Still hobbling

I'm still hobbling around. The ankle is better & I can walk...but it gets swollen & at times it aches a little bit. I worked the weekend & did ok......even walked 2 1/2 miles after work Monday morning! I came home, went to sleep, woke up & ankle felt perfectly fine. I walk 30 feet to my mailbox & suddenly my ankle is aching. Grrr! And last night I tried out that new Kinect thing for Xbox360. Guess it's probably too soon to be jumping & moving side to side...cause my ankle was hurting afterwards. This morning I woke up & it was ok. I wish it would just all go away. It's been 10 days already...when will this swelling stop? I realize no one really knows, but I'm just venting a little. I want to get back to working out & walking without feeling like I'm overdoing it.

Work was ok. I got floated to a med/tele floor on Saturday. Not really sure why someone would order med/tele as opposed to PCU. They both require a heart monitor, but the med/tele floor only does vitals once a shift as opposed to PCU doing them every 4 hours. Oh well, I wasn't complaining. I was busy though & realized they have it far worse than I do. They get 5 patients WITHOUT a tech. That is insane to me. How do they expect us to deliver quality healthcare, yet not supply us with the ability to provide that? Seriously. I'm sure if the patient to nurse ratio was decreased, there would be far less hospital related deaths.

I won't go into that rant. Sunday I was back on my floor & all was fine until about 4:30 in the morning when our fabulous ER (not) gave me a patient with a diagnosis of bronchitis. Turns out his real admitting diagnosis should have been A-fib with RVR. Let me mention...new onset of A-fib too. His heart rate when he got to me was 163. Nice. I called & got a cardizem drip and after all his admission stuff was done, I wrote up the ER for delay of care. He came in 4 hours earlier & all of his EKG strips showed the A-fib & although his HR was not extremely high while in the ED...you could see it was increasing. Started out at 92 & the last strip they showed read 119. How do they not address something like that? Bronchitis at this point was the least of his worries!

Sighhhhhh.......

Sprained Ankle

I have finally started doing something healthy with my life....working out & eating better. I've been walking & walking & walking...and it's paid off. I've lost 7 lbs. I walk every single morning (who am I???). Yesterday I got up & walked when it was just 40 degrees outside. And wouldn't you know it...just as I'm about 2 blocks from my car, I stepped on some debris on the trail & sprained my ankle...as well as scraped up my knee. *%#)#$(!!!!

I don't think it's an extreme sprain as I am able to hobble around. There is no bruising that I can see. Some swelling of course...but I have been following the RICE treatment pretty much....rest, ice, compression & elevation. Since it happened yesterday morning, I had to call in to work because no way could I walk like a nurse needs to walk during her shift. I tried to picture myself in a wheelchair, but don't think my patients would have liked that...not to mention the rooms are so small, I doubt I could even get near my patients while in a wheelchair. I hate calling in though...even when it's 100% legit. I have to rest though. I called in again for tonight...because if I want to get better, I have got to rest it. Hopefully I don't get in any trouble...since I just went to the weekend option & we're only allowed 3 weekends off a year. Oh well, we'll see...but seriously, no way can I walk around for 13 hours.

I am walking to the bathroom & to the kitchen...it hurts, but I know it's good to move it if I can. I woke up this morning & it was all stiff & swollen, but I put some more ice on it & it's a little better. I'm planning to get more rest this week...as long as it takes. Luckily, I have nothing planned & I went grocery shopping last week...so I can last awhile indoors.

I'm frustrated though. I want to get back to walking. I want this pain & swelling gone. I guess in a way it's showing me how I take walking for granted. It was feeling so good walking every morning. I want to get back to that.

It's been about 20 years since I've sprained my ankle...so I ask those of you who are reading this....how long does it take to heal?

Work has been going ok. I am really liking just working 2 days a week. It gives me time to focus on me. I find it easier to get back to a normal sleep schedule. It's nice to be awake during the daylight hours!

I have to go study now. We have a nursing skills lab & this year they are insisting it be hands on & we have to teach them. Ugh. It's one thing to know what you are doing, it's another to have to verbalize it step by step.

Hope everyone is having a better weekend than I!!!!