Unrelated photos, Part... meh. Yes, again.

A corner of Lake George, with pine.

Avast, ye! I am back. As per usual, I don't feel like writing, but I'm going to write anyway! Onward, ho.

As a step toward becoming more timely with my photos, I did bring my camera to work today. However, hooking it up to the computer would involve much frustration, so - steps. Small steps. Tomorrow, I'll bring it in from the car, aka my mobile purse. Not that I have any recent photos on it yet, really - I think the newest ones are four shots attempting to catch my cat drinking out of my water glass with her eyes open. The flash tends not to trump physiology, though, so every shot is of a squinty Shelby drinking water. It's cute, but probably just to me. I might post the photos anyway, but that'll be later. In summary - sometime soon, I will be posting timely photos. Which will result in unrestrained celebration all over the world!

Moving on.

I did my first bed bath last night. My patient was very good to me. She was so patient - which begs the question about the word 'patient.' I'm not a linguist, but I will happily assign the task of researching the word to Shannon, http://westeringhills.weblogged.net/, should she care to look into the matter. At any rate, my patient was more patient with me than I deserved, probably. I gave her good care, but I was also kind of like the three stooges embodied in one, running to and fro from the linen closet. The hardest part for me was the peri care. When Deb (http://tiredmummy.blogspot.com/) talked about peri care, I didn't really know what she meant. Now I do. Handling another person's genitals is not an easy thing. Nor should it be, I suppose. It's also not horrifying. I was worried, going into the bed bath situation, about the other person's dignity. I was also worried about my own reactions to cleaning someone I don't know. Ultimately, it was ok. My patient's dignity was preserved, and I was able to wash her and put her to bed warm and safe and - clean. Of course, the bath is not all about the peri care, it's about the whole person. Henceforth, I will be better with bed baths because I won't be so nervous about the undercarriage bit.

I was very fortunate to be able to work with a very sweet woman. She has two kids who are older than me. I wish I could tell them that I care for their mother. I hope that she knows I do too. From what I've gathered in my reading, nurses are sometimes venerated, sometimes reviled, and sometimes just ignored. I think what I did last night, clumsy though it was, was real care. I care about the woman I put to bed. That doesn't make me a genius or a saint or someone to scoff at for my lack of education - it makes me human, and a student.

I guess that's it for now. More on the morrow.