Can We Talk about Health Care?

In my years of nursing I have seen many things.  Some of these things make me laugh, some make me cry, some make me down right angry and some just leave me shaking my head.

Our governments are trying to feed us the line that our Canadian public health care system is no longer feasible,and that we must introduce private health care.  I say phooey on them.  The public system is sustainable what we need to do is look at how and where the monies are being spent and start to get some kahunas and make some real hard ethical decisions on how health care is delivered.

We are all going to die, that is inevitable.  Some of us are going to die sooner than others.  Heart breaking as that is, it's just the basic and simple truth.  So why do we as a society insist on prolonging something that is inevitable?

I know this topic is going to get some folks backs up, but really, we have to look at some of the things we do in health care to prolong life.

Let's look at one area in particular.  Dear beloved grandma or grandpa who is 80, 85 or maybe even 95 years old who have severe dementia have fallen and fractured their hip.  They are rushed to the hospital and now put in a very strange environment, they become increasingly more confused and in some cases combative.  The surgeon tells the family he can fix grandma's hip and of course the family go along with what ever the surgeon says.  So grandma under go's surgery, oh did I mention that grandma also has severe cardiac issues and COPD?  Yes well grandma goes and has her surgery and comes out on a ventilator, the doctors tell you oh that it will only be temporary, but grandma now has to go to the ICU.  Do you really think this is what grandma wanted?  Grandma makes it off the ventilator and out of the ICU, but she is by no means ready to go back home.  She goes to a surgical ward and then a medical ward, where because she is now demonstrating that there is no way she can go back home she sits in a hospital bed waiting for placement.

Not long ago the health care system would have just given grandma medication to keep her comfortable.  Yes she might have been bed ridden  but she would be made comfortable.  Think about this, grandma had to have surgery and so did the young 48 year old who fell off a ladder while working and got a head injury...he came into the hospital hours after grandma but grandma took the last ICU bed so now what?

WE as a society have to start making some tough decisions on where we will allow our health care practitioners to take us.  Ethics enters this arena. When you become a doctor you take an oath to sustain life at any cost.  Well I think it is this oath that has skewed how care is delivered.  Again, please don't get me wrong but I look back 25 years ago  when my sister went into premature labour at 5 and 6th months. Three times this happen to her.  She endured labour like any other woman but the outcome was not the delivery of a healthy child.  In those days it was unheard of for babies to live at 23 or 26 weeks.  Now days they are saving babies some as young as 20 weeks gestation.  Mom's and dad's are thrilled that the technology is there to save their precious bundle, but what about the long term effects?  Research is now showing us that even though these babies are being saved the long term health effects are huge and hence a cost on the health care system.

So let's ask ourselves, where do we draw the line, when do you say enough is enough, when do we allow nature to just take it's course?

I have never spoken as blatantly about this as I have today. I have eluded to this topic when I posted about Living Wills and Code status.  We as a society need to take a good hard look at where we draw the line. It's not an easy decision or topic to talk about but we have to.  Death is part of living, we know at some point we are all going to die.

I think we all need to start talking about this, don't you?

Lest We Forget

This Friday November 11th is Remembrance Day.  A day dedicated to our war veterans.  A day where we take a moment  to remember those who lost their lives to keep our country safe.  My daughters grandfather is a WWII veteran.  He was in the navy.  My father in law is a Korean veteran.  Both of these men put their lives on the line for their country, and for that I am thankful and thanks doesn't seem to be enough.  How many of us would voluntarily sign up for something when you knew you might not return?  I don't think to many.

On Friday my father in law will attend our local Remembrance day celebration and lay a wreath in remembrance of his fellow soldiers who lost their lives in the Korean war.

Thank you Bill and Reg for your service and dedication to your country.  We will never forget!

Happy Birthday Big Guy!

Today it's my sweethearts Birthday.  I won't say how old he is because....well he is younger than me and he takes great pleasure in reminding me of that.

I chose this Birthday header because I am actually making him a cake for his birthday.  It's a recipe I haven't used before and I am hoping it turns out(picture to follow).

It's been a busy work week and I haven't finished my gift for him either, I'm hoping he will get his silly butt out of the house and go do what he said he was going to do so I can get on with finishing his gift.

 So  honey please get your butt moving so I can finish what I should have started a week ago!  Here's to you hun....hope you have a super terrific.  Love you!

Humour Thursday......

This being the last Thursday before Halloween I thought I would do my Humour Thursday with a bit of a Halloween twist.  I've also decided to throw into the brew a little Halloween political humour...enjoy!

Do the Clothes really matter?

A while back I was reading a post done by one of my favourite bloggers StorytellERdoc his post was titled "He is Loved".  It's a must read if you ask me.  I believe the Doc was trying to demonstrate the old saying "Don't judge a book by it's cover".  In my comment to the Doc I said his post was heartfelt and it reminded me of a paper I had written when I was working on my degree.

My paper was titled "Do the clothes really matter".  It was a reflection on how the nursing uniform has changed from the time of Florence Nightingale.  It posed the question on whether wearing a uniform makes for better nurse and or nursing care.  While doing my research for this paper I came across many articles written about the patients perception of the nurse and the care they received or would receive.  One of the papers I read  the author had interviewed psychiatric patients and asked them their perception on whether they felt they would receive better or worse care dependant on the nurses attire.  Their response was that they appreciated the nurse wearing a uniform as it distinguished them from others in their environment and they knew that would be a person they could go to.

