Liz

In this episode, Patty meets with the amazing Liz to find out why she became an RN, adventures working thru the COVID pandemic, dealing with stress, poop, missing dentures, ICU escape attempts, and side gigs. We love Liz!! 

Episode Transcript

Patty (00:00):
Hi, I'm Patti and welcome to the nurse show.
Before we get started, I justwant to point out that this show
is meant for nurses and otherhealth care people because some
of the things we talk about maycome across as insensitive or
inappropriate and sometimesdownright disgusting.
So if you're not a nurse, it'snot really meant for you.

(00:20):
We will be sharing stories here,but our biggest priority is
protecting patient privacy, sowe are a hundred percent HIPAA
compliant.
So you will not be able torecognize any of the patients in
the stories.
That said, let's get on with theshow.
hi! Hi! This is Liz.

(00:43):
No, I'm not Liz.
I'm Patty.
I'm Liz.
And I'm here with Liz.
See?
This is getting right off thebat.
We got it going.
We are both ICU nurses workingnight shift.
Yes, we are.
And you are recovering from aninjury.
I am.
So I had ACL and meniscus repairsurgery about five months ago,

(01:07):
going on six.
So you haven't worked.
Mm mm.
All this time.
I have not worked.
And it feels weird.
But kind of nice.
But kind of nice.
Does it make you think thatmaybe you should have taken a
desk job?
Uh, um, prior to my injury ornow?

(01:31):
You got either.
Um, I don't know.
I'm not much of a desk job.
So you're looking forward togetting back to bedside.
Very much so.
Yes.
Yeah.
As crazy as that might sound.
Yes.
Yeah.
Yeah.
I, you know, I, I got injuredabout at the beginning of the
year, right when your New Yearresolutions start and you're

(01:53):
like, I'm going to go to bed.
Get this going and work out anddo things great and, and then I
slipped getting out of my carafter leaving the gym and I just
couldn't walk after that.
So after getting the MRI andeverything, it, it, it, it was
concluded that I did have atotal ACL tear and a meniscus

(02:17):
tear.
Wow.
So both.
Yeah.
Unfortunately.
Wow.
So painful.
Very.
Okay.
Very painful.
Very.
And debilitating.
Extremely debilitating,especially for, you know,
people, or for me.
I'm, I'm an act, I'm a, I'm anactive person.
I like to hike and move around.

(02:39):
I have an eight year old, so.
Yeah.
You know, that's what you do.
You're moving around all thetime, and now you can't.
Wow.
And at work, you can't.
are moving around constantly aswell.
So now you're stuck to yourcouch.
Wow.
Yeah.
So mentally it was a strugglejust because you're always used

(03:00):
to serving.
You're always serving people.
You're always serving others.
You're always doing for othersand Now you're the one to be
served.
So what does that feel likehaving others doing things for
you?
Was that hard?
It's embarrassing.
It's almost like Embarrassingand it's like guilty.
Maybe I felt guilty like notlike I'm like no like I can do

(03:23):
that But no wait, no, you can'tlike Yeah.
Sit your butt down and just letme serve you.
So it's uncomfortable.
It is uncomfortable.
Does it make you see patientsdifferently?
I think so, for sure, becausenow being on the other side, I
feel like I understand them alot better when they're on the
other side and when they'reprobably not used to being

(03:47):
served by other people and now,you know, they're being served.
So it's kind of the same thingwhere like, I'm coming into
their life, they don't know me.
And then all of a sudden, I'mlearning and knowing every
single crease of their body,mark of their body.
Well, and we see that a lotwhere people feel uncomfortable
with having us do things forthem.

(04:08):
Yeah, we get that a lot theapologizing and I'm so sorry,
you know, especially when theymake a mess Yeah, and it's it's
it's embarrassing.
It's almost like Like a shame.
Yeah, I kind of humiliating in asense and I see it with
especially I think Especiallyolder gentlemen, you know,

(04:29):
because now you have a femaledoing their duties or their, um,
what, what they have to do toclean themselves when they go to
the bathroom and they're used tobeing strong and independent and
powerful.
And now we're taking that awayfrom them.
Because we're doing it for them,so it's almost very demoralizing
or embarrassing, so yeah Yeah,and you can feel that as an

(04:51):
empathetic person when you'recaring for them Yeah, you can
feel you can sense that yeah,cuz they're very embarrassed and
they're like gosh You know likewhy do you have to do why do you
have to be in here?
You know and I'm like cuz I needto check your heart Yeah, so now

(05:11):
it's you now it's me Yeah.
And luckily I had a lot of greatpeople to support me through it.
So you're a single mom.
Mm hmm.
Yes.
So how has that worked?
Um, my parents have helped me alot.
Yeah.
My best friend has helped me alot.
Yeah, they've, you know, he hadfootball season at the time.

(05:35):
So, um, I was being wheeled outto the field during his
practices.
And then I later found out thatyou could drop them off and
leave.
I didn't know that.
I was there.
Wheelchair.
And um, later on, not football,sorry, basketball, but yeah, I
found out later that he could,he could have just stayed there

(05:57):
and I didn't have to wait in myfreaking wheelchair.
You just thought you have to bethere.
And I'm a helicopter mom, sothere's that too.
You just, yeah.
But yeah, so it's, it's, ittakes a village.
It really has been, I've beenvery blessed to have my family,
my, both my parents and my bestfriend too.

(06:18):
What made you decide to be anurse?
Have you always been the one whotakes care of everybody?
Not really, I think, but, uh, Ifeel like I just, I've always
been, I've always had that,like, caring personality, but I
think it really came to me, orreally interested me when I,

(06:39):
when my brother, um, I was bornand my younger brother, he was
five years younger than I was.
So I was a middle child toalways trying to seek attention
and be unique and awesome andyou know, and crazy.
And so I think that when mybrother was born, well, he had

(06:59):
congenital heart disease thatled to two heart transplants and
eventually passed when he turned20.
Being in the health care systemsa lot and kind of watching from
an outsider, you trust thedoctors, you trust the nurses,
you trust the medical team.
And my parents, being secondlanguage learners, or English as

(07:22):
their second language, theytrusted everything the doctor
said.
You know, everything was in thedoctor's hands.
So, whatever they want, whateverthey chose to do, my parents
went with it.
And they didn't really sometimesunderstand what was going on.
going on because medical worldand terminology is, is a totally
different language.

