Patrick's Wedding

A few weeks ago my step-brother Patrick got married in the most unusual ceremony; it took place on separate continents! The story goes something like this:
Patrick goes on a missions trip to Brazil and meets a beautiful young woman. They become friends and stay in contact even after Patrick returns to the US. A year goes by and once again Patrick returns to Brazil on another missions trip. Friendship turns to a deeper interest and the two fall in love. Patrick goes to Brazil again and this time stays for 6 months living with the girl's brother. While in Brazil he proposes, she says yes... Unfortunately he made his proposal on some of his final days in Brazil before his visa expired. Brazilian law requires a person to be outside the country at least 6 months before they can even apply for a new visa, there is also a longer waiting period for marriage certificates.
Oh drat!! What to do now? Well... Here's what happened. Before leaving Brazil Patrick gave his then future mother-in-law power of attorney to sign the marriage certificate for him; marriage by proxy! Patrick came home and everyone waited. Finally Eliza (his new bride) called to say they had secured a court date. The marriage would happen April 18th at 6 am our time. They were married in a bilingual (Portuguese and English) wedding via webcam.
After the wedding Patrick took a trip to Hawaii with his brother Tyler and his mom. So... Patrick's wife married her mother and Patrick went on his honeymoon with his brother. I always knew they were a little "different."
Patrick leaves for Brazil to be with is new bride this Thursday. Congratulations Patrick and Eliza!

Cambodia and Curriculathons

Hello all, sorry it's been a while since I last posted. How do I sum up the last several weeks? May 8th marked the official end of the school year. I got to wear my regalia at the pinning for the first time. Who knew there was so much involved with putting that stuff on?
After the pinning it was decided that year had come to a sort of abrupt end so Janel and I decided that a twilight picnic at the waterfront with Cheerios and milk was in order. What a perfect way to end the year, it was amazing.
A few days later three of us went hiking at Mt. Si (Little Si). We managed to miss the rain and actually ended up having a great view from the top. On the way back down we ended up encountering some unaccompanied dogs. Long story short they followed us all the way down. One of the then ran off but we walked around the neighborhood trying to see anyone recognized the other. We ended up taking her to a 24 hour vet (it was late by this time) who took her in for the night. I must admit I seriously thought of adopting her if she hadn't have found her home.
The last few paragraphs make it sound like I've been doing nothing but playing since school has been out. Nope, I'm still working at UW; and when I'm not there I can be found either in my office at school or on my couch engaging in more curriculathons. Mexico City is now officially NURS 4910 and has four registered students! I've been working on curriculum maps, grading rubrics, syllubi, international travel policies and like ever since (and before) it's official approval.
Oh yeah... And I offered some of my abundant medical supplies to a medical team going to Cambodia in July. They roped me into going... More details to follow!

Purpose

Last week at work I was caring for an African-American woman in her mid 40s who had congestive heart failure, a recent MI and left sided paralysis from a stroke. This woman, Sue (not her real name), has been in the hospital since November and her prognosis is poor. She is in dire need of a heart transplant but sadly her left hemiparesis makes her ineligible. The severity of her heart condition has made her balloon pump-dependant, yet she refuses to give up and does not want to be put on hospice. Most of the staff are starting to get tired of working with her as she can be a little particular about her care and also suffers from chronic pain.

It had been a busy day, and we were in the process of admitting a patient to the room next to hers. The new patient was a woman in her mid 60s who had come to ICU from the oncology floor where they could no longer manage her low blood pressure. The woman was confused and frightened, crying out loudly and attempting to get out of bed.

When I went back into Sue’s room to assess her balloon pump, we could still hear the woman in the next room crying and retching. Sue’s first response was,

“I hope that lady is OK over there. Dear Jesus, I just want to pray for that lady that you will put your healing hand on her and give her and her family peace and comfort, and for the doctors and nurses that You would give them wisdom to take care of her.”

When she finished her prayer I asked, “Have you been our prayer warrior the whole time you have been here?”

“Praying for people is just something that God has put on my heart, and what better thing to do in a hospital while I’m lying here in bed?” she replied.

“Sue, maybe that’s why God has you here right now.”

