Saturday, May 7, 2022


I went back to work this past week.  I'm only working on the floor for two hours, which is 3000 steps approximately, and then I go into film library to make confirmations calls to patients for upcoming appointments.  My foot is bearing up, still a little sore, but not bad.  What amazes me though is how much less tired I am at the end of the day when I'm not on my feet all day.  It's quite shocking.  I don't feel like a bag of shit at the end of the day and still have energy to make supper and enjoy my evening.  Who knew?  I've been a nurse my whole life.  I didn't know how much less tiring desk work was.

Calling patients doesn't sound like the most interesting job, and it's not, but yesterday I talked to a new patient for half an hour.  She is younger than me and she was diagnosed with lung cancer a month ago.  I listened for a long time and gave her as much information as I could about how things work, what we need prior to treatment starting and also told her that her life is not over.  Yes, she has cancer, yes, it's awful, yes, it sucks, but her life is not over and when she comes to the Cross, she will discover a whole lot of people with cancer, living their lives.    

On Friday morning when we were just driving into the Cross, I noticed a Canada goose laying in the gutter in front of the hospital, which some feathers on the road.  I went back to check on the goose and it had been hit by a car but wasn't dead.  I did have some blood in it's mouth and seemed dazed.  I managed to convince it to get up on the sidewalk, out of the traffic.  Canada geese are military grade birds, large and dangerous.  This poor bird was so dazed that it let me touch it as I helped it get out of the way.

I started calling places to see if someone could take care of an injured goose and in the middle of that, the goose decided to start wandering across the road again to be with it's partner who was still waiting for it.  So now I was on the phone, herding an injured goose across a four lane road with cars who wanted to whizz by.  I did end up yelling at some people to, "Just fucking stop!", and they did thankfully.  The goose was feeling more itself because it hissed at the car.

The goose made it safely across the road and I don't know what happened after that.  It either survived or it died.  What really pisses me off is that whoever hit that bird, knew what happened.  You can't hit a Canada goose and not notice.  They weigh around ten pounds and this time of the year they're everywhere with their gooslings.  They also get right of way on the roads.

Gracie has been a pain in the ass this week, but I'm not going to go into it.  Jack is with us until tomorrow morning and he's happy.  He's been helping me in the garden and this morning he watered Big Red, the name I gave the maple tree that I planted in the back yard.  I've always wanted a maple tree and this year I did it.

I was also outside planting some wild lupins in pots to start them and transplanted my tomatoes into bigger pots.  Jack enjoys helping me in the garden.  Last night Jack and I went for a walk after supper and he held my hand all the way to the park.  On the way home I pretended I was a sportscaster narrating the race he was having with me.  He seemed to enjoy that and I had a lot of fun.

Wednesday was a bad day but my girlfriend and I went to a garden centre and the world was a better place.  Her and I talked and enjoyed the flowers.  We also both had hard cries.  She has cancer and her husband died suddenly in February.  I have Gracie.  Sigh.

Right now the dogs, my hubby and Jack are all napping.  It's quiet and peaceful.  I'm thankful.
 

21 comments:

  1. Garden centers truly can brighten a day. Or at least give some softness, color, and light to what is too real and painful.
    Is it wrong for me to tell you that I love how you can curse with the best of them? I do so love that in a woman. And what could be more appropriate than cursing at people who do not stop for a woman herding a goose? Where do these people have to be in such a hurry? Unless they're in labor, slow the fuck down! Even then...
    Gracie. Not much grace in her corner, is there?
    So yeah. Who knew that walking thousands of steps a day could wear you out so much? And I am sure that you are still helping so many people with your actions, your attention, your words. You are a true nurse in all ways.
    Give Jack a little kiss from me on top of his head. For some reason, the thought of that has brought tears to my eyes.

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    2. We had a good weekend with Jack and I gave him a little kiss from you.

      I am a huge fan of swearing but at work I restrict myself to sugar and fart, unless provoked or surprised. Then I can let a F bomb fly.

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  2. That image of the Plant Nursery made my day and it is a splendid place to go in order make the world seem like a better place. I'm so sorry to hear of the injured Goose, we get a lot of them here and they are everywhere with their Goslings and some Motorists are so impatient that they risk hitting one, even tho' they know the Wildlife has the Right of Way. Sorry to hear Gracie has been difficult and that your Friend is going thru so much.

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    1. I love garden centres and plants always make me feel more grounded. Just the smell of plants is wonderful.

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  3. That is a beautiful garden center. It's good to have a friend to go with. One wonders why Gracie has to be a perfect little shite all of the time.

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    1. Gracie is trainwreck, I'm just trying to limit my exposure to her now.

      My friend had such a lovely time.

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  4. I love garden centers and find plants/flowers therapeutic. How great that Jack enjoys helping you in the yard! Glad your foot held up and hope it continues to do so. It's way too easy to overdo; we need our feet. Sorry about Gracie because you don't need that extra stress. My late husband had lung cancer. It was no fun. There are new treatments for it now though nearly 12 years later.

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    1. I had another treatment with shockwave on Friday and overdid it on Saturday, again. Sigh.

      Lung cancer treatment has come a long way in the past ten years. One of our patients is the poster boy, so to speak, for immunotherapy. He was given a year to live in 2012 and he's still going strong. Sadly, his identical twin brother didn't do as well and died awhile ago.

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  5. Some people are arrogant shits and think they own the roads and everything on it. I'm glad you helped the goose but do wish someone had filmed it!
    Jack is lucky he has you and the Big Guy as a calm haven in his stormy little life.
    Look after those feet.

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    1. A lot of people are arrogant shits it seems.

      We're lucky to have Jack in our lives.

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  6. 37paddington: You managed to find playfulness and joy, courage in saving another living creature, kindness and compassion for someone sick and afraid, and friendship and release, surrounded by nature. The depth of the resources you somehow tap when forced to by life is breathtaking. You inspire me. I’m glad Jack has you.

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    1. I'm embarrassed. I'm not good with compliments but thank you.

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  7. It's a brave woman who goes near a Canada goose! Good on ya, missy. -Kate

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    1. At our old condo there was a pond with geese and you feed them by hand, if you didn't mind looking at their teeth and were careful to never bother their babies.

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  8. In spite of all the human stuff you have to deal with on a weekly basis, you still had enough time and kindness left to give that poor goose a chance. Good on you gal!

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  9. That's sad about the goose. Hopefully it lived but either way you at least helped it out of imminent danger. Glad work is going better (yay desk job!) and glad you had an opportunity to spend some quality time with a friend. Too bad about Gracie, but I guess it would be unreasonable to expect her to change.

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    1. I don't think people change much. They can grow, if they want to and put effort into it but she doesn't seem to think it's necessary.

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  10. Great job with that goose! I think these birds are tough and you helped her along.
    Look after your feet, stick to your 3000 steps come what may.

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    1. It's so hard to limit myself to 3000 steps. I walk that much in the two hours I'm on the floor.

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  11. I'm not surprised you get exhausted being on your feet all day!!! That is one tough job you have! And we had a swan one time sat right in the middle of the Mont Blanc bridge - which is basically the main traffic bridge that crosses Lake Geneva - and holding all the traffic up. One brave soul got out of his car and started trying to chase it off the bridge, flapping his arms. It didn't work as the swan just looked at him with disdain, but at least he gave it a shot!

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