(07:42):
So I started to kind of live inthe hospital because I couldn't
go in the ICU.
I would spend a lot of my timeat the cafeteria just kind of
hanging out with the coffee dudein the coffee cart.
That's where my addictionstarted.
Then I just kind of would alwayssee him with the chest tubes and
The machines and the pumps and Iwas always just intrigued by

(08:07):
like, wanting to know like, whatis all this?
I would ask the um,plasmapheresis lady, like, what
is this?
What is this for?
Why are you doing this?
So just living in that.
Like, I just later on in life, Irealized I'm like, I really want
to be or help somebody on theother side.

(08:30):
You know, like the way theyunderstand the way that they
helped.
Yeah, that they helped mybrother.
So it really impacted me and Ijust wanted to be able to make a
difference and just especiallywith families.
Mm hmm.
That was my big thing, like,with families, because a lot of
the families don't have extraresources, or don't, didn't

(08:52):
have, like, the transportation,or didn't, like, they have You
know, that they have to attendto, and you're in a hospital all
the time having to balance lifeand your sick child and your
marriage and your otherchildren.
So you felt like there was a gapthat needed to be filled, like

(09:13):
another person in that kind ofsituation to help.
Yeah, like I just felt like,Nursing, I, yes, it's, it's, of
course, it's the patient alwaysfirst, you know, but I think
that it's also very comfortingwhen you have a nurse that just
offers you a glass of water ortea.
Mm hmm.
When they walk, when, when the,when the patient family walks

(09:34):
in.
Or a blanket.
Or a pillow.
Anything.
Because we don't know what theirjourney was before they got into
the room.
Mm hmm.
Um, I wanted to be there forpeople.
Not only my patient, but likethe family as well.
So.
So the psychosocial aspect ofnursing.
Yeah.
You were never attracted todoctors?

(09:55):
The idea of being a doctor?
Not really.
It was the helping part of theconnection.
But then you ended up in ICU.
Yeah.
So the medical knowledge there.
But I love it.
You know, it's, it's, it's, it'sa challenge.
And I think that it's, it'sreally cool.
Like I, I love ICU.

(10:16):
I love understanding.
What happens you know because inthat sense you can if you
understand it you could explainit to Anybody you could explain
it to the families in a way.
I understand in a way they canunderstand They understand it
and that you know, you findanalogies you find like how to
compare a body part to a car Mmhmm, and they're like, oh, yeah,

(10:36):
it makes sense Like right or aor a twit like or a toilet like
and I've done it so many timeswhere they're like, wait Oh my
gosh, what's the toilet?
Oh, like, like if your pumpfails, like your heart fails,
it's going to over flood.
Oh, it's going to overload.
And then other things are goingto happen and it's going to get

(10:57):
backed up, backed up.
So where is it going to go?
It's going to make a messeverywhere, you know, so it's
your pump.
Like you have a faulty pump.
It won't flow.
You have an obstruction, likeit's going to have to go
somewhere and it's going tocreate havoc.
Well, and that's so much simplerto understand.
Yeah.
Yeah.
I think.
I mean, everybody has a toiletand everybody probably has had a

(11:17):
flood.
So, it makes sense.
Like, I don't know.
I just think, I think of thesethings and I'm like, Oh, it
makes sense.
Kind of.
Well, it makes sense also comingfrom, A bilingual household that
you're used to doingtranslations.
Yeah.
Oh, yeah.
I didn't think of it like that.
And that's kind of what the jobis.
Right.
Because you're taking thiscomplicated medical jargon and

(11:39):
explaining it in a way thatpeople can relate to.
Yeah.
And attaching it to their ownexperiences and things that they
do already understand.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Which makes more sense.
Yeah.
So it does feel like animportant role.
Yeah.
My initial plan was to be amarriage, marriage and family
therapist.
That was my first degree.

(11:59):
It was in human services, and Iwanted to go into social work,
but I can't, I, the wholeworking with children It just, I
have a soft spot for that, so Ijust, I can't, it would, it
would emotionally hurt me a lot.
Yeah.
So, because I would get it tooattached.
Yeah, so instead you chose towork with dying people.

(12:20):
I don't, I don't know, I don'tknow if it makes sense, but it's
like, I have an eight year old,so I'm like, oh my gosh, like,
how could you do that?
Do this too, because it's tooclose to home.
Yes, and I think that the dyingprocess or the process of life
is it's our bodies.
It's our bodies, right?
Like, so things are going tohappen in life that could cause

(12:45):
some type of sickness.
But when somebody is inflictingharm on somebody that is
harmless, like a child, it makesme Not want to like a person or
people at um, like a children'shospital.
Mm hmm You would see kids facesdestroyed by bulldogs or you
know, or things like negligencewhere it's too much It's just

(13:08):
something that I just chose notto so I don't know but yeah I
don't know how that makes sensewith like now I can do dying
people.
But yeah, I think Though,people, different people have
different tolerances fordifficult things.
I mean, I don't know if I woulddo hospice.
I think I would be okay withhospice.
Yeah, but not pediatric.
But not pediatric.

(13:29):
Yeah, but it's still theprocess, right?
But it's just a little, it's alittle baby or a little kid.
Yeah, and I thought I alwayswanted to do pediatrics, which
is funny.
I thought like, oh, yeah,pediatrics.
Work with kids.
Yeah.
Nope.
Nope.
I'll go play in the playgroundwith them.
Nope.
Don't want to be stickingneedles.
Yeah, no.

(13:50):
Yeah.
Yeah.
So here we are three years sincethe pandemic.
Since it started.
So it's officially over.
Did you ever think that youwould be working a pandemic when
you signed up to be a nurse?
Hell no.
You're kidding me.

(14:10):
You signed up for the meal.
No.
No.
So what does it feel likelooking back on the whole
experience now?
I think that we, that we allneed a hat that says nursing
during COVID like, like a, likea, like a warning bumper
sticker, student driver, like,you know how the veterans, like

(14:33):
I fought Vietnam, blah, youknow, and like, I feel like
nursing or you mean here.
So hero, like a, like a, not a,no, not a hero, but just like,
like, I don't know.
Cause it, it, it connectspeople.
In a way where it's like, I wasthere, like I was there in the
trenches when you were there inthe trenches and it just kind of

(14:54):
connects people even with justlike a, like a knowing.
Yeah.
Like, oh boy, like, yeah, metoo.
Me too.
Yeah.
Um, no, I never thought that.
I would ever be working througha pandemic.
Um, it was a very interestingand crazy time, I think, for all

(15:15):
of us, and it, and I think itmade our, our ICU family a
little bit closer.
How do you think the realitycompares with the, what people
were seeing on the news?
I believe that the media was,um, creating a sense of fear.
And people, which I don't know,it just, it kind of stunned and

(15:37):
it prevented people from livingoutside of fear.
I did see it myself and I sawthe patterns of who this was
affecting the most.
I know that the media wasscaring me more than actually
being at the hospital.
I felt that way too.
It was worse sometimes being athome.

