Keep Fighting

So, I'm going to avoid any HIPAA violations and not mention anything personal about my patient that you've read about for 3 days. But here are the sweet moments of his stay with me.

1. Hugs from the family about a week into everything
2. Being asked for by name by his family members
3. Chocolate chip walnut homemade cookies brought by his family
4. The patient's mom's ensuring my AC gets fixed or else she's sending someone out to do it herself
5. Having the neurosurgeon tell me he's going to wake up, that he can survive
6. Knowing he never even got a whiff of a pressor
7. The bracelets his friends made for support and being provided one to wear proudly myself (see above, they mention his name but that would be poor HIPAA form)
8. When he tolerated tube feeds
9. When he looked me in the eye for the first time
10. When he tried to stop me while I was changing his gastrostomy tube
11. When his grandpa told me "I know you won't bullshit me. But you'll still be upbeat."
12. Making it off the ventilator
13. Fist bumps with his Dad when I had good news, or met goals I had set for us (like his TBili being less than 1.5...it was 1.4 on the day he left)
14. Sweet elbow bumps and waves from them as they walked by when I was working on notes
15. Visits with his family in the waiting room (about my own personal life too)
16. Having an attending stand up for him in conference by saying he wouldn't be a vegetable and that he would wake up (I wasn't the only one that believed!)
17. Presenting him in trauma conference and OWNING him as my patient and being proud of my management
18. Giving updates to the OR staff on his condition/disposition (especially calling to tell them he had been transferred out!)
19. Lingering in his room a bit longer to catch more Looney Tunes while I was working with him

And my most favorite:
The day he was transferred out, I had worn bumble bee earrings. Most of you know, I collect bee things. (Mom and Dad always called me Miss B...which turned into Miss Bee...Dr. Bee...and a love for bee stuff). I hadn't worn bee earrings in at least a month. One of the ICU nurses commented on them, and then Dad's eyes started to well up. Apparently, there is a motivational speaker out there (I couldn't repeat her name even if I tried) that uses the bumble bee analogy that I used for a previous blog post title. She speaks to the fact that aerodynamically speaking, a bumble bee should not be able to fly. Yet, they go on flying anyway. I've always enjoyed that little fact about bees myself. It's part of the reason I've never been hesitant to adopt them as my personal "symbol". On August 30 (the day I put those earrings on for my last call on the rotation), this motivational speaker had called the patient's mom with full knowledge of the situation and to offer support--out of the clear blue. And my precious little Kate Spade bumble bee earrings served as a reminder of that we can overcome things that shouldn't be possible. Maybe my patient shouldn't be alive, but he goes on living anyway. And maybe he shouldn't be doing as well as he is, but he keeps on doing it. That makes me proud. Proud of my patient, and proud to be Dr. Bee.

Pet-Friendly Accomodations

I have two dogs that I haven't told you much about to this point. Sadly, just four months ago, I had three dogs prior to losing my oldest (and my first) greyhound to cancer. Chester was a sweet man, so this post is in honor of him.

Chester "Man" Culp June 1999-December 2010

 

So when I had three dogs in just 1100 square feet, I needed a place to escape the pups. That was hard to do! Not only that, but they were pretty destructive when I first moved in. I hardly ever use my bottom floor (unless it's for a quick run to the bathroom on the way in/out the door), but the dogs were forced to use it to access the patio/yard for their own potty time. With that in mind, I made the guest bedroom The Dog Room. This room has gone through quite a metamorphosis in less than a year, it's been changed numerous times; hopefully, that's all going to change soon. Brewster, Chelsea, you hear that? Mom doesn't need any reasons to change the room yet again!

First, there were the leftovers from my guest room in my previous house. It looked fabulous, but the room was REALLY cramped. There really wasn't any way to get to the doggie door without jumping on the bed and off again.

 

Then, I traded the queen bed in for a day bed. Check out all the floor space! Again, it looked great...for awhile anyway. The dogs ended up really tearing this room apart, the light colors really didn't play well with the mud and dirt from the yard.

The first of many random Brewster appearances 

So after my adorable little anthropologie inspired room turned into dingy, mud stained shreds, I decided it was time for a change. The dogs needed something that didn't show dirt as much (AND I put in artificial turf), and I needed something with less upkeep. At the same time, I had decided to redo my place with a more cohesive feel. I had too many colors and too many themes in 1100 square feet. My favorite all-time color combo is black and white, and this little townhouse was perfect for it. While every room in my house (except the dining room which is really just a variation on the theme) now has black and white with an accent color. I chose yellow for the dog room so I could bring in my bee collection with all its glory!

I took the old Euro shams and quilt from my master bedroom in my previous house (someday I'll post about it so you'll fully understand the "leftovers") and added the grey duvet and an odd collection of pillows. Obviously my favorite being Brewster's portrait in crafty form! I couldn't help but use Andrew Wyeth's "Master Bedroom" as the main art piece here, I've always loved the piece and it speaks to the purpose of the room! Although it's not pictured here, there is an actual dog bed in this room, it basically serves as a wonderful trap with which to trip Mom, or a place to pout. Otherwise, Chelsea claims this as her own most days.

Plenty of fun "vintage" posters featuring dogs exist, but this one was fun, bright, and perfect for what I needed. The bright yellow bee pieces are a collection I've had for years now. Thanks to Target, I was able to throw in great storage cubbies too!

Obviously, I had to redo the bathroom at the same time. While it is still in progress, here's what we have so far.

BEFORE: (Leftovers from the previous house)

AFTER: Black and yellow, black and yellow, black and yellow. Who knew it'd make it on the Top 40?

  

While we're at it, I'm just going to finish off the "bottom" floor. The 1st floor really  just has two other things, the laundry and a small entryway filled with stairs. Well, and a place for keys and my only excuse for purple in the whole house. FYI, the candle isn't dirty, it's just been used...a lot!

Look at that! A whole floor! And you've already seen half of the 2nd floor! Just one and a half more to go. Brew and Chels are pretty worn out from today's tour, but I'm sure they'll be making plenty more appearances soon! 

and Brewster "Bear" and Chelsea "Pretty Girl" Culp