Crazy French Elevators

The other night I had this dream where I was in France with Hernan and Rigo and we rode on this weird elevator that was a long rectangle that was slowly spinning and it was actually cool! Then we were riding in a train when 3 girls came over to me and hugged me, except one of them took my new PSP from my pocket...I was not happy and chased them onto their streets (I will not mention me calling them women of the streets...). I woke up yelling at a cop for not doing anything about my Precious System of Phun.

_______-like symptoms

So I was reading my friend's blog, and I was inspired. You see, she is a fellow medical assistant and will occasionally give helpful advice, sometimes relating to her line of work, which I like. So without further ado:

Flu season has not started and yet all we see at the Ogden Clinic is flu-like symptoms. It gets so bad that if you go there for anything other than flu-like symptoms, you will very soon get flu-like symptoms. It actually happened to a patient who came to see us for his injured arm and then came back in a couple of days with more than just arm pain....

Here is the recommendation from the CDC: If you think you have the flu you should stay home and assume and have the flu...I mean, chances are, we have all been exposed to it in one way or another. Stay home and treat the symptoms:

• Fever - Tylenol/Ibuprofen/Motrin. You can alternate between two of those medications every 3-4 hours to control the fever.
• Cough - OTC cough medication
• Vomiting/Diarrhea - The most important thing is to make sure you stay hydrated. For obvious reasons, if you are outputting more liquids than inputting, you will get dehydrated and that means bad news and things go down hill FAST from there. This is especially important for the little ones.

If you are afraid of staying home because of your job, by all means, go see your MD and get a note excusing you from work. Just make sure you wear a mask (which should be provided by your healthcare place of choice)...while writing about masks, also wear your mask when you are in the exam room with the healthcare worker...I don't want to get sick :D

DON'T DO IT!

Saturday I had a 12-hour shift at the Ogden Clinic which was VERY busy. Somehow in the midst of the seeing patients a million patients I was able to listen and obey the prompting of the Holy Ghost. Here is how it happened:

It's the flu season and everyone who thinks may possibly remotely maybe have H1N1 will come and be evaluated by the provider so they can ask for Tamiflu (which, BTW, does not work for H1N1).

I got a phone call from a man who said that the previous day his son was seen by Dr. So-and-So and was diagnosed with the dreaded H-worded virus. Supposedly, the Dr. told this man that if anyone else in his family developed any of the symptoms, then all he needed to do is call the clinic and we would give whoever needed Tamiflu. I took the patient's word for it and said I would call the prescription to a nearby pharmacy, but not before I checked the information on the drug to make sure I called the appropriate dosage. Right then I had the distinct feeling that I shouldn't call the prescription for the patient because she could be pregnant (which I had not asked the husband about).

Long story short, I called the previously mentioned man and told him that his wife would have to be seen by one of our providers before she could get any prescriptions. I happened to be the one who checked her in and the first thing the wife told me when we entered the exam room was that she was pregnant.

It felt really good to listen to such a brief - and yet important - prompting from the Holy Ghost. I don't know what I would have done, other than be fired and lose my credentials, if something happened to that unborn child because of my lack of attention.

Comings and Goings

I just got home a few minutes ago and I wanted to update my loyal fans out there:

• I worked almost 50 hours last week
• I went to the temple dedication
• During the dedication I was very touched the father who set next to me with his just-barely eight-year-old son. The son was naturaly curious about everything and kept asking questions about everything. I didn't mind the minor distraction because it was actually quite moving how good of a lesson that was for such a young mind. The highlight of the chatter was during one of the hyms that had some high notes and he mentioned to his dad how the "lady looks like she was in pain". I didn't mean to, but I laughed :D
  
• I have seen more butts than in a locker room.
• Last night I had a dream where I grabbed a man by his arm to put a band-aid on, when I realized I wasn't wearing gloves. I was so disgusted that I immediately woke up and ran to the bathroom to wash my hands. I was actually a bit confused and had to tell myself that it was only a dream and I really didn't have to wash my hands.
• I hate repacking wounds. I literally stick my finger in a wound and it is not fun for the patient and/or me.

When I started my new work routine, I expected to be miserable, but I am happy! I am tired, but I am happy. The other day on the news there was a story about the two young men who died after being run over by someone who was running from the police. The young man running from the police isn't much older than the two who were killed and it was an interesting contrast and I had the distinct thought that if the gangster most likely didn't have a job and was up to no good. If he had something good to do (like a job) things would have been very different. Having a job never killed anyone (unless it's the army...) and I am happy that I am healthy enough to have a job and I can work super hard.

Oh Please...

So here is a real post: today I was scheduled to work a 12 hour shift and I was actually excited to go. I got there at 9:15 and the only other person there was one of the receptionist and right away she started complaining that the computer was not working. I checked my computer and sure enough, the schedule and chart programs weren't working, which meant everything had to done by hand. Then this other lady walked in and the halls of the Ogden Clinic were filled with the beautiful duet of two winning people. That pretty much set the tone for the rest of the 11 hours as other people joined the choir of complaining. ugh...

Here is the moral of this story: I had a great time at work, even if it was long and we saw a lot of patients. I am tired and my legs ache. Will complaining make that go away? That would be too easy. So the next time things look bleak, take the situation and make the best you can. Please! Your day will go better :D

Mourning the Death of Handwriting

I read this really cool article at work during my lunch break one day and I thought it was very interesting. I was actually thinking about different styles of handwritting and how you can tell a person's age (sometimes) where they are from. Enjoy!

Mourning the Death of Handwriting

Oh, Uhura...

Whoever can guess what is wrong with this trailer will win an AWESOME prize!



hint: it's rather funny...first time I saw it, I couldn't stop laughing.