Work Reunion

10 years, oh my, is it really 10 years?
Must be we have a 10 year old!

10 years ago Auckland Hospital moved to a new building and we were there, well I was on maternity leave but I knew it was happening!
So much has happened since then.

A reunion was called for and we gladly attended this past weekend.
Lovely to catch up with people you knew and find out what everyone is doing.
Amusing to hear people comment on how big the boys have got! Like they still expected them to be babes in arms!

Quick tour of the operating theatres was called for even though we have been there many times and I did actually work there for a few weeks at one stage!
But the boys enjoyed dressing up in protective clothing so we could go inside the theatres.

well maybe not everyone was impressed with getting dressed up!

but others made up for it with their enthusiasm!

They enjoyed seeing inside a theatre, talking non stop about what took place in there etc.
Although think we may have sparked some career ideas for them....?

budding surgeons in the making?

Better start that college fund really soon!

Sweet Memories

When I was in hospital for my surgery I made sure I took some nice shower gel with me as I knew that the soap they supplied could be yucky stuff, even if it was a private hospital.

Luckily a few days before going in I found a nice little gift sample package of mango shower gel and body lotion from the Body Shop in the back of my bathroom cabinet. Sure my Sister in Law must have gifted it too me a few years back when she worked there.
It was perfect to take with me, a nice refreshing fruity wash, just what I knew I would need in those first few days post surgery, and it worked too.

Mum stayed with Steve and the boys for the days I was in hospital, helping out, doing school runs and generally just being there so Steve had the freedom to come to the hospital to be with me if required without having to worry about the boys. It was a great help and we are eternally grateful that we have a Grandma that is such an important part of our sons lives.

On the Friday, mum brought the boys to the hospital to see me straight from school. She was leaving that afternoon and so we decided the boys could sit with me in the hospital for an hour or so, watching tv (obviously!) until Steve finished work and would collect them.
Alex looked like he had joined the mud wrestling team when he arrived at the hospital, so we decided to put him in the shower real quick. Joy of having your own private room, oh and the fact the nurses were leaving me alone as I could have actually gone home that day but decided to stay and have just one more day of rest before going home.

Now my 2 boys don't like showers, they love them.
They will happily while away 20-30 mins in the shower with the warm water running down and lots of bubbles from the shower gel.
Alex did just this at the hospital, it was a whole room shower with a wet floor, so we closed the door to the room and left him to it. Mum got a little concerned after 10 mins that he was taking so long having a 'quick shower' so she opened the door and all we got was this huge waft of hot sweet fruity mango come our way as Alex was happily having a shower covering himself in my shower gel.

He snuggled with me afterwards when he was all warm and sweet smelling, just a perfect snuggle to have whilst in hospital recovering.
Thanks Alex for the sweet memories.

O is for Operation

Now don't all panic...I am not having an operation. In fact I haven't had an op since Alex was born 7 years ago! So all safe on that front.

I am however, by trade, a theatre nurse and so therefore have been involved in more operations that one would imagine.

I have been a scrub nurse in operations on the head, the brain, the eyes, the ears, the nose, the mouth, the neck, shoulders, arms, elbows, fingers, chest, heart, liver, kidney, stomach and bowel, the girlie bits and the boy bits, even had  a few babies along the way, assisted in delivering that is, although yes I have been there and done that with 2 of my own, although I did have natural births with them!
I have helped in operations on the pelvis, hips, legs, knees, toes, ankles and anywhere else on the body that I have missed.

I love it.
I know to many of you I must be sick and sad, happy to stand over an open body and discuss the weather and what is happening in life.
Yes that is correct, whilst operating on someone we do pass the time of day discussing what is for dinner that night and where we are going at the weekend.

I am currently doing a desk job, I haven't been in theatre for about 2-3 years now. I miss it but I seem to be going in a different direction.
Although I will always love my time in theatre as it was in the operating rooms at Auckland Hospital that I met my husband.

Support Person

I have unexpected become a support person this week.
Sadly not for someone about to have a baby but for someone who is going through open heart surgery.