(15:58):
I don't know.
Yeah.
Because you would be thinkingabout the fear.
I had an anxiety attack for thefirst time in my life because I
was watching the news everysingle day, listening to the
numbers and at work not knowinghow we were going to do things
when we got there.

(16:20):
And worrying about losing staff.
Yeah.
And what would, how bad it couldget.
Especially with supplies.
Mm hmm.
We were running short on somesupplies.
But yeah, I remember when we ranout of IV tubing.
We were breaking all the rules.
Breaking all the rules.
Propofol, who cares?
Keep it there for a month.
Like, you know, we needed thatextra.

(16:41):
Yeah, because normally wereplace the tubing.
Every 24 hours.
On the Propofol.
Yeah.
And on the others, every 12hours, or every three days.
You haven't been there in awhile.
I haven't been there in a while.
But, no, but it's every 12 hoursthat you change your propofol
tubing.
And it's like, we weren't doingany, any of that.
No, we couldn't.
It was wasteful.
So, all the things that we'dbeen taught in school.
Out the window.

(17:01):
And enforced every day at ourjobs.
And they had, I remember whenthey came in and said, I know
this sounds like A little crazy,but we're gonna need to ask you
guys to just reuse your tubing.
It's like, where's Jayco now?
Nobody knows.
I haven't seen an inspector inquite a long time.

(17:21):
Where's the guy with theclipboard and the white coat?
Initially I was very scared.
I was very scared because we hadno answers.
We had, we didn't know.
Appropriately scared because wedidn't know how bad it was going
to get and what we'd seen inItaly and New York and those
things were real.
It was real.
But when I would go in, I feltsafe.

(17:43):
Because we were just doing ourjobs.
We always do.
Yeah.
And it sucked.
Like it was uncomfortable.
Wearing those masks.
It was horrible.
I'm interested to know, like,and to see like what.
oral illnesses we'll probablyget later or like even with your
jaws because we were we weremuzzled really With those things

(18:06):
because you couldn't extend yourjaw very much.
I remember I would get sorethroats wearing the masks And
thinking, Oh, I'm sure I've gotCOVID.
I'm sure it's COVID.
My throat hurts.
My throat hurts.
And then later realizing it'sprobably these particles in the
mouth.
Yeah.
It's our own, like, crap that wewere inhaling.
You're breathing your own mouthbacteria.

(18:28):
And then dehydration.
Oh, because it was so hotwearing those gowns.
It was dehydration, and then wewent to the bunny suits, and
then you couldn't take yourbunny suit off, so you're just
harboring, like, all kinds, forgirls, you know, you're, you
can't pee.
Mm hmm.
So what's gonna happen?
You can't pee, you can't drinkwater, you're all that heat.

(18:49):
And you're sweating.
I would go to work sometimeswith UTIs because you couldn't
pee.
You couldn't pee.
Because you're in that frigginbunny suit.
So you can't drink, You can'tdrink water, you can't take your
mask off.
You would have to go to the backroom and your little window open
to be able to like breathe.

(19:12):
Yeah.
A breath of fresh air.
Really.
Like that, like that is crazy.
But, you know, your face, youwould pad your face after a
while, like, to make sure thatthe mask wasn't breaking your
skin down.
I'd come out with headaches too.
Oh yeah, the headaches.
Because I can still feel theband marks on my cheeks from the

(19:32):
mask and then not drinking.
Mm hmm.
And then you come out at the endof the shift, sore throat and a
headache, and you're sure thatyou're dying.
You're like, um.
And then the fear.
Mm hmm.
Yeah.
Yeah, it was nuts.
So what was it like to beworking around patients with
COVID when they're in theisolation rooms?
It was sad.
With no visitors.
It was very sad.

(19:52):
And watching their healthdecline so quickly.
I think this is the first timethat I've actually got to think
about that because we alwayshave somebody that we can be
there with when we're sick, butwe remove family from people
because it was the safest thingto do.
But we would only go in therewhen we needed to, to limit our

(20:13):
exposure.
And it was horrible.
Because some people, you wouldsee them and they were, their
hair was.
dirty, and they hadn't showeredin a while.
They hadn't seen their family.
Their throat would get reallydry.
Those were the ones that weren'tintubated, but for the ones that

(20:34):
were intubated, oh gosh, wewould have to prone them.
So what was what was that?
It was uh, I mean, I know butyeah you know, it's a team of
about six people depending onhow how heavy the patient is and
With two sheets, we would putone underneath put one over and

(20:55):
you wrap them like a littleburrito like a little burrito
and and then have Respiratorytherapy next to you and just
make sure that everything goeswell Because you don't want them
to get extubated because thenyou're a dead man Right.
And they've got IV tubingattached to them.
They've got intubation, like atube.
Yeah.
Hooked to a ventilator.

(21:16):
So it's all these connections.
Right.
You have the catheter.
Urinary catheter.
You have the central line, or ifthey could have their, their A
line, and they could have, youknow, Multiple drips going on at
the same time, and you'recoordinating all this with six
people.
So they've got all thesemedications as well, the IV
medications.
Yes.

(21:37):
So any of those things comesdisconnected while six people
are trying to flip this personover.
You're screwed.
I mean, hopefully it's a quickfix, you know, but Yeah.
These are quick actingmedications and anything can
happen.
Yeah.
They can be dependent on it andthere you go.
Yeah.
And you can not only rip out thebreathing tube.

(21:58):
Oh, well.
You can rip the, the, thearterial line, or the PICC line,
yeah.
Or anything.
They, yeah.
So yeah, you have to be verycoordinated.
And, and everyone's wearing thegowns or bunny suits and the
helmets or the masks.
Yeah, and so you have to be loudif you're the one that's

(22:20):
counting to tell people when toprone.
Mm hmm.
So why would you prone them?
What was the purpose of that?
It was to increase theirventilation.
Mm hmm.
So when the lung, thepositioning of the lungs would
drop down or it would fall intothe chest cavity, so it would,
it would allow betterventilation for the patient.
And that was the whole idea totry and get them to oxygenate

(22:43):
better.
You would try to do an ABG tosee if it would help and stuff.
But sometimes it helped,sometimes it didn't, you know,
and then you would prone themagain in the morning or at
night.
But it's just the whole, thewhole going into the room and
the beginning of the pandemic,we had the result, like the,
the, the testing that would takeweeks to get resulted and we had

(23:08):
CRRT.
So you had the nurse, which is,gowned up, so it's, uh, renal
therapy.
It's continuous dialysis whereyou're having to titrate
medications according to theschedule.
How much fluid you're takingout.
Mm hmm.
So, the nurse was in the roomall the time.
Continuously.

