Reflections about my Triathlon-
Overall it went really well. Having my family there to support me was the best part though. All my races in the past have been with a couple of friends in the crowd, and while I love them, it was something else to have a lot of family there. They've never seen me race in anything and other than my dad, I'm not sure they even understood how big of a part of my life this is! So, I was really excited to see them there supporting me and it really reminded me that we really are nothing without family.
The swim in the ocean, although it was short, was a new experience for me. After being punched in the chest while warming up by a guy who was swimming in the wrong direction 30 mins before start time, I realized this swim would be the toughest part! I will say that i certainly didn't feel as cramped and like I was trying to swim over people as I do in a lake. The waves and chop were what made me nervous. I was lucky that I breathe on my Right side because I could sight all along the shore, that was nice. At one point I got really scared when I looked up to see the buoys and i saw nothing but open water...ahh! The first thing I could think of was omg i've been swimming deeper and deeper this whole time and i'm going to swim so far out right into a shark's mouth! But then I looked again and saw them not too far away in front, i just happened to be in a down slope of a wave lol. Other obstacles were the hundreds of jellyfish everywhere just waiting to sting me (they failed), drinking the saltwater, and actually being able to see the bottom of the ocean floor. Seeing the floor was different than swimming in a deep black lake because it added both a sense of comfort and fear to my thoughts. I could see that there were no huge creatures swimming under me as opposed to a lake where I'm blissfully ignorant to the creatures in the water...but then again, I was scared that I would actually SEE the shark that is about to bite my leg off! Maybe I should be thinking more about the swim time/technique than my imminent death by shark/jellyfish attack eh? But maybe it made the time pass faster because before I knew it I was at the last buoy and out of the water in 19 mins :) I was predicting about 15 mins, but I'll take it for my first open water swim!
The Bike and run were smooth, but slow sailing. I used my dad's bike, which was great! It was incredibly windy and going up some of the intercostal ramps was gorgeously brutal most of the time! I tried not to wear myself out and enjoy the weather and scenery while not being too much of a turtle on the bike. My time was about average mainly because I hadn't been riding much in the months leading up to it, oh well, I had a fun ride. Running is always my easiest leg of the race, luckily it's at the end. I use it as a time to think about the first 2 parts of the race and either yell at myself for sucking at swim and bike and force myself to make it up at the end, or just cruising along taking everything in. In this case I was just cruising along people watching mostly lol. It was a short distance and it was HOT! I ended up passing several people I saw fly by me on their bikes, this always makes me feel good :)
I saw my family towards the end and they were there waiting for me as I finished and I'll never forget my little cousin's comment "where have you been?!" lol...love it!
Some experiences in the ED this week and reasons I LOVE it:
- Had a lady tell me that she talked to God and he wanted me to know that he was always with me and my family no matter what happened. Made me worried at first because when old people (she was 90 and surprisingly not demented) start talking to God it usually means they're going to die. Later made me sort of emotional because I believed her. Crazy things happen in the ED, I just thanked her for the message and told her I'd never forget it.
- Saw a lady actively tweaking on meth. I never knew what "tweaking" meant but now I'll never forget it. She was very coherent and alert (which was surprising) but she looked like she was crawling out of her skin. Her head was jerking all over the place, her feet were doing these weird movements, and her hands went back and forth from fists to all these weird movements. It was crazy but mostly incredibly sad to see. I flat out asked her why she did meth and she replied that she just got out of jail and had been on meth for 6 days straight, she was sad because she couldn't see her 12 yr old son. She was actually brought in by a city bus driver, yes the driver pulled his bus up to the ER drive through/drop off, and brought her in because he was worried. (I guess there still are some good people in this world...or he just wanted her off his bus lol) Despite my usual cynicism with the angry drug addicts, I actually felt sad for this lady as she cried through her cracked out state talking about her son. She wasn't my patient, I just went in to see what "tweaking" actually meant and we ended up talking for about 15 mins about her son and how he's going to be her reason for living and to stop killing herself. It was a great conversation I never thought I'd have with somebody who was "tweaking" on meth for 6 days.
- Was a split second from getting into it with an ER TECH who told me I wasn't "allowed" to be part of a code because I was just a student and I was in "the way". A TECH, for those that don't know, are people that get trained for a few months to work in the ED assisting nurses/docs with little procedures, IV's, and basically filling any gaps. Let me just say that I'm a VERY calm person in the ED and I don't fight with people, or have an attitude and i CERTAINLY do not overstep my boundaries because after all, I AM learning, and I AM a student, and until I can master many more skills/knowledge, I don't think I, or anybody, should feel entitled or like we have some power over those on our team, regardless of our roleS or future role. That being said, I sooo wanted to kindly remind that tech that I've gone to more school than her probably 5 times over and that not only was I ALLOWED to watch, but I was actually going to be the one at the head of the table on this code (thanks to my awesome attending) and in a few short months, I would be the one telling her to get out of the way thankyouverymuch!!!!! BUT of course, I didn't say anything to her, I didn't need to really. I just took my coat off, walked to the head of the pt with my attending and proceeded to intubate the patient and call out orders to the nurses who are actually ALLOWED to put them in. After all was said and done in my head I was thinking "Take that ER tech, now who's not allowed!? In your face!!" lol...I'm a mature person, I swear. It's these little victories that make my days awesome! Oh and that intubation took a turn for the worse when he started vomiting black as I'm trying to see the cords...real nice. I ended up trying for about 6 minutes and was SOOOOOOO mad at myself (still am) when I couldn't get it. I felt better when the attending struggled before getting it though. Oh well, maybe next time! :)
- Chief complaint: "I'm high on crack. I usually take 100mg of morphine twice a day and I'd like my dose now and a cheeseburger."
- As I walk into the room to meet her for the first time ever, patient starts yelling at me "are you fu@*ing kidding me??? You aren't even old enough to know anything about kidney stones!".....I just told her i'd take that as a compliment and just turned around and walked out lol.
- Son of my above mentioned patient that coded and I tried to intubate, "I saw him lying on the floor for a couple hours but he's usually passed out drunk by noon so I didnt think anything of it. But when I brought him another beer and he wasn't breathing I figured I should call 911."
These are just a few reasons I love the ED and my life!
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