A dear friend of my mum's has come to Hamilton from Rotorua (only place to come) and today she went to surgery.
She came to Hamilton on Sunday and I got told she was here Tuesday. So I skipped and jumped as fast as I could to her ward and said 'hi'.
Now I have been visiting her everyday, supporting her through her stay and today I supported her all the way to theatre.
As I write this I am waiting for the call from the hospital to tell me she is out of theatre and that her triple bypass heart operation was successful. She does have relatives but as her brother lives on an island 30 East of Auckland he is not readily available to her and her Nephew is in Rotorua but he can not be here in Hamilton all the time to support her. So she asked me to be around if possible, I was more than happy to help her as I know she is very dear to mum and their friends in Rotorua.

We have a long road a head.
She will spend the weekend in Intensive Care, I will visit but she will hardly know I am there.
Then she will move to the Cardiac ward and I will visit her lots more there.
Eventually she will be able to return to Rotorua where she has many wonderful friends to support her through the next 3 months of her recovery period.

Definitely turning into a village supporting one of their own.

Thankfully

I have just got half way through a post about the local library and memories and then realised that in fact I have something to post about that is more important.
I have just been reading Rocking Chair Reflections and she is doing a month of thanksgivings. Last month she did a month of memories.
I really should have done a month of giving thanks seeing as it is now November (holy crap where did the year go?)  but had already said I would do memories, although I think I might mix it over the month.

Anyway, I digress, another Blog I follow, Deb's Doodlings is someone I have met through work, well we met through blogging but then worked out we both work at the hospital so we met a few times, usually in the staff canteen when both buying lunch!
However, when I checked her blog yesterday it was to discover that she had received the call that every parent dreads "Hi, we are calling to let you know there has been an accident, your daughter has been injured!"
For the last week she has been at the hospital with her 11 yr old who is in a bad way, head injury, facial fractures, broken leg and pelvis, more bruises than you want.

Deb is only just resurfacing after having the week from hell, although she still has many weeks to go. Her daughter is non weight bearing for at least the next 6-8 weeks, when she finally manages to sit up for longer than 20 secs.

So suddenly I am thankful that she is going to be ok, I am thankful to everyone that helped them with getting her to hospital, the ambulance, fire brigade and the air ambulance.
I am thankful for my family and that we are all safe tonight in our house together.

Get Well

I have to send get well wishes to my Uncle who is sadly recovering this weekend from a stroke. Not a bad one but enough of one to have left him with left sided weakness. His speech is good but his walking is a little troubled.
Going to Rotorua today, so may get time to pop up to the hospital to see him.

Also to my brother in law who apparently has lost his appendix.
Good thing he doesn't need it!

Get well both of you please.

Not Here

I have always thought of New Zealand as a safe place. Nothing happens here, we are always safe.
In 2001 as 9/11 struck, I was overseas and desperately wanted to return to the safe haven of New Zealand.
We have watched over the years the horror of other disasters and always been thankful that we don't have that here down under.

And now we do, everyone is speculating about their own home towns, what is the chance of it happening here? Are our emergency boxes up to date and ready to use? Do we have enough of everything to survive, like Chch is being told to, at home for 2-3 days with no water, gas or electricity. Do we have batteries for the radio? I know we currently don't and so will be purchasing from the store today.

Although staying at home is not really an option for Steve or I. Yes the schools are all closed so if it happened here in Hamilton we would have the boys at home but unfortunately we both work at the hospital. Yes ok as Steve mentioned last night, family comes first, but when you work in an area like we do you feel compelled to go and help, it is in our nature.
We discussed last night that only one of us would be able to go in and assist but which one.
I work in a clinical area and 90% of my colleagues are parents of young children as well, so we would be a little streched to get staff in, but we are in a specialised area and our area would be needed. Unfortunately, as already mentioned on the tv from Chch, people are having heart attacks and ongoing chest pain and they need to be treated. That is what I do.
Steve however, is the main person for the whole of our hospital looking after products. So he would be the main person coordinating obtaining extra products as required from the warehouse storage the hospital has off site. His job would be ensuring the products are getting to the right places as required and also obtaining further products, from medical companies, once the stock has been run dry, or more to the point getting the stock in so nothing does run dry.