(23:28):
Continuously.
With the patient.
With their gown.
With the patient.
With the machine.
Because the machine stops, thetreatment stops, your patient's
going to go into further renalfailure.
So you're sitting in thereexposed.
You're sitting there exposed.
Potentially.
All the time.
And you're having to prone them.

(23:48):
So that's why I couldn't pee.
Patient couldn't pee, I couldn'tpee.
We need to put you on dialysis.
Seriously.
Oh.
Um, but yeah, it was just a sadtime.
I mean, One of the frustratingthings I found was the patients
prior to intubation, when theywere still breathing with just

(24:12):
supplemental oxygen or the BiPAPmask, and they would refuse to
prone.
That was frustrating.
And we knew that that was a waythat they could oxygenate
better, but they would say, Idon't like to lie on my stomach,
it's uncomfortable.
And they, it was so hard tocommunicate to people how
important it was.

(24:32):
Yeah.
And you're in there with yourmask or your helmet and you're
trying to communicate whileyou're looking at your watch,
thinking of how many minuteshave passed that you're standing
in this room exposed to allthese particles in the air.
Yeah.
And then there's that languagebarrier too, sometimes, you
know, where you're trying tomimic on how to prone.

(24:54):
And you're in this spacesuit,like, trying to show this
person, like, Turn around! Turnaround! You know, but you And
they don't know why?
And they're like, what?
I'm like, because I'm like, doyou want a tube down your
throat?
And they're trying to, you know,hand, do hand gestures to have
them understand what it is thatyou're trying to say, but they

(25:14):
just wouldn't do it.
And then later they would getworse and then things would
happen.
Yeah.
It's.
Yeah.
And you're in the room thinking,you know, yeah, but you know, I
mean, I, I couldn't get mad atthem because I knew that they

(25:34):
don't know.
They just don't know.
They don't know.
Or they didn't know.
Or they didn't care, right?
Sometimes people didn't care,right?
Yeah.
So like, how do you help peoplethat won't help themselves?
I mean, I know that soundsreally selfish, but, but I think
that that's, that's the industrythat we're in sometimes, you
know, like you, you, you givepeople medication, you, you give

(25:58):
them the tools, you, you letthem know, like, this is what's
going to happen if you continuethis lifestyle, but we're human.
People do it anyway, right?
Like how many times I mean,aside from COVID, how many times
have you seen the same patientcome back all the time because
they don't listen to theteaching or they want to come
back or they want to come back?
Like people that want a littledilaudid and, um, Benadryl

(26:21):
cocktail, you know, so it's likeYeah, but do you think it's like
a recreational thing for them?
Like they think they're comingto a resort or do you think
they're escaping something?
I think that they're escapingsomething probably they don't
want to face.
It sucks.
Like, we all have something thatis, that maybe we don't want to
face, like, personally.
Like, for me, it was my divorcethis time around and finalizing

(26:43):
everything with, you know,paperwork and everything.
And my injury allowed me to takethe time to finish it up.
So, here we go.
So maybe Silver lining?
Yeah, so it's just like,everybody, I feel like everybody
has something that we don't liketo do or that makes us
uncomfortable or, you know, sowe try to do other things to try

(27:04):
to mimic it or make it better orOr a path of least resistance.
Mm hmm.
You look for a simpler way togo.
Yeah, so I was forced to sit myass down and Well, good for you.
Yay! Yay! Yeah.
I wanted to ask you, um, youwere talking about how you
thought about becoming acounselor and going into the,

(27:27):
the psychology.
Have you found that the ICU sortof meets those needs?
Uh, you know, I'm not a verysuperstitious person.
I'm not at all.
When, uh, the full moon thing.
Oh! My goodness! I am such askeptic.

(27:49):
And when people used to saythat, I would look at them like,
Evidence based practice, people!Hello! What?
Why are you?
And don't say the word, don'tsay the Q word.
Yeah.
Oh, it's tonight.
It's so I'm sorry It's like shutup, what are you trying to do

(28:12):
here?
It's like come on anti science,but you're right but it's it's
true But it's true like I don'tknow often we have those nights
where everything is insane andYou just ask yourself wait, wait

(28:33):
Was it a full moon?
Is it full moon?
Yeah.
Yeah.
It's crazy.
It's, it's, um.
It usually is.
I mean, I mean, one of thecraziest things that I saw once
was a diabetic patient crawlingwith his stumps What?

(28:53):
Through the hallway in front ofStumps.
Stumps.
Because he's amputated?
Yes.
How many stumps?
Two.
Legs.
Legs.
Yes.
Okay.
So he's crawling.
So no legs.
No legs.
Just arms.
He's dragging himself.
With just the arms.
With just the arms.
And his gown.
It looked like a scene out of ahorror movie.

(29:16):
And a trach, mind you.
And a trach?
And a trach.
Wait, connected to a vent?
No, it was, uh, it was just atrach.
Like a T bar?
Yeah, like a T bar.
Uh huh.
And he's trying to leave.
He's trying to leave the unit.
He's like, I am done.
Wait, so take me back.
So you, you walk into his roomor you're walking down the hall?
No, I was walking down the halland I turned Coming back, coming

(29:38):
back from a break or This iswhat, on a different floor.
I see Okay.
Oh, this is on A differentfloor, but, but this patient
decided to get off of his bed.
Obviously the bedlam was not onbecause That thing would have
been chirping away, but yeah,patient was crawling, I guess,
or like dragging.

(29:58):
I don't know what you would callthat, but with his trach, trying
to get going AMA because he wasjust done.
Against medical advice.
Yes.
Yes.
Against medical advice.
And he's just had it with thehospital.
With turkey sandwiches.
That was it.
Where?
Yeah, exactly.
That's exactly.
I'm speechless.

(30:19):
I have nothing.
So, he was.
So what he was mad because hejust wanted to leave, you know,
but it was one of those patientsthat was just always constant
constantly there, um, fordifferent reasons, most of the
time because of a D.
K.
A.
Diabetic ketoacidosis.
So his sugar would go up intothe 900 or something, but he

(30:42):
would come by.
He would come back a lot.
And then as soon as it wascorrected, then he would bounce.
Then he's done.
He would leave.
He would, he would, well notbounce, he would crawl.
Sorry.
But he would try to escape.
So we were, I mean, you wouldthink.

(31:05):
So more than once.
Yes.
And, and so, you know, back toyour question.
I mean, I think that I got, I'mgetting my fair share of.
Psych.
Psych.
Yeah.
Or becoming one yourself.
Love.
Yeah.
Oh my gosh.
'cause it's, um, it's a lot oftherapeutic communication things
that you never really thought.
You're like, ah, who cares?
Like, you're never gonna usethat, but like, it's insane.

