End of Quarantine and Week 1ish of Work

WEEK 1??

Monday 1/4 Day 8 Quarantine 

    Today I spent hours reading because I couldn’t put my book down! Well a few times I actually had to put it down because I was blown away by the references to both Scripture and the Jewish tradition. This part of the book detailed the Last Supper in regards to a Jew of Jesus’s time. I saw the Last Supper through the eyes of the apostles and I know why they couldn’t leave Jesus. It really put into perspective the etiology of the Catholic mass. I could go on and on about this book because it changed the way I see my faith.  When you love someone, you want to learn more and more about them and that’s the same way it should be with God. He wants to us to fall in love with Him and learn more about who He is. I usually learn about Jesus through the Catholic perspective but seeing Him through the people of His time, is something else. You don’t truly know someone until you understand where they come from. So that’s what I did for hours today. I truly recommend the book to anyone who wants to learn more about their faith or even history. Christianity has shaped the modern world and people try to erase that fact. Anyways there is my God tidbit for the day. 

    After God, my family is my everything. I miss my weekly taco nights so obviously I had to facetime in. The problem with facetime is that you can’t see who is behind the camera. Ya, I made a few comments that made my cousin a little embarrassed but that’s what older cousins are supposed to do, right? Facetiming isn’t the same as being there but it is the next best thing. There were two paddle boarders outside while I was facetiming my family. After hanging up one came up to me and started a conversation. He was renting a house a few properties down. We were discussing where we were from and he then said “you look like a girl from Nebraska, really wholesome.” He was from New York/ Los Angeles, so I really don’t know how to take it. I actually retorted “oh so I look like I have morals?”. That comment left his jaw on the beach. We shall see if I run into him again on the beach. 

Tuesday: Day 9 Quarantine

Technically this is my last full day of quarantine because it has been 10 days since my positive. I just didn’t count the first day because I lived my best life before I got the positive result. Today was another day full of reading and then snorkeling. This isn’t the “best” snorkeling in Hawaii but it’s in my backyard so I am perfectly fine with it. I also got to talk to some of my best friends, Jill and Lanspa. Face time has become a life line because I need human interaction. Tomorrow I get to go out into the city! I know it may only be errands but its so needed. Darn it wont let me put in the videos! 

Wednesday: First day of freedom!

    Today I finally got to go out! I did boring things like run errands in the morning but that’s fine by me. For lunch I went with Joseph and his daughter to Kona Brewing Co. It’s a local restaurant that is on the water. I tried poke (pronounced like okay but with a "p") for the first time and it was delicious. Its raw fish and rice with other mix-ins. Every poke is different but those are the main ingredients. I forgot to take a picture of it but I did get a picture of my pork tacos. Pork is a huge thing here because there are wild pigs that have free reign so pork and fish are on almost every menu. The food here is very savory so I cannot wait to see what else Hawaii has to offer. After lunch we went our separate ways until he called me from the parking lot. He accidentally locked his keys in his car. It cracked me up because that is something I have done too many times. The locksmith was going to take over an hour so he and his daughter jumped in my car and came over to hang out. Playing with a 2yr old is my kind of afternoon. We played in my little “yard” area for a while because Joseph didn’t want Devita by the ocean. If she sees it, she will go in it. Sounds like me or MY MOTHER! When she came to visit in Alabama she wouldn’t wear a swim suit and she ended going in the water with her clothes. This happened more than once! She never learned. What I love about kids is that playing with dirt and rocks can entertain them for hours. We did end up going to the ocean and she in fact got wet, even though he did everything in his power to stop her. When the ocean calls, you just have to go. We made plans to do this another time, when swim suits would be involved so that she wouldn’t get her pretty dress wet again. Sadly the locksmith called and my play date was cut short. I told him, that I was going to use him for his daughter. He thought I was joking but you know me better than that. I was 100% serious. He will figure it out soon. The rest of the afternoon and evening was getting ready for my first shift of orientation tomorrow.   

