Posts (page 2)

School has been interfering in my life, again.  I have so little time to myself when school is in session.  Clinicals, work, lecture, study.  Oh well, the rest of this semester and one more then I'll be done.

I have taken some pictures of the pooches.  Brownie and I went to the hospital last week, but she wasn't feeling well so we didn't see any patients. 

Here's my photos.

 

 

My favorite part of the hospital visit today was waiting for the elevator.  I sat in the seats on the 5th floor, and Brownie hopped right up next to me for a chat.  I rubbed her ear and told her what a wonderful job she'd done.  She drank in every word.  She's a fabulous conversationalist.

We saw a patient on the cardiac unit who misted up when we walked in.  She's been in the hospital for almost 2 weeks and misses her own pack of three.  She stroked Brownie's head and kept telling Brownie she was a good girl. The patient asked me if I had to spend much time training Brownie.

Brownie isn't the best behaved dog I know.  She has passable manners for a therapy dog.  She's tempted to jump up on people she sees week after week, like nurses or techs.  She pulls on her leash when she's excited and any food laying on the floor is very tempting for her.  I'm pretty sure people think she's so well trained because she is so personable.  She likes people, and isn't ashamed to show it.  I suppose that makes people see her as well behaved.  She just has a wonderful personality.

I took some nice photos on New Years Day of the kids.  The first is Brownie, Paco and Logan on the porch.

 

Here's my favorite nekkie dog.

 

I had a nurse tell me during clinicals that nurses and doctors make the worst patients.  Thank goodness my dogs don't agree.  I've needed some serious pet therapy during my finals preparation.  I worried more this semester.  I'm not doing as well as I did last term, or during my prerequisites.  It's all getting more difficult.  I'm not in danger of failing, but I have some test anxiety.

I was just sitting at the computer doing some NCLEX test questions when Paco came and whimpered.  He wanted me to pick him up.  He must have realized I'm stressing out, because that isn't typical behavior for him.  He may not like most people, and he may be a little nippy, but he's therapeutic for me.  He won't be going to the hospital to help patients any time soon, Brownie has that role wrapped up in my pack.  He's sure good therapy for me, though.  Thanks Paco.

Brownie is snoring softly on the bed behind me.  We didn't make it to the hospital today.  I studied with friends for a few hours.  We had a good week last week, I bought her a hat that says "Santa Patrol - Chimney Watch".  She tolerates it, and the patients loved it.  I'll get a pic of her in the hat and post it later.

I do have a picture of my tiny little angel.

 

Brownie has a problem, an addiction.  She loves plush squeaky toys.  She steals to support her habit.  If I buy squeaky toys for the pack, she lies in wait until the others lose interest in theirs.  Then this happens.

 

Yes, that is a picture of a dog with three medium sized squeaky toys in her mouth.  She's not ashamed, either. 

I worked last Thursday with a challenging patient.  He was restrained because he'd pulled out his nasogastric tube and his i.v.  He had a closed head injury and nothing made him happy.  He was just restless and irritable.  I left Thursday night filled with empathy for his night tech, because she had her hands full.  He didn't speak more than three or four words to me during the time I spent with him.

The next day, I thought I'd take Brownie to see him and he just loved her.  They took off his restraints so he could pet her, he did great on an evaluation that was performed during Brownie's visit, and he kept looking at Brownie.   I asked him several times if he was tired and wanted me to leave, and he'd shake his head no.  I spent nearly a half hour in his room with Brownie.  He didn't gush over her, he just looked at her and smiled when she nuzzled his hand.  He was restful.  I could tell the difference in his spirit, if that doesn't sound too hokey.

My girl can still surprise me with the difference she makes.  One chubby black dog made his day better, and what more can I ask for?  It was a good visit.

Brownie and I had a wonderful day on Friday at the hospital.   We were on the cardiac floor and our second patient enjoyed Brownie's company so much.  He rubbed her ears, commented on how sweet natured she was, then called her a lard ass.  Yes, you read that correctly.  Lard Ass.  I wasn't offended by this man because he didn't say it in a condescending way, or imply that I'm putting my dog at risk with her extra weight.  He was using it as an affectionate term, but still.  Thankfully, one of her favorite nurses commented on Brownie's diminishing waist line. 

