Toby

So, our first order of married business was getting a dog. We didn't think we would get one so soon, but Toby found his way into our life and is here to stay. Toby is a French Boston (half French Bulldog, Half Boston Terrier) and is the cutest thing you've ever seen!

Cuteness, however, does not make up for extreme sickness. We are praying that Toby will one day be healthy. We'll let you know when that day comes because we are waiting for it with baited breath. About 2 weeks after Toby came home with us, he got a case of Tape Worms. How did we know it was Tape Worms? Use your imagination. Then, he got a nasty case of Giardia, which we are still fighting. At the tail end of his Giardia sickness, we had to go to a wedding in PA and had to board him. And of course, when we picked him up from the kennel, he had a sinus infection. So now we're dealing with green doggy snot.

Who says dogs aren't good practice for kids?!?! (Not that we need practice anytime soon!!!)

So, for your viewing pleasure, I give you Toby Jarvis!

SEX....and "until death do us part."

So, I haven't blogged about work in a while and it is high time I reported another funny story. This happened a few months ago, but it is definitely worth telling.

We'll call my patient Mr. Yellow. Mr. Yellow is a pretty unlucky man. He's had diabetes since age 10 and now, at age 59, his body is giving up on him. Mr. Yellow has a wonderful, wonderful wife. I have never met a woman so devoted to her husband. When I first met Mr. Yellow, he was in the hospital for aspiration pneumonia and had developed dysphagia (swallowing problems resulting in food going down into his lungs) with no known cause. I had explained to Mrs. Yellow that we had a therapy (VitalStim) that retrained the swallowing muscles. We've had great success with this therapy on people who've had strokes, but I couldn't promise her it would work on her husband.

Now, Mr. Yellow has been too sick for many years for Mrs. Yellow, who still works, to take care of him. So, he lives in a nursing home. Mrs. Yellow comes and visits him everyday. When I told her about VitalStim, I informed her that it would be quite difficult to get Mr. Yellow's nursing home to bring him to therapy. Mrs. Yellow told me she would do everything in her power to get Mr. Yellow in for VitalStim therapy.

So, a little time passed and Mr. Yellow finally came in for VitalStim swallowing therapy. Now, if you could see Mr. Yellow, you might at first think he was dead. Mr. Yellow's diabetes has blinded him, so he always keeps his eyes close. His diabetes has also caused him to loose feeling in his legs and back, so he is wheelchair bound. When you live in a nursing home, you get stuck using their crummy wheelchairs. Mr. Yellow's chair was quite old and usually jimmy-rigged in someway to make it work.

Mr. Yellow's diabetes had also decreased his auditory processing time. When ever he was asked a question, he took forever to answer and usually had to be reminded by his loving wife that someone had asked him a question. Mr. Yellow's responses were always very short, rapid, and to the point.

So, one day during therapy, Mr. Yellow was being especially quite. I asked him, "Mr. Yellow, what are you thinking about?" He didn't respond. Usually when he didn't respond, I'd move the conversation in a different direction and brush off his non-response. This time, however, Mrs. Yellow said to her husband, "Mr. Yellow, Emily asked you what you are thinking about?" Very loudly, and quite to the point, Mr. Yellow responded, "SEX."

I just had to snicker and ask Mr. Yellow if he might want another bite of pudding, which he did. Afterwards, I commented to Mrs. Yellow that her husbands response was a good thing and that at least he still had a passion for living. I'm sure my comments made her feel only slightly less awkward.

I'll never forget Mr. Yellow and his declaration. I'll also never forget Mrs. Yellow. She showed me what real love is and taught me the real meaning of "until death do us part."

Personal reminder...

This is a reminder to myself to blog about sex. No, it's not what you're thinking. Stay tuned to hear the story!

I got married!

Jon and I got married on Saturday, July 11th! I can't believe the day has already come and gone. I just barely held it together walking down the asile and after that, the whole day was smooth sailing. Well, except for the heat! Here are a selected few photos. Enjoy!

Two of my beautiful bridesmaids.

Dancing with my dad.

My co-worker Marie, Jon, and I.

More updates and pictures to come soon!

I'm Married!!!

So, I'm married!!! Lots of changes going on, so lots of updates coming soon!
Here's a preview:
1) Got married
2) Moved into a new rent house
3) Getting a puppy
So, stay tuned!!!

Wedding Worries

I have really been slacking in the Blog department lately. I guess that's what a crazy work schedule and wedding planning will do to you. As of today, we are T-minus 32 days until the wedding. And, if you ask Jon, I am a freaking basket case.