lunch

view from lunch 

Thursday

Today I actually got to go back to work. We did a modified orientation and skills check off. I was excited to get to the unit and actually start work. I have been off for 24 days now and it drove me insane! I love what I do and I just wanted to get back into the swing of things. The day shift nurses were nice and very welcoming, so I hope the night shift is the same way. They apologized a few times to me because they said they were a little crazy. I responded that all ICU nurses had to have something wrong with them because we wouldn’t be able to handle what we do without being a little off. The thing I found most different about this unit, was that restraints for vented patients were mitts and elbow immobilizers. It was crazy! Some of the patients were even allowed to have no restraints. My poor heart was having issues most of the shift for that reason. I wonder what differs there from here, that the patients would be able to have less sedation and less restraints and do fine. Here, people need sedation and restraints and they still weasel their way to pull their tubes! I would love to see their numbers of self extubations or just ventilator management in general and compare. There’s my little ICU tidbit for the day.  After my first 12hours back I tried to go home and stay up because I work tomorrow night but that didn’t work. I cleaned and cooked and did everything I could think of but I still passed out before 0100. 

Friday: 

    I woke up this morning at 6 and ran errands until about noon. Surprisingly I was able to nap in the afternoon before my shift. I also took the time to sit and watch the sunset and just have moments of peace with God. It never ceases to amaze me the beauty He puts all around us. I am constantly in awe of His creation and then He turns around and says to me “I made all that but you are my greatest creation. You are made in my image and likeness. I made you last and that was enough for me.” It is such a humbling thought that the Creator of the universe still thought there should be a you and I. I know I have talked about this before but you should be reminded every day that you are the greatest part of the world we know. There is my main God snippet for the day! Now it is time to go back to my night shift adventure. I was terrified before starting because I didn’t want to fall asleep on my first night. My preceptor had been at the hospital for 10 years so he was able to show me the ropes. Our patients weren’t bad but the unit was about full. We got a call around 10 for a new admission that sounded like a mess. He didn’t even get to the floor until 0100 because they kept trying to stabilize him downstairs. There is nothing like a code at 0132 in the morning to get your blood pumping.  Thankfully the doctor and two other nurses were already at bedside so there were hands to help out. We got him back but he was maxed out on 4 vasopressors and his blood pressure was still 60s/30s. His wife and son were able to come see and be with him before he passed. People ask me all the time about how I deal with the death of a patient. Honestly I just put it all in God’s hands. God gives them to me to be His hands on Earth but when He calls them home, I have to let them go. Being with someone at the moment of their death is humbling because I get to be there when God calls them home. Don’t get me wrong, the deaths wear on me and some affect me harder than other but I have to have faith that God has them in His arms. With my devotion to St Joseph I know that he walks with them as well at the time of their death. Speaking of St Joseph, today will be the day I finish my 33-day consecration to him. The rest of the shift went off without any hitches. Well between 4-7 I was trying not to fall asleep! When I saw the first nurses of day shift I wanted to cry because I was so excited to go to bed. When I got home, I forced myself to shower and I just fell into bed.  I was exhausted! Well we shall see what tonight brings! 

Saturday 

Well Saturday could have started with the code but I’m counting the start of a new day, after I get my sleep. I woke at 3pm with a major caffeine headache. You know you have a problem when you get a caffeine headache after missing your morning coffee. I hope that isn’t going to become a new norm with night shift. That would not be fun in any way, shape or form. A blessing about night shift is that I get to watch the sunset before going to work. I finished my consecration to St Joseph today and I will say that learning about him, and leaning more on his intersession, I have gained so much. Funny story, I had been meaning to start/complete this consecration for around 6 months and I just couldn’t. Then I started and the next day I found out that the Pope declared it the year of St. Joseph. What a beautiful way to start his year, by none other than consecrating myself to him. I spent the hour before my shift at the beach. Tonight I was supposed to orientate on the other floors but they needed me too much in the ICU. Tonight was not as eventful but it was busy. I was able to make it through the night without any signs of sleepiness. After work I ran over to mass at St Elizabeth of Hungry. It was actually the closest church to my hospital. She is the saint I was named after so I thought it was cool. I kept having to ask God to keep me awake because I started to feel the exhaustion set in. Thankfully I didn’t fall asleep and got home all in one piece. Night two done!

    

Sunday

After sleeping I went out to the mall area to meet one of my new friends, Rydan. Him and his wife work on selling products so they gave me some free samples. I’m pretty sure they are a part of a pyramid scheme but we shall see.  Honestly, I’m just excited to hang out with locals that can show me around. Hopefully our schedules will line up at some time. My afternoon wasn’t exciting because I have a day zoom orientation, so my schedule has to get back to days. This switching back and forth is going to be an interesting time. 

Well that was my week! Mahalo!