when he got home from work was great too. He was 100 times more scared of the baby than me... he had no idea how to hold or feed him... it was funny.

Roxie was not loving the whole idea of a baby. She wasn't mean to him but she didn't give out any kisses either! She would bark like crazy at car seat. Oh and then when the baby went into a crying fit she was so worried! lol.. she would follow me around the house to make sure he was ok. I think she got extra happy when lissette came to pick up the baby and she could have all the attention again. We're gonna have to read some type of book about dogs and babies at some point! My poor little princes!!! She's my world and one says she'll have to share it with a BABY! lol

It was great helping out Lissette though. I for sure realized that its not an easy thing to do the baby thing on your own. I know Harold is going to be an amazing father.. I just don't know how I'll be! I think I want a baby and then I say.... SHIT.... I want my life! I've never considered myself to be a selfish person and all of a sudden I'm scared to give anything! Ayyy.... this is all so crazy....

Like my momma used to sing to me... "when i was young i asked my mother... what would i be.... will i be pretty... will i be rich... here's what she said to me.... que sera sera... what ever will be will bee... the future's not ours to see.... que sera sera... what will be will be......"

xoxo

Team Player

Today was a hectic day at work. I had two sick pts and "needy" family members... there is nothing wrong with "needy" family members.... there isn't... but shit they can be a pain in the ass!!! The exciting part of my day was with someone elses pt. They pt was transfered to the ICU cuz they were getting sicker...

When I walked into the room to help the doc out I had no idea how much i was about to learn! The doc inserted an electrical wire into the heart through a neck vein. Another nurse and I had to basically play with knobs on the control until we got the pacemaker to work. Once that was working ok the pt decided to crash (BAD).. so I guess really she wasn't ok =/

During codes I'm normally standing at the door watching what's going on and not doing much.... today i was helping to push medication and playing with the pacer for the doctor. It was SUPER COOOOOL! The coolest part was that I wasn't crapping in my pants and that I was able to play an active role within the team.... AWESOME!!!!!!!!!!

At one point the doctor called the time of death... as he's walking away the lady takes some breaths... scary for the girl who is scared of everything! lol.... anyways someone finds the machine to see if we can hear a pulse and VUALA.... we hear it!! The damn lady wasn't giving up so easily!!!! We did a few more things to her and stabilized her and she made it alive through the rest of the shift.... which is what counts.... making it to 7:30 pm (or till you walk off the unit!).

That's my story... its bedtime now... I switched a day with a lady at work so she can be off on friday with her kids so now i'm off tomorrow and working Thurs/Friday.. woo hooo!

xoox

Harold's Bday Weekend

We did some shopping for all the parties this weekend. We had the bright idea to leave some stuff by the door so we wouldn't forget it on Saturday morning... smart idea right?? NO! lol... while Harold and I were at the gym she got to the bread and ate about 4 buns! This is what she looked like when we got home. There were bread crumbs all over the place! She's so crazy!!

This is us hanging our with our little baby on Harold's birthday. We basically just hung out at the house all day and went to Outback for dinner. We were supposed to go somewhere else first and everyone was supposed to go... that turned into everyone getting complicated... We had a great time though. We went to Bougies (a bar).. it was COLD!!!! Sandy, Jeff, Steve, Vicky, John, Alana, Sharrie, Adam, and Tania came by. We smoked out of a Hooka and it was FUN! =)

Saturday morning you can not begin to imagine how cold it was in the keys! I mean COLD!!! Harold knew there was a cold front coming in and kept saying "It will be a SUNNY 65" .... well.... he forgot to ask for no wind and got a WHOLE LOTTA WIND! It was COLD!!!!

Our friends came over and some people he works with in the ER. They were Keys newbies and were all excited to go on a boat ride and ride jet ski's... They bay was CHOPPPPY and it was WINDY!!! and COLD!!!!!! We rode the boat over to the new house and hung out there for a little and then came back for the warm jaquzii and food. Everyone had a good time =)

At night we were hanging out talking shit and someone had the bright idea that the shrimp might be running since it was so cold.... Jeff got all excited and managed to convince ALL of us to bundle up and face the weather and go SHRIMPING!!! If we thought it was cold and windy during the day it was MUCH worse at night! Unfortunatly we were not well prepared and didn't have the right nets and caught NOTHING =/ We had a great time though which is what counts right????

Sunday was SUPER BOWL and we had yet another party. Everyone came over once again and there was a whole lotta food! We got a new grill for Harold's birthday so he got to break it in with wings for everyone. We had a fun night and I think everyone else did too =)

So that was our weekend! We both work Tue, Wed, and Thurs.... this will be my first three days in a row in the icu.... i should get to bed now and rest because i'm gonna need it!!!!

xoxo