Changes aren't permanent, but change is. - Rush, Tom Sawyer

Gotta update several things....it's been a while.

First, I saw this article on CNN and was so excited!
http://www.cnn.com/2009/US/07/27/starr.extraordinary/index.html

It describes two different wounded warriors that had polar opposite changes in their lives. The first one they talk about is Andrew Kinard (http://www.goupstate.com/article/99999999/INDEPTH/516552862/). When I first got to Bethesda and I was fresh out of nursing school and on my rotation in the ICU, I shadowed the nurse taking care of Andrew. It was def a wake up call. He was a 2LT in the Marine Corps and had graduated from the Naval Academy. Only weeks into his first deployment, he stepped on a roadside bomb and ended up losing about everything from his hips down. I walked in the room to a young guy, who was also my age, with a trach, unable to talk and nothing from the hips down. He was able to read lips really well and had an alphabet board so he could spell out things. Despite the fact that he could not talk, he was a flirt. Bright red hair and a wink. I remember thinking he was very cute and one day his nurse and I walked in and told him we were going to do a "head to toe" assessment and he spelled out that he didn't have toes and smiled. Very cute. I was only there a few days, but I was there the day the Commandant of the Marine Corps gave him his purple heart. We also hung Christmas lights and stockings in his room. I won't forget those few days. Now, I'm sure he'd never know who I was. He spent a lot more time on 5E, the surgical floor and would know those nurses, but still. It meant a lot for me to be there for a few days.

Anywho, he's very smart and in this article it talks about how he was accepted to Harvard's Law School. He can do anything he puts his mind to and is an inspiration to everyone around the world.


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Reconciliation. One important virtue that God wants us to understand is how to forgive and how to ask forgiveness. If you are a believer in God and try and walk with Him, you will def understand forgiveness. It's the whole reason He sent Jesus for us. No matter what was done, when it was done or how we lived our lives, God will always accept a honest heart who comes before him to seek reconciliation. In addition to that, He wants us to seek reconciliation with other people who we have hurt.

It's amazing the power of a clear heart and conscious after a long time of guilt. I may not have gotten the response I was expecting, but in a way, it was just what I needed. I didn't cry or feel sorry for myself. I didn't go to sleep wishing someone was with me or wake up feeling alone. It was actually the opposite. I felt victorious. God didn't care about his response. He only cared about how I handled the situation and it pleased him. In the end, the person's harsh response and bitter heart will only hurt him in the long run. I'm free to be a confident (still growing) woman of God.

I feel like my life is on a whole new path. Patients who are upset have been so understanding when their surgery is postponed for hours, surgeons have actually said "thank you" and I am probably the happiest I've been in a long time. It's that "Brady Bunch" kinda look where the person is skipping down the road smiling and talking to everyone. Ya, I've been like that so much that I think it's making people sick at work. haha.

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I never talked about my sister's visit. It was so great. We didn't have a whole lot planned. A lot of the time it was just us hanging out on my patio or watching movies. She did surprise me with a segway tour of DC (the absolute best way to do it!) and we ate lunch on the Potomac and shopped in Georgetown.


The first day didn't start off so great. It was rush hour and we had to switch trains at Chinatown (one of the busiest stations). I had my sister's suitcase so she wouldn't have to worry about it. The train was sooo packed and the platform so much that you couldn't move. People were just pushing and running, etc. i got on the train and heard the doors closing and someone jumped in front of my sis before she could get on and the doors closed. I will never forget looking at my sister's face through the metro doors while she was stuck on the platform and I was about to drive away. I kept yelling at her to "stay there!!!' through the doors. I knew I could get back to her, but she couldn't find me if we separated. Especially because you can't get cell reception down there. Long story, but I got back to the station and found her and we eventually got home. It made for an interesting beginning to the visit.



Later that night we were attacked by a cicada. It was awful. I lose control when attacked by those or roaches.....it ended with a couple bruises and a tear in my sliding screen door. (From my broom) Eventually, we conquered and killed him with some bathroom cleaner. :) Why is it every time she comes to visit horrible bugs attack us??


So, that's my long, overdue update. Until next time.