We saw a patient on the ortho floor who had crashed his motorcycle.  He was getting ready to go home, but enjoyed getting some Brownie love.  I understand, as I am fond of Brownie love myself.

Our next patient on the ortho floor just gushed over my girl.  He thought his bassett hound at home would love playing with Brownie.  He and his wife were so cute, rubbing Brownie's ears and telling Brownie how beautiful and sweet she is.  Of course, I agreed.  The dog is as sweet as sugar, and quite beautiful. 

I made Brownie endure the ultimate humiliation yesterday.  Yes, I made her wear a costume to the hospital.  She was a good sport about it, and the patients and staff loved it.

I spent the morning running errands with my mom.  I got a phone call from a friend who asked if I was dressing Brownie up. I told her I had a pumpkin scarf I was going to put on Brownie.  My friend then told me there was a great dane wearing a tutu visiting patients.  I happened to be at Target.  Obviously I couldn't let Brownie be outdone by a great dane in a tutu, right?

 

 

Brownie had a wonderful time Friday at the hospital.  We visited one of our favorite floors and had two special patients in one room.  The first was missing her own two dogs at home.  Miss Brownie looked a bit like one of them.  Brownie really liked this woman, laying her head on the bed rail to make eyes at the woman.  Brownie can be shameless when it comes to charming a patient she likes.

We saw the next patient who wanted Brownie right in bed with her.  Brownie, of course, accomodated.  Soon we (the patient, her visitor and I) were laughing at Miss Thing as she cocked her head to the side looking at the nurses station right outside the door.  There were nurses and techs talking to Brownie, commenting on how cute she looked perched in the bed and finally someone taking Brownie's picture with his cell phone.  The patient wasn't visible in the photo, so no laws were broken, just fyi.

Brownie can really work it when someone is talking to her. She is so amusing to me, perking her ears up and cocking her head to the side.  I just love this dog and her precious personality. 

 

 

I joined a swap on Swapbot.  I'm supposed to send photos of all the things that I love, so I'm going to post them here and send the link.  I think you can probably guess that my dogs will figure largely in that list. I love them and they keep me relatively sane while I'm in school. 

My Brownie, the reason I got into nursing school.  She provides therapy for so many people, but me more than anyone else.  She's always good for my mental health, always up for a bit of love.  Someone told me the light spots in photos are the angels surrouning the subject.  Look at my girl, she's got a slew of them here.

 

I've had Logan the longest, he's been my companion for 6 years now.  He has personality enough for him and several other dogs.  I've learned so much from this little guy.

 

Here's my little Ming having a nap after playing with Paco  Sleepy puppy.

And here's my little thug, Paco.  I was lucky the day he decided to trot into my yard.  He's a love bug, and endlessly entertaining.  Here he is having a snooze.  I love sleeping pups.

I love living in the desert, so here's a photo of the cactus in the yard in bloom.  I love when we have flowers..

 

There are other flowers here in the desert.  They seem more special for being able to survive our summers.  I took this photo on a day where the temps were over 110, and this game little flower bloomed anyway.

 

Brownie and I had a good visit today at the hospital.  We saw more staff than patients, but it was still a good day. 

Our first patient of the day had Brownie in a puddle in her chair.  This woman knew how to scratch a dog's head.  Brownie's eyes were closed, she was in a swoon.  This woman was missing her own 150 lb mastiff at home.  The patient and I talked about rescue in general.  She has had two dogs, a rottweiler who passed away after 13 years and her mastiff.  Both were rescues.  She also told a story of her brother who rescued a dog while he was at a party.  He loved the dog for years. It had been tied out in a yard when the brother was at a party.  The owner of the dog had mentioned what a pain the dog was, it had been left by the owner's girlfriend.  So, my patient's brother took the dog home and loved it.  The universe put them together, dog in need of a friend and human in need of a dog. 

This was a sad week for me.  One of my favorite dogs at the shelter, Nigil, left us this week.  He was old and had started having seizures.  He had painful arthritis and had stopped eating and drinking.  I'll miss my cranky old man.