Happy Thanksgiving

Just a few things I'm thankful for this year.....

Jammies with Turkey feet.
And this happy little guy.
Hope you all have a happy and safe Thanksgiving!

AMA's

Did anyone else see the American Music Awards last night? I only saw parts of the show. I thought Pink and Usher's performances were pretty awesome. Again, I wish I could dance. I wasn't really aware of what Justin Beiber sang until I saw him perform. Not bad for a fetus.
I missed the performance by NKOTB and Backstreet Boys, but I watched it today on YouTube. There's nothing sadder than aging former boy bands. There's a kind of air of desperation about them.
My favorite part of the night? Taylor Swift's new look.

I think she looked so stylish and polished. I almost didn't recognize her. I love the straight hair and bangs. It was time she changed it up a bit.

What did you all think?

Ventilator Madness!!

For all my respiratory homies out there, here's a funny video I found:

I Think Shopping is in Order

Dear Prince William and Kate Middleton,

Congratulations on your engagement. I will be anxiously awaiting my invitation. I already have the perfect hat.

Warmly,
Sarah

Balance

Now that I'm back at work I have a new appreciation for working mom's everywhere. How do they balance it all and work full time? Especially with the mommy guilt. I try to be the best wife/mother/worker/sister/daughter/friend I can be and it seems like I keep coming up short somewhere. How to give everyone a bit of my time so as not to feel neglected. And keep up with the day to day maintenance of life. Grocery shop, pay bills, do laundry, clean house....blog. I need to go to the health club more to work off this "baby" weight and that's a whole other hour away from Jack. Everything that takes me away from him makes me feel guilty. Especially on the days I work and don't get to see him all day.

It's a little overwhelming.

Any suggestions?

Survival

I made it through my first day back at work. My charting is ridiculously slow. It took me forever to get through my patients today. Partly because of the new charting and partly because everyone kept stopping me to ask after Jack. And to look at the photo album I brought. (what kind of mom would I be if I didn't have one?) Thank goodness for my coworker Heidi or I never would have finished!

There were so many worries I had going back. That I would miss too much. That he would like the sitter more than us. I just had to tell myself that it would be the same amount of hours away from me a day when he went to school. Did I want to be one of those freak moms who pressed their faces against the window of his kindergarten classroom? I think it would be harder for me then because I'd have 5 years more of attachment. He ended up doing fine. And I did too. I didn't even call the sitter once. Everyone at work was impressed that I could resist it.

I was, however, worried about Spiderman. He had a routine dr's appt for his asthma yesterday and his blood pressure was very high. For someone who has never had any issues with this I was pretty worried. That's all I need is for my hubby to have a stroke! They referred him to a cardiologist and his appt was today. They gave him some meds, told him to exercise more, stay away from salt, and have an EKG. He has another appt in a month so keep your fingers crossed!

That's pretty much all for now since I'm completely exhausted.....

Dread

So.
Tomorrow is it. The day I go back to work. I'm pretty worried, but I have everything possible done tonight so I have very little to do in the morning. Spiderman will drop him at the sitter and I will pick him up. I've been having trouble sleeping the past few nights worrying about things. My brain just won't shut off. I just have to make it through the first day right? Then it will get better.

So tonight I'm going to take a bath, pop a unisom and head to bed.

Wish me luck!

The End of Respiratory Care Week

With last week being National Respiratory Care Week I'm going to take the time to mention one (of the many) of my work related pet peeves.
Asthma is a reactive airway disease. You are born with it. Like an allergy. Your airway comes into contact with an allergen and creates more mucus and constricts. This causes the wheezing sound associated with it. Wheezing, however, is not limited to asthma. There are other respiratory conditions that can make a person wheeze, like chronic bronchitis. Which leads me to my pet peeve.

You can not outgrow asthma.

When people say to me "I used to have asthma when I was a kid, but I outgrew it" it makes me crazy. Most of the time I politely correct them because I'm a nerd like that. I get irritated when people then look at me like I have no idea what I'm talking about because their sister/brother/cousin/self outgrew it. I mean it is only my JOB and all. It says it right in the title. RESPIRATORY therapist.

But anyway.....What I think happens is when dr's have a little one that wheezes they automatically think asthma. Which is good because with little airways asthma can be exceptionally dangerous. But the wheezing could be because the kid just has a cold (RSV-which is another pet peeve but we'll save that for another time shall we?) or some other respiratory condition. The treatment for wheezing is pretty much the same no matter what causes it so they label it asthma to cover their ass. Then they watch the kid. If the wheezing reoccurs continually and has a pattern to the recurrences then they're good because the kid probably has asthma. They then order a pulmonary function test....which is the only way to really diagnose asthma but can't really be performed until the kid is older.

If they never wheeze again or it only reoccurs a few more times the kid then has "outgrown" the asthma. And no one ever gets corrected. And the myth persists.....to make me nuts! Now if you have asthma as a kid that doesn't mean that it can't get better. You can get better at managing it. Avoid triggers and get on management meds. But if it truly is asthma you can still have an attack. I can't tell you how many asthmatics I have had in the ER who "outgrew" it until they had one bad attack that almost killed them.

And yes, Asthma can kill you. In high school a friend's sister had an attack and her airways closed off before she could get help. A former coworker had an attack and tried to drive herself to the hospital and didn't make it. It can happen. So to wrongly inform people that their disease can just "go away" is irresponsible.

In my opinion.