A few days later I found myself taking care of Sue again. Sue’s neighbor has gotten progressively worse and it was feared she would die that day. That afternoon I could hear music coming from Sue’s room. It was Sue and her family and friends singing gospel songs. “We’re having a praise fest in here, come on and join in,” yelled her mom over the accompaniment CD. Only moments later, Sue’s neighbor passed away. They had sung her into eternity.

Mexico City or Bust!

The president and provost have spoken, Mexico City is a go! I will take with me 4 of the junior nursing students and this trip will serve as a pilot program to explore more opportunities for future such nursing courses. I sent out applications last week and this next week we will be making some decisions. I'm still potentially looking for other RNs who might be interested in going as part of our group.
Now it's on to more long curriculathons! YAY!

Overcoming Blood Part 2

This week has been the long awaited "IV week" at school. We finally were able to get the materials we needed for the students to learn IV starts. Never has there been a more anticipated yet feared skills lab in all of nursing school history. Do you think the fact the students practice on eachother might have something to do with it?
I asked for a volunteer to demonstrate and IV start on and to my surprize obtained one without difficulty. Only later did I find out that this particular student isn't overly fond of needles. She could have fooled me, she did just fine!
Though I know that this skill can be very difficult for many of the students, there is one who seemed to have a little more apprehension about it than the others. After one of the practice sessions I kicked out my other students and kept this one... First we worked on putting on the tourniquet, then palpating the viens, then drawing blood and finally starting an actual patent IV. She performed the skills beautifuly and left my arm "hematoma free." I'm not sure why but for some reason the most difficult part was touching the veins. But... She was determined and willing to work hard to overcome this and she did! I know it sounds a little strange but I came away so inspired by this!
Just two days later I found myself in a situation that was difficult for me, one that I despirately wanted to overcome. I thought about how she had overcome. I decided to pray and to tell myself "I can overcome because it has already been overcome for me by the blood of lamb."
Throughout this past week I have seen many of the students "overcome blood" but the overcoming blood... Another "happy teacher moment!"
John 16:31
"I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world."

Overcoming Blood

I was reading a book by one of my favorite authors Paul Brand and came across something very fascinating. The chapter was describing the development of the smallpox vaccination and an expedition sent out by the king of Spain to vaccinate Bogota Columbia in the midst of a smallpox outbreak. They had now to way to preserve the live vaccine during the long voyage so they created a human chain to incubate the vaccine during the months it took to reach Bogota.
The chapter went on to describe how the body's immune system creates antibodies specific to invaders that it has been exposed to. This is how a vaccine works, either by exposing the body to a weakened form of the invader allowing the body to create it's own antibodies or, in the case of immune globulin, by directly giving the body antibodies to protect against a given threat.
The next point Dr. Brand made was what blew my mind... We have a saviour who came to live among us in human form. He was despised and rejected, temped and ultimately killed all so that we could have eternal life. He overcame these things for us so that by his overcoming blood, we too can be overcomers! This brings a whole new meaning to "this is my blood which shed for you and body which was broken for you." We truly are saved by the blood of the lamb.
I took the opportunity to discuss this with my students this week. We ended up having a little Passover Seder in post clinical conference. There truly is power in the blood!

Foleys for the Philippines!

A few months ago I received a donation of some 700 Foley catheters from a pharmacy in Bellevue. Some of the catheters went to the nursing lab for the students to learn and practice procedures on, the several hundred others have been sitting on shelves in my office awaiting shipment.
Picture this, used urinary catheters washed being washed and hung up to dry on bushes. That's the reality in many places around the world. Studies show that in the US alone approx. 25% of hospitalized patients with indwelling urinary catheters develop bladder infections, 30% of those go on to develop a systemic infection. How imagine what these numbers might be like in places where the catheters don't come out of sterile packages.
A friend of mine from work had been a nurse in the Philippines for several years before coming to settle in the United states with her husband and children. She still keeps in contact with those she worked with and sends several packages a year to friends and family still living in the area. Long story short, we have found a home for our Foleys and developed an unofficial "Foleys for the Philippines" program. We're hoping to be able to start shipping the Foleys in May.
Kind of funny the things you get excited about when you're a nurse... :)