Sunday, December 05, 2010

Cancer took my palate and took my appetite, but it cannot take my SNAAAAARK!

Lest you think that Nurse Jo has had a sudden reversal of personality, and now finds things to love and value in everyone she meets. . . .

There is going to be a massacre the next time some genius house manager decides it's appropriate to co-room two people of opposite sex and of widely varying neurological status. There's something about the hum-wonk-beep-snort of a ventilator, and the other things that go beep-woop-gronk that go along with being on a ventilator, that just doesn't make for a quiet night for the neurologically mostly-intact.

Especially if the mostly-intact person in question is also a little bit crazy and sort of climbing the walls already.

Yet the GHM decided that, what with all those full beds in the hospital (not really) and the absolute necessity of these folks being in the NCCU (not really), it was okay to co-room them.

Yeah, I snipped at people. I even used big words. Didn't help.

*** *** *** *** ***

The Crisis has been slightly mediated, thanks to the opinions of you fine readers, which were running all-to-zero in favor of "fix the damn crisis".

Also, several people suggested funnelling donations either through or to organizations that could provide tax receipts. This is an excellent idea which I have no clue how to implement. Help?

And finally, who has a favorite small-works charity they'd like to recommend? Leave 'em in the comments, along with your favorite easy recipes for one person.

5 comments:

Celeste said...

www.modestneeds.org

Their premise is to restore the social contract, that if somebody is honestly trying to make it and just needs a small amount of help, then somebody should help. The money is only for short term relief, like a pair of glasses for an elderly person or to catch up the rent for a single mom who is starting a new job. Yes, it is only for renters, not homeowners. There is a limit on how much a person can receive, and the reason will be verified by a staffer.

You can just give to be used as needed, or you can read through the stories and pick one to donate to. Some people like to be the donation that fulfills the grant, others like to be the one that is the first donation.

I guarantee that reading the stories will make you feel like you've got it pretty good in life, no matter what.

Celeste said...

Omelet
Loaded baked potato
Couple of baked up empanadas from your freezer stash, plus salsa

Cartoon Characters said...

my mom was put in a room with 3 guys during her hospital stay and actually it went well. I have worked in 2 hospital with a mixed gender policy. The problem came when the one guy was a night screamer - and he was moved out after one night.

as for the food:
Premade perogies, fry them up with onions and some kind of sausage or sprinkle with real bacon bits and serve with sour cream. Yum. You can pick the number of perogies according to your hunger.

woolywoman said...

Cheaters Chili: Two cans of beans, well rinsed in a colander, one can or corn, rinsed, 1 can of tomatoes (same size as bean can) Saute one chopped onion, added canned goods, put in a tablespoon of chili powder (I recommende Penzy's Adobo seasoning) and a bit of cumin. Salt well. This makes a non intimidating sized pot of chili in about ten min of work. Freezes well in work sized portions, may be served over rice, or take to potlucks with frito scoop chips. I have also blenderized it and slurped it after oral surgery, and it had enough fiber that the vicodan I was also slurping didn't, uhm, delay my peristalsis.

I know you are a Texan, but keep an open mind. Or change the name to whackadoodle California bean thing.

MalGal said...

www.StepUpRwandaWomen.org

This cause is near and dear to my heart as my family was killed in the genocide in 1994.