Blur

 Blur

A Poem by Carin

She gives her head a nod and shakes

Her vision is blurry, not clear, or deep

After some wine, then lousy sleep

Sweet dreams and rest don't come that cheap

She rises from her cozy bed

Still tired but must now look ahead

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.

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.

Nurse Carlos and Mrs. P

I am joining Six Sentence Stories for the first time. The prompt word is skip. I just realize it is more challenging to write a story in only six sentences. For my son, who would type 1.5 pages out of required 2 for a high school assignment, this would have been a breeze. :)

Anyway, I am writing another story of a fictional character, Carlos, RN. My first one is here.  With similarities to my experience with patients, this stories will give you a glimpse of what a shift in intensive care unit looks like. It is gross a lot of times, and not for the squeamish. I apologize.

It is another day. I am once again assigned to Mrs. P who had bleeding on two areas in her esophagus. The areas where embolized yesterday, and she has been stable ever since. She did not throw up any more blood. There is no need to keep her intubated.

We were about to extubate her (remove breathing tube and take off ventilator support)  when bright red blood started coming out of her mouth like water from a hose. 

F! I almost said the word but I just thought it in my mind. 

Immediately, I got her head to the side so she does not aspirate any of it. I  suctioned her mouth with a Yankeur. It is like one of those aspirators they use in the dental office.

We are skipping extubation this morning for sure.

Hours later, after more blood transfusions I rapidly administered, and another endoscopy and interventional-radiology-guided procedures, more spots of her esophagus are coiled and embolized to stop her bleeding.  

Poor Mrs. P. I am sure when she finally fully recovers, she will never take mega home doses of Advil ever again.


I keep her calm and sedated. I hope she stays stable. At least, she made it through my shift without any more blood gushing out of her mouth . .  . yet.