Today as you know it can be difficult to identify your nurse and I think we have become a little lack in what is acceptable.   I am not sure it is the lack of uniform to blame but rather a lack of identification.  At the facility I work the official identification card lumps RN's, LPN's and RCA's all under the title of "Nursing".  So from a patients perspective they don't know who they are dealing with unless the individual identifies themselves. I remember when I was in nursing school my instructor always said to us  that when we go to a patients bedside we should identify ourselves i.e. Good morning Mr or Mrs ..... I am .......and I will be your RN for today.  That has stayed with me and to this day even with my barely conscious patients I tell them who I am and what my name is.

This brings to mind another topic on clothing and attire.  Multi coloured hair and tattoos seem to be the norm.  Not a very professional look if you ask me.  Don't get me wrong I don't have a problem with either, but I do think it looks less professional.  I have seen RN's and other healthcare providers with tattoo "Sleeves" and almost rainbow hair.  Do these interfere with their care....I would hope not, but from a patients perspective they might feel a little put off and wonder about the care they are receiving.

Maybe I am old school, but we certainly have come a long way from the white uniforms and caps.

What are your thoughts.....Do the clothes really matter?

Password

Do you remember the 1960's game show called "Password" with host Allen Lunden?  It was a game show where celebrity guests would give a word clue to a contestant and the contestant had to guess the word.

That game  is what came to mind yesterday when I am trying to remember my password and secret reminders for one of accounts.

It seems that  with all the computerization, ATM's, chip cards, now days a  password or code is required.   Now I don't know about you but I can only remember so many of these passwords and codes, especially if they aren't ones that I use very often.  I appreciate the security aspect of all these codes but boy is it making it difficult to remember them all.

At my work  I have a password to log into the computer, every three months we have to change our password....pain in the butt.   It's not a simple password either, the password must contain a capital letter, small case letter and number and it is case sensitive.  Ok so I do this....now on our internal job positing which of course are all on the computer you have to have a different password and a different log in name...geesh.

So yesterday, as I was saying I was trying to log into this account online, an account that I generally get sent to me in the mail, but my hubby who is a computer whiz thought I should have all my accounts online so I could have immediate access.  Well of course that sounds all well and good until such time you have to remember the Password!  Needless to say I ended up locking myself out of the system because of my "3" failed attempts so off to customer support I had to go.  I spoke with two agents who of course were very helpful but still all the numbers they had me enter and screens I had to look at was all a bit mind boggling, but I did it.  The funny thing was at the end of my tutorial with the agent, he said to me if I had an iPhone or the likes I could access my accounts via my cell phone... are you kidding! I just laughed

Decisions, Decisions

They say that one thing in life that is for certain is "Change".  Working in health care is no exception.  I have worked as an RN for over 20 years and in that time I have certainly seen my share of change.  With the continual technological and pharmaceutical advancements in health care one sometimes feels overwhelmed with the attempt of trying to stay on top of current treatments and drug regimes.

With the advancement of technology nurses are forced to learn and maneuver their way through the world of computers.  For younger nurses this is almost 2nd nature.  Many nurses now entering the health care field grew up using computers and think nothing of searching the Internet to research a medical issue.  When computerized documentation for nursing came into vogue many senior nurses were intimidated.  They were or are winding down their nursing careers and are forced to learn not only the nuances of the computer but for some the basics of "typing".

This post however, is not about technological  or pharmaceutical changes in health care but rather change as a whole and the impact it has on the aging nursing population.

Nursing is still predominantly a female profession.  However, over the past years with the improved wages and benefits nursing has become an attractive employment option for many men. They say the average age of the nurse today is 48 and most nurses at that age have been nursing for 20 plus years.  We also know that at that age women themselves are going through some major hormonal changes.  These changes can run havoc for anyone, but you add those hormonal changes to someone who is working shift work and for some it is a recipe for disaster. Sleep deprivation is a major concern.

In the area that I work most of the nurses are female, most of the nurses are 50 plus, most of the nurses have worked in nursing for over 25 years, most of the nurse are looking at retirement within the next 5 - 7 years.  In the recovery room we work a variety of shifts. Our first shifts starts at 0800 but we are put "On Call" at 0600 which means we can be called in at 0500 to start work at 0600.  Our latest shift starts at 1600 hrs(4pm) and goes until 2400 plus "On Call" until 0600 the next morning.  I have worked many 14 hours shifts as a result of the "On Call" portion of our rotation.  Our employer is now wanting to initiate a Night Shift  from Tuesday to Saturday.  Most of us on our unit are not in favour of the Night shift primarily for the fact that it would mean 5 night shifts in a row.  I personally  I won't be able to do that.  Not at this stage of my life.  I have worked my share of 12 hour nights and I would be more in favour of doing that with extra days off, but to come off of 5 night shifts and turn around and have to do  day shifts with only a day and half off is not enough recovery time for me or for most nurses.

So I ask myself, what are my options?  I love what I do!  I love the nurses I work with!  I still have 8-10 years before retirement I want to make those the best years I can.  Do I stay in an area I love and work the 5 night shifts in a row and run the risk of ruining my health?  Or do I look for alternate employment?  In the rural area I live my options are limited for working in an acute care environment.  What I do know is that I already suffer from sleep deprivation and as a result I suffer with GI issues, cardiac issues and migraines.  I love nursing but the shift work is taking it's toll on my body and I seriously have to look at what is important for me in my life.

