It’s really weird to be home. I love it! But it is weird.
I am in such a bittersweet realm at the moment. There were so many people in Oklahoma that I grew to love and learned so much from. I miss them dearly. But, while I was there, I was missing so many that I loved. So, it is good to be home, and be with the ones who made me who I was in order to go out and love the ones that have helped make me who I knew I could always be. Does that make sense? Anyway. I have many people to thank for who I am today. MANY People. And I'm home.
My last week of shifts went Awesome! We had way to much fun on the ambulance! And I was so sad for it to be my last shift on Friday. My preceptor has been a paramedic for a couple years now, and has had several students. For some reason, each one of his students on their last day, last shift, last patient, that patient is just bound to die. For some reason, every time, that patient is just not gonna live. Well, I broke his streak. But, that doesn't mean I didn't have my fair share of patients die. Just not my last one. I think it was because I kept singing Nappy Roots song "Good Day" It goes a little something like this:
Gonna be a good day, Ain't nobody gotta cry today, cause ain't nobody gonna die today, save that drama for another day, hey, it's gonna be a good day.
That's probably what did it right there. And the fact that we had had two patients die that week. So, we ended on a good note, a transport. Bahaha! Which, turned out to have a very neat CT Scan. He had air in his brain. Not even kidding, got hit in the head with a shock absorber, cracked his skull, and air leaked through his sinuses and into his brian. Giving his scan the appearance of little black worms in his brain. Very interesting. Anyway, no worries, he was completely with it, and just being transported from one hospitals ER to another hospital where they had a neurologist that could somehow deal with the situation.
Saying good bye on Friday was super hard. I learned So SO So much from Blake. And, not gonna lie, I'm really bummed that Leslie and him are on the ambulance right now, and I'm not. But, it did make me happy to get a text back from him after I let him know we got home safe, saying:
Wish you were back. I forgot how to do everything and have a new student now. Today is his first clinical ever... We've got a lot of work to do
Which made me really happy, because that really means that Leslie and I did EVERYTHING! I was actually in charge, and he had let me be the medic for the month that I was with him. Which Rocks! Especially on the critical calls. One in particular stands out, where we walked into the house, fire was doing CPR, I had them put the monitor on, I check for a pulse, nothing. The basic on our truck that day asks: "Hey, do you need me?" Blake tells him "naw, we got this." And he went and got a history for me from the family. I set up the airway, tell Blake to get the IV, hang a line, and push epinephrine and atropine. I get the tube in, tell fire to continue with ventilations and compressions, we get her secured and ready to go, I look around, and Blake is over in the other room giving stickers to a little kid! It was awesome! He had that much confidence in me to just be able to watch from a distance, and let me run everything! I check for a pulse, a rhythm, and we have a very weak pulse, and a very nice looking ECG. Continue on with everything. Half way through the transport, the patient will blink twice when I ask her to, and is spontaneously moving her hands. Got her into the hospital, give report, and transfer care to them. And it was awesome! And Blake was so proud! There were other calls where he wouldn't know specific details on patients until we got them to the hospital and I was telling the nurse everything that I had found out and what was pertinent. Which was awesome, because then he could write his report on the information I gave to the nurse, which means that the report I gave was really good too! Now, don't get me wrong. He had eyes in the back of his head. He was always there at the precise moment I needed him, or right there to correct my errors. And when I had a question, we would discuss about 4 different solutions to one thing. He really got me thinking, and he was an awesome preceptor! Anyway, point of that. I learned a ton! Miss the ambulance a Lot! And am so glad that I got to go through those experiences and gained so much confidence because of the confidence that was placed in me.
Every Friday night, after shift. Stetson (BYU-I Paramedic Student that has helped get me through since day 1 of the program) and we would go have, what I call, a "pancake party". We went to either Denny's or IHOP once a week from the week he arrived. It just so happened that the only time we could get together was at 1:30 in the morning after our Friday shifts. So, this last Friday, we stayed at IHOP until 4 in the morning. Just chattin it up. And, I am really going to miss our little pancake parties. But, they were so good to just unwind, talk about some of the calls we had had, hear each others experiences, and just be able to laugh and enjoy blueberry pancakes and oreo milk shakes w nachos and fries on occasion. The funniest thing about IHOP on a friday night is, It's PACKED!! Especially at 2 in the morning. I found out later, that it's because the nearby bar kicks everyone out at 1:30, and the next best thing that is open that late just happens to be Denny's or IHOP. Which gets super funny when you start looking around you at all the different characters that show up. But, breakfast food parties are probably one of my favorite things Ever! Especially at wee hours of the morning.
Saturday was awesome. Went to a service project where we helped sand the drywall putty from a little families house that caught on fire back in November and the contractor up and left with all of the money that they had given him to restore the house. So, a couple kids from the branch went and helped them out. I got my oil changed while we were there. And then, we went to a surprise birthday party for Joey. Which was SO much fun! Man, I am gonna miss the kids from the branch! They threw me and Brittany a going away party deal fro FHE last monday. Which was so nice of them. And each one of them wrote me a little card, and it was so nice of them! And, it was a blast and a half!! And I just want to thank them for doing that, it meant a lot. Five of them sang us a song at the end of it, that was AmAzInG! And if they ever get it recorded, I will for sure be putting it on here!
Sunday. Last day ever. Church was so good! As always. Went and watched the Blind Side at Joey's later that night. And then, at 11:07 PM, went and picked Mom and Dad up at the Airport! YAY!! Mom and Dad are the greatest! They met my closest friends that I made their, shared lots of laughs and stories for a while. They gave me a present that I wasn't allowed to open till I was outside of the city. We said good bye, gave lots of hugs. Shed some tears when I pulled away from them, and drove off with my parents. And, now, I'm home. And my parents should be very glad that they came and got me, or else, I probably would have stayed longer. But, I made a huge playlist of some really great songs that I knew my dad would love for the 20 hour drive we had ahead of us. and, it was definitely a fun drive. Stopped in Sidney, Wyoming for the night. Mom and I went swimming while Dad typed up some more pages of his book. And we had really good food all along the way. We stopped a truck stop with home made apple butter = delicious. and I got a mushroom swiss burger . . . Yum!! And, we made it home safely! And only saw one U-Haul trailer flip a Chevy Blazer over in 50 mph wind gusts. Everyone was okay, including the two cats and the dog that were in the car. Minor scratches and cuts. Gave 'em some alcohol swabs and band-aids and we were back on the road.
Anyway. Good to be home. Sad to be gone, and so happy to be moving forward with life.
My friend got her mission call last night. Went up to her house for that. She is going to the Phillipines in June and I got to see a ton of really good buddies that I haven't seen for a while. I got to see my Uncle and Cousin and go to dinner with them last night. And, I got to see little Yazzi, who did not want me to leave her ever again. Man, I have got the cutest niece and nephew in the world! And, I wish that Amber's blog was for realsie . . . good april fool's joke beansie! But, I want it to be true! Cause your kids are stinkin adorable!!! Anyway, lovin life. Missin the ambulance and the branch. But so happy to come home to a room full of balloons and a pinata full of candy. And now, get to see a ton of people for conference that are coming to stay with us. And I get to see Kerri!! Whoot whoot!! Can't wait! Love conference and easter! Yippee!