(31:28):
Yeah.
It's crazy.
It's, it's, you know, it's, it'scrazy to see how many people are
in the ICU for just that or forjust.
Like withdrawals, you know, whenpeople are going through
withdrawals, like they have tocome to the ICU because of a
prosthetic strip, just to calmthem down because of their heart
rate, you know, so.
Yeah.
So do you think that theirmedical problems are causing the

(31:51):
psych problems or the other wayaround?
Yeah, they go hand in hand.
Yeah.
They go hand in hand for sure,because if you're an alcoholic,
you're going to have some typeof psych problem.
Yeah.
Yeah, they go hand in hand.
I think it's yeah, you know, andpeople with life struggles in
general Mm hmm don't really havethe brain space to take care of

(32:12):
themselves.
It seems no I mean you see thatwith a lot of patients are very
heavy patients.
Mm hmm the ones that you have toYou know, have the, what is it,
the, the belts on the roof andstuff.
The belts on the roof.
That sounds like somethingkinky, but it's not.

(32:33):
Um, you know, like the, the,the, the, you have to use the
lift.
You have to use the lift.
Yes.
In order for you to turn themand things like that.
Like, sometimes it's, it's crazyto think like, okay, like, how
is this person taking care ofsomeone at home?
Because sometimes they are.
Yeah.
And then you'll find maggots ontheir legs, or you'll find rice.

(32:55):
Rice.
In between.
I found rice one time.
I thought it was maggots.
I was so relieved it was reallyjust a plate of Chinese food and
caught down somebody's pants.
I thought, oh, dodged that one.
I thought it was going to be amaggot experience.

(33:16):
Why do we do what we do?
Are people listening to this?
What are you talking about?
Maggots?
Yeah.
Like, you know, I don't think Irealized until I was a nurse,
just how far on the fringes alot of people are living.
Yeah.
During COVID, because again,people were afraid of COVID.
I had this dude, um, not come inbecause he was afraid of COVID.

(33:38):
We had a lot of those.
But then he was over 300 poundsand had gas can green.
Had what?
Gas can green.
Gangrene, like, eating up theright side of his leg, which
then went up through histesticles, up to his right side,
up to his, like, to his, like,upper chest.
So it ate So it spread.
It spread because it's a, it'sgas, so it's gonna go up, and he

(34:00):
first thought it was like, oh,it's just a dark spot, no
worries, I'll put some cream onit, you know, but then it
eventually started eating hiswhole Ugh.
Side, yeah, so it's like, andhe's married with, you know,
kids and stuff, and it's likeBut he just wanted to wish it
away.
Mm hmm.
Which, understandable.
I mean, yeah.
But at some point you have toget these things addressed and

(34:21):
then they come in.
Goes back to that shame thing wewere talking about.
Like, I don't know.
I got it.
That you actually have toinclude other people in your
problem now.
I think it's a pretty commonhuman.
Yeah.
You don't want to botheranybody.
And you don't want anyone to seeyou like this and look.
So you just want it to go away.
Yeah.
And I think we see a lot of thatthing where people wait too

(34:43):
long.
And then you have the wivescoming in, like, with their
husbands, like, Beg them! Youknow, because it's like, He
won't go to the doctor! I toldhim! I told him he needed to
Yeah.
Not to be completely sexist.
But But But it's like, I toldhim, you know, to go to the
doctor and he won't, but theycome in with a full on heart
attack.

(35:03):
I think that's so typical,though.
It is.
When you have something wrong,you just want it to go away.
Yeah.
You don't want to go to thehospital and once you get there
have everyone tell you whydidn't you come sooner?
You're an idiot.
Why did you not take care ofthis?
You know, and some people justcan't you know, like some people
are caregivers Yeah, because orthey can't afford it right
because it's expensive.

(35:24):
Yeah, a lot of people god that Ihad insurance Because yeah Yeah,
well you you realize that that'sI think that's how a lot of
people become homeless iseveryone's maybe one or two
medical emergencies away frombeing on the streets.
You get a hospital bill forhundreds of thousands of

(35:44):
dollars.
Do you ever think about thatwhen you're taking care of
patients?
How much we're charging them forall the things we're doing?
I do.
And it's just like, how, how dopeople pay for this?
I don't know.
And how, how do they navigatethe system when they're sick?
That's a stressful situation.
Because Very stressful.
I can't do it when I'm not sick.
Right.
When you get a bill and youthink, wasn't the insurance

(36:07):
supposed, even when you haveinsurance, wasn't this supposed
to be covered?
How much is my deductible?
How, why do I have, why are theystill sending me this bill?
Yeah, because a lot of people,you know, you, you, you never
realize.
How much it's actually going tobe.
And then when you get the bill,you're like, damn, I should have
just not, but then, and then youunderstand why people don't come

(36:28):
in because if it's happened toyou once, you're going to know,
right?
Yeah.
You know, it's hard.
You kind of just, when you'rethere, you just.
Treat them with the best carethat you can, and hopefully they
don't come back, you know?
You say that like, it soundsrude, but I really don't want to
see you here again, because youdon't, because you know how much
it is, and how stressfulfinancially and everything can

(36:51):
be.
How often do you think that is?
Patients take that to heart andchange their lives and change
their habits and behaviors afterthey've left the hospital.
I wish that some did.
Yeah, that it, they, it's a wakeup call.
Like sinks in, you know, maybelike the, like the younger
patients, like some of the psychpatients, like some of the, the
patients that are withdrawingfrom stuff.

(37:12):
Like I remember one of mypatients, like she didn't have a
shirt to go home with.
So after my shift, I went toTarget, got her a blue shirt
cause she, that was her favoritecolor.
And so I was like, look, I cameback, I got you a shirt so you
can go home with, but don't goback to that crazy boyfriend.
Because you don't need to,because you got a shirt now.
Because you have a shirt now.

(37:33):
You wear it.
That's so nice.
No, but it's, it's things likethat, like where you're like,
let's do something different.
Do something different.
And to show people that youreally care about them.
And you talk to their dads thatare, or parents who are far
away.
You Mm hmm.
And like, they're in rehab, andthey leave rehab, they end up in
the hospital.

(37:53):
But you wonder, like, what isher life?
Like, what, what led her to thispoint?
Like, why, like, why?
Right.
And in her psychosis, she ishallucinating her boyfriend.
And I'm like, girl, like, heobviously is beating you up.
He's obviously giving you drugs.
Here's a blue shirt.
Go home and just Start over.
Yes.
Yeah.

