Trouble sleeping?

I have been told by a certain someone that I have not blogged for a whole 3 days (*gasps*) and that they think I should blog about something. However, I informed them that I did not have anything that I did not feel like blogging about. But...I came up with something -- I will blog about something they have been having trouble with: difficulty sleeping.

So, let me ask the rest of you: do you have trouble sleeping? I'm going to assume you do, or have, at some point in your life. We all do. At some point, we go through periods of time when we cannot sleep well. Either we can't get to sleep or can't stay asleep once we get there. And it becomes very frustrating. Often times, we become grumpy, grouchy and people begin to avoid us during this time because they really don't have any desire to be around us. 

So, why is this that we have this trouble? Here are some common reasons:

- aging

- anxiety / stress

- bedroom that does not promote sleep

- medical conditions

- medications

- napping during the day

- psychological conditions

- shift work

- sleep habits

- stimulants (examples: nicotine, caffeine, food, drugs -- legal or otherwise)

"Top ten words that should be in the EMS dictionary (but aren't)"

First off, I'm borrowing this from EMS1.com. Somehow, they got my work email address (not sure how I feel about that one because I certainly don't give that one out) and they end me emails about some of their columns. Anyway, one of their columns last week was written by Kelly Grayson, who I quickly recognized as the author of a book I have: A Paramedic's Story: Life, Death and Everything In Between. Good book. If you're interested in some of the finer points of EMS and don't think I share them completely, his book might give you some insight. (Either his, or I would recommend Blood, Sweat and Tea by Tom Reynolds.)

But you came to hear about the top ten words that should be in the EMS dictionary but aren't...not Suzanne's book club recommendations.

At number 10 -- "incarceritis: a constellation of medical complaints brought upon the imminent threat of legal confinement. Symptoms include, but are not limited to: dyspnea, chest pain, syncope, seizures, incontinence and coma."

Number 9 -- "malignorance: combination of the words 'malignant' and 'ignorance,' when ordinary, every day 'stupid' doesn't even begin to describe the patient's behavior."

Number 8 -- "tachylawdia: condition in which the patient or family member repeats 'Lawdy!' more than 100 times per minute. The condition often presents with PJCs (Premature Jesus Complexes) and, depending upon the patient's religious fervor, intermittent 'Amens.' Often considered a hallmark sign of status dramaticus.

Example: 'The patient exhibited tachylawdia with bigeminal PJCs and intermittent Amens.'"

Coming in at number 7 -- "polybabydaddia: condition affecting females under age 25, who have three of more children by different fathers."

Number 6 -- "status dramaticus: disorder in which the patient exhibits seizure-like activity characterizes the lack of urinary incontinence, presence of coordinated muscle movements, and the absence of an appreciable postictal state.

Patients suffering from status dramaticus usually skips the tonic phase altogether. The condition is often exacerbated by an audience of medical professionals or concerned family members. Usually, the seizure-like activity is broken by the insertion of a nasopharyngeal airway or the phrase 'hold still, big stick...'

Sub acute status dramaticus may often mimic tachylawdia, and many experts believe they are the same disorder."

Good bye summer, hello fall!

September 21 is the last day of summer. That makes tomorrow, September 22, the first day of fall. And, unfortunately, because I live in Boone, this means that winter is closer than ever. If you were to know me, you were to know I do not like this. I prefer the heat (to a point, anyway) and I greatly prefer to stay away from the cold. So, as the cold approaches, here are a few things that you may hear me refer to or reminisce about over the next few months (or the next 8 or 9 months, since the winter cold months are long here).

These things I will miss:

Ice cream

Flip flops

Sunshine!

These things I do not look forward to:

If I were to invent something...

Today, as I was making lunch (orange-rosemary chicken...very delicious), I was getting frustrated with the cookie sheet that I was using as the sides of the pan began to kick up and warp under the heat. It would not have bothered me except for:

1) there was liquid in the pan that the chicken was being cooked with (and was moving around in the pan as I was pulling it in and out of the oven)

2) the liquid was greatly complicating things as it was a) hot and b) the pan was warped

I was explaining my frustrations to Jon, for whom I was also cooking this meal for. He suggested that I should invent a pan that does not warp under heat.

I think it's brilliant! I should do it. However, I do not have the know-how to do this kind of thing. This is not the first (nor will it be the last) time that I have had this issue. I made a quiche for dinner on Friday night. I placed the pie crust onto a baking sheet and it, again, warped under the heat and rendered and uneven top to the quiche, which I was disappointed with.

So, if I were to invent something, I would invent a baking sheet that does not warp under heat. As I continue to spend more time in the kitchen, or in the world of EMS (or the "real world), I may discover something else that I think should be invented. If I come across it, I shall share it with you and maybe someone who has the know-how of how such a thing should be created will read this and can do it. All I ask is that I get some of the credit (and, of course, some of the royalties ;) ).

