Look at this - a THIRD post in one week... :)
I just thought I'd talk a little bit about work today. Today was such a busy day, and I love these days the best. I always feel a little guilty saying that, seeing as how I work in a hospital - and a busy day for me means that people are sick or in pain or having to have surgery or procedures... not good!
Anyway, on with the day. I work in the Burn Clinic in the mornings, and lately there have not been so many kids. However, today made up for the entire week! I think the most interesting thing I saw today was a little girl having her head scanned so that a mask can be made for her. This mask is used to cover the burn scars on her face. Putting pressure on those scars with a mask help to keep the scars from building up and becoming thick. Anyway, the process was so unique and interesting. The PT (side note: I love the girls in PT that I get to work with - they always let observe new things they are doing and let me know when there are kids that could use help , too!) Anyway, they have this computer attached to a scanner - the scanner looks just like one in a store. She scans the person's face all over, and the person's image appears on the screen in 3D (4D?). She did this a few times to make sure that a good complete picture was made. Then she sends all of those scans in to a company that makes the mold for the mask. When it comes back to the hospital here, they can melt plastic over the mold and fit the mask to the person's face. Technology is crazy! (And expensive, by the way)
Well, the little patient today did SO WELL. She held so still and I think she even liked it :) When she first came into the clinic, she was scared and didn't want anyone to come near her, because she knows exactly what kinds of things happen in the clinic (dressing changes, blood pressure, things that 3 year olds don't like). But, we showed her exactly what the scanner did, and she thought it was pretty neat. She was so cute.
There were many other patients in the clinic which kept me pretty busy. One child had an MRSA abscess. Usually, people with these will have surgery, so the infection is removed from inside and then packed with medicine (this paper-like medicine that literally is packed into the wound). Then they come back to have the dressing changed and the medicine taken out, and then the wound has to be re-packed with medicine until it is healed. This patient is great - talkative and a good personality... did great with her surgery. She freaked out, though, when it came time to re-pack the wound - it really freaked her out that the medicine had to go inside a little bit - and WHO CAN BLAME HER - that freaks me out thinking about it! Anyway, finally the nurse said that she could do it herself if she wanted - so she did! All it took was her having a little control over her situation, and she actually packed her own wound! (It didn't have to go far in at all, just so you know... it's not like she was shoving anything into a big open wound ;).
So... after the clinic busy-ness... then comes the scariest part of the day. While walking down one of the hallways, I hear this man yelling so loud. Then, I see a woman walking very quickly away from the man. He's yelling at her to come back and walking toward her. I have no clue what it was about, but that man was so mad... like so angry it makes you nervous to be around, and it gives me chill bumps. I hate when people get that angry - it's so scary - you just wonder what they are going to do. Anyway, I had to walk past him to get to where I was going, and the whole time I'm just thinking 'Please don't swing at me, please don't hit me." I think he was blind (he had these shades on), so I was scared he would hear my footsteps and think I was the woman and then he'd hit me. BUT he didn't :) So... security was called, and I guess that was taken care of. When I see stuff like that, I'm reminded of just how different some people's lives are. I can't imagine being as angry as that man - and I can't imagine being the person he is mad at... that has to be scary. I always wonder what people's lives are like when they are in their homes, away from public... makes me sad.
So, after that, I was planning to meet another one of the PT girls to work with one particular little patient that has been in the hospital almost as long as I've been there. I can't give any details of the patient, but this child is so special and is going through unimaginable life circumstances at such a young age. I feel constantly challenged at trying to 'reach' this child and to help her have a little normalcy in the hospital. For weeks, I've been trying to think of different ways we can 'play'... this child's mobility is extremely limited, so ya gotta get creative. Anyway, I made this Memory game that we can play together. Actually the game company made the game - ha - I just adapted it to be able to play on a stand-up board. Put velcro on the pieces and cover up a big wooden screen with felt, and you have a stand-up memory game! We played that while he was having PT, and honestly, she did not seem very interested - but then again, lately he has not been responding back much to us at all. Usually, she shakes or nods her head to respond, but I think he has been agitated lately... so I've seen lots more "NO" shakes than head nods lately! Anyway - after PT, I stayed around to play some more, and I figured she just wanted to watch movies as usual. As soon as I took the game down, he got upset, so I put it back up and asked if she wanted to play - and he nodded! Woohoo - she likes it! I know that sounds so trivial - but I was just so excited that she actually found something he liked besides a movie! She actually likes to be read to, too, but we've done so much of that - I think he really needs something new and different. So... I think now that I have that board set up, we could probably adapt a lot of other things to do with it... so we'll see :)
All in all, it was such a productive day at work! Those don't happen every day, but it is so rejuvenating when they do. Even on these days, I still feel like I'm a slacker... I still didn't see all the kids upstairs, and I want to start working with kids in the OR more - prep them for surgery, check in while they are waiting... but something is just keeping me from diving in full force there. Today was too busy with the clinic and the other patients, and I wouldn't have made it to the OR anyway - but hopefully I'll start feeling more comfortable in all areas of the hospital and be able to do more there.
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