I am in no way worried about getting married. I am worried about the following (in no particular order):
a) all the people who haven't RSVPed yet,
b) contracting a sickness during our honeymoon,
c) my newly debuted icky skin,
d) moving the weekend after the wedding,
e) being cash-strapped, as Jon calls it,
f) my future mother-in-law liking her gift,
g) my mother going overboard with the centerpieces,
h) my photographer possibly not showing up on the big day,
i) renting a U-Haul the day we get back from our honeymoon and transporting Jon's non-matching washer and dryer down the stairs by our selves,
j) my stupid leg and the fact that it is still swollen like a softball,
k) screwing up our first dance over which we have almost killed ourselves learning,
l) my mom's rule that we can't open wedding gifts until after the wedding,
m) Jon's only brother actually showing up for the wedding (I doubt he will, which makes me very sad for Jon),
n) how to make my mom understand that I don't care how the centerpieces are arranged,
o) Jon's family showing up 2 hours before the actual wedding rehearsal,
p) my Dad accidentally tore a hole in my veil,
q) getting my legs waxed,
r) somehow missing something we were supposed to do for marriage preparation,
s) not getting to eat all our yummy food or cake on the big day,
t) relatives getting drunk and making racist comments,
u) my sister's bridesmaids dress not fitting,
v) my mom demanding the florist make me a new wedding bouquet because my mom doesn't like it (but I do....),
w) not being able to kneel during the ceremony (see worry about stupid leg),
x) our luggage getting lost
y) my Dad's health and work stress level,
z) having my family pack boxes while I'm in another country in an attempt to "help" the moving process.

Ok, so, maybe a full alphabetical list is a little much, but it's the truth. My biggest worry is that I can't sleep. I have so many wedding and work thoughts running through my head that I lay awake and wake up having had very strange dreams. I just pray that I don't crash and burn.

Throughout this whole process, Jon has been my level foundation. I baffles me the way he can anticipate my worries and already have a plan in place to calm me down and take some of the burden upon himself. He truly is the person God made just for me. And that is the one thing I never worry about.

How to Help Someone Fall

Sorry I've been MIA lately. Wedding planning and working out has consumed my life. On the plus side, my knee is getting better every day! I even ran down the hall this week!!! Anyway...

So, you may be expecting a philosophical post, given the title of this entry, but, unfortunately, that is not the case.

Last Monday, I was unexpectedly scheduled to see a patient first thing in the morning. This was unexpected because I was supposed to be in physical therapy. But, that's a whole other story.
Anyway, I went to see my patient, who was new to me. The patient was sitting in the dining room finishing her breakfast. I asked her if she knew her therapy schedule and she just gave me a blank stare. Ok, I thought, this is going to be interesting. The patient had a gait belt on and had her rolling walker, so we got up and walked to the schedule board. My patient had quite a hard time reading the board and I had to give her lots of directions in order for her to figure out her schedule. Again, I thought, this is going to be an interesting (and long) session.

So, I'm holding on to my patient's gait belt and we walking back to her room. She isn't paying attention very well and completely walks past her room. I cue her to look up and she turns around. We enter the door way, and out of the blue, she starts sitting backwards....ON ME!

I start yelling for her to stand up, but all she does is "OOOoooowww" and keeps going down. I don't know how I did it, but I used my How to Help a Patient Fall training and braced her against the wall as she kept sinking down. Mind you....THE PATIENT WEIGHTS 300 LBS!! So, I end up on one knee (the good one, thankfully) with the patient resting against me when the patient falls asleep! And not just dozing....snoring!!!

So, here I am, with my sleeping patient resting against me on the floor, thinking "Great! This is going to be a mountain of paperwork!", when I realize that I have to get her off of me. So, I starting yelling down the hall and the nurse and doctor come running. I ensure them that my patient has not hit her head (mind you, she is still asleep on me) and that I am ok. The doctor and nurse go back and forth about why my patient is so out of it and finally decide that she received too many sedatives. Geeze, you think 4 Xanax and 2 sleeping pills in 10 hours is too much?!?! It is decided that the patient doesn't have to do therapy and that she should go back to bed and sleep it off. Definitely a good decision, considering she's still asleep ON ME!

The doctor and nurse disperse and I am left still sitting under the patient. Thankfully, a physical therapist showed up and got the patient off of me. After I filled out all the redundant paperwork, the director of nursing asked me to demonstrate the technique I used to lower the patient to the floor without injuring myself or the patient. I compliantly demonstrated to which the DON responded "Wow, I guess that junk we teach you really works!" Thanks...just the reaction I was looking for!