Happy Birthday Stanton and Jessica!!!

Well, this is a big Birthday Weekend. Stanton (our baby) is turning 7 y/o, and Jessica (my baby sister) is turning um, well, she's um turning ... well, ehhh um, you can ask her through the link on our blog... I can tell you this: I'm turning 36 this November and Jessie is just shy of 7 years younger than me.... ;) So, Happy Birthday Jessie!! We sure do miss you and your family. We hope to come visit sometime this winter (fair warning)... for those who don't know, Jessica and her gang live in Wal-Martland, Arkansas and we live in Euharlee, Georgia (45 minutes from Atlanta and 30 minutes from Rome, 75 minutes from Chattanooga).

It seems like forever since Jessie was my curly haired little sister who flipped Mom the bird in the bleachers at Neighborhood Park in Saraland, AL during one of Chris's little league games.... a move that led to the accidental Head-Bash against the hard shoulder of the couch... Mom was upset but not THAT upset... I'm not sure if it knocked some sense into Jessica or knocked the sense out of her.... (joking of course)... it definitely shook Mom up...

It also seems forever since she lived with us in Orange Beach, AL for a summer right after Ethan was born... this was where Jessica trained to be a master Chef in the kitchen of Mangos on the Island (a restaurant made famous by uh-um, yours truly).

Now she is mother of 2 (soon to be 3) and wife of 1 (Ryan... who has surprisingly come out of his nerd cave and seems to be developing an addiction to cycling... I knew he'd come around!!) So anyways, Happy Birthday Jessie-Mac!!

OK, moving right along. Stanton, our little Cherubim. It's hard to believe he's turning 7 already. Melinda and I have been blessed beyond comprehension with the two wonderful spirits that the Lord has entrusted us with. Both of our boys are so vibrant, smart, and energetic that it can be tiresome to be around them for extended periods of time without proper preparation and orientation. Not to leave Ethan out, but because it is Stanton's Birthday, I'll come back to Ethan in another post.
Let me just tell you about Stanton Valor Bedwell. He came into this world wide eyed and full of wonder. He hasn't changed a bit. He's excited, inquisitive, passionate, spiritual, and loving. He loves the outdoors. He loves mountain biking, bmx'ing, hiking, camping, canoeing, tubing, climbing trees, climbing rocks, climbing anything actually. He loves playing with his friends (which definitely includes his big brother, Ethan). He love his Family and misses them when he's not around them. He sometimes (just out of the blue) will express his longing to see his cousins, aunts/uncles, or Grandparents who he hasn't seen in a while. He will lovingly inquire of Melinda's parents, who died when he was too young to remember them, and express his desire to have known them. Stanton loves going to church and being in Primary (children's Sunday School). He has an impressive knowledge and understanding of scripture stories and of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. His favorite scripture story is from Mosiah 12 (found in the Book of Mormon). It's when Abinidi testifies before the wicked King Noah and his priests. (If you are one of my non-LDS Friends, this is not the "Noah's Ark" Noah from the Old Testament... different era, different continent, gimme a call, I'll be glad to chat with you about it... better yet, I'll let Stanton talk to you about it).
Anyways, before I let my ADD get the better of me. Let me tell you about this past Monday morning. Being that we have two vibrant, energetic lads in our home, there is usually a plethora of small toys and pieces of toys (e.g. Lego's...) to step on in the floor. Well, Monday morning was no exception. I came home from work around 8 a.m. and got ready for bed. I had not even started to dream when Melinda woke me up with one of our kittens in her hands and said: "Scott, something's wrong with the cat, look at him!" The cat kept making this yawning motion and would paw at his face. He didn't seem to be in major distress as I could tell that he was breathing and somewhat calm. Melinda was a bit more excited, as she had noticed him doing this for some time and thought that something bad was happening. (the reason why we have these 2 kittens is because we lost "Spike-tail", our 6 year old Manx to the tainted Chinese cat food which caused his liver to fail last year). So being the Nurse that I am, I continued to assess the cat by the usual nursing method, you know: Airway, Breathing, Circulation (in that order)... as I looked in his mouth I saw something lodged between his upper teeth that encompassed his whole upper pallet. With Melinda holding him, I was able to pull this thing out, the cat shook his head a couple times, smacked his lips, then ran off to play with his brother. It turned out to be a round magnet from who knows what (Ethan is in a deconstructive phase where he likes to take things apart, he just hasn't made it to a reconstructive stage yet). So, I wash my hands and go back to bed. Fast-forward to 3 p.m.: The boys come in from school, I hear Melinda telling them about the cat so I get up and go downstairs. I reinforce what Melinda has told them and Stanton says to me something to this effect: "Daddy, during the 'Moment of Silence' this morning (they're not allowed to "pray" in school, so they have a "moment of silence" after their Pledge of Allegiance every morning) during the 'Moment of Silence' this morning, I had a bad feeling in my heart about the cats. It felt like something was wrong, so I said a prayer to Heavenly Father that the cats would be O.K. when I got home from school today." I was taken for a moment because I realized that when Melinda woke me and all that went on right about the same time Stanton would have been in his Moment of Silence. I gave him a hug and thanked him. I asked him if he always prays during the Moment of Silence and he said "Yeah, usually" in a nonchalant kind of way. I then encouraged him to thank his Father in Heaven that the cats were o.k. and for hearing is prayers. It may not seem like much to some of you, but when my kids say or do something like that, it really touches my heart. Being a parent is often very humbling, and when your children prove to be embracing Gospel principles and concepts (like prayer), well that's just plain inspiring!
Please don't think that I'm bragging (which I have no problem doing) about Stanton, but I consider myself beyond fortunate to have him and Ethan as my sons and Melinda as my wife.
Anyways, that's all for "Getting to know Stanton, volume 1". Wish him a Happy Birthday.
Happy Birthday Stanton, I love you buddy!

