Hazards of the Nursing Career from 2007
Well, tonight I am exhasuted and I'm sad. Today I was working a 16 hour shift, and I decided to run downstairs to another unit where 2 of my favorite residents are. They are "my men." I have thought a lot of them since I have worked there. Well, I find out one of them, "C," is in the hospital VERY sick. Then another, "S," was also in the hospital. I knew that S was in the hospital, but I had planned to go visit him in the morning with the children. His eyes always lit up when my children came around. He and his wife only had one child.
Well, I find out that S had died this evening. I am still so much in shock. This man was the kindest, funniest man I have ever been in contact with. We used to laugh and carry on. He wasn't a man of many words, and couldn't talk, due to a stroke he had, but he could get out what he wanted to say. He would get so mad over something and he could get the cuss words out perfect. Shit was one of his favorite words. He told me one morning when I walked into his room that I had better leave. When I asked him why, he told me that he was a mean son of a bitch! I couldn't believe my ears. He then burst into laughter and gave me a big ol hug. He loved baseball. His favorite team was the Baltimore Orioles. He used to love to go to Camden Yards to watch them play when he was able to. He had a tv in his room that he would watch spring training, games, ESPN, everything. My hubby and our son Levi went to Camden Yards last year and brought him back a program with a poster of which he displayed in his room. At Christmas this year, he told me that he wanted a drink of bourbon. Well, in a nursing home, you can have a doctor's order for what is called a "toddy." So, I made the arrangements that I needed to and got permission, and on Christmas Eve I went and drank bourbon with him before I went home. It didn't take much for him to get a lil woozy, but we talked and laughed and had a great time that evening. I called him the "Pimp Daddy" or "Hugh Hefner" of our facility because he always had his pj's on, and liked to watch Girls Gone Wild at 2 a.m.! LMAO! I made sure that I made it down to see him and C even if I wasn't working on the unit they were on, everytime I worked. They both thought I gave the best manicures and would come and find me, on whatever unit I was on, so I could give them a manicure.
C is in the hospital and he is not doing so well. The doctor's say that his prognosis is not well at all. C has really made me laugh time and time again. He is a double leg amputee and when I first came to work there, he tried to play the same trick on me he did with all of the new CNA's. He asked me to go and find his socks and shoes in his closet when I was getting his clothes out for him. Well, I reminded him that he didn't have any legs. He asked me why did I have to discriminate against him! Then he laughed and told me I was alright. I felt like I had proved myself to him. He can tell some of the dirtiest jokes that I always jump all over him for saying. This next one will really prove we are like family. I came to work one morning with really bad stomach cramps. I really just felt like I needed to pass gas or poop. Well, I was getting his roomate out of bed, bent over, and farted like I have never heard anyone fart. I didn't even realize it came out. He just looked at me and laughed and told me that I was the one who farted first, so now we were family. Then he used to tease me and ask me was I going to blow whenever I was around him. I was never embarrassed either about that because he is family and if you can't fart in front of your family, who can you?
I just feel so out of control here and I shouldn't. I'm going to be a nurse and I know these things happen, I know the disease processes that take over the body's functions. But, when you take care of these people everyday for years, it's hard. It really is. These are my men, my residents. I have cried with them, laughed with them, gotten pissed off with them, had good times with them, loved with them, and most importantly, took care of them when no one else could or would. These men may not have had much to give, but they have given me so much. They really have fed my soul. Life is what you make it. Life is how you live it. Life is what you want it to be. I hope that all of you reading this really take into consideration just how precious life is. Think, if you can make a difference in one person's life, you have done something worthwhile in your lifetime.
Well, I find out that S had died this evening. I am still so much in shock. This man was the kindest, funniest man I have ever been in contact with. We used to laugh and carry on. He wasn't a man of many words, and couldn't talk, due to a stroke he had, but he could get out what he wanted to say. He would get so mad over something and he could get the cuss words out perfect. Shit was one of his favorite words. He told me one morning when I walked into his room that I had better leave. When I asked him why, he told me that he was a mean son of a bitch! I couldn't believe my ears. He then burst into laughter and gave me a big ol hug. He loved baseball. His favorite team was the Baltimore Orioles. He used to love to go to Camden Yards to watch them play when he was able to. He had a tv in his room that he would watch spring training, games, ESPN, everything. My hubby and our son Levi went to Camden Yards last year and brought him back a program with a poster of which he displayed in his room. At Christmas this year, he told me that he wanted a drink of bourbon. Well, in a nursing home, you can have a doctor's order for what is called a "toddy." So, I made the arrangements that I needed to and got permission, and on Christmas Eve I went and drank bourbon with him before I went home. It didn't take much for him to get a lil woozy, but we talked and laughed and had a great time that evening. I called him the "Pimp Daddy" or "Hugh Hefner" of our facility because he always had his pj's on, and liked to watch Girls Gone Wild at 2 a.m.! LMAO! I made sure that I made it down to see him and C even if I wasn't working on the unit they were on, everytime I worked. They both thought I gave the best manicures and would come and find me, on whatever unit I was on, so I could give them a manicure.
C is in the hospital and he is not doing so well. The doctor's say that his prognosis is not well at all. C has really made me laugh time and time again. He is a double leg amputee and when I first came to work there, he tried to play the same trick on me he did with all of the new CNA's. He asked me to go and find his socks and shoes in his closet when I was getting his clothes out for him. Well, I reminded him that he didn't have any legs. He asked me why did I have to discriminate against him! Then he laughed and told me I was alright. I felt like I had proved myself to him. He can tell some of the dirtiest jokes that I always jump all over him for saying. This next one will really prove we are like family. I came to work one morning with really bad stomach cramps. I really just felt like I needed to pass gas or poop. Well, I was getting his roomate out of bed, bent over, and farted like I have never heard anyone fart. I didn't even realize it came out. He just looked at me and laughed and told me that I was the one who farted first, so now we were family. Then he used to tease me and ask me was I going to blow whenever I was around him. I was never embarrassed either about that because he is family and if you can't fart in front of your family, who can you?
I just feel so out of control here and I shouldn't. I'm going to be a nurse and I know these things happen, I know the disease processes that take over the body's functions. But, when you take care of these people everyday for years, it's hard. It really is. These are my men, my residents. I have cried with them, laughed with them, gotten pissed off with them, had good times with them, loved with them, and most importantly, took care of them when no one else could or would. These men may not have had much to give, but they have given me so much. They really have fed my soul. Life is what you make it. Life is how you live it. Life is what you want it to be. I hope that all of you reading this really take into consideration just how precious life is. Think, if you can make a difference in one person's life, you have done something worthwhile in your lifetime.
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