When I entered nursing my 20 odd years ago, I was young and energetic and bounced back after night quickly, not anymore.  I can remember  awhile back my doctor told me that I had to give up night shifts.  I told him "doc that's the nature of the beast".   Night shifts are a reality not only for me but for many nurses and other shift workers.  Our employers talk about the detriments of night shifts and what they say we should do about it, but when it comes to sleeping on breaks and even though all the literature supports it management doesn't.   I'm just not sure what the answer is, I don't think I am ready to be put out to pasture.  I know I still have something to offer I just don't want to do it at the risk of my health.  I never would have thought I would have to make such decisions.

SkyWatch Friday

These photos were taken last January when my daughters were visiting.  We had been out for a drive to one of my favourite spots in Deep Bay.  It was a cool crisp but bright and glorious day. I just loved how blue the sky was. The Light house is Chrome Island one of the few remaining "manned" lighthouses in Canada.







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Ethics

In health care we are faced with many ethical issues.  Some major issues like cryonics for the purpose of banking organs, or freezing embryos,abortion, right to die, no code status and the list goes on.

As a health care professional I have to deal with people who make choices and do things that I don't morally agree with, but as a health care provider I must put my personal beliefs aside and care for these patients.

I remember when I was a nursing student and one of my instructor who use to be an ER nurse would share with us openly how she was sick and tired for caring for patients who tried to commit suicide.  She also made it abundantly clear that she had no time for alcoholics.  At the time I thought she was terribly harsh and thought it was most probably a good thing she wasn't doing direct patient care any longer.

Here I am 21 years later, and I find myself in a somewhat similar boat.  In the hospital that I work we care for psychiatric patients on an in patient and out patient basis.  As a recovery room nurse the psychiatric patients I see are recovering from an ECT(electroconvulsive therapy) . From a personal position I have never agreed with ECT.  I have not seen effective results, although I know their are patients who do benefit from the procedure.  The literature states that the duration for ECT is generally done in a six week series of treatments, so why then am I seeing patients who have been receiving ECTs for longer periods than this?  We had a an outpatient the other day who was so aggressive post procedure we had to call a code white(aggressive patient).  This patient has been receiving ECT on and off  for over three years.  I remember when she started she was thin, appeared well kept  and could actually have a civil conversation with you.  This has progressively not been the case.  This women now is more withdrawn. doesn't care for herself the same as she did and has become increasingly more aggressive after each treatment.

So I ask myself, what purpose is this serving?  Is she leading a more productive life? Is she enjoying life more?  What I have observed would tell me not.  She is not the only patient I have seen who has and continues to have months and years of ECT with little effect.  So who decides?

According to the literature the patient has the ultimate say but I can't help but wonder if there aren't other factors that make them chose to continue with the procedure.  We treat patients with dementia with ECT, are these patients really making informed consent? Who is making this decision?

What are your thoughts.

Skywatch Friday

A lovely evening out on the water just after picking up the prawn traps.

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Skywatch Friday

Early morning fishing

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The table turns

I have been a nurse now for some 20 odd years and in that time I have seen more than I could ever have imagined or cared to have seen. The human race is an interesting breed.  Just when you think you are losing your faith someone comes along and does something amazing or simple but with an amazing impact.

As a nurse I have strived to be compassionate,empathetic and as caring as possible.  Some days granted my envelope gets pushed  and I may respond to someone or something in as not as a caring manner as I should. I am not perfect, surprise!

I often wonder how my care is perceived by patients, I have been thanked many times and told that I have provided good care, but I wonder was there ever something simple that I did that made a difference for a patient.

Yesterday, I was the patient.  I had to go into the hospital for a test.  This test required that I have IV sedation and hence I was seen by many nurses.

The first nurse greeted me with a smile.  She took me into my cubicle showed me the lovely hospital gown that I would have to put on.  She instructed me to get up on the stretcher once changed and that she would be right back.  Upon her return the first thing she asked me was if I was comfortable and could she get me a warm blanket.  I assured her I was comfortable and that a warm blanket wasn't necessary but thanked her anyhow.  She then went on to ask me the routine health questions and as a prudent nurse she had read my chart and started by saying "I see that Dr.....but is there anything else you would like to add or that I should know?"  I thought to myself, good for you for taking the time to review my chart...good for you for asking me if there was anything to add.  Once we had reviewed the necessary documents she started my IV.  I swear she was so slick she could have found a vein on a corpse.  I was suitably impressed.  Once again she asked me if she could get me a warm blanket, I assured her I was fine but I am sure I would love one post procedure.  I wondered for a moment if she was being so kind because she knew I was a RN or if she was like this with all of her patients.  I soon found out that indeed she was like that with all of her patients.  WOW I was impressed.

It wasn't long after that another nurse came checked my name band and wheeled me into the procedure room, she and her colleague like a well oiled machine went over the procedure with me and told me what was going to happen...my only request was that I didn't want to remember any of the procedure, and I didn't.  Once the Dr. came in we had a little chat, he told me what he was going to do...gave me my sedation and I was out...next thing I remember I was in the recovery room and apparently I had been in recovery for a half hour before the nurse started to wake me up.