For every mistake we must surely be learning, still my guitar gently weeps. - The Beatles, While My Guitar Gently Weeps

Air Force probes surgery at base; Airman loses legs after gallbladder operation

A 20-year-old airman was in critical condition at University of California Davis Medical Center on Monday, after losing both legs in what his family described as complications of routine gallbladder surgery.

By Carrie Peyton Dahlberg

McClatchy Newspapers

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — A 20-year-old airman was in critical condition at University of California Davis Medical Center on Monday, after losing both legs in what his family described as complications of routine gallbladder surgery.

Neither the medical center nor Travis Air Force Base, where Airman 1st Class Colton Read underwent surgery this month, would comment on specifics of his case.

Travis said only that a "serious medical incident" occurred at its David Grant Medical Center on July 9 and is being investigated by the base, a national hospital accrediting commission and the U.S. Surgeon General.

Read, who was stationed at Beale Air Force Base east of Marysville, Calif., was supposed to get his gallbladder removed laparoscopically at the Travis hospital, said his wife, Jessica Read.

Instead, a device being threaded into his belly nicked or punctured the aorta, a large artery that carries blood from the heart throughout the body, she said.

Surgeons opened his abdomen and were able to repair the breach well enough to save his life, but in the process or afterward, something apparently disrupted the blood supply to his legs.

Jessica Read said she was told the aorta was sewn together incompletely and began leaking, and her husband was flown to UC Davis Medical Center late that afternoon for more specialized vascular surgery.

Her uncle, Dr. Michael Hines, a Texas surgeon, said he was told by the UC Davis surgeon who operated on Colton Read that two branching vessels from the aorta that carry blood to the legs were clotted and closed.

When the surgeon restored the blood supply to those iliac vessels, the legs were so badly swollen and damaged that blood circulated only down to the knees, leaving dead tissue below, Hines said.

Colton Read has undergone surgeries that removed first the lower-right leg, then the lower-left and more of the right, his wife said. Hines said he had "a hard time understanding how he ended up with no legs ... how you leave an operation without assuring that there is blood flow."

For her part, Jessica Read anguishes over the nearly nine hours, by her count, that passed from the initial surgical error until her husband was flown to Sacramento. She wonders if his legs could have been saved had he been moved more quickly.

"They were wasting time doing a sonogram, doing an angiogram, wasting so much time," she said.

When she arrived at UC Davis Medical Center, the surgeon there told her there was "a very real chance" her husband would not survive.

Since then, he has been doing a little better each day, gradually regaining kidney function and slipping in and out of consciousness, she said.

He knows he has lost his legs, but "I don't know how much of it sticks."

I can't believe this story. How awful. I read another one that mentioned another surgeon saying it's not the mistake that makes a surgeon, but what he does after that mistake. Very true in this case. What I think is even more awful that you don't see here are the comments at the bottom of the article. People started slamming military doctors saying they can't "hack" it in the civilian sectors. HA. I'm sorry.....but if you saw some of the men and women coming back from Iraq and Afghanistan and then what the doctors did to rebuild their face or give them legs again, you might be thinking something different. They do some things that civilians could NEVER think of. They have to perform medicine in situations that civilians would never want to be in. Mortars going off outside the hospital, people coming in after being out in the field for who knows how long, your treasured equipment isn't right next door when your trauma comes in with double amputeed legs. I'm just in awe of what our military doctors are doing and while this case shocked me and I can't EVEN imagine what it would be like to be the patient or his family....I can't stand for people generalizing and saying that all the military doctors are "POS"es as one comment put it.

here's the link if you would like to make a comment back: http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/politics/2009513180_surgery22.html

Freedom scares you because it means responsibility. - Dead Kennedys, Stars And Stripes Of Corruption

Wow. I'm going to sound like my dad here...but what is going on with people in this country???

What happened to what really founded this country. People that were willing to do anything to be on their own and have control over their own lives. They were tired of a monarchy that told them what to do. Freedom was given to American citizens and in turn, we all were responsible for ourselves. Now, no one wants to be responsible, we want the government to do everything and in turn, we give up our freedom. The more control we give the government (well, hell. They claim the control anyway...even if we protest), the less we get to choose for ourselves.

