Just a spoon full of Thickit makes the medicine/OJ/milk/H2O go down...

Week 2 of my internship and my tolerance for thickened liquids and thickened phlegm doesn't seem to have improved much. I am getting the swing of things, though. I'm a little nervous because everyone is getting the flu or pneumonia but I'm sacrificing moisturized hands for the amount of hand sanitizer I lather in frequently throughout my day...

I've seen television specials where local youth detention centers include, as part of their intervention, a trip to a prison or morgue. It's supposed to create a wake-up call for the teens and deter them from the dark, delinquent path they were headed down. I've come to the conclusion that a similar intervention should be used to warn against be imprisoned in your own body by the diseases that come from neglect, over-indulgence, and an under-active lifestyle. Spend a few days watching CNA's changing Depends, nurses pricking fingers for blood sugar levels, insulin injections, O2 respirators, wheel chair confinement, throat cancer from tobacco use, cranes for obesity, thickened foods for safe intake, and so forth, it becomes much more emergent the need to take better care of the body. I know there are so many things that come, regardless of age, circumstance, or how well you take care of your body, but so much of it is preventable.

I have one particular patient who wants "just a cool glass of water" because "this orange juice doesn't taste the same..." and "well, the milk...I've had better." I feel the same way and I don't even drink honey-consistency milk or OJ. I don't blame her one bit for wanting just a simple glass of water. She's caught on though, that I'm mixing something into her water before I give it to her. Poor dear. She's coming along nicely and hopefully one day in the very near future, we'll both have graduated from our morning dose of thickened liquids, pureed french toast, and ice cream scoops of dark gray playdoh-looking sausage.

The things that get me through my day are:

-a smile
-the dear group of white haired ladies who are always so friendly and kind
-my supervisor
-caffeine
-a sense of humor
-looking away when congested patients cough
-breathing through my mouth
-rubber gloves
-kind and willing nurses and CNA's
-the prospect of solid, salted and sweetened foods for dinner
-knowing I can feed myself
-patient humor
-patience. especially when hearing the same 5 stories from the same patient in the same 48 minute session...day after day.
-minutes toward my ASHA 400 hours
-silent prayers
-naptime when I get home
-progress in both myself and my patients
-my paycheck....wait, I'm PAYING to be here. Oh, well.