(38:13):
And then, you know, you getrehab involved and all that
stuff, but But you wonder withpeople who don't have an
adequate support system, youknow?
Yeah.
And that's when social workcomes in and they, they try to
intervene.
Yeah.
But there's only so much that wecan do.
Once they leave the hospitalYeah, exactly.
Then they're done.
You can only do your part as faras how much you can pour into
them.
And it can be exhaustingsometimes, especially if you've

(38:35):
had that patient for multipledays.
Mm hmm.
And you feel that you build aconnection with them, but then
hopefully you don't see himagain, or you don't see him
dead.
So how do you deal with thestress?
Do you ever feel burned out?
I think after COVID, I did feelburnt out, but I don't think we
have enough time to feel burntout.

(38:55):
That's why I, in order for meto, Stay focused and stay well.
I only do two or three shifts ata time and then break it up
because I know that mycompassion fatigue is real and I
will not be able to be myself ifyou're always just there and
you're just kind of goingthrough the motions.
You give off the patients, yourenergy.

(39:16):
So if you're just kind of there,like, if you don't have it to
give, I don't have it, thenthey're just going to feel
crappy.
And they can pick that up.
They know if you feel crappy.
They're gonna feel crappy.
I'm just like, oh, this nursesucks.
I'll fire you or whatever.
But yeah, so I just try to keepit to three days.
So three twelve hour.
Yeah, three twelve hour days.
But night shift.
Night shift.

(39:37):
Just that.
Just that.
Just that.
Three 12 hour night shifts andhopefully they sleep because if
not you're gonna have to talk tothem all night, which is fine,
but man You need to be awake foryour day shift nurse Yeah,
sometimes though the night shiftit allows you that time Yeah.

(40:00):
When they don't sleep.
Right.
And I think some nurses, andsometimes me, I'm not saying
it's not me, you find that aburden.
Mm hmm.
Because you're trying to meetthe needs of, you know, your
administrative tasks and yourother patients.
But it's nice sometimes.
It is.
Because you can give them thattime.
Yeah, and especially like withthe heart patients, the open

(40:20):
heart patients, a lot of the, alot of them can't sleep at night
because they're just worried.
So, or they're in pain, orsomething.
So you're there, and you'resitting with them, and you're
just talking.
And, you know.
Morning comes and you know theirwhole life story and now you
build a connection with them andyou're like, man, like, this is
cool, you know, like, this isawesome.
Like, I know your family.
Oh, she's going to come in rightnow.

(40:40):
Like, Oh, hey, how's it going?
You know, whatever.
But I don't know.
It's just, I think that that'swhere like the social or like
the psych comes in a lot towhere, you know, That's why I
feel like if you're not a peopleperson, then don't come into
nursing.
But what's interesting is I'vealso been told if you're not a
science person, don't go intonursing.
Well, that too.
And if you're not physicallystrong, don't go into nursing.

(41:05):
If you're not resilient, don'tgo into nursing.
I don't know.
So it's a lot.
It's a lot.
Yeah, it is.
Because you're going to have totalk to people.
You don't have to, I guess, ifyou go into the OR.
That's what's interesting, Ithink, about nursing, too,
though, is there's so manydifferent specialties that you
can choose something that fitsyou.
Yeah.
Yeah.
I mean, you can go into IT ifyou want.

(41:26):
You don't have to necessarily bea people person.
You just have to pass the NCLEX.
You just have to get intonursing school.
And pass your NCLEX.
And pass your test, yeah.
And then you can do whatever youwant.
I guess bedside, maybe.
Yeah, bedside.
For sure.
Do you think you'll always dobedside?
I don't know.
I like teaching.
Yeah.

(41:46):
Yeah.
I like teaching and, uh, maybewhen I'm older, I'll, I'll, I'm
going to have to probably gointo teaching or something
different because my kneesalready busted my back hurts.
Like I'm a hot mess already.
So it's like, I can't imaginehaving to do this forever.
It's strenuous.
But for now, yes, for now, fornow, but bedside.

(42:08):
So either way, it's still withinthe working with people.
Yeah.
Not the it.
I like people.
People are cool.
Even the crazy ones.
Even the crazy ones.
Makes it interesting.
So what else, what kinds ofthings have you seen?
Uh, oh gosh.
Um, It's so, there's so many.

(42:28):
There's so many of them.
The poop stories are prettygood.
Um, Geez.
The poop stories are prettygood.
The poop stories.
Best one's probably the one withthis young gentleman was trying
to I guess he said he wastrying, he said he was trying to
get to the call light, butobviously he didn't.
He tried, he tried.

(42:48):
So he's supposed to call you forhelp.
Right.
And not get out of bed on hisown.
Yes.
He's supposed to call you.
Call the nurse.
Uh huh.
His nurse.
I was not the nurse.
You weren't?
He wasn't your patient.
He was not my patient.
But anyway.
You were moseying past the door.
I was like, oh gosh, I cannotignore that blob of No.
Yeah, no.

(43:08):
I walked in to poop on thewalls.
Poop all over and I'm talkingabout liquid poop on the rails
the patient looked like a puppywho had just like rolled around
mud covered everythingeverywhere I'm like how how like
how I didn't even know where tostart so somebody walked in and

(43:31):
they're like And he's just headto toe, just covered in my head
to toe covered.
And I'm worried'cause it's six30, of course it's six 30,
you've got a half an hour.
And I'm like, crap, I need toclean it up.
I don't know where the nurse is.
I don't have got time.
Like I gotta do accu checks, youknow, like need to check people
sugar, give them insulin, get'emout to the chair, like, and

(43:51):
this, this is happen.
That needs to do.
It's always in that last hourwhen you're trying to get all
the loose ends wrapped up forthe day shift.
And literally shit happens, likeliterally.
But anyway, we ended up washingthem up.
So you found someone to helpyou.
I found somebody to help me.
Yeah, we had one of those theother day, and fortunately one
of the travelers was willing tocome and help me clean up, but

(44:15):
it was, the woman had those, youknow, those mittens, you know,
and she was very confused, butshe had the mittens on her,
they're, um, what do they'relike restraint mittens to keep
the patient from pulling tubesand disconnecting equipment, so
we put these, they look likeboxing gloves.
They do.
Yeah.
They're so silly.

(44:35):
Which little ladies can wear.
Get their nails through.
Yeah, I had a woman one time whochewed them off.
Yeah.
I said, what is that white stuffin your mouth?
And I realized she had chewedthe entire netting off of the
back of the mitten to try to gether hands out.
They're not, they're, yeah.
Yeah.
So I walk in the room and I, andI smelled it immediately, like,

(44:58):
oh no, no, no.
And then I looked around, Ithought, it was dark in the
room.
I thought, oh, is she bleedingor what's, what are the spots?
And I realized, oh my God, itwas like the mud.
Everywhere.
Everywhere.
On the mittens, on the bedrails.
Why do we do this?
What's wrong?
I don't know.
And then you don't even knowwhere to start.

