Hurricane Katrina

One year ago today was Hurricane Katrina. Thankfully the media is replaying all the footage from last year to remind everyone how horrible that time was. I had forgotten, I'm sure I'm not the only person who really hasn't thought about New Orleans or Mississippi; there are plenty of other things to think about. This should stay fresh in our minds for two reasons; these were Americans who were suffering, in America and because this could happen to any one of us. No, I'm not expecting a hurricane in Ohio but one thing I have learned is each area of the country has their own unique weather to deal with.

I was in New Orleans 6 months before the hurricane hit so I think it was more personal for me. I loved New Orleans, it was a beautiful city with friendly people and music on every street corner. Watching the news during the hurricane, I could pick out places I had been and recognized. The big questions left by hurricane Katrina were; why didn't everyone evacuate and why didn't the government's emergency action plans work?

My husband and I have been through 4 hurricanes; one medium, one big and two small. I would have left New Orleans but we didn't evacuate for any of the hurricanes we encountered while in NC. In fact, it was virtually impossible to evacuate unless you left days in advance because the traffic was so horrible getting out of the city. So better just to batten down the hatches and have a big pitcher of margaritas ready. Not everyone can evacuate and I don't think we can fault people for not having the means to help themselves. Look at all the people who followed directions, went to the Superdome and Convention Center, things didn't turn out that well for them either.

I don't know what happened with the government's emergency plan. Everyone blames someone else, no one will take the accountability to say "it was my fault". Having a government that can't help it's citizens is scary but the real answer I want is...Why didn't you help? I specifically remember an interview with a nurse at one of the hospitals, she was crying, begging for help for the staff and patients. Where was everyone? We are a supernation who can't take care of it's own citizens.

Hurricane Katrina is what got me interested in blogging. I read the blogs posted by newspeople down on the Gulf Coast daily, just to see what was really going on. That blog has since closed down but did give a good assessment of the people and situation, not just in New Orleans but the entire Gulf Coast.

Hyperactivity

Hyperactivity is something that is prevalent in children. We talk about kids being hyper all the time like it is a bad thing. What if they just have a strong desire to do as much as possible in the hours they are awake. Wouldn't that be a good quality in an adult? I am a hyper person, although most people just say I am high strung. I don't do well with down time. I don't relax well; sitting around on a quiet weekend doesn't thrill me. I always need to be doing something. This isn't a bad thing since right now I am focused on professional improvement; just many things at once. There always needs to be something going on, something happening or something being planned. I don't remember being hyper as a child but I guess maybe I was. One good thing about being hyper as an adult is that I am motivated to make the most of life which I don't think is a bad thing. The bad part of being high strung is the stress that comes along with it. Always having something going on or something to do can be pretty stressful; I work best under pressure and stress.

I guess my point is, before you claim that a specific child is hyper, consider how beneficial that could be for the future and maybe they just need something to do.

World Trade Center-the movie

I saw a trailer the other day for a new movie called World Trade Center. It is a story about two police officers who risk their lives to save people after the attacks. While they are in the building it collapses and they are trapped until rescued. It starts Nicholas Cage who I enjoy watching. What I don't enjoy is the whole theme in the movie. Maybe I am just being sensitive, but, that wound is still a little too fresh to have a movie made of it. I still remember where I was, what I was doing and how I felt...almost 5 years later.

We were living in NC. I had worked the night before and the night of the 11th so I was sleeping. Went to bed that morning not thinking anything was wrong. Pete woke me up when he came home for lunch and told me what was going on; at that time even he didn't know the scale of what was happening. Of course I didn't go back to bed, didn't get back to sleep. I called all my friends and family because that seemed like the right thing to do. I tried to sleep a couple times but just kept seeing those towers fall and the dust rushing towards everyone. An awake nightmare.

Like everyone else in America, we were riveted to the TV for the next few days until we had to force ourselves to leave the house and not dwell on what had happened. Baseball started back up and slowly life began to return to some kind of normalcy. We watched all the interviews, the special reports, even bought the DVD's that came out. Those DVDs are still in the plastic wrapping.

This was an important part of our history and an important part of what has changed this country. One of the few events that changed everyone equally, regardless of social or economic status. Fear has become a part of everyday life; uncertainty has taken the place of prideful arrogance. I'm not ready to relive 9/11 or those days that followed. I have been to NYC before and after the attacks, it is still emotional. Perhaps I am in the minority on this, we will see when the box office opens.

Well, I'm 30

Well, I am now 30. The earth didn't stop rotating like I thought it would. There was no sudden flash of lightning at midnight on Monday, no major earthquake, nothing. It was actually quite uneventful which I am thankful for. It was a day spent doing exactly what I wanted to do...eat crab and artichoke dip and drink martinis. Throw in a fabulous dinner at Mongolian BBQ and you have the perfect day. I was a little sad starting out Monday, probably just the thought of getting older. I do that, get all excited for my birthday and then when it actually arrives I am sad. I look at my life now and consider the goals I had set for myself to be accomplished by the time I turned 30; some are completed, some will never be completed and some unconsidered goals accomplished.

I have now survived 3 full days at 30 and I have to say it feels pretty good. I still feel like me, still look like me. There was no major facial sagging, no sudden growth of gray hair. My friends celebrated with me and those that couldn't be present called me. Now on to the next milestone...only 10 years to 40!

Work

Every now and then I have a patient that touches me emotionally. I'm not a real emotional person at work which sounds impossible to most people. Think about it, if I was emotionally involved with all my patients I would have no energy left for myself, friends or family. So staying emotionally distant is a necessity. Every now and then it isn't possible.

The patient I am talking about has been on the unit a while. Their whole life changed with one decision, in a split second they became a different person. Luckily this person was spared from knowing the details until about a week ago when we allowed them to become conscious. There is nothing more painful than the helpless look people get in their eyes when they realize how much their life has changed. I don't see people when they are at their best, I see them at their worst. Even if their worst is their own fault, it is still difficult to watch.

So this patient is now trapped in a body that is very different than before. Tubes have become part of daily life. The patient still smiles, laughs and cries. I took care of this patient again the other night when the patient was trying so hard to tell me something I couldn't understand. When we finally figured it out, the patient was wanting to know when they would be able to go home. A simple request for a very non-simple situation. With a tear in my eye I explained what had happened and how long it would be before home was a possibility. With a tear in their eye, the patient nodded an understanding.

As I drove home after that shift I thought about how fortunate I was to be able to go home.