Update on Change

So, as I mentioned on the last post, it looks like I'm finally going to get off of the NIGHT SHIFT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I got one of the ICU manager's signature on my transfer request so all that really needs to happen is the ICU manager and the PACU manager have to come to terms on what date will be my actual transfer... based on staffing issues in the ICU, and the fact that someone has to train into my charge nurse position, it looks like they will try to keep me for the maximum amount of time which is 6 weeks... I proposed that we just finish out this schedule (which is through Oct. 18)... I guess we'll see.
Well, tomorrow (Thursday) I will work a shift in the PACU just to check it out. I'm pretty stoked. The work itself will not be as challenging as working in ICU, or at least the acuity level of the patients will not be as sick or demanding as the ICU, but it's different in the PACU... It's like "Turn & Burn" (to borrow from my old restaurant lingo)... you know, "get 'em in--- get 'em out" kind of thing. Anyways, I'll let y'all know how it turns out.
Later,
Scott

Time for change!

Ok folks. Here it is. (If you happen to work with me, do not let this out just yet, I need to make sure it's solid!) I doubt that anyone I work with reads this, but there is a link to our blog on every email I send so, ..... you never know!!!

Well, most of you know that I've been working every night, many weekends, and many many holidays for the last 5 or so years... and before that I worked 'till at least midnight 5, 6 and sometimes 7 days a week; plus just about every weekend and holiday for about 10 years right?