It came time for me to get dressed and move over to the area where they give you a snack and then send you on your way.  Well I made it to getting dressed....well sort of and then I felt like I was going to be sick, according to my nurse I went pasty white and then of course I was ill.  She was so kind, she settled me back into bed gave me some medication for my nausea and instructed me to have another little rest. Which I gladly did.  It came time to try getting up once again, it was a no go...I got my head up off of the pillow and began to wretch.  Back to laying down I went.  Finally I was able to get up, but my knees were so weak they decided I needed a wheelchair to take me over to the area where I would have a snack.  Thank goodness I was the last patient of the day.  I get over there and I attempt to have some water...that worked...then a sip of gingerale....oops not a good idea....I vomit again.  More IV medicine for the nausea.  At this point I was feeling so bad for keeping them late.  The nurses were so good, they got me warm blankets, and let me just rest.  Finally, I felt I was ready to leave.  Actually, I kept saying I was ready, but they knew better, they told me I had the look of a deer in headlights.  They insisted my husband use a wheelchair to take me to our vehicle.

It was the little things these nurses did for me that stand out.  The offering of a warm blanket, the mouthwash so I could freshen my mouth after being ill, the simple fact that they weren't rushing me out so they could go home.  They were kind caring and compassionate.

To me it's the little things in nursing that make the difference, the things as a patient you will remember.

You be the judge....

Today on my drive to work I heard on the radio about an adult who left a toddler in the car while she went into the store.  It was 27 degrees celsius outside the window was left open a crack.  A passerby saw the child and called 911, they advised this good Samaritan  to basically break into the car and get the child out and then call the police all of which this person did.  The police arrived and so did EMS to make sure the child was ok...all the while they are waiting for the adult to come out from the store.  Finally, the "aunty" comes out and is severely chastised by the police but no charges were laid.

I get to work and one of my first patients in the morning is a 3 year old girl who had fractured her femur as a result of falling off of an ATV that she was passenger on with a teenager.  The child was not wearing a helmet.  Apparently there was some question about whether the ATV drove over the child as well.

The surgeon came out and was upset about this, as this was not the first large bone that this 3 year old had experienced.  He questioned us whether he should call child services.  Discussion ensued and he spoke with the pediatrician to make her aware of his observation and questioned if this should be reported and or investigated.  I don't know what the outcome of that discussion was.

I know we all have the right to do risky things.  But when it comes to a child, where do you draw the line?
I know of children learning and participating in risky sports at an early age.  But this was not the case.  So I ask you is this just sheer stupidity on the parents part? Is it abuse? Is it neglect?  Did the parents really think it was ok for their child to go on an ATV at 3 years of age? In our province helmets are mandatory so they broke the law for allowing her to be a passenger without a helmet.   Should they charged with neglect?  Or should they just be given a warning like the aunt was who left the child in the car?

I just find it so hard to believe that people are that stupid to leave a child in the car unattended never mind what the temperature was or to let a 3 year old ride without a helmet on an ATV?  Or be a passenger at all!

At the minimum I think they should be made to attend  a child care course  that focuses on child safety, with emphasis on the does and dont's   It sounds pretty basic,simplistic and elementary to me...I just have to shake my head.

What do you think?

Skywatch Friday

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Nursing a great career

I get asked quite often why I chose nursing as my profession. My response  “I don’t know if I chose nursing or if nursing chose me”.

At a young age of seven I was learning how to change “cloth” diapers and warm bottles for my baby brother. My summers and spare time were spent babysitting and caring for my nieces and nephews or my parents would volunteer my services to babysit their friend’s children.

My sister was an avid reader, and one of the series of books she enjoyed was Cherry Ames. She enjoyed those books so much that she often tried to bring them to life by having my brother’s act as soldiers and she and I would have be the army nurses tending their wounds. I think that was the beginning of something I wasn’t aware of.

My parents were always busy volunteering for the church or community. Through their experiences I gained my sense of community responsibility and advocacy. I think it was through all of these early experiences that my “calling” to nursing was seeded.

When I graduated from high school I had no idea what I wanted to do with my life. My mom had me registered at a Community college to take a legal secretary course. I think I had other ideas and went out and got myself a job working on a temporary assignment for one of the government agencies. That temporary job lasted 10 years. It was the last two years of that job that I realized that was not what I wanted to do for the rest of my life. So I explored the possibility of entering into nursing. I was 28 married with two children one of whom was only 8 months old when I went back to school full time. When I look back on those years I just shake my head and ask myself what I was thinking.


As a nursing student we were exposed to many areas of nursing. Being a mom many of my classmates thought I would love our obstetrical rotation or better yet our pediatric rotation. Not so, although I enjoyed bathing the little babies and helping the moms nurse their little newborns I realized early on that this was not the area for me.  But because nursing is so broad, there are so many areas one can nurse.

I started my career as a med/surg nurse. I worked on a heavy medical ward where we did primary nursing. It was back breaking work and long 12 hour day and night shifts. After a year and half of that I transitioned into Palliative care which I absolutely loved and did for almost 5 years. I then found that I wanted more, the adrenaline junky in me wanted a little more excitement, so back to school I went and took my critical care training.
My critical care training opened up many doors for me I’ve worked in a variety of critical care environments such Emergency,ICU and now Post Anesthetic recovery.

