Crabby and Tired- not a good combination

I am at the shore for the weekend at my parents house. Like many of the shore communities, Long Beach Island was not built with large pieces of property. Although my parents house and the one next door do have nice pieces of land, noise travels and there is not a large amount of space between the two houses. For close to 40 years, the house next door was owned by a quiet, albeit stuck up and rude, family. They would spray their yard with pesticide wearing full body armour and tell us in the adjoining yard that it was not harmful. But you rarely heard them or saw them after dark. We are a quiet group, with the exception of the animals and do our best to respect those around us knowing that noise travels as it does. The couple sold the house last year and I am fairly sure that it is a rental, now. At the moment it is 1230 am and the idiots next door are carrying on on the porch outside my bedroom. We do not have airconditioning here (it really is not needed with the ocean breezes) and my windows are wide open.



Both last night and tonight, I headed to bed at 1030pm and both nights I have been woken up by the monsters on the outside porch. I know they are on vacation but seriously 1230am seems a little inconsiderate to be screaming outside. Last night, there were long discussions about role models for teenage girls and Lindsay Lohan and, her father, Micheal Lohan. By that point, they were tapping their 5th bottle of wine. Tonight, we are discussing (at the top of their lungs) John McCain's wife in a leather thong. I am quite possibly beyond help here. If it carries on much longer, I might be tempted to march myself over to the house (in my pajamas) and request that they shut the hell up. And to make matters worse, they have stirred up my parents dogs who are now barking their heads off above me.

I cannot believe that I am going to say this, but I cannot wait for summer to be over. No more rude renters next door just back to our nice quiet corner of the island....

Wordless Wednesday

How is that for a sexy beast... (the cat, people- not my legs!)

Tired. Oh so Tired...

I slept last night in an armchair next to Danny's bed. He was comfortable, thanks to the amazing efforts the bedside nurses. They came and turned him every 2 hours, making sure his sheets were smooth and dry. They rubbed his back, they moistened his mouth, and I held his hand. His step mother arrived at 7 am; just in time for me to grab a shower in the OR and start work. She cried when she realized he had never been left alone and could not even begin to thank me for sitting with him. "I was so worried that he would be scared and alone".

Today he will be transferred back to the group home where he has lived for the majority of his adult life. There are nurses there that have taken care of him for 30+ years. They should be the ones who are with him at the end. Hospice will come in and make sure he is comfortable and the home has made arrangements so that his step mother can stay until he dies. He is 61, she is 84...

As an aside, this is not the same Down's Syndrome patient who cried when he had to miss Halloween. That is Tommy, who at his last appointment was doing well.

What a difference a week makes....

Last week, I was posting about the lighthearted mood in the office with Dr G on vacation. Dr L and I joked our way through a very busy, stressful 2 weeks. The office staff was lighthearted and giggling was often heard.

This week, Dr L is on vacation and it is just Dr G and me. Dr G seems to have left his sense of humor in Martha's Vineyard. There is no joking going on. Instead, I am hearing rumbles of mutiny- Can't you hear them (mutiny, mutiny, mutiny). Seriously, this man did not even crack a smile when he handed me his company credit card to but Dr K her new office furniture and I asked if he would mind a detour to Tiffany & Co. Nothing. It fell flat. Dr L would have made suggestions. Part of my mood change is the end of an insane month with only one MD, rather than 3. I am feeling the effects of the extra workload and long hours. It is almost friday, it is almost friday, it is almost friday, it is almost friday damnit!


The day was not helped by the fact that I spent all night talking to the nursing staff about one of our patients. He came from the group home with a severe pneumonia, he has not been able to eat without aspirating food into his lungs for a year, his mental status has progressed to nonverbal - BUT he is one of our Down's Syndrome patients... Those of you who have ever come in contact with these individuals know that they are the most loving, innocent of individuals. It breaks everyone's heart that Danny will not get better. Trust me, we all cried this morning when I talked to his power of attorney and she made him a Do Not Rescusitate and asked that we make him comfortable with morphine. "I cannot bear the thought of him suffering", she said. Neither can I. And so, my blogger friends, I am on my way to check on him and to make sure that he is not alone. I may be spending the night here- all his family is in California and will likely not make it here before he dies. He shouldn't be alone...

Perfect weekend

2 books read +
2.5 days spent with family +
1 Completely Incredible, Awesome, Jaw Dropping Bruce Springsteen Concert = 1 perfect weekend...

Read WATER FOR ELEPHANTS by Sara Gruen. I read it in one day and want to start it all over again. I will say no more because I don't want to spoil it for anyone. It is now one of my favorite books. I had no idea what the book was about and fell completely under its spell. Enjoy!

Have you ever

Found yourself singing along with the fruit of the loom commercial? You know the one, "Daddy was the apple of my eye" and been caught by the friend you were on the phone with at the time....


Me either

We're having a heat wave.....

It is 100 degrees outside and 1oo percent humidity and looks like it will last through the week. Thank God for air conditioning!!

Yesterday, my friend Dee, her daughter Michelle, Michelle's sister in law, and I went to the Kenny Chesney concert. Kenny Chesney concerts are all day affairs with several acts, starting at 3:30 in the afternoon and running until after midnight. Yesterday's concert was outside at Lincoln Financial Field. I think I lost 11 pounds of water weight from perspiration....

The concert was awesome. For you country music fans, I have a question. What act does not belong here: Gary Allan, Leigh Ann Rimes, Sammy Hagar, Keith Urban, or Kenny Chesney?
Every one was incredible with the exception of Sammy Hagar. A little past his prime, he lost the audience and most of the seats were empty during that portion of the show. The kicker of the day was when the stadium ran out of water. SERIOUSLY EAGLES CORPORATION, 100% HUMIDITY AND 100 DEGREES OUTSIDE AND YOU RUN OUT OF WATER! POOR PLANNING PEOPLE, POOR PLANNING. All in all, though, a great time. I recommend the concert to anyone who gets the chance to go- you will have an awesome time.