Beep.....Beep.....Beep....Beep....

That's the sound that runs through my head day and night.  Working in an ICU is filled with things that beep - ventilators, IV poles, dialysis machines, pulse oximeters....everything makes noise.  Then I go home and can still hear the beeping in my dreams!
I had a very rough first week.  My first night of call was miserable.  I had a very hard experience with the death of a younger patient, and dealing with his family broke my heart.  I don't remember crying about a patient before - I may have, but for this guy I bawled.  All day on Tuesday I was heartbroken.  A week later and I still think about his wife and kids and what they're going through.  There have been other sad happenings on my service too - but just recently I had some "miracle" outcomes - not sure what I did right!  I have learned a lot though and have had some good experience managing some really sick patients.  When I am on call I am responsible for up to 19 (hopefully less!) ICU patients.  Our census has finally slimmed down a bit and my second night of call I got to sleep for over 1 hour!  Pretty good.

This weekend Grandpa S came to visit.  A year ago he and I were in Europe - which is when this whole blog thing started.  I've gone back to look at the blogs I posted then.  Good times - wish I could go back.  I remember being in Stockholm and just how CLEAN it felt.  Then going to Germany and eating my year's worth of schnitzel, wonderful cheese, terrific pastries and desserts.....plus beer and wine!  He and I had such a great time.  He loves his trips back north and I'm glad he feels comfortable staying with us.  Bry and I were worried that we'd be too boring for this 80-year-old!  We apologized for our 9 o'clock bedtime and our simple evening of watching TV and sitting with our respective laptops.  Grandpa S joined right in and sat with his own laptop.

LIZA

Alright, back to knitting - my first forays with Susan B Anderson's pumpkin hats were a success!  Both nephew and niece got one - although there is yet to be a photo of either of them smiling in it!

LUCAS

Today Bry and I had a terrific date day.  We went to brunch, a movie, two malls and out to dinner.  It was my first day off since the 2nd!  We had a great time re-connecting and can't wait until next weekend when I have the whole weekend off.  We came super close to buying a sectional couch....which we may go and get next weekend.  We'll see. 

I'm back to the grind tomorrow.  Hopefully I will have some downtime and be able to get some knitting done too.  I'm almost done with a scarf I'm working on....then I will FOCUS on the 3 pairs of mittens that I HAVE to get finished here.

Have a great weekend!