I don't want my family members to have worry about how long it will take to see a doctor and if they can have the procedure or if the government won't approve it....no. I don't like that at all. And not only that, but we'll be paying out the wazoo for this....and our children and their children....

And, HELLOOOOO. I wasn't a huge fan of Bush or anything, but everyone was ALL over him for his spending and Obama has him beat in the first few months! I'm not quite sure how that worked. All the people that complained about Bush are now rooting for the spending by Obama. I'm puzzled.

You want free health care? Join the military. Give something back to the government. Don't just put your hand out, expect everything to be given to you and then just spit in its face.

Now, I do believe that our current health care system does need to be looked at and changed, but I'm not so sure about what's being thought of right now.

Before anyone thinks that I'm too this or too that or too right or too left....I'm more less a libertarian. That's the closest I can claim to be. I believe we should all take care of ourselves. There are too many opportunities these days to sit back and say they can't improve their situation. I know plenty of men and women that had no way out and were in a dead end situation and joined the military. Through that, they have gone from living dirt poor to being the first in their family to get a college degree and be able to afford food for their family.

There are no excuses.

My morning song. Just what I needed.

Why are you striving these days
Why are you trying to earn grace
Why are you crying
Let me lift up your face
Just don't turn away

Why are you looking for love
Why are you still searching as if I'm not enough
To where will you go child
Tell me where will you run
To where will you run

And I'll be by your side
Wherever you fall
In the dead of night
Whenever you call
And please don't fight
These hands that are holding you
My hands are holding you

Look at these hands and my side
They swallowed the grave on that night
When I drank the world's sin
So I could carry you in
And give you life
I want to give you life

Cause I, I love you
I want you to know
That I, I love you
I'll never let you go

-By Your Side by Tenth Avenue North

He's going the distance. -Cake

So, today wasn't the best running experience I've had, but there is something I want to share. A friend at work showed me runningahead.com. It's a way to keep your running training in a log and will help you map out your runs, etc. I'm going to try and keep it up to speed for some of you to follow (and for my own tracking).

I think I'm getting a chest cold and I had a hard time taking deep breaths today, so I only did 2 miles. I am going to add the link to my blog as well. Help encourage me to get running and increase the amount! Thanks!

http://www.runningahead.com/logs/16c720e1d12e463189236291c5eb1595/profile

I can remember the 4th of July, running through the backwoods bare. - Creedence Clearwater Revival, Born On The Bayou

My last 4th of July in the Nation's Capital (while living here, at least). It was a great day. Ali and I headed all over the dc area just bumming around and then we eventually all met up for the concert and fireworks. I have no idea how we managed to find everyone, but we did and it was awesome! Then, walked to Gordon Bierch while everyone ran to the metro. Had good food and then got really sleepy and headed back home.

And, oh yes. I got called before the fireworks to let me know I had to go into work this morning to discharge a patient that was admitted for an emergency surgery and was staying overnight. Fun times. Right. At least I got to see the show!

I've got such good friends up here. I'm really going to miss them.

It is such a cool feeling to celebrate Independence Day here in Washington, DC. :)

Walking the mall

...And finding our firework spot! Right near where they will be shot off. :) enjoying a concert by the army band.

2nd stop- Navy memorial

4th of july- 1st stop Chinatown

I was craving some texas bbq, but capitol q bbq was closed! I settled for potbelly's instead! My friend and I are chillin on the portrait gallery's steps and watching pigeons fight over mcdonald's french fries! Next stop, national mall. Happy 4th of july!

I see a red door, and I want to paint it black. No colors anymore, I want them to turn black. - The Rolling Stones, Paint It Black

I opened my mailbox today and saw the black envelope. No way. Had I really been invited? I was slightly excited and opened the envelope. Sure enough. I am one of the 1% of people that Visa preapproves for the Visa Black Card. This card is made of carbon and has the hook up for all sorts of travel and VIP options. It costs $495 annual fee. I prob won't actually sign up for it, but I get multiple credit card applications every day and this one is like no other....I was ecstatic just to get it. I might think about it some. I've paid off all my credit cards though and don't really want to get any more, but I know in order to keep my credit as good as I have it, I should be putting some stuff on and paying it off the next month. We'll see.

I just felt like the cool kids invited me to a party. tee hee.