Another Week, Another Day

Another week has gone by. It is an okay week. We have some sprinkles of blessings and some rain here and there. There is some calm at the beginning of the storm.

• Thanks to my daughter for cutting my hair. Less hair, fewer viruses that can be trapped by it in my daily shift in the intensive care unit. Because of the stay at home order, and non-essential business closing, I could not go to the salon.
• Thanks to the great outdoors, however cold. I could walk and breathe fresh air, and be able to distance myself more than 6-feet away from everyone.

• Scrabble online is a blessing to spend time with Paul while we maintain separate households. We had been social-distancing for 3 weeks now.
• The prayer Serenity.
• Cupcakes for my grandson's first birthday. He had no idea his big party was canceled, that his number "1" candle was purple, and his balloon reads "congrats." However non-essential, the common items are in scarcity and we made do with what we have.
• I am thankful I was able to put together a care package for my coworkers. They are individually packed medicine, chapstick, and eyedrops. 
• I also put a tray of candies for a week for the staff. Each morning that I come back, it is empty. I like refilling it.

• Did I mention, I am thankful for plain, and simple cupcakes?
• A walk outdoors with family and our dog. Thank goodness my surroundings are clear and not crowded.
• Getting up early to meditate and exercise.
• After wiping my tears for losing patients and a friend's family member from COVID-19 this week, I picked up myself and express gratitude for my health. I am safe. My family is safe.

I pray for continued health so I can keep serving my patients and family. I pray that more personal protective equipment will be available to us soon at work. I pray that this virus will be controlled soon. 

When the Gyms are Closed

The rec centers, gyms, and many establishments are closed. We get back to basics to still stay active with the few material things we have. 

Colorado is not in a lockdown yet. We can still exercise outdoors as long as we distance ourselves from others. We cook more at home, order take-out, and work to help others.

I still have my health to work for the sick in the intensive care unit. My son started helping to deliver food. 

I am thankful for my family, my friends, and my co-workers. I thank the people who donated food to us at work. I thank everyone who prays for us. 

Podcast Transcript: COVID

Today, I share with you my week as a nurse during the Coronovirus scare.

What is COVID-19? It is Coronavirus Disease discovered in Wuhan, China in December 2019, and as you know, it has spread in other countries, including Japan, the Philippines, Italy, and the United States.

How am I affected as a head of household? I had to stock up necessities to last 30 days. I made time to do this last night, avoiding the crowd, and at the end of my work week.

As a nurse, Two nursing events are canceled, one here in Denver, the other in Indiana. The one in June for the Philippine Nursing Association of America is not canceled yet.

One nursing event of only 25 people is not canceled. This is my Philippine Nursing group in my state. We were able to do some fundraising to benefits, nursing students.

At work, many of us have to pitch in working extra hours to accommodate the already busy season without COVID. Our masks are running low.

As a resident in Colorado, I am affected in the sense that many places are closed. Rec centers, parks, schools...temporarily for two weeks.

The store shelves for antimicrobials, paper products, and baby wipes are bare. Yesterday, I bought the last dozen eggs the store had out.

You have heard of this social distancing and avoiding crowds to slow down the spread of COVID. The threat is real. We all need to pitch in to slow it down as we are already busy in the hospital.

We cannot afford a rapid spread and a big rise in hospitalized patients. So far, we have resources and help to care for the sick now. The threat will not only affect respiratory patients but also other hospitalized patients be it surgical, cancer, heart patients and the rest.

Keep healthy. Keep clean. Wash your hands. If you are strong but have the symptoms of a cold, cover your mouth and distance yourself.

Let’s be thankful it is not so bad yet here in the US. But we can do better and fight the spread.

Mother

You are the one, my mentor, my mother, my mom.

You are my guide, my anchor, and the one I will forever admire.

Under a rainstorm or darkness, you went on with your routine as I have grown mature in mind.

You were a
R-EGULAR
O-RGANIZED
U-NEXCITING
T-YPICAL, but
I-MPORTANT
N-ORMAL
E-VERYDAY kind of mother, so I thought.

