The Babbling Brooke

Good Morning everyone! If this post gets to babbling just give it up to the writer being tired from working all night! Yes, the whoas of being a night shifter! I have done it for 8 years now so I think my body has adjusted pretty well, but the staying up after work to care for munchkins can be trying. It is nice while Joseph attends summer school to only have one to watch over. It is also nice that Anna gives Mommy a chance to sleep for around 60minutes to recharge her batteries. I think she realizes that Mommy needs a little shut eye or Julianna just might get a short tempered parent to deal with (which is not a pretty site lol).

I said that I would give everyone an update. I am just at a loss as to where to begin. Okay let us start with health! First and foremost is my mom who is doing well and down to her last two chemo treatments. The PET scan they did showed now cancerous looking uptake areas YIPPEE!! They are also almost sure that the radiation treatments do not have to be given. I hope we are saying goodbye to Hodgkin's Lymphoma forever. My mom's spirits are really high and she is talking everyday about how she cannot wait to come up and see us. She wants to see the sights so badly and sit on the beach with her feet in the ocean. I will facilitate this if possible even if I have to play chauffeur or flight attendant. I am just so thankful to God that He has allowed her cancer journey to be good with just a few rough spots. I think He knows that ever since her stroke the limit of her patience and nerves is next to nil!

The munchkins also had another round of ear infections. Anna's asthma flared up and we had to start the wonderful daily breathing treatments of Pulmicort and Xopenex back up. Dr. Benilevi also started her on Zyrtec nightly and Nasonex nasal spray to each nostril daily. Oh boy! The nasal spray was fun the first few doses. Did you know that children can turn into little feisty bull sharks? Try giving a new nasal spray to one, you will understand my drift!

On the children being feisty bull sharks note there is also Joseph! Hearing aides were good for one thing for my son. They kept his ears sparkling!!! Now with Cochlear implants that actually help him hear we have the ongoing battle of keep earwax buildup to a minimum! This proves to be a challenge when you really cannot use Q-tips as effectively due to the wiring around the cochlea and the sensitivity of the eardrum itself. I thought I saw brownish hints that I could not get to without the proper instruments in both his ears! On our first visit to the new ENT I asked if she could get out what was in there! Let me just say that it took 3 of us to hold the boy down! Thank God we did though because the old adage of growing potatoes cannot describe the hunks of brown stuff that came from both ears! It was embarrassing:( I also think I will up his fight power from bull shark to tiger or great white! Thankfully the new ENT, Dr. Vambutas is very nice. His programming session went much better though and we are happy to report that he is still hearing at normal conversational levels (20-30 decibels). We have 4 new programs for both ears and a recheck appointment setup for Aug. 20. The new audiologists are very nice. We still miss you all a Dayton Children's though, it still feels like we are missing a piece of Joseph's hearing journey family! I hope all of you are doing well!


Oh and last but not least on health notes. Julianna is the first of the two hooligans to get stitches. Yes, Stitches!!! Nadeem decided it was great fun to twirl the kids around one night before bed. Joseph decided that he could be a big boy and model after Abu and twirl Anna around. He made it halfway around and then BOOM! He dropped her mid-twirl on the hardwood floor. This resulted in a nice little cut right under her chin. Mommy and Anna had to make and ER visit to get stitches. It was just about an all-nighter for both of us because we got home around 3am! Thankfully the area has healed up nicely! Oh and let me just tell you that the bull shark came out of her when the doc did the lidocaine shot! But, other than that moment I am very proud of what a BIG girl she was!


As for travels, they have just been local jaunts to the beach or park. Nothing overly exciting as the work schedules have not allowed. We will go to Maine at some point though! Give me a road map, several days off in a row, a tank of gas, a camera and later gator! I want to see the countryside and a moose lol. Nadeem is also excited but he wants to take the GPS. Help me convince him to leave it at home! I like road maps soooooo much better than that bossy female voice telling you to turn here, stop there, etc. Oh wait is that the GPS or the front seat driver (ME)! I guess maybe there is no difference lol.

The job is still interesting! Why is it that the most tiniest patients are the ones who can kick your butt and take 4-5 people to hold down? I don't know but it never fails! Why is it that I am much more patient (no pun intended) with elderly males than females? I don't know but it never fails! Why is it that I get frustrated because I feel that the true art of taking care of patients is being overshadowed by the ever oppressing charting regime? That statement is true and shared by colleagues in both OH and NY sectors! Why is it that families cannot figure out that after wet to dry dressings that the scabbed tissues of a pressure ulcer wound will start sloughing off and may not smell or look pretty? I don't know but it never fails! Why is it that the nurse can give a very thorough answer but until the patient hears it from the doc it is null and void? I don't know but it never fails! Got to love nursing! Oh the stories to tell and the patients that will never be forgotten! I may grumble and complain a little but I still love its challenges!

Okay I am getting supremely wordy. I am tired and yawning. Nadeem has left for work. Joseph's at school. Anna is busy watching Sesame Street. I think it is time for that power nap I mentioned earlier!!! Oh by the way! Did they have to change the opening song for Sesame Street to a punked up raplike version? I miss the old one! I am admitting it! I am getting old and turning into my mother in some respects:)

I guess I better leave a thought for the day or friends like Jenrummy will kick me. I do it on facebook, so I guess I better here too. Thought for the day-It is not learning to survive the storm. It is learning how to dance in the midst of the thunder, lightning, and rain!

TaTa for now! The one thing I like about blogging is that it allows me to be very wordy! Facebook sets a limit on my babbling:) Have a good day everyone!!