I have never regretted entering nursing, I think it was the best thing I ever did for myself. Nursing is a challenging and yet rewarding career. I am passionate about health care and an advocate for ensuring that every Canadian receives the best care possible, regardless of their financial status.

“Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about thing that matter”

~Martin Luther King Jr.~

Another missed opportunity.....

 
It's Canada Day here.  Most of my family and friends will be out celebrating enjoying family bar-b-ques, watching fireworks and participating in Canada Day events.


I on the other hand am at home.  I worked last evening and return again this evening. I thought I had this evening off  and hence had made plans with my hubby to take our trailer to the coast to go camping and fishing.  Nope not the case, he's gone with his father instead.  Being a nurse scheduling your personal life can be challenging.  I have been in this profession for over 20 years and being a shift worker I have had my share of missed events due to my work schedule.

My family has difficulties understanding why I'm not able to just "ask" for the time off.  They think it's a simple as putting in a request and it gets granted.  Well not so in nursing.  Especially not so in times of nursing shortage and cutbacks.  Friends and family also have a  hard time wrapping their head around that fact that I have to plan my vacation a year in advance.  Yes you heard that right.  Where I work and in almost all facilities in the province nurses have to have their year vacation in by the end of November for the upcoming year.  Vacation time is also granted based on seniority and criteria.  It's not an easy task.  We have to put in our request as 1st choice..then 2nd choice and so on until you have used up your entitled vacation.  We also have to meet the criteria, that being we are only allowed so many staff members off on any particular shift.  It's a nightmare to say the least.  To top matters off, in the post anesthetic recovery room during certain times of the year we go down staff due to surgeons going on holidays and stat holidays. It's a bit of a juggling act.

It's a very complicated system we work with but it is the fairest system we have to date. Being low person on the totem pole my choices for summer vacation are very slim, and the chances of getting a  statutory holidays off is slim to none especially if you are scheduled to work the early morning shifts or the afternoon shifts.

So here I am today spending yet another Canada day working.  I would garner to guess that in the past 10 years I have worked almost every Canada day!  Last summer I ended up working every statutory holiday during the summer.  Some of you might think, well at least you are getting work and being paid a stat wage. That is true, but you know what, I would rather be home with my family spending time with them on the beach or at a campfire or watching the fireworks at night.

Don't get me wrong, I love my job, I am not complaining about that.  It's just sometimes I wish I could spend more time doing what the average non shift worker gets to do and that is spend time with their loved ones on holidays.  Rather than tending to someone in the recovery room who over indulged and jumped off of something they shouldn't have and required surgery to fix a broken bone or such.

Sometimes when I see the bright eyed nursing students come in all perky and eager I wonder if they really know how their lives will change when they get into this profession. Do they realize that it's not all Monday to Friday 9 to 5 kind of work.  Do they recognize the  personal sacrifices they will be making as a result of the profession they have chosen?  Do they understand the thousands upon thousands of hours of sleep they will lose due to working night shifts and mandatory overtime?  Do they realize the physical toll the profession takes on their body, and the mental anguish and pain that they will be exposed to?  I hope they do.

Nursing is a wonderful profession if you are up for the challenge.  It's certainly not a cake walk.

So here's to all my nursing colleagues who are working today and to those who have the opportunity spend this day with their families.

Let them eat dirt....

Remember when our children used a soother?  Well some of our children that is.  I know two of my three children did.  I did as my mother did, if the soother fell out of the child's mouth and onto the floor I would pick it up put it in my mouth to rinse it off and back into the child's mouth it would go.  I know "Gross", but we did it and I never thought anything of it.  The way I looked at it was I would rinse it off in my mouth for my child and as far as me putting it in my mouth then the child's...well I figure I birthed the child they have part of me anyhow so what the heck. It's kinda of like one of those old wives tales.  Now of course if the soother had dropped into some dirt or something I would find the closest water give it a quick rinse and back into my child's mouth it would go.  No boiling or sterilizing was going on here. Again, for some of you might think that to be gross.  To me it just seemed natural, and now, in hind sight I see I was helping build my child's immunity.

I find a lot of parents now days try to protect their child from the world around them.  So much so that when they think they are doing their child a favour by not allowing them to explore their world they are actually doing them a disservice.

A few years ago I was diagnosed with colitis.  One of the things I did when I was diagnosed was to find out as much as I could about the disease and as a result I started another blog on Crohn's and Colitis.  With this I joined a Facebook group called "Badgut.org"  It's the Gastrointestinal Society of Canada, which is a nonprofit organization that provides a wealth of knowledge to folks who suffer from all kinds of gastrointestinal problems like IBS, IBD, GERD,Colitis, Crohn's and the likes.  Oh my look at all those acronyms.  The other day I was surfing Facebook and I noticed that they had made a post about farm animals and IBD(Irritable Bowel disease).  This article talked about the importance of exposing our children to farm animals and how it helps build their immunity. http://www.badgut.org/information-centre/animal-exposure-reduces-the-risk-of-developing-ibd.html  The article is titled "Animal exposure reduces the risk of developing IBD".  I was very curious to read this article to see what it had to say.  As it turns out I wasn't far off from what I thought.  I hope you give it a read.