So a little bit difficult for us, we are both in positions of need importance and would both feel bad for not being able to help in any way that we can.
Lets hope we never have to make that decision!

Emotions

Today my emotions ran a muck!
And it wasn't my family that caused it either!
It was a patient at work that hit me the most and proved after all that nurses are human and do get affected by what is going on around them.

I don't know what it was about this case but something just hit me and wouldn't let go and that sent my emotions into over drive big time.

I don't often get affected by patient's to the extent that it stays with me but today was one of those ones that does.

Very lucky that Steve works in the hospital as well so I was able to go find him and get the big hug I desperately needed at the time

Joke

A 75 yr old lady rings her local hospital and this conversation follows:

"Hello, I'd like some information on a patient, Mrs Tiptree. She was admitted last week with chest pains and I just want to know if her condition has deteriorated, stabilised or improved?"

"Do you know which ward she is in?"

"Yes, Medical Ward, room 5-1"

"I'll put you through to the Nurses Station"

"Hello, Medical Ward, how can I help you?"

"I would like some information on a patient, Mrs Tiptree. I was wondering if her condition had deteriorated, stabilised or improved?"

"I'll just check her notes for you.........I'm please to say that Mrs Tiptree's condition has improved. She has regained her appetite, her temperature has steadied and after some routine checks tonight, she should be well enough to go home tomorrow"

"Oh that is wonderful news, I'm so happy, thank you ever so much!"

"You seem very relieved? Are you a close friend or relative?"

"No, I'm Mrs Tiptree in room 5-1. Nobody tells you f*#k all in here!"

Prostate Cancer

At Christmas, my dad was diagnosed with Prostate Cancer (PC).

There was nothing to suspect this at the time, no pain or symptoms. He was diagnosed purely by a routine blood test taken as part of his on going 'Well Man' check at his doctor's.

Pretty similar to women being diagnosed with Breast cancer after having a routine mammogram.

The blood test checked his PSA (Prostate Specific Antigen) Levels, which is only produced by the prostate cells. This test, if above normal, gives indication of changes within the gland that therefore need to be followed up further with a Urologist (Surgeon who specialises in problems of the urinary system)

He needs to see a Urologist because the prostate gland (walnut in size) is located beneath the bladder in the male pelvis, the urethra, which drains urine from the bladder, passes through the prostate. The glands main function is to provide nutrition for sperm.

There are several different diseases of the prostate thus the reason to get a follow up to see eaxctly what is going on, whether it is cancer or not.

PC is the 2nd leading cause of cancer deaths amongst men, after lung cancer, although it is rarely diagnosed in men younger than 40.

In Australia, 1 in 11 will develope PC by the age of 75

In the USA, over 230,000 men are diagnosed with PC each year.

About 10% of PC runs in the family. So like Breast Cancer if there is an immediate family history, then routine check ups are adviced.

Over 600 men die of prostate cancer every year in NZ - this is directly comparable to those figures for breast cancer.
Over 2,500 men are diagnosed with prostate cancer every year.
Prostate cancer is now the prevalent form of cancer for NZ men.

So what is my dad doing?

Well he has been followed up and he has seen a lovely Urologist I know here in Hamilton.

He is now scheduled for surgery in 7 days time to surgically remove the prostate gland.

He is reasonable young (65) fit and healthy, so after the initial surgery and a little time of quiet and taking it easy, then he should be bouncing back fine, although that won't mean he will be playing squash 3 weeks later! He wasn't playing squash 3 weeks before so forget the after!

So what can you all do?

Help raise awareness of this silent disease. For men all it takes is a simple painless blood test to check their PSA each year. Due to infections etc in the prostate then a high reading does not always indicate cancer. However it is easier and safer to follow up with a biopsy and have an infection than to ignore it and have PC. So next time someone you love, who is over 50 is having a check up, then get them to add checking the PSA Levels to the test.