Well, my (and Melinda's) prayers may be answered. I'm just asking that y'all remember us in your prayers too. I have had a couple informal over the phone interviews for a position in the PACU (Post anesthesia care unit... aka: "recovery room") and will have a face-to-face interview on this Wednesday morning. It will be a transfer in the same hospital so there will be no change in pay... in fact, I'll be loosing between $3-$5/hour in shift differentials & etc. but hope to make some of that up in "on call pay". The gig is from 10 am to 6 pm Tuesday-Friday (yeah, that's only 32 hours week, but being on call 1 night a week + coming in early or staying late some days adds up... and I can always pick up a shift or 1/2 shift in the ICU at a moment's notice....they are always in need)... besides, with this schedule, if we find that it's necessary, Melinda can get a part-time job for a while. If Wednesday works out (which in talking on the phone with the manager, it sounds promising) I could be on days within this month!!! That means I can eat and sleep the same time my wife and kids are eating and sleeping, I can function like a real person... You just don't know how bad I need this!!! Hopefully I can lose some weight, lower my blood pressure and cholesterol by having regular sleep patters... and another plus is the fact that there are showers so I can get a bike ride in before work and just lock my bike on the rack. We don't have showers in ICU so I haven't had that luxury... Anyway, we are pretty excited, but are trying not to count our chickens before they hatch. I just wanted to let y'all in on it. BTW, surgeons don't schedule procedures on weekends and holidays, so unless it's emergent and I'm on call (which is every 8th weekend), then no weekend work unless I'm picking it up in the ICU. Pretty cool.
So, the moral to the story: Prayer Works. Please remember us in your prayers.
Later,
Scott

Messy M.E.S.S.

Well, it's Thursday morning, I just got in from work. It wasn't a bad night, my patient was pleasant (my first Muslim patient that I can remember... nice guy)... yes, I did say Patient and not Patients.... that's because in a Cardio-Vascular/Surgical Intensive Care Unit, most post-op open heart and some vascular and neuro patients are 1 on 1 (1 nurse/1 patient) for the 1st 12 to 36 hours +/- depending on acuity... actually, many times the patient may be 2 or 3 on 1 (2 or 3 nurses/ 1 patient) for the first couple hours... until the patient is stable enough to be 1 on 1...
So, enough Nurse talk 101, there will be a quiz next week...

I figured it was time to post again, by the way I fixed the pictures on the "Can you canoe" post... check 'em out. I named this one "Messy M.E.S.S." because looking around the house, I realized that we (M. elinda, E. than, S. tanton, S. cott) are some messy folks... most of the time it's o.k. because we're not Dirty people, we are just unorganized and cluttered enough to be messy. Hey, we don't sweat the little stuff... I have to admit, Melinda does way more than her share of cleaning the kitchen and living room and even the kids rooms, and I probably don't quite do enough (but I take care of the grass cutting, garbage taking out, some cooking, and working... +/- other stuff)... the boys, well, they are a work in progress and I'll report on them later. I'm not posting to complain. I'm just saying that we're a bit messy, that's all. Here's the thing... I've seen folks with twice as many kids as us who keep a spic and span home... I don't get it. I mean, are they like constantly sweeping, mopping, dusting, vacuuming, washing, folding, wiping... or are they just that anal or "O.C.D." that they are super conscious about every little speck, drop, footprint, hair, etc. that nothing gets by them and are their kids the same way?
Frankly, it annoys me. When I walk into someones home and it looks like nobody lives there because everything is so nice and neat and orderly and clutter free... pictures are arranged neatly, no dishes on the table or counters... no shoes, toys, clothes, and papers spread throughout the house... I get kinda nervous. I mean, I'm afraid to walk... "should I take my shoes off?"... "am I allowed in this room?" these are things that go through my mind... if I wanted to go to a museum, then I would have gone to one, but NO! I chose to visit someone in their home, but it appears that I took a wrong turn because there's no sign of life here...(more of my thought process...) All I'm saying is jeez! If you really want to show some hospitality, drop a coke and leave a nice stain in your carpet, leave a load of laundry on your sofa so I can push it aside and sit down, kick your shoes off at the front door so I can stumble on them when I come through... then I'll feel welcome when I visit.
I'm a family kinda guy, my folks were up here this last weekend and yes, we straitened things up before they got here(I actually scrubbed the whole bathroom...yeah, I know), but when they arrived, they KNEW that someone lived here... they knew it was us and I hope they didn't take offense to it but rather felt welcome. Now I know that my sisters may end up reading this and I'm pretty sure that they can and do relate, but to you other readers (if there are others), try mixing it up a little bit... how 'bout helping your kid with a school project and leaving everything in the middle of the dining room table for a few days, then throw a picnic blanket on the living room floor and having dinner in the floor for a couple days. While that's all going on, make sure to invite some of your "Type A" friends over and get them in on the gig too. I think that you may just loosen up a bit and have a better, more rounded outlook on life.
Go on, give it a try.... then report back here and let me know how it went....


