Midnight Hugs in the ICU

The ICU isn't a fun place to spend the night. In fact, if you belong there chances are you wouldn't be having fun anywhere else anyway.

I spent the weekend working the ICU, not my favorite place to be either.

A woman"s lungs were full of fluid like this:

On an xray air is black. You will notice a LOT of white in the lung area . . . that is fluid around the lung, compressing it.

When this happens and the patient is struggling to breathe we put these in:

Chest Tubes! Insert a tube through the intercostal space into the pleural space to drain the fluid.

EXTREMELY painful, it literally hurts to breathe.

Because gravity plays an important role in draining the lung we life our patients to be upright, but this hurts too.

This small woman was too weak and exhausted from breathing to sit upright, we tried every position and propping technique we could think of.

It was so hard to see her struggle, helpless for the both of us.

There was only one other thing I could think of. I stood in front of her and asked her to lean on me. She put her hands on my shoulders and laid her head on my chest. Her muscles relaxed for the first time. We sat there for a good hour just "hugging" each other.

Because we did she drained 900 ml out of her chest!

I think we were both breathing better after that ;)

The good thing today: I wore deodorant ;)

Teresa

Somebody's grave

Okay, so it's not just SOMEBODY'S grave it's Mr Lassen . . . the one Mount Lassen is named after. This is his grave marker!

Yeah, I want one just like it when I die! Okay dearest?

Next to the grave marker is the remains of a VERY old and VERY big tree. As you can see this is what the kids found interesting ;)

I stuck the girl in an overgrown area of flowering weeds, she wasn't too sure but it made a nice picture

Then I stuck them in the tree stump . . . she LOVED it! NOT!

Now you can say you've seen Mr Lassen's grave and surrounding area, yep that's it!

The good thing today: took a nice long drive through the mountains and ranches to get there.

Teresa

4 Generations

Because I have very little family, I've learned to appreciate the ones I have.

While in CA we got to visit grandma Stoy ("the really old grandma" according to my boys)

Here's a pic of grandma Stoy, my husband, his mom and my kiddos!

There is something that happens to a grandma when small children come running . . . I swear it's a twinkle ;)

The good thing today: my children made her eyes "twinkle" that day

Teresa

Old Chapel

I have this thing with old little white chapels, old barns, cemeteries and old house . . . I find them ADORABLE!

While in northern CA near a grandpa's grave we found this adorable little white chapel!

It's been renovated and it still used. I loved the stained glass.

Here's my husband pulling the rope for the tiny bell tower!

Complete with it's own old cemetery with dates going back to the 1800s.

The good thing today: I'm not six feet under, but if I was I want it to be in an old ADORABLE cemetery next to an old ADORABLE little white chapel! ;)

Teresa

(yes, I'm a bit off)

Clown Car

Right after we got the Transmission in the Trailblazer fixed we were T-boned.

Fortunately the other driver was held liable so the repairs were free!

I drop off my Trailblazer at Abra Autobody and Glass (fabulous place and great service BTW) then walk next door to Enterprise for my free rental.

I'm happy at this point and grateful my car is getting fixed.

I sign my life away and take the keys for the rental walk outside and see this:

I say: "Are you kidding me!? I drive a Trailblazer, I have 2 booster seats and a carseat I have to fit in there! No way!"

In case you forgot what a Trailblazer looks like

Bit of a size difference, huh?

The Enterprise man says: "Well, there's 3 buckles in the back so they should fit. Besides this is the only size car the insurance pays for."

I actually heard crickets at this point . . .

Grabbed the keys and headed home.

Guess what?!?! This car does NOT fit 2 booster seats and a car seat in the back!

FYI

The good thing today: After 8 days of driving the clown car I got to turn it in and drive my Trailblazer home! With ALL my kids in the back seat thank you very much!

Teresa

Pillowcase Keepsake

Our grandmas live far away, one we only get to see once a year.

Because we see her so rarely, I try to think of something to give her that will be a reminder of us and how much we love her.

THIS time we made a hand print pillow

I found soft flannel and traced the kids' hand prints onto the fabric with a pen, then had them write their names below it.

I think embroidered the traced hand prints and their names just the way they had written them.

I sewed it into a pillow case and put a soft new pillow inside.

Grandmas LOVE pillows and they LOVE their grandkids' hands.

I promise!

The good thing today: I stink at sewing, but my mom did teach me how to thread a machine and a needle.

Teresa