Recently my husband and I travelled back east for our grand-daughters christening.  It was a lovely visit. However, there is a but in this story.  My step-daughter is very particular about NOT allowing her daughter to be exposed to germs.  Case in point, you are not even allowed to hold the child unless you wash your hands, there is definitely minimal floor crawling going on as the child is not allowed to touch anything dirty.  It was very interesting to observe.  My husband and I discussed this and how we felt our daughter was maybe doing her daughter a disservice by not allowing her to explore her world, not allowing her to be exposed to natural allergens in order to help her build her own healthy immunity. Natural immunity is so very important, so when I saw the article that I mentioned above I posted it on my Facebook page hoping that my step-daughter would read it. 

We need to allow our little one's an opportunity to explore and not keep them in a bubble. It's funny, I remember my mom telling me stories about my sister always eating dirt I didn't hear of it doing her any harm.  Of course it's everything in moderation and common sense does play a role.

As Marie Antoinette said "Let them eat cake" I say let them "eat dirt"

Food for thought.

To Write or Not to Write

My sister has written and published a book. This past Thursday I attended her book launching party.  The book is titled "Objects in Mirror Are Closer than They Appear A Memoir".  As her siblings we all knew she was writing this book, but we had no idea of it's content.  It was with much eager and excited anticipation that we all attended this very auspicious occasion.  We(siblings) are all so very proud of her and now we can say we have an author in the family.  What I find interesting, is that although we were not privy to the content of her book, we all had our own thoughts about what she would write.  Some of us thought she would write about being a child of an immigrant family and the journey to a new country or about the struggles at the beginning, or even what it was like to grow up in a family of 12 children. I wasn't prepared for what she choose to write.

Pauline or Pave as we call her is an educated woman. She's  been published in educational journals and periodicals.  She has been published numerous times in the local paper.  Pave retired not long ago from being a school principal. Retirement has provided her the time to put all those journals she had kept over the years into use.  She decided it was time to write her memoirs.  In preparation for the writing of her book she took writing courses and explored the world of writing and publishing.  Once she had completed those courses her journey in writing began, although she might argue she was always writing her story.

As I said we knew she was writing about the family, but what and how it would be presented we the siblings were not privy.  There was quite the gathering at the book launch.  Many faces I recognized and many I didn't.  There were old school chums of my sisters, some university friends, and old family friends.  We all waited in eager anticipation for her to read a chapter from her book.


The time came and we all sat down, her daughter who no doubt was very proud of her mother stood up and said a few words and introduced her mom and then it began.  My sister spoke of her journey in writing her book and before she started to read from her book she  prefaced that these memoirs are Her memories and her remembrance of the occasion or event.  It was important I think for her to say that as it prepared us the listeners and participants of her life to know this.


Pave choose to read Chapter 8 which was titled " Poor is a Four letter Word".  In this chapter Pave regales us with a story of when she(and us her Sib's) were on a holiday where the swimsuits were forgotten at home.  She told of  how my mom who I thought was very creative went and bought bras and panties and material for my elder sisters(Pave being one of the older sisters).  My mother pain stakingly sat by the campfire and sewed that material to those undergarments and created the swimsuits that we will never forget.  Of course Pave who must have been 14 or 15 at the time was aghast at these suits and refused to wear hers.  According to my sister my mom scolded her and tried to make her feel guilty because she wouldn't wear the suit that she had made. And so that is what Pave chose to share in her book, how mom made her feel bad about not wanting to wear the suit.


I  remember that camping trip like it was yesterday.  I being one of the youngest got to swim in what I remember as cotton underwear. I recall being a little shy not having a top to wear but I don't remember how my sister felt.  Well now I know how she felt.  She felt mortified, humiliated and POOR!  How sad I thought that she remembered it this way.  I on the other hand  recall this story as being funny and extremely creative  of my mom.  Why my mom never bought suits I will never know, and as an adult I never thought to ask.  I am not sure how Pave could fault my mom for making those suits and or scolding her for not wearing it. That isn't what matters here, it's what  made Pave feel poor and that is all she remembers of that vacation. She also spoke about this cupboard or clothes closet I called it that my father had made.  This this closet was the length and width of the station wagon. It was made in order to store all of our clothing and was anchored to the top of the car. I thought is was ingenious of him. I mean really could you imagine how many suitcases you would have need in order to pack clothes for 10 children and parents?  So the closet/cupboard it was.  Pave speaks about how the clothes were wrinkled. Again, I don't remember that, what I remember is mom ironing those clothes and putting them lovingly on each shelf, but again it was Pave's memories not mine.  She didn't have anything positive to say about our camping life and yet I remember it so differently. I wondered why she didn't remember or choose not to write about our times picking cherries in the orchards, or the the trip to Barkersville.  There are ten years between Pave and I and of course she would see it differently.  But I asked myself, doesn't she remember the hikes, the campfires, the story times? Didn't she remember our boating days?  Cruising up and down the coast exploring little coves and inlets?  Doesn't she remember dropping anchor and rowing ashore and collecting clams and oysters for dinner, and all the beachcombing?  How different our recollection of those days are. 
HER memoirs.

I wonder why my sister opted to write and dwell on all the difficult times.  In her first chapter she wrote about her years in catholic school, about the nuns and how they "ruled by the rod".  The nuns could be cruel there was no doubt about that. I wonder now if maybe that is why she opted to go into education.  I am also not sure why she opted not to write about the early days in England when times were not as financially challenging for the family and ultimately her. I wonder if  she remembered the time when my parents were running an Inn.  This inn was an old mansion on a hill.  My father had gone to sea and my mother was left to tend the Inn and care for my older siblings.  I ask myself if she remembered or cared how my mother almost lost all her hair because she worked so hard to maintain that Inn and at night how terribly scared my mom was of that old mansion.  Probably not, Pave never had a very good memory.  In later years when we would gather as a family we would talk about the "old days" and the early beginnings, Pave would often ask if she was even there.