:)


(please don't think that people who have "lived in" homes are lazy, we're not lazy, we are just multi-tasking and happen to be on the "multi" part of the "tasking" thing.)

That's all.

Scott

Can you Canoe?

Many of you know that we had our first Grandfather, Fathers, Uncles, Brothers, Bros-In-Laws, Sons, and Cousins' canoe trip up here in NW Georgia last weekend. Dad (Gramps to some) had been planning/hoping to do this for some time now and it finally came to fruition. It was a close call with Mother Nature, but we only had a few sprinkles, some wind here and there and little sun... come to think of it, I'd call it "Pleasantly Overcast". It was a 17 mile Canoe trip on the Etowah River. 5 adults and 5 kids (better make that 10 kids). The put-in point was on hwy 411 half way between Cartersville and Rome, GA and the take-out point was at Grizzard Park on the East Rome Bypass (Hwy 1). There were a few rocky shoal rapids (not real rapids, but more turbulence than your average bathtub) which posed minor challenges as well as opportunities for some to get wet (tipped canoes... no injuries or drownings though)... Fun was had by all and we look forward to doing it again... I had a water proof disposable camera and have developed the pics to a disc and uploaded them to winkflash and photobucket... here are the links: http://sandm96.winkflash.com/ and http://s174.photobucket.com/albums/w106/scottheckles/summer%2008/canoe%20trip/
but in the meantime, here's a few pics for proof: (if I'm not making sense, I'll read this later and edit it... I just got home from work and am in need of sleep)


A view from the Captain's Seat (Ethan and Stanton in front).

Who's the Captain in this picture?



"Where's the TP?"........ ........ ......... ........... Nothing to see here, move along, move along.


Sometimes we made a 4 canoe barge and just hung around.



Other times we stopped and emptied the water from the canoes (they tend to float better when they are IN the water and not with water IN them)


This kinda looks like a "Flood Rescue Picture... a la Hurricane Katrina" (BTW, That's the Birthday boy in the background... Happy Birthday Shane)


There was some kid swapping going on (just to keep things fresh... it was almost 6 hours in a canoe...)



Grizzly Adams was there



It was a dang good time... Maybe some day we'll be good enough sailors that we can bring along some Women-folks.... Sounds like a plan....
There are more pics on Winkflash and photobucket...
I'm tired and am quickly running out of steam.
Thanks for including us in your adventure Dad (if you ever read this)... let's do it again.
Later,
Scott

What's that sound?

