"Ledger 'died as the result of acute intoxication by the combined effects of oxycodone, hydrocodone, diazepam, temazepam, alprazolam, and doxylamine.' "
~Sad lessons from Heath Ledger's Death By Miriam Falco
Managing Editor, Medical News
This whole article was talking about how Heath Ledger did not have any of these medications in excess. That's scary! It was just the mere combination of these drugs that did it....and then I think about it. I can think of at least 3 people on my floor at the hospital that take unGODLY amounts of pain killers, sleeping aids, anti-anxiety medications for random chronic pain. It's scary. So many of these people end up being psych evaluated because doctors can't figure out what exactly is causing the pain, but they keep crying and carrying on no matter how many MAJOR painkillers we give them. We're talking about fentanyl patches, dilaudid pca's, with oxycodone and muscle relaxers, valium, etc....and people will still be saying their pain is horrible. It's unbelievable what people will take now for "chronic back pain". You know, my grandfather worked on a farm his whole life and I'm sure had "chronic back pain" and probably just took some motrin for it or a hot shower. I can't believe some of these people would want to live their life totally drugged out and bedridden because they keep taking pain meds. They don't even want to hear the pain management doctors talk about non-narcotic options for pain, like muscle relaxers or anti-depressant meds (which sometimes can be used for pain).
Most of the time, these are also the same patients that are too large to even move on their own and will call you in their room about every hour to 1. move a phone. 2. pull their light cord. 3. help move their leg because it's too big to move on their own. (these three things were all asked of me by one pt who kept ringing his bell....and everyone else was running around, so me, as the charge nurse, had to get up from what I was doing and go do this for him. And he's only in his 50's!) Sometimes the most depressing things coming from hospitals is not the sad stories of unexpected tragedies and accidents, but just humans in general not caring about the bodies God created for them. Our hospitals are just full of patients that do not take care of themselves and cannot do anything on their own. Now, I understand for all our little old ladies who are weak and will fall a lot. In fact, those are the ones who SHOULD be calling for help, but guess what?? They keep wanting to run around and keep moving. Ha.
I seriously could go on and on about this topic....but I must make myself stop.
In other news. I went snowboarding with a few nursing friends yesterday. Whitetail resort had free lift tickets for military, so the whole day on the mountain was free for us that own our board. :) It was so awesome. I also met a new friend who works in the NICU. She's been riding since she was 15, so we all got mini lessons from her. I went and tried to carve down one of the intermediate trails. TRIED. I did o...k...the first time. I had never had such a rush in my life. I was going fast and bouncing off little mounds of snow. I can't wait to get better and better. That's what's awesome about snowboarding. It's so hard, but each time you see yourself improve. It's a great feeling. Well, later in the day, I went again and did horrible. I kept falling and when I got to the end, I wanted to do it again because I was so mad. I did even worse. Bah. She said it looked like I was just tired, because I wasn't quite as good with my footwork. I was tired, but still. I got some air all right. Several times, I just went airborn and face planted into some icy snow and slid for about 15 feet. Snow flew up everywhere and I just laid there with a headache thinking about the helmet I should probably invest in. Ah. I'm quite sore, but excited to get back to the slopes again soon. Only one more trip on my advantage card and I get a free lift ticket. Shoot yeah! And, now we have another friend to ride with! We had joked about starting a club at the hospital. I'm so glad I got into riding. I can't wait someday to try out surfing too. Hopefully, it will seem like a piece of cake compared to this.
I've talked enough. I'm going to go back to watching the rockville pike drama unfold 16 stories below me. Something is going on at the white flint mall a block from me. I can see emergency vehicles, helicopters overhead, etc....maybe I should grab my binoculars.
No comments:
Post a Comment