Men are well known for ignoring health issues, they are known for not going out of their way to have things done. They don't keep up with the latest findings and then decide to rush out and have that test or peocedure. We need to casually remind them of things everynow and then!

There is currently a challenge being undertaken by 4 guys downunder.

On 19th April 2009 4 of us will set out in a bid to become the first 4 man crew to row the Indian Ocean. We will be competing in the inaugural Indian Ocean Rowing Race to raise some much needed funds and awareness for man’s number one killer, prostate cancer. All being well the race will take approx 60-70 days and will see us cover approx 3,568 miles (5,742 kms), from Geraldton (Western Australia) to Mauritius...that's a long way and a long time to be sat on our prostates!

Go check out what the guys are doing and how they are getting on.

Hospital

The cat is in the hospital.

Our latest addition to the family, who is called 'Prenzel' by the way has not been well since she arrived on Tuesday. She was fine for the first day but then slowly she has stopped eating and has not been having pleasant poo's.

She is getting along with Barnie very well now, and they are tolerating each other nicely.

We took her to the vet on Wednesday and they dosed her up with pain relief and extra stuff. She ate a little when she got home, but has really not touched anything since.
Unfortunately she poo'd in our room 4 times during the night, not pleasant, and has become a little too laid back for our liking.

So we called the vet again today, explained all that had been going on in the last 24 - 48 hours and they made us an appointment.
10 minutes later the phone went, and it was the vet herself to say that she would like Prenzel to be brought in to her, not for the appointment, but to the hospital so she can observe her over night.


Ben helped me and we took her off to the cat hospital.
Ben was all very worried, he wanted to see where she was going and even told me in the vets that 'he was going to miss her tonight!'


They will call tomorrow to let us know how she has been over night and then hopefully, if they can get her to start eating and drinking they may let her go home tomorrow afternoon, if not maybe Monday. They want to assess her for IV fluids, extra drugs she may need and also what is happening with her insides to create so much poo.

She is so cute and unfortunately we have all fallen in love with her just in 3/4 days, so hopefully she will come right very quickly.


I'll let you know what happens and when she comes home.

New Job

Today was my first day.
I nervously went to the hospital this morning and had a ball.
It all came rushing back and didn't take me long to feel like I was helping even though I didn't know where anything was!

Being a private place then morning and afternon tea was provided, they even stopped the list at one stage so we could have tea. All very civilised!

It was nice and gentle, not like public work. I think I have made the right choice and look forward to getting into the swing of things as the weeks go by.

Last Day

Yesterday was my last day working at Auckland District Health Board.


I have worked for them for just over 9 1/2 years now.
In fact they are the only employer I have worked for in New Zealand.
I started in March 1998 as a Staff Nurse in the Operating Theatres doing General Surgery, Colorectal and Liver Transplants.
In 2002 I moved to do Gynaecology and Maternity.
I went on Maternity leave at the end of 2003 when I had Ben and when I returned to work I actually went into Sterile Supplies, this is the area that they wash, clean and process the instruments ready for the next use.
I stayed there until I went on maternity leave again in 2005 and I returned there after having Alex.
In the last 3 months I have been working on a project in Materials Management, this was a change of scenery for 3 months and I had a lot of fun and learnt a lot of new and interesting things.


When I first started at ADHB this was the main hospital



4 years ago they built a new hospital, this has been exciting as there have been many new changes in the last 4 years and Auckland now have a huge wonderful hospital.






I am very grateful to all at ADHB, I have learnt a lot, met a lot of wonderful people, including my partner Steve, who also worked in the Operating Theatres, yes it was love at first sight across a crowded theatre!


It will be weird not working for them, but hey life moves on. I will work in Hamilton eventually, but I have other priorities now, like 2 little boys, so I am aiming to start work in January.

So thank you to everyone at ADHB, it has been fun, I have loved and hated every minute and have grown and learnt so much over the past years. Thank you.