I am very proud of my sister for venturing out and writing her book I am saddened by what memories she choose to share with the reader.  I guess that is why they call it "Memoirs". I can kind of relate to how Joan  Crawford must have felt when her daughter wrote about her in her book "Mother Dearest".

One could say there could be twelve different interpretations or recollections of the events that Pave wrote about.  We would all write the story our own way.  I guess that is what she has done.  I am proud of my sister.  I am sad that she had such cold and dark memories of her early years and chose to share those memories instead of sharing in her accomplishments.  Pave in my eyes was and is theatrical.  I can remember when she performed in a play at our local theater and her doing stand up comedy at a local venue.  She was and continues to be so funny. Pave certainly was the person who could turn your frown upside down. One of my fondest memories of  Pave was when I  was a little girl, it was  her wedding day. I thought my big sister was the most beautiful woman I had ever seen.  I wished she remembered that, but those are my memories now aren't they.

Road Trippin.....

It's road tripping time again.  Finally hubby and I had a few days off together and there is nothing we love to do more than to just randomly go on a road trip.

Before I tell and show you where our travels took us yesterday, let me provide you with a little background.

Last spring hubby and his brother bought a boat...what they like to call their "baby".

It's a pretty scukum boat...it has a ton of power and when we are out of the open seas I am truly thankful for that.  Anyhow, the purpose of the boat was of course to go out fishing on the wild west coast, and fishing we did.

My first day out we caught some great tasting salmon.  The seas were a bit rough that day, but we had a great time all the same.  Those were beginning of season spring salmon, they got much bigger as the season progressed.  I also caught my first Halibut that year.  There were many sights to behold out on the wild seas whales being the primary feature.  There were days that there we so many whales you could walk across them.  There were Grey's, Humpbacks and Killer whales aka Orca's.  Here are a couple of photos my brother in law captured....considering  the sea conditions were not ideal on this day and by that I mean there were  6 - 8 foot swells with a 2 foot chop on the water, so I was suitably impress by how well  these photos turned out simply amazing!

That was such a spectacular sight!  Needless to say we were pretty darn happy in Ucluelet last year!
In order that we would be able to enjoy the fishing and the sights we decided that we were going to move our camper up to the campground next to the docks.  That campsite was our home base for almost 5 months.  It was a great fishing season and as a result we are going back for more.

So this brings me to our road trip yesterday. This spring hubby and I purchased a new to us 30 foot 5th wheel.  As much as I enjoyed the camper(she says with tongue in cheek) it was a bit small and we recognized we needed something a little larger.  Hubby searched Craiglist and lo and behold he came across this smokin deal on the 5th wheel....here's My new to me baby....

This will be our home away from home this summer.  This now brings us to our road trip. Of course we could have made our reservations online but what fun would that be.  Hubby and I decided that we needed to go out to Ucluelet and see what they had to accommodate us and to just make a day of it.  So we packed a picnic lunch got Bert into the truck and off we went.  Our journey took us through some mountain passes and I was shocked to see how much snow was still on the ground at certain spots.  We made it to Ucluelet in just over 2 hours.  We went to the office and got the map of sites that they thought we would like, and off we went in search of the site we were going to call home for the next 4 months. After much humming we decided on our spot.  In our travel we came across one of the campers who was there last year.  He told us he had been there for a month already...and by the looks of things he certainly had set up home.  We had a lovely chat and told him we would see him in a month and looked forward to another season.  We picked our spot made our reservations and off we went.

We were not far out of Ucluelet when I asked my hubby to make a turn as I wanted to check out another campground just out of curiosity.  After about 16 or so kilometers on a logging road we figured we missed a turn somewhere but came across the road to Toquart Bay and what a treat this ended up being.
I had often wanted to go and see Toquart Bay as it is a favourite spot for kayakers heading out to the Broken Island group.  I wasn't disappointed once we arrived at our destination.

Toquaht (aboriginal pronounced)Bay is situated between Ucluelet and Bamfield just in off of Barkley sound
http://www.toquartbay.com/history.html It's a beautiful place.  We had our first black bear sighting on the road into Toquart.  It actually came right in front of  truck and santered into the woods.  It happened so quickly that I wasn't able to get a photo of it, but it was a mighty big black bear. I must say I was thankful to be in my truck.
Upon arrival the site was pretty empty except for some vehicles for people who were out kayaking.  We came across the caretaker/owner who told us that in just a few short weeks the park will be full and based on what I saw I can see why.

My photos don't do the place justice, you should check out the link I provided about Toquart the photos they have on their site are amazing!

After our visit to Toquart we decided it was time to start heading home.  We never did end up having our picnic, but I was full from all the beautiful sights that I had the opportunity to behold!

Sky Watch Friday

I took this  photo on a day when my husband and I had been travelling along the logging roads on a local mountain it was the end of a glorious day. 

If you would like to join in on the fun please check out Sky Watch Friday

The monster

I want to know which hormone monster is going to rear it's ugly head in my house next month.