(45:20):
You don't.
And then you get those wipes.
That doesn't do anything.
Those wipes just makes it worse.
Like it's just gonna smear itall over the place.
You need like a freaking hoseand a bucket.
You can't drag your patient inbecause you have to connect
them.
So all you gotta do, you get thelittle basin and freaking And
the towels.
Splash them.
You know what I always think is,who has to do that laundry?

(45:42):
Oh, that sucks.
Like we think that's thenastiest thing is us having to
clean the patient the laundrythe ball person who has to do
that Oh, I have a good one foryou.
Yeah, speaking of laundry thislittle man left his dentures No
in his pocket in his in his gownpocket.
Okay, so Cuz he's Spanishspeaking so I guess I can't say

(46:10):
because he doesn't have histeeth.
So I'm like, okay, si señor,like, what's going on?
You know, so I'm, I go in thereand he's like, I can't find my
teeth.
So I'm like, where'd you leavethem?
You know, again, not my patient.
Why do I, why do I, why?
You gotta stop walking in theother rooms.
So, so they're like, oh, I'mlike, okay, look for them, look
for them.
He's like, you know what?

(46:31):
They, I put them in my pocket.
And in the gown pocket again, itwas 6 30 when people go around
and pick up the freaking linento take it to the To the main
linen place.
Yeah So like and he's like, youknow what?
I think they're in the linencart and i'm like why?
Why?
So I give a report and I'm like,you know what sir?

(46:53):
Let me go figure this out.
So I go talk to my friend.
So this is end of your shift.
End of my shift.
You and I go to my, the guy youare a hero.
I want a hat, And I go to thelinen guy and I'm like, Hey,
don't throw those out'cause Ineed to find some teeth.
So just sit there like don'ttake'em.

(47:13):
And then he's like, what?
I'm like, just stay put, youknow, So I go and I give report
seven 30 and I'm like, okay.
He's like, you know what, like,I, I took him and I took him to
the, to the main laundry.
Girl, I went down there.
You went to the main laundry?
I went, I didn't even know, Iwas kind of cool.
Well, I don't know either, hetook me.
And so we went, and so he'slike, it's those bags right

(47:34):
there, because those are theones, that's the bucket from
the, uh, I see you, whatever,west, east, whatever.
How many?
There was like seven bags.
So I went through the frickenseven bags and eventually found
his fricken teeth.
You found him?
I found his teeth.
So I went and I'm like, Señor?
You better frickin write me adaisy report cuz I deserve this.

(48:00):
And so he's like, hi, thank you.
It's like, and I washed him andI cleaned him and I gave it to
him.
But you're good.
Why?
Like, no, it's just you're very,I just felt bad.
Like, yeah, those are expensive,expensive.
And then how the heck is hegonna eat?
He's gonna pot like he's gonnafail his swallowy vow.
Like, That poor guy is going tobe on pureed forever.

(48:25):
We'll never advance his diet.
Never.
Yeah, the cell phones, too, endup in the, once it happens to
you.
Oh, and uh, hearing aids.
Oh, they're the worst.
Yeah, where you're lookingthrough the sheets.
No, but having to dig throughthose.
The linen.
And you know that the linen haspoop.
Always.
A little smudge or something,but it's alright.

(48:47):
I, you know, it was my last dayanyway.
My last day for the week.
So I was like, alright,whatever.
But it's, you know, but that'sthe thing.
Like, I feel like, and I don'tdo this to like, being like to
become noticed or anything youjust do it because you do it but
i don't think people realize howmuch crap people go through that

(49:07):
you do for your patients andit's just like you don't do it
for a pat on the back or to geta daisy award you just do it
because we're human and and itneeds to be done it needs to be
done because then i'm gonna belike oh sorry should i kept them
in your mouth like you know liketoo bad too bad like no you
can't well you wanted to make adifference didn't you Good job.

(49:35):
Oh my gosh.
So, what advice would you givesomebody who's thinking about
becoming a nurse?
I don't know, after hearingthat, I don't know if anyone
Makes you stronger.
Just don't forget why you reallydid it, why you decided to
become a nurse, because there'sso many things that can

(49:56):
influence you, especially likemoney and positions and the pat
on the back and the extraletters next to your name and
stuff.
Just remember why you decided tobecome a nurse, because we all
had a reason why.
And people or things may want toinfluence you a different way,
but then it's going to take youaway from your happiness.

(50:18):
Personally, I got influenced bymoney and wanting things,
wanting a house and who doesn'twant that, right?
But well, it is your job.
Yeah, you wouldn't do it forfree.
No, I wouldn't do it for free.
But guess what I'm trying to sayis not wanting to just do it for
the monetary purposes.
of it because, I don't know, myperspective has changed a lot
these past few weeks and if I'mdoing things out of selfishness,

(50:40):
jealousy, or if I have a badintent, I think, or if you lose
sight of, yeah, you're losingsight of why you're there, then
you're going to be chasingsomething that, yes, you might
obtain, but, It's still notgoing to fulfill that emptiness
or gap that you've been tryingto fill.
So you're saying that becauseyou were planning to leave your
job to go take a travelassignment.

(51:02):
Right.
Because we all saw the travelopportunities around us.
I mean, they were having UberEats and I was getting Top Ramen
from, you know.
Well, and that was hard workingwith people we knew were making
a lot more money.
Yeah.
figs versus the nice stuff.
But I just want to make surethat I say the line to why I am
doing what I'm doing.

(51:23):
And although the rewards may notseem tangible, I think that my
overall happiness is betterwhere I'm a happier person.
If I'm serving others, asopposed to having all this
stuff.
I mean, will I get iteventually?
But you don't feel like you cando both?
I can, but I think that I needto have the right mindset, not
doing it because, Oh, she'sdoing it.
Or, Oh, because like not beinggreedy.

(51:45):
I can do both.
Well, but didn't, didn't you saythat you, you were thinking that
you wanted to be able to buy ahouse?
Yeah.
And I still, I still do.
I still want to buy a house.
And I'm working towards that,but it's my income only around
here.
It's like, uh, yeah.
All I'm saying is my, my values,like not loving money.

(52:07):
I don't think that that's goingto make me happy.
Do you think people are enteringthe field of nursing primarily
for the money?
Some.
That's become more publicizedlately.
I'm like, why?
The idea that nurses are makinga lot of money.
Like, no.
I live in my parents house, andI drive a very simple car.
Can you make a whole bunch ofmoney?
I'm sure you can.

