You look familiar...

Has anyone ever mistaken you for someone else? i get that- a lot. Not because I'm an identical twin (I think we look pretty much alike) but in my everyday life as a nurse. I get a lot of "you remind me of my neighbour/cousin/friend". i have people tell me I remind them of people they grew up with- one of my friends Kim said I looked like the grown up version of girl from Elementary school in Cloverdale "Kiki" I think her name was. I take these recognitions as a compliment. I like that I remind people of someone familiar from there life, or the goofy kid from school, or their family member. It's a conversation starter as I share that I already have a twin but now I I have multiple twins!

Anyone else ever have this happen to you? Please share your comments below!

http://youtu.be/y0LO6v43YCo

the latest

View from our apartment in New West
it's been way to long...so what has life looked like lately?

I'm excited to be going to Maui for the first time ever in Dec with Johann and his family! We leave right after my night shift on Dec.18th. I have visions of dinner cruises, scenic drives, playing tennis and getting tanned somewhere along the way. I already got a new bikini top!

I've been getting massages every two weeks and recently had physio. My body has been in some form of pain as long as I've worked in health care and it wasn't getting any better. Today I tried Bikrim yoga for the first time and - WOW- my back feels so good. There was a lot of nausea, head pounding and quivering muscles through it all but I'm going again tomorrow! Another nurse encouraged me to try it as she had a chronic injury that never felt better with physio, chiro and massage and since doing the Bikrim yoga she feels much better. I look forward to listening to my body as I try to give it what it needs.

I'm trying to cook more lately. it's so easy to get lazy and eat snacks/eat out, but it ends up being more costly and unhealthy. Some recipes I've tried:
1. Squash soup (made with squash, bartlett pears, cream and bacon)

2. chicken quesadillas

3.pumpkin bread (the muffins turned out better than the loaf which was uncooked in the middle.


At work I got to go to an education session about promoting change in the work place. We learned about different ways of going about it and did lots of brain storming and it was very eye opening, fun and high energy! There are a few of us who want to facilitate how to make something better on our unit (possibly improving our hand hygeine numbers). One of the phrases that stuck with me was "Please Do Something Anything- DSA (plan, do study, act) getting together with other nurses with shift work is proving to be the biggest challenge.

Compassionate people

I recently took an 8 hour plane ride from Seattle, Wa to Iceland. The seats were cramped, but people got themselves settled in and made the most of it. About 4 hours into our flight I hear call bells ringing. No, I was not hallucinating I was at work, they actually have call bells on the plane; flight attendants "attend" to your needs when you use it. I realize how helpless one can feel on a long plane ride, as I was one of the passengers too. There are times when you hear unsettling sounds and experience unwanted feelings of fear, anxiety along with the uneasiness of breathing in about 100 people's recycled air. So you press that button, and in comes a calm attendant telling you it's alright, everything is under control. Offers you a drink when you're thirsty, and shows compassion and empathy when you complain that it's too hot in this airplane.

Over the years I've had good flight attendants and out-right rude ones and let me tell you: a friendly calm face is what you need on a long journey. You're overtired, feeling out of place and unsure of what to expect and all of this makes you feel that much better when you know they have your back and will do whatever it takes to help you get through the long trip. I couldn't help but compare what flight attendants do to what nurses do. On a medical journey there are bumps along the road, but knowing there are trained, compassionate professionals there with you to answer questions, to sooth any symptoms that come and to be with you as the journey happens helps pass the time. In the end you leave the plane, the hospital and move forward to your next destination. Who knows, you may even be back. In the hospital you rarely choose to be there and you certainly don't get to choose your nurse. It's a gamble as to how your journey will.

Maybe you are a nurse reading this, or even a patient/passenger and I wander what you think as you read it? Does it make you want to be a better nurse? Does it make you feel good or upset about our health care system? If you have someone in your life whether a professional or not, and they try to make your life better than thank them for it. We need more decent people in the world out there.