HAPPY 4th of July - BE CAREFUL!
We are leaving for a much anticipated trip to Current River in the morning and I have a lot to do. I have been contemplating which story to share next. There are so many. The one thing I will leave you with, ESPECIALLY if you are a bike enthusiast. You can be the very best and most careful motor cyclist in the world but remember that 40% of fatalities involve alcohol and those people drive everyday. (It increases on the weekends to scary numbers!) We all know people that do it, we've done it and have seen the havoc it wreaks in our lives. I went to work on Father's Day a year or so ago and had a patient who was an avid motorcyclist. He had ridden for years. He was hit by an intoxicated driver on his way home at 4:00 in the afternoon. The man was not expected to live (intoxicated driver was fine) so we continued his care with high hopes, he was only 37. Within 2 hours of my shift starting, I was told his family was coming in to see him and get an update. What I didn't expect was for "his family" to be a young wife and two little children and that I would be expected to tell them that hope was slim.. Our policy is not to let children into the Trauma Unit because it can be very intimidating and even scarring, but on that particular Father's Day, his family came to say goodbye. He passed away by midnight. Be careful people, ESPECIALLY during this holiday weekend!!! Use your DD's and watch out for those who choose not to!
CoryTraumaRN posted today at 11:16 AM
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Micheal's Graduation
I just wanted to add a little blurb about my guy's graduation. He had his graduation ceremony tonight in Georgia (finished in March) and I just want him to know how very proud of him I am. (YEY Micheal!!!) He has worked hard (& continues to work hard) in everything he does. He is a dream come true and although many of you that come here to read this don't come to read about my personal life, rest assured that I just had to take this opportunity to say how proud of him I am of him because I feel I could explode. He is the most wonderful man in the world and I am soooo thankful to have him in my life. Someone told me once that God creates someone for everyone, you just have to find them. Well, that is sooo true and I have no doubt in my mind that I found mine.
CoryTraumaRN posted today at 6:22 AM
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MOTHER TERESA
It was an ordinary Tuesday and I was on my way to San Felix as I did every Tuesday to volunteer at one of Mother Teresa's many homes, this one for children. Little did I know what was about to happen or the impact that it would have on me one day. As we (me and Debbie) walked up the sidewalk, out walks a few of the Sisters of Charity and Mother Teresa. We were introduced, Mother gave us Saint Charms to "keep us safe for the good works we were doing" and everyone went on their way. I'm not Catholic and didn't really realize the impact of what had just happened. I volunteered there because it made me feel good and I had no work Visa so I didn't want to just sit around the pool all day. (That got old quick.)Over the years as I've studied about her and learned of all that she did, I've been blown away.
Although brief, that describes my meeting with Mother Teresa. Although I can only wish that I had a tiny portion of her goodness, I have to say I agree with her when she says: "If life is not spent loving others, then life is not worth living."
CoryTraumaRN posted today at 10:44 AM
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SAN FELIX CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL
I arrive in Puerto Ordaz, Venezuela in South America, January 1991 and don't have a clue what my life is going to be like for the next 4 years. I've just lost a baby on my WAY to Venezuela during a layover in Miami, don't know anyone in Venezuela, I'm scared, excited and feeling adventurous. Company functions, holiday parties, social gatherings, then it happens....... I meet my very best friend Debbie from Australia who very soon thereafter introduces me to the nuns at Mother Teresa's home for children in San Felix where she has volunteered for the previous year. Debbie also quickly hooks me up with a Woman's group that collects money for charities........
Fastforward to December.......................
So this is the plan I'm told: We have tons of donated gifts delivered to my house then Debbie and I spend 14 hours STRAIGHT wrapping these presents that we will deliver to a Children's Hospital. "How cool" I think to myself. "Sick kids will get gifts at Christmas." We were to have a Santa, a Mrs. Claus, and two elves. (I was an elf) I thought about including pictures, we'll see.......
So, the next day we practice our spanish Christmas Carols and head to the hospital. When we enter, I'm a little surprised at the condition of the hospital and then remind myself that we are in a 3rd world country........
The first room we stop at is a precious little girl who has leukemia and is in her last days of life. We are singing Christmas carols and the little girl's Mom's face lights up. Although the little girl is too weak to lift her head, you can see a hint of a smile. Well worth it. We move on down the hall, only to see a nurse walking down the hall with a newborn baby wrapped in a pillowcase. We shudder and go on..............
Next stops are infected children, burned children with skin accumulating on the floor next to their beds, torsos of children with missing extremities, etc. Even the ones that were non-responsive got presents. Then we come to the door of a little girl who is lying in a baby crib with her arms contracted (unable to move) under her chin and her knees bent and contracted over her chest and looks to be about 3 or 4 years old. But there is a strange look about her...................... as we go in we start talking to the nurse. The little girl is 11 years old, discovered only by dental records. She had just been found a few days before. The little girl was born mentally challenged, deaf and mute and her parents were embarassed by this. They proceeded to dig a hole in their backyard. Then they built a wooden box about the size of a puppy crate. This is where the child was kept and fed 24 hours a day. The little girl eventually went blind. Imagine living in a dark hole, never seeing the sunlight, never playing in the sunlight...... how horrifying. A neighbor actually watched the horror unfold one evening and called the police. The little girl was 11 years old when they pulled her out of her tomb. I wish I could say it was fiction but it is not. Although it's a story that noone in their right mind wants to think about, imagine.... that was the best Christmas that little girl ever had..........................
CoryTraumaRN posted today at 4:44 AM
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REQUEST FOR VENEZUELA STORIES
I have received a request from a friend of mine to share some stories of my life in Venezuela (prior to becoming a nurse) so I am going to just pick a couple of the hundred or so that I could write about. I lived in Venezuela and volunteered at Mother Teresa's home for children for several years where I became active in a Women's Group that raised money for different charities and Mother Teresa's "Guarderia" was one of them. Another was the San Felix Children's Hospital. I hope you enjoy these upcoming stories and would love to hear feedback as to whether you would like to hear more.
CoryTraumaRN posted today at 4:33 AM
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