I've been meaning to post this one, just haven't gotten around to it yet.
It happened last week some time. I came in from work about 9:30 a.m. (had to stay late for a meeting) so I was very tired. Melinda was up and about, she had places to go, things to do. Well, I remember her kissing me good night (my night-- her morning) 'cause she figured that I would be asleep by the time she gets out of the shower... she was right... only she decides to wake me in a semi-panicked state to get me to investigate this "mysterious sound" coming from the bathroom. So I do. As I get closer to the bathroom, I can hear this "BUZZZZZZZZZZZZZ" sound inconspicuously generated from nowhere in particular. "Hmm?" I thought. I looked everywhere I knew to look: under the sink, in the closet, behind the door, in the garbage, in the medicine cabinet... I could feel the vibration on the wall of the shower, but nowhere else... It was a vibrating type of noise... kinda like you hear next to some high voltage electrical wires... or even the noise a set of Stadium lights make just after you've flipped the switch, but right before the lights come on... you get the picture?
Well, just on the other side of our bathroom and half a story down (split level house) is our kitchen. The exhaust hood/fan for the stove is against the same wall as our shower so I thought to check it out... nothing there of note. I couldn't hear the noise or feel the vibration anywhere else in the house except for the master bedroom's bathroom. I didn't smell anything electrical, but thought I'd go flipping breakers and try to shut off what ever was causing this noise. Meanwhile, Melinda's getting kinda nervous... wants to call an electrician, plumber... someone! I shrug it off and tell her to head on to wherever she's going and I'll take care of it. By the way, I got no results from flipping breaker switches... the buzzing continued with every flipped breaker switch.
So what should I do? I figured that I best sleep on it.... Yep, I just closed the door to the bathroom and went to sleep (hoping that it would go away by the time I had to wake and go to work).
Well, Melinda gets back home just before the boys got home from school. She asked if the noise was gone, or if I'd figured out what it was. So, I go opened the door and guess what? It was still happening... no smell of smoke or anything like that though. She immediately gets worried again so we restart the investigation. This time I look in the attic above the bathroom--- Nothing. Seemed like nothing was causing this vibration/noise. So I say to Melinda: "I wonder if someone left a drill or a battery operated power tool of some sort in the wall when they built this house and somehow, now, it's suddenly running"??? She sarcastically says something like: "yeah, right, this house is like 10 years old".
About this time the boys came home from school and I sent Ethan up to the bathroom to sniff out the sound. He comes back to us and says: "Wow! Daddy, you sure do have good ears!", Melinda and I just look at each other and shrug... "What do you mean?" I asked. He continued: "I couldn't even hear it until I got to the bathroom... how did you hear it way down here?" Still confused by his response, I ask what is it (the sound)? "Your razor!" he says in a Sherlock Holmes kinda way.
We all walk up to the bathroom and the noise is gone... he'd turned it off. "Show me!" I said. He proceeds to open the shower curtains and reach across the shower to show Melinda and me the Gillette Fusion Power shaver that was left turned on from when Melinda took her shower. It had been covered up by a wash cloth and was vibrating against the shower wall. We looked at each other in disbelief while Ethan was all puffed up like some kind of hero. We thanked him for his heroic act and sent him on his way.
I'm not quite sure what Melinda was thinking, maybe something like: "Uh-Oh, he knows I used his razor on my legs again...", but what I was really thinking was: "Wow, I'm sure glad I slept on it instead of calling someone to come out to the house... I would REALLY feel like an idiot if it took an electrician to turn off a stupid razor!" (not to mention that those guys cost $$ just to come out and do nothing)

Well, I know what to do the next time a mysterious noise is lurking in the walls of the Bedwell Fortress!! Thank goodness we were smart enough to have kids, that's all I have to say about that!!!


The culprit.

New Post-- "Junkyard in the Sky"

