Go to the Water

I would like you to meet Harlan. Harlan was a 31-year-old man and had no history of using street drugs. If he were offered drugs he would say, "No thanks I am good". One night he and two of his friends thought they would experiment and decided to try ecstasy.  Sadly, the ecstasy was laced with fentanyl. The paramedics were able to revive Harlan's friends with Narcan, but Harlan didn't respond. A heartbeat was restored but his brain had been without oxygen for over 30 mins. For the next three days, Harlan was supported to live. The decision was then made to discontinue his life support and Harlan's life will live on as an organ donor. That decision to experiment caused Harlan's death.  During the three days that Harlan was in the hospital, his dad, Joseph took to the media to speak out about drugs being laced with opioids and the dangers of that.    I am not sure why this story is of such interest to me, other than my heart went out to this dad. He is using his...

When I worked in the Nursing Department one of my colleagues used to say, "students have to walk before they can run". I loved his lines because students wanted to do it all, as soon as they possibly  could or even before. Students are notorious for asking the most technical questions known to man. They would come to me asking about something they had read in a book, and could I just explain what it meant. Of course I couldn't, I had no clue what they were even talking about. At times, it would leave me with a sense of inadequacy. This same colleague would say, "don't get caught up in what they are asking, just remember you know more than they do". All very true.  I have my own line that I say to people that have stood the test of time in the workplace. They may be facing retirement or getting phased out in their position. My line is , "you have forgotten more than they will ever know". It can be exhausting to have newbies come into your workplace ...

"Baking Gift Bags by May and Faye" It all began when I got a gift of a massive amount of crabapple and chokecherry syrup ready to be made into jelly. It then led to a text message that said, "Do you think Maylee would like to do a business venture with me?". We would offer customers an opportunity to purchase a gift package containing a jar of chokecherry or crabapple jelly and a bake item of either a loaf of bread or 6 biscuits or banana bread. Everyone would get a surprise baking item.  All delivered to your door for $10.  The business rules were: 1. Always make your customers feel like they are getting something for free. One of the free items was monster or ginger snap cookies 2. Make it pretty. Every delivery was done in a nice gift bag 3. Show your appreciation. Thank you stickers on the top of the jelly. My business partner will soon be 10. We bake together often, and this business adventure would be just a step up from those baking days. She worked ahead and...

I am pretty sure most people can identify that moment when you are just doing your thing, and the next minute you are throwing clothes into the suitcase and hitting the road. Just recently,  Mom had a bells and whistle kind of health issue and was being transferred by ambulance to the Cardiac Care Unit in Regina. Mom's age is against her, as she will soon turn 89. I never felt frantic about getting to the hospital. I had a sense of calmness that I was going to drive as safely as I could and be at peace with what was ahead. I was preparing myself that this could be the end of life for Mom, but for some reason I knew it wasn't. I felt that I would sense something if Mom were to die.  The time I spent working with the dying and their family holds nothing but wonderful memories for me. I feel when it is the end of life that it should be all about comfort. The last thing I wanted for Mom, at the end of her life, was drama. Mom was transferred by ambulance from the small commun...

I am truly blessed to be able to say, "I have really good health". I feel because I have never had chronic pain or a chronic illness, it makes it hard for me to comprehend how people live with suffering.  It must be horrible to deal with a health issue every single day. But that is not what this post is about. This post is about the "other person", the loved one that feels very helpless as they watch someone they care about, suffer.   In my experience, someone with a chronic illness/pain will present in one of two ways. There are those that cope quite well and don't make their illness their life focus. They do the best they can to carry on as normally as possible, but from time to time their struggles are not manageable. These people have accepted what is going on with them, they are knowledgeable about their conditions, and for the most part they cope. To look at them you wouldn't know they had so much going on inside their body. Then there are the non-cope...