How silly I was as a young lady tall enough to be an adult, yet very short in mind to wish you were just like other moms wearing business clothes, high heels, and makeup?

Now I still have many more years to be half as good as you, mimicking your routine as a great nurse many look up to.

COVID-19 Season

After going back and forth with events cancellation, we went ahead and did the Wellness Challenge Kick-Off for 2020. We are a group of 25ish not 250 crowd. It is part of our fundraising, so it is important to us. We had a good time raising money, collecting from participants for the challenge to benefit nursing student scholars. I feel grateful for the smooth event.

Here is the rest of my thankfuls.

• A guiding quote from one of our team members in the PNACO nursing association inspiring us to move more.
• A late-birthday gift from family, a comforter set, so warm and soft.
• A group-texting app for my work-team. There are probably 100 of us, too many. This Group-Me texting works smoothly. I named it St Joseph Intensive Care on my phone not realizing I changed it for the whole group. Nobody complained to the so-techy me though.

• As the antimicrobial soaps and gels run out from the stores due to panic buying, thank goodness we still have running water. We can wash our hands. Don't expect bottled water still being available, though. That is too much to ask.
• Charity Miles app for letting me donate my miles.
• My cute grandchildren pics.
• My grandson loves the reusable feeder pouch with baby food in it. He can feed himself with hardly any mess.

• My city closed our recreation centers and parks through the end of the month to slow down of the COVID-19 spread. I am not ecstatic about that but thank goodness for the open spaces we're still allowed to go to.
• Recumbent bike to exercise indoors.
• A late Filipino Ube cake for me with macapuno strings. Macapuno is similar to coconut. Yum.
• I learned how to podcast. My therapist recommended considering podcasting. If nothing else, it serves as a great stress reliever for me, similar to journaling and blogging.
• We have masks left for working with patients in isolation. I had to save a single mask for the whole day but I am so glad I had it.
• We, care providers, are not required to stay in the hospital yet. Remember we are both the band and the rescuers of the sinking Titanic. Please do not forget us, and pray for us too.

Oh, COVID-19. You are old. It is 2020. Leave, now.

Happy Birthday to Me

Each year my birthday comes, I remember waking up to the sound of my mother singing to herself when I was young, "Happy Birthday to me, happy birthday to me, ha. . . " She was singing to herself on her birthday morning.

Before I opened my eyes, not sure if the sun was up, I could hear her. Those were the days of my childhood. I doubt if she does it anymore. Or maybe she does. I will find out as she celebrates her birthday this year with me and my sister. She will be flying in from the Philippines.

But this week is my birthday week. It's my week. I turned 49. I received flowers, a plant, and an organizer. My daughter, not pictured, gifted the organizer box to me. I think she is suggesting something. :)

Family time on my birthday

I went back to Dutch Brothers to get some "kindness." They got my coffee right this time, "dairy-free." No surprise visit to the bathroom after. They were being kind.

I got my little grandson as a handheld walker to assist with walking. He would not stand upright with it though and literally act like a noodle with it. But when "mom" or "dad" pull it up to be his swing, he loves it and giggles. Oh well. I am grateful they use it. :)

Oh, and I learned how to Podcast. Thanks to Anchor.

Six Sentence Story: Green Coat

He tore my green, soft, favorite coat, the one I wore so much.

I felt I was not the one he wanted me to be, not anymore. 

All good things must come to an end, or should it be just the bad?

Clutching my torn coat and shutting the door in front of him, tears shed from my burning eyes.

I said goodbye.

It is his loss, not mine.

Six Sentence Story: Slice of Cake

"Do you have any plans for her birthday?"

"I got her a cake, and then we’re supposed to go out but she’s still on her pajamas in bed."

It was 7 pm, and apparently, she was on the phone with her father who was upset that she did not do some chores for him. 

"Let’s go out for dinner, my treat."

He said he would pick up some meds first from the pharmacy to drop off to her dad.

We went out to celebrate her birthday and ended the evening with her giving each one of us a slice of her favorite carrot (birthday) cake.