You know what I am talking about. That uninvited guest who stays at your place for what seems like an eternity.  That  7 or so days this monster takes over. You don't know it by it knows you intimately.  It enters your home and runs havoc with your life.  You know that monster is going to pay you a visit.  You try to prepare for it like you would prepare for an earthquake.  You've got all your supplies ready, the chocolate, the sodas, the sappy movies, the supplements and herbal teas.  Yes,  you know the drill, you've  been through it a number of times already.  You prepare the family(especially your husband) but even with all your preparation  this nasty crazed monster enter your life and you lose it.
 
When I think about it's visit, it kinda of reminds me of Jekyll and Hyde.  I just wonder did Hyde really know about Jekyll?  When the monster enters the home you know, you know it's there, you do your best to keep it at bay.  You give it a valiant effort, and yet even with all your preparation, you know it's going to take over.
 
Mayhem ensues, rage and tears flow you're thinking you should have shares in Kleenex. You try going to your quiet place, or going for walks, yoga but nothing...nothing stops this monster.

Then out of  nowhere the floods reside, the  sun comes out, calm returns the birds start to sing and you hear a course of Alleluia.....the quake is over, the monster has left.  For now.

A Celebration......

I've never liked funerals.  It's not that I mind attending, it's just that they are so morose and well just darn right depressing.

I have always said that when my time comes, that I don't want people to morn me....I want people to rejoice in the life that I led.  Hence is way I really appreciate and enjoy the more modern day services, commonly known as a "Celebration of Life".    I think the Irish had the right idea of a "wake".  Yes of course there is morning and sorrow...but I  love and enjoy how they toast and cheer their dearly departed.  Their songs or ballads can be quite cheerful and uplifting.

I know when my mother passed she "DID NOT" want a traditional funeral.  She wanted a good ol Irish wake, with songs of remembrance and it was imperative to her that every one who attended  had a toast of Irish whiskey.  Ah mom.

My mother in law passed away just over a month ago.  She too was of the same mind set as my mom.  Don't morn for me she would say, celebrate, have fun...I can just hear my mother in law saying that now.  So that is what I hope we will do.

My father in law has decided to do a "Celebration of Life".  There will be a few prayers and an opportunity for those who would like to share something about her to do so.  My brother in law is organizing a power point that will run continuously sharing pictures of my mother in law and with the background music coming from "her" play list on her  iPod.  That will be interesting as I know she loved country music and Patsy Cline.  So I am looking forward to that.

Of course it will be a difficult time regardless, but I truly want to celebrate the life she lead, the joy she brought to so many, the family she created and the spirit and vitality that she had almost right up to the end.  She was a fighter...she wasn't going to let the "beast" as she called it get a hold of her.  In the end it did, but not without a fight from her.

She will and is sorely missed by her husband of 57 years, her children, grandchildren and great grandchild and all those whose lives she has touched.  In her remembrance I smile and I thank her for what she brought to this world.

Rest in peace Marilynn.

Marilynn April 1934 - January 2011

A chance encounter....

 I have shared with you on many occasions the wonders of nature that surrounds me.  Coming from the big city I feel so blessed and fortunate to be able to call the island home.

My story begins on a cool and crisp December morning, hubby and I were sitting in our office working on our computers, when we heard a thud, like something had hit one of our windows.  Now the average person most probably would have jumped to see what it was all about, but because this is a regular occurrence at our place, we didn't hurry to investigate.

As most of you know I live in a rural area.  I have shared pictures of birds that frequent our property.  Birds of varying breeds shapes and sizes.  One of the unfortunate things( I guess it depends on how you look at it) is that we have a lot of windows on our home, very high "A frame" windows in some parts.  The unfortunate part is that on a nice clear day the birds can get misdirected and head straight for our windows.  On all to many occasions I have gone out to investigate only to find a poor bird laying there dead.

On this  particular morning we heard such a sound and as I said we did not go and investigate.  It was about an hour or so later  I was sitting in the truck waiting for my hubby when I noticed something move in the grass.  What's that I ask myself....I haven't seen anything like that before.....I go over to take a closer look......this is what I found......

 It would appear it was a Cooper's Hawk that had hit our window.  It also appeared that he might have broken his neck. Hubby went into the house and called the Wild Life Rescue to see if we could bring it in and see if there was anything they could do. They agreed and so I went and got a Rubbermaid container and hubby put the bird into the container.  The Wildlife center is about 25mins drive from us.  It being a Saturday and close to Christmas we were so thankful they were open.  We rushed over, but got lost...I kept looking in the back to check on the bird to see if it was alive and indeed it was.   But due to us taking a wrong turn and hence delaying our arrival the bird succumbed to his injuries before we could make it to the center.  When we arrived at the center they were expecting us, unfortunately we had to tell them the bird had died.  They came out and inspected the bird and confirmed it was indeed a Cooper's Hawk.  We asked if it was ok if we took it home.  My hubby wanted to bury it in our yard as he figures that would have been more home to the bird. And so that is what we did.

He was a magnificent bird, one I may not have been able to see unless it was for it's misfortune of hitting our window.

I learnt a lesson that day. If you hear a thud....go check it out.  I feel a bit guilty, we didn't investigate things earlier. I can't help but wonder had we investigate earlier would the bird had a chance to live.  We'll never know.