Skip to main content

Nurse Star

Sorry for the delay with the latest piece of laughter. Between my brain and Denise's fingertips this story took a ride around the solar system. ( translation: we were all unwell in this house and Dad had a savage case of man flu!)

Any person who is a frequent flyer with their country's health service will tell you that they met a few nurses that stand out. During my extended stay last year there was a nurse who always seemed to be there when I needed her or when something crazy happened.  After my surgery I kept waking up having panic attacks. I was seeing strange flashes of colour in my head. I always wanted to see the northern lights but not quite like that! Every time I woke up like that, there was somebody there rubbing my back, stroking my hair and holding my hand. I never who it was but I really appreciated it. I do still like to do things for myself but it doesn't always end well! One evening I wanted to brush my teeth a nurse walked in to find toothpaste all over the bed, on the bell and possibly on the ceiling as well! There was a similar incident involving face cream. This nurse must have the patience of a saint because she walked in on a big box of markers spilled over the floor.  She would find jelly sweets everywhere when changing me and my bed!
There were 2 nurses that always stayed after change over to make sure their patients were looked after. I was always asking them do they not have a home to go to and saying the car park is two floors down.
In late February, we had really deep snow. very unusual for Ireland. In this country we can experience all four seasons in one day. But snow usually melts before it hits the ground. people were trapped in their housing estates. One of my assistants walked in snow up to her waist! Hospital staff weren't allowed to leave after 3pm. This country grinds to a halt with the tiniest speck of snow so it was a serious business this time. After the first night of snow, the nurse came in wearing surgical scrubs. I asked her had she graduated to a doctor or something. She said no, I slept here. I said Oh my God, you do have a room here with your name on the door like a rockstar. When she came in the next day I sang part of the song Allstar

"Hey now you're a rockstar, get the show on, get paid"

Finally breaking free from jail/ hospital I had a fainting incident. I was panicking when I woke up this nurse was there stroking my back, hair and hand. It was familiar. I asked was she the one comforting me after my surgery and yes it was. Dearbhla is rockstar!

Last summer I took another ambulance road trip to a different hospital. This was during the time I had my eyes sewn closed. People were writing on my face to communicate. In A&E a nurse came up to me. She wrote on my face that she met me in the other hospital last year I said that's a lot of nurses you will have to narrow it down but the first name that sprang to mind was Dearbhla. That is who its was working in A&E.
Thank you Rockstar

Shout out to some of the other lovely nurses I have met.

Mary, the ex manager of Richmond
Sarah with the red hair and Sarah with the black hair (Both from Adams)

Jesus Jean Jiloo Nicky Megan Olivia Fabio Jan Kay Michelle Leigh Miriam Paula Jai Lauren Niamh Hannah and Josh.





Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Life Under the Knife

Hello, is it fun you're looking for? I suppose I'd better explain myself before things get weird. < Last year I was in hospital for over 3 months. My Dad visited me every day with coffee and cakes (thank you Dad)!!!. We were chatting one day when I said "Do you remember people telling Mam that she should write a book?" ( sadly she took the stairway to heaven 3 years ago). I said to my Dad "Can you imagine the book we could have written together?" You see the condition that we both suffer from is called Neurofibromatosis type 2 (NF2). We were both in and out of hospital pretty much all of our lives. I was thinking to myself that I don't have enough for a book, but maybe a blog. The craziest things happen to me and around me. What's one thing I do have? Stories so crazy, they'd make you question reality. I was pretty much completely blind, so I had nothing to do but think. I tried to remember the 20 years worth of stories and I have a me

Walk the Circle( Lines are so last year!)

I was never very good at lines, doing lines in school, drawing straight lines, cutting a straight line, colouring between the lines, walking in a straight line ( walking in a circle was more my thing) driving between the lines on the road do a line of shots(and still be standing by the last one) you get the picture Getting a line (canula) into my veins is along the same lines. My veins are as contrary as the rest of me! When they see a needle, they just collapse or go into hiding. I am notoriously hard to stick a needle into, it usually takes dozens of tries. I leave the doctors looking like a golf course. Unfortunately, I don't get a pint at the nineteenth hole unless it's blood. On the occasion that I was having several tests on the same day that required a line, a whole team of doctors and nurses came around, so that when one failed, another had a go. This was about 10 people. The whole team  inspected all four limbs. I felt like a sushi roll or something! Then as if b

War of the Restrooms

Nobody expects the Spanish inquisition.... or to get into a bar fight in a disabled bathroom! There are certain types of women you do no get on the wrong side of or indeed ask them to step aside. After 5 months in the slammer, (hospital), I was parched, my mouth was a dry as the Sahara. I couldn't walk anymore, so I basically crawled to a watering hole in Dublin's city centre. From my now waist high perspective, I managed to get the barman's attention and procured a glass of the life giving gold stuff. A friend put on some beer goggles and joined me in the land of pink elephants (those elephants were tap dancing if I remember correctly!). You know the movie, inside I'm dancing? Well inside I was at a bloody rave! As my friend and I got down to the important matters and traded war stories about doctors, she could hear an ear-splitting voice screeching from the other side of the pub. She assured me it was one of those voices you don't f*ck with! A drink or 3 can