September 11, 2001 -- and the sacrifices made since

As I sit here and write this, I know I remember exactly where I was on September 11, 2001 when I heard the news that something bad had happened in the America. Two planes had crashed into the World Trade Center in New York City, one into the Pentagon in Arlington County, Virginia and another one into a field in Shanksville, Pennsylvania.

I was sitting in my second period class during my freshman year of high school. Health Occupations in (what we called) the "old-old" building. Couldn't tell you the room number but it was an earth science room -- I always felt dirty in there and I hated it in there. Ms Smith was my teacher and there were only 9 other people in the class. It was nice. Someone had come in about 9:30 and told us what had happened and we turned on the TV and watched. However, about 10:15, the principal came on the PA system and made an announcement to let everyone know because half of the seniors were getting ready to leave for lunch (at 10:30 -- really early lunch times) and I suppose he didn't want a panic to start (at least one to start from the seniors). And that's how I found out. I'm sure you can recall "your story".

Now, instead of talking about the attacks and how they affected me, I'm going to switch gears. I am now in public safety as a paramedic. I want to set this straight: I did not get into EMS because of what happened or because of the public safety lives lost that day. But, that is what I want to address:

The thing about the attacks that people continue to talk about is the planes that flew into the buildings, the destruction of the buildings, the 3000+ innocent lives lost, the heroics of the people on the plane that crashed into the field in Shanksville, the wars in the Middle East that have come from the attacks on America soil, etcetera, etcetera. And while all of these things are true and I don't want to make anything less of these things -- I want to point of something that is often forgotten and left behind and something I rarely, if ever hear about: the lives of the firefighters, EMTs, paramedics and police officers that were lost on that day.

There were 343 members of the fire services died that day. Along side of them, 8 members of private ambulance services and 60 law enforcement officers that perished that day. Those people went into these areas to save people -- all while countless thousands were running in the opposite direction. They ran into the danger, knowing it was a hazardous environment. They went to work that morning hoping to go home to their families but never made it back.

Burdens lifted

This week, I have had two academic burdens lifted from my schedule.

For starters, my sociology class has a service learning project. I finally decided to talk to my professor (seeing the project is wanting you to appreciate exactly what I do for a living). He agreed to let me count the hours of my job for my project and allow me to do my paper on the social problems my patients face. So, my project is half done (where as, I don't believe any classmate has even begun their project). So thankful for that.

The second thing that was lifted is from my neuroscience lab. No term paper! The goal of this pilot class was to essentially do a semester-long experiment. The problem with that was that we were eliminating one component that the professor really wanted us to study (behavior). So, he reorganized the entire class and we are now studying behavior, not doing a semester-long experiment, eliminating the term paper and doing four different two-week long experiments throughout the semester. I think this will work out much better. (And, it will make it easier for us in the long run, I hope.)

This week in class, I have my first exam of the semester: New Testament. The following week, I have a sociology exam, biological psychology exam and a film quiz (which should be considered an exam but she calls them a "quiz"). Things are starting to get going here...getting busy! Soon enough, I'll be done with my undergraduate course work -- and I'm so excited! (Something like 29 weeks maybe? Haven't started the countdown yet.)

What did you do for Labor Day weekend?

Well, what did you do? Perhaps go to the beach? Or maybe the mountains? Spend time with family or friends? Time off from school? Time off from work? Have fun? Go to a cookout? Just relax?

I can honestly say I did one of those things. Just one. I had time off from school for three whole days. I, along with my wonderful boyfriend, drove home Friday after class (with the rest of Boone) only to get on a rig Friday night for 36 hours. I was so excited and ready to get back to work, though -- I really was! I miss work when I'm not there. I was greeted with a rough night. Ended up being awake most all night for a combination of tough calls. The worst was for a patient who had been stabbed and had the whole posse around her. Then, to top it off, the patient's very angry father showed up and insisted on hopping up into the rig. However, my friend the deputy pulled him out before he could get too close. He shut the doors and stood guard (thank you, sir!). (I like my police officers.)

In the morning, I went to another truck for the rest of the shift (24 hours) -- it was also on the south side of the county which is probably one of my favorite areas to work because I know it so well. We were pretty busy there, as well. The first call on that rig was the toughest one there: an elderly gentleman fell and his wife called us because she couldn't get him up (his legs just went out from under him...no injury, thankfully). We arrive to find him on the floor, unharmed. We pick him up and get him settled in his chair. We come to find out the story from his wife that he has been having increasing problems such that she really is having a very difficult time caring for him. She hands us paperwork from the patient's physician and we look over it to discover that the patient has a debilitating disease that will soon take him from her. However, as his wife, she wants to do everything she can to care for him at home as long as possible. On a personal note, it was like watching my grandmother telling this to me about my grandfather as he suffered from the same disease. We were able to call in some help to get them set up with some assistance to help make that possible, at least for awhile longer. That's what she wants...to be able to do it for at least awhile longer.