HellO

Yikes,

I am still waiting for AA... Triple A jumped my car! AA is still unavailable. Guess no one reads my Blog, Huh?
Well it was "date nite" last night and Dad took me to Christian's Bistro in Plover and dinner was amazing. The martinis were sipped with six cheeses and the wine with dinner was extraordinaire. We actually spent almost three hours at dinner. We even went Creme Brule' for dessert.
As an old married couple of 34 years we talked a little about what bugged us about the other. I came up with "I eat alone every night cuz I can't cook and then wait til 7:30 pm and although dad has tried he never gets home til then. So today I am doing the cooking after 7:00 pm. and we will eat together. Imagine taking almost three years to figure this out. Oh I feel so smart! I am thinking if ya all can't figure your life out don't wait three years, drink martinis, call AAA, not AA!

I was so moved by Gretchen's e-mail I copied and pasted it to Barak Obama' WEB.
Well I just couldn't read it and not do something constructive with it. It actually fit in too which was surprising. Of course the names where omitted where appropriate....Here it comes flat at ya!
I thought I would share this with you guys...it was something that opened my eyes a little.I had a pt yesterday that just returned from redeployment. It was his 1st deployment and he was gone for 14 months. His recent work ups and appointments indicate that he has a lot of traumatic brain injury that he is currently suffering from and was recently started on some medications to help stabilize his condition. Yesterday after an episode occurred, I started reading through is charts to get the pt's history and found that I almost cried at least 5 times. (If I wasn't in a professional setting I probably would have lost it). It stated that he had a episode where an IED blew up and hit a bunch of Iraqi children playing outside. The pt ran over and grabbed one of them and starting running with the child. Since the episode the pt stated that he was unable to get rid of the blood and fumes of the child he was carrying. He has tried incense and many other medications but it won't go away. He has terrible flashbacks and nightmares at night and most mornings he wakes up on the floor. His wife approaches him slowly and places a pillow under his head. His story in his chart stated that the pt started crying when he said, "my son looked at me and said he gets scared to be around me in my sleep because I talk, scream things and use my arms violently." It also stated that the pt was unable to eat at restaurants because when he hears children screaming he starts having panic attacks that cause him to loose vision and black out.
Yesterday he went into behavioral health and started acting really strange. He was escorted over to the clinic and when he was evaluated by us, he didn't know his name and it took him 1-2 mins (not an exaggeration) to answer any questions. He had a very blank look on his face and many times he would get very angry and just want to run off. We had to DRK him (send him out via ambulance) and when we put him on the lift to bring him out he immediately tried ripping everything off of him, including his IV .He kept saying that he needed to get away and that he didn't understand why his battle buddy left him. ------ and I kept talking to him telling him he was in --------, Germany and not Iraq. He did not understand it and said he was in a Humvee. At times he would seem to snap back into reality and say slowing that he was in Germany. When the doctor came to escort him via ambulance he was given a tranquilizer to help him sleep. Before he went to sleep he said VERY slowly, "I just don't want to bother, harm or hurt anyone or myself." It was super sad...and it maybe hard to believe from the story but he was the sweetest guy ever.His history stated that before the deployment he was normal. There was a quote from his wife that he never did any of the things he does today. I know everyone reacts to different situations and copes with things differently but it blows my mind how much this person changed in the past year from his experiences.I talked to ------- (the other nurse who worked with me) about the situation for a long time after the pt was put in the ambulance. I told her that I was very impressed with her during the situation. She stayed right by the bedside the ENTIRE time, holding his hand. I told her at times I was scared he was going to hit me or try to become physical. ------- was an active duty nurse and served in Iraq in the ICU for 10 months in 2005. She too suffered severely from PTSD and she really was able to relate to this patient. ----- shared some stories with me...the pt's she took care of an the things she did. It broke my heart to hear some of the events that took place. She too gets very anxious and sweaty when she hears children crying. However, she has come a long long way since the deployment and she gave me hope that this soldier will one day be back to normal with some help. She said yesterday, "I never ever thought I could go back to nursing again. Right now I am fulfilling a dream I never thought was possible, and I hope to one day make it back to the ICU." She has been working at the clinic since -------, she was my ---------- for a long time and I think she is one of the most fantastic nurses I have ever worked with. I realize more and more how lucky I am.
I ask to explore more into the research on PTSD. In 1943 Maslow identified Heirachy of Needs. It is interesting but he sited "Safety" as a primary psychological need. Google Maslow.
I think I am on to something.