(52:28):
Like, go for it.
But, Yeah, but it's not freemoney.
It's not.
Because, You gotta, I mean,hello, maggots.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah.
And if we're talking about thosetravel jobs, yeah, they were
paid a lot during the pandemic,but they were also taking some
of the worst jobs.
Yeah.
And that same person that I wastalking to, he's like, yeah, I
realized how much goes intonursing.

(52:48):
And then I quit.
He's like, I was just doing itfor the money.
So went all the way throughnursing school?
Halfway or like half.
Yeah.
Yeah.
A lot of people quit.
And I'm like, no, it's not forme.
He's like, I don't care.
And I don't want to touch that.
Like, okay, like, cool.
You made the decision before youcommitted to it.
And now somebody isn't sufferingbecause of the lack of empathy

(53:10):
or whatever, you know?
So a lot of nurses seem to beleaving the profession.
A lot of them are burnt out,probably.
Yeah, it seems even worse afterthe pandemic, but people
rethinking and pursuingdifferent careers a lot.
I've met so many nurses thathave a side business.
Yeah, that they're hoping willtake off so they can get out of

(53:31):
nursing.
Yeah.
I mean, I've, I've always hadlike a idea, you know, like on
the side, but I've always beeninto fitness and stuff like
that.
So I've always wanted to dosomething on the side,
especially for moms.
So if you had something likethat and it took off, would you
leave nursing?
I don't know.
Maybe, maybe.
Yeah.
I don't know.

(53:52):
I really enjoy nursing.
I really do.
And I love hearts.
Yeah, so I don't know that's atough question though.
The nice thing about nursing Oneof the nice things about nursing
is how flexible it is, right?
And you could do nursing forpart time like part time and
then you could work once a monthYeah, yeah, and then you could
go back to your thing like toyour business.
Yeah, but I like that skill Ilike being in there like like

(54:13):
that I guess adrenaline rushwhen you're having a critical
patient and you're trying tobring them back to life a little
bit, you know Yeah, so like whenyou When you have a patient and
suddenly their heart stops.
In the hallway.
Oh gosh.
What's that like?
It's scary.
Do you get scared?
Yeah.
Yeah.
It's just not scared, but justlike Excited?

(54:35):
Oh crap.
Where's my ambu bag?
Start compressions.
Like, I need people, you know?
And you just kind of go at it.
Like, you really don't have timeto think about anything.
Do you feel like you're goodunder pressure?
No, but you do it.
Yeah, do you stay calm?
I think I do but I don't knowcuz inside I'm not calm but you

(54:56):
look calm to others.
Really?
I think so.
Well, that's good.
But I'm not like in my mind.
I'm thinking a lot of thingslike where's my Epi?
But you like the adrenaline.
I do.
I do.
I, I like to, I like it.
I like being in there and justbeing able to bring somebody
back to life.

(55:17):
That's crazy.
So it's, maybe it's more thefeeling of being capable to
solve the problem.
Yeah.
And the way it feels afterward.
I don't even know if I get arush.
I, I, I really don't like, Ifeel like some people might have
that like high.
Well, I noticed that there aresome nurses that when there's a
code situation, they comerunning.
Mm hmm.
And others seem to maybe pullaway.

(55:39):
I like to help, but I'm notnecessarily the person that's
like, Oh, you're not the firstone to the compressions.
No, I would, I like to be thereto learn and to see like what's
going on and, you know, to helpbecause you do need help with
hanging drips and startingstuff.
And you never know.
Right.
But a lot of people can be toomany people too.
So, yeah, but no, I don't getlike a high or anything.

(56:02):
No.
No, I'm just glad that theydidn't die.
Yeah.
Yeah.
So what do you like about doinghearts?
That it's like, um, it's apositive experience.
Because it's fixable?
Because it's fixable.
Like, they're not here becausethey're dying.
They probably think they are,though.
Yeah.
They're walking the nextmorning.
They're doing things.
They're going back to life.

(56:23):
Mm hmm.
And so quickly.
And so quickly.
And it's so cool.
It's just like, they're, you canjust imagine, like, they crack
their chest open, change theirvessels, and then they close it
back up, and then, boom.
Like, you're fixed! Yeah.
And then, yeah, it's not thateasy.
You have to go to rehab, allthat stuff later, but it's
really cool because you get tosee them like sick and then

(56:43):
recover and you get to help withinitially, you're that first
person that they see after hersurgery and you're helping them
through the process.
I don't know.
And then it's, it's sort of likethe first day of the rest of
their life.
Mm hmm.
At that point.
Right.
Yeah.
It's kind of an exciting placeto be.
It is.
I mean, and then a lot of it isyou really have to be attentive
to everything, like the chesttube, so urine, your cardiac

(57:05):
output, all the numbers, theindex, and all that stuff.
And it's just like, what are youdoing to try to either fill the
tank or empty it?
All that balance.
And so that part's interestingtoo.
You, uh, I think it'sfascinating.
Again, the toilet, you know,like is it overfilling or is it,
you know, is it, is it drainingtoo much?
Like, so you like the science?

(57:26):
I love the science part.
Kind of a nerd when it comes tothat.
I wanted to be an astronaut whenI was like, fine, you told me
that one.
But like.
That was a short lived goal, butyou're a people person.
I am a people person.
So I wouldn't be able to talk tome being the moon.
Well, you'd be stuck in a spacestation or something with the
same people.
It's like being home with aninjury with your family.

(57:49):
You again, but it's been good.
It's been really good.
So you're getting anothersurgery on the 9th.
Yes.
So you've lost your range ofmotion.
I don't have full range ofmotion.
I kind of limp now.
Like a cello.
So I'm not excited for it, butyou know, kind of one of the

(58:10):
surgery.
Yeah.
We'll see how that goes.
You've come a long way.
Yeah, it's been, it's been good.
I mean, like I said, I'm, I'mjust thankful that I can walk
and drive.
Yeah.
Get out of the house.
Yeah.
But.
No, that's great.
Well, this has been fun.
Yeah.
Thank you for coming and joiningme on my podcast.
Thank you for having me.

(58:30):
You'll have to come back anothertime and we'll, we'll see how
you're doing with your knee.
Yeah, for sure.
Well, thanks for having me.
All right.
And That's it for our show.
In the interest of fact checkingmyself, this took longer than
expected to get started.
And the show was actuallyrecorded about a year ago and

(58:53):
Liz is now back to working andthe pandemic actually started
four years ago, not three, butno more delays.
So look for our next interviewhere in a few weeks.
Thanks for listening.