So, I was checking out our blog, changing some of the layout... figured I'd better say something. My issue now is: what to blog about? I have so many things on my mind that I can't commit to spending time "blogging about them". This last week or so has been pretty busy. I just came off of 4 12's back to back (I worked the last 4 nights 7pm-7am back to back)... Weekend shifts tend to be more "adventuresome" than weeknight shifts... only one set of doctors (the ones on call all weekend), we tend to not move so many patients out of the ICU-- even if they are no longer "ICU Quality" patients--- (you know, if they are well enough to talk, hit the call bell, and get out of bed on their own, they don't need to be in the ICU!)... we always admit a crazy one or two (many times the same crazy, druggie that we admitted the previous weekend)... people tend to die on weekends (no it has nothing to do with the level of care that they are or are not getting from the weekend staff! It's just the way it is... they were feeling crappy all week, put off going to the doctor... by Friday afternoon they tell their husband or wife: "If I don't feel any better by Monday, I'm going to the doctor." Then what do you know, they fall out on their way back to the car from Sunday services and someone calls 911... this is when they get delivered to the hospital E.R. where 10 other folks have done the same thing in addition to the drug seekers in the waiting room, the nursing home patients who get dropped off because the nursing home staff is too low to care for all the patients on the weekend so they make up some story that "granny had a seizure" so they can lighten the load in the ol' nursing home... and all the other runny nose, bumped toes, fits, farts, and freckles waiting in the weekend E.R. front lobby... so they get resuscitated, admitted and then shipped up to the ICU where they proceed to try to die again and again for the next 24 hours all while their family, who is in shock from this sudden chain of events, try to process everything and deal with the idea that grandpa or grandma very well could be gone when they wake up tomorrow and should we keep him/her on life support or shouldn't we....)
Yeah, I know it's sad isn't it? But hey, that's what I do for a living. Sometimes it's hard to be a person and work in this environment. I think we should look at having nurses who's job is merely just to comfort and tend to the family while their loved one is at death's door, meanwhile us 'behind the scenes' nurses are able to focus on patient care, keeping the patient alive and pushing them towards wellness/recovery.
Sometimes I feel like a mechanic. See, we specialize in old cars and moderately old cars or younger cars who've been wrecked or never properly worked before or have been driven recklessly for the most of their functional lives, but now want a fighting chance of just staying road worthy..... see, we don't necessarily "fix them", but we take them from a broken down state and with the guidance of our elusive "master mechanics" (uhm, doctors) we spend countless hours and resources tinkering with their motors or their computers or their starters and water pumps until these cars run well enough to go to the next stage (leaving out of the ICU and going to the "floor")... this stage I would compare to being a test drive or two. Only for some cars, they'll never get a test drive, but at least they'll have their engines started up and revved up a few times, but that's about it. The ones who's engines are now functional and their test drives have been successful... they'll be put back on the highway until their next collision (unless they just drive right off the cliff, then we never see them back in the garage... barring that, most cars come back and stay at the garage from time to time until they either drive off the cliff or end up in that Junk yard in the sky).... Anyway, you get the picture. So, as a mechanic, it's easy (easier) to work on someone's ol' Studebaker (even though they don't make any more parts for that car) and try to keep it running so that they can take it back to their garage or showroom or front yard, than it is to put a new Volvo or Mazda, with a totaled frame and a burnt up engine, up on the rack and try to rebuild it and get it going again... typically, if you can get the Mazda or Volvo back on the road, you know it will never drive like it used to ... I mean nowhere near what it used to. And you say what's the problem with that, you got the car back on the road?... Well, us mechanics, most of us see ourselves as a Mazda or Volvo and it's not fun to think of yourself being broken down into pieces in some greasy ol' mechanics garage... I mean, the ol' Studebaker's and Model T's... they've been around for a while, they've got some miles on them and they really haven't been driving "right" for quite some time anyway, so you feel good when you can get a few more miles out of them and let people enjoy checking out a piece of history... But even if you get a totaled car back to looking like a Mazda or Volvo ... eventually... that totalled car will be a Studebaker... and more than likely sooner than it should...

What's your point Scott? You had me, then you lost me, then you had me, now I'm not sure where you're going with all this... you say.
Well, I'm not exactly sure, I'm probably just trying to work some things out. See, regardless of what you may read on this blog, or hear from my mouth... I really do enjoy what I do as an ICU Nurse. I really do feel blessed to be a part of helping people overcome great adversity as well as being able to comfort those who are left mourning their loved ones whom we were not able to help. I'm constantly amazed at how far we've come in the world of medicine where we can stop beating hearts and lungs, drain them of blood, reroute their plumbing, then re-inflate and restart them so that they can have (hopefully) a better quality of life than they had before or so that they can live to see their grandchildren... etc. I guess what gets me is how many people on both sides of the garage (mechanics, master mechanics, and Mazdas, Volvos, Model T's, and Studebakers) are driving around without their lights on... I mean none of this would be possible or even worth it if not for our Father in Heaven and our Savior's love for us. So, on this note, I'll try to wrap this ramble up by apologizing up front if I annoy or offend any of you when I compare a Studebaker with someone's grandma or a Mazda with someones brother, it's really just one of my coping mechanism. I'm really compassionate and sympathetic on the inside. I firmly believe that we can and will endure all trials and tribulations if we would only do 2 things: Continue to have faith in Jesus Christ, and keep a good sense of humor.... if you don't or can't do those 2 things, then you're on a fast-track to the Junkyard in the Sky!