Lactose intolerant

So we are on a call today with an elderly female who called us for complaint of shortness of breath. When we pulled up on scene she was waiting for us in her driveway with purse in hand hollering at us to hurry up.
"Mam, are we here for you," I asked?
"Yes you are," she responded.
"Well, why don't we go inside and take a seat so we can assess you," I add
So we go inside, and she sits down and immediately starts to calm down as we are talking with her.
As is the case with so many of our calls after we get there. Most people are alone and scared, and once we get there they soon begin to calm their nerves.
This is very common for us to run into on the streets because so many people have a lack of medical sense, or have just enough from internet sources, that they get worried when alone.
So we run through the normal assessment routine and everything is perfectly fine with her, but my partner asks me to perform a 12 lead EKG to get a betttr look at her heart.
If you are not familiar with 12 lead EKG's they are a tool you use to see if anything abnormal is happening with the heart electrically. It requires you to lift the persons shirt and place several sticky leads around their left chest area. In women, at times depending on how large their breasts are, it is difficult to maneuver the breast tissue out of the way to place the leads.
This elderly female had no lack of tissue so I was trying to be discreet.
"Mam, I am going to have to lift your shirt to put some sticky things on your chest."
I lift the shirt and realize that she doesn't have a bra on.
So she states the obvious, "I don't have a bra on."
"That's okay, I'll try to cover your breasts when I'm doing this," I tell her.
Then she smiles and says something to me that I never in a million years would have guessed her to say.
"That's alright , I don't have any milk for you anyway." And a big smile from her !!
Blush !! ...........Blush some more.........Bright red !!! I am at a loss for words, and that doesn't happen much with me.
I just have to laugh at her comment, but then I come back with, "That was very awkward."
"Well, I thought I could just be straight forward with you boys," she adds and then smiles real big.
Every time that I think I have seen everything on this job it seems that I get surprised by someone or something new.
It is like the twilight zone at times- you enter into it and until you leave you never know what's gonna happen.

The Outsiders

So I am filling in for the day as a nurse the other day at a rehab facility, and it is finally my turn to go to lunch. The facility that I was working at is very nice, and the buffet they serve is awesome. I was looking forward to eating a big salad along with whatever side dish that they were serving for the meal that day. So I get all of my stuff together, and then I look up to start scanning the room for seats. I notice that the staff are generally sitting in one area and the clients are all sitting amongst themselves in another area. So I am confused at this point as to whether there are rules about the staff and clients sitting with one another during meals.

So I walk up to one of the staff members and ask, "Are staff and clients allowed to sit together?"

"You are allowed to, but we discourage it," she then says to me. "You need to be cautious because if you sit with them they will engage you."

It wasn't the sort of engage that you would use in a positive way either. It would be more like the type of engaging that you try to avoid at all costs when you see someone you don't want to talk to. For instance, this might be the type of avoidance you're seeking when you're at the store shopping, and you see an acquaintance that you don't really want to talk with. You might walk by an aisle and catch a glimpse of them out of the corner of your eye and suddenly speed up to avoid any and all contact. Then you probably spend the rest of your time at the store mapping out you route so you'll never end up on the same aisle at the same time as them. Not that I've ever done this, but I hear people are petty like that sometimes 8). So this worker was cautioning me about the fact that if I sat with these people I might actually have to talk with them. You know, its sort of reminded me of the lepers outside the walls of Jerusalem who were not allowed to socialize or even talk with the 'normal' people inside the city walls. Keep your distance from them because if you get too close you might get 'ENGAGED' !! Eeeeewwww !! Engaged.....what is that and how do I get rid of it once I get it? Can you treat it with antibiotics.

So after listening to her response I thought to myself how odd that had just sounded, and I went on my merry way to sit with a group of clients.

As I approach a table of young adults I ask them, "Do you mind if I sit with you all?"

Heads turn and puzzled looks come my way because I am in scrubs, and they all know that I'm staff.

"Sure, have a seat," they say.

So we all start eating together, and they immediately start 'engaging' me like I was one of them. I sat the whole lunch with them , and they did share some of their life with me. It was an awesome lunch , and one of the better ones that I have had...and not because of the food.

I couldn't help but think to myself that these are all awesome people that each have their own unique story. Sure, some of them have made mistakes, but so do I on an hourly basis. No one is without fault in this world, and the sooner we realize this the better off we will are.

So after lunch that day I was reading the following Bible verse to my boys at dinner: ' For he who is least among you is the greatest' It struck such a cord with me because the events at lunch just that day. It made me really take a look at the fine line that we all walk in this world between the so called 'normal' and 'abnormal'. The world so often labels us without even knowing a single page of our story, but Christ judges us only on what our hearts have on the inside. The world says if you look like you have it together then you really must, but Christ can see right through us. He knows that we all are just a bunch of ragamuffins that need some filling from the inside. No one on this earth is free of problems, and Christ doesn't really care about that anyway. The only thing he cares about is where you put your heart !

Lunch at work the other day helped me realize that we are always to remember Christ's love for us so that we can live a life that seeks all comers, working from outside the city walls inward.

Teach me !!

So I had a long day this past Sunday , and I am sitting at the computer at 9 o'clock finally just taking a chill. A lot of stuff went on that day that kind of left me fried by the end of the night. I had talked with my boys that afternoon and let them know that I was upset with the fact that our family time seemed to be readily overlooked because it got in the way of their 'friend time'. I was also upset that I had to just take my dog to get put to sleep. I didn't want anyone around me when I was sitting at the computer, and I was hoping that peace would surround me the rest of the night. Then I hear a little voice from behind me say, " Dad?"
I am certainly not ready for this , and I immediately turn around thinking that one of the boys has gotten out of their beds to goof around. Then I blurt out these angry words,"Son...oh my fricken' gosh !! What do you want?"
I am ready to send someone into trouble land , and I am not having any of their craziness anymore tonight.
"I just wanted to tell you I am sorry for making you upset today," says my son, and then he gives me hug.
Okay....okay... I know, put a big JACKASS stamp on my forehead at this point and a dunce cap while you're at it. Oh.... and sit me in the corner of the classroom so I really learn my lesson. School is in session for this Daddio.
My heart immediately turns from one that is filled with anger to one of shame.
Bug lump in my throat and a , "Oh...Oh.....I love you honey and thank you for apologizing."
My son then turns and walks back in to his room to go to bed leaving me sitting in my chair wondering when I will ever learn to think before I react.
Isn't it funny sometimes what we learn from the littlest ones around us. All it takes is the willingness to sit and listen for a moment sometimes before we set judgement. It's funny how as a parent you think that you are going to be the one who is the teacher of all things to your kids, and so often times it is just the opposite. Their hearts lead us through this world and teach us everyday about the most important things of all: humility, love, and forgiveness.