Some Scary Nights in Scotand

It is now 7:15 PM and time for shift change.

The night aids came around nice and friendly to see us.

I called for my pain pill and marching in the room about half way down the ward came this BIG nurse.

As I watched her I wondered where she was from, I thought to myself she might be from Samoa or Hawaii. Then about that time she turned her head toward me and slowed her pace down, and then said

"Oh, it's the Americano", which was okay, until she stammered and said "We call all Americans that in the Philippines.

I then knew by her demeanor and actions it was meant to be derogatory towards me and it had slipped out before she thought.

I believe she would not like any American no matter who they were and she never called any of us by our names.

All the nurses up to this point called all of us by our given names and we did the same.

I never knew her name, but I named her.............

GODZILLA

That evening my pain was terrible. My leg hurt so bad I thought I was going to go nuts. I had to have my pain pill every hour like I had started earlier. My new nurse did not like that because it meant she had to be on her feet and moving more delivering my medications. Our pill cart usually came every evening just after shift change. On her shift our pills wer always an hour or more. That just meant we all had to lie in pain longer. The aids wer fine but they were not a fast a mover as the others we had had so far.

My IV's are push IV's not drip. which meant they administered them with a syringe in my IV port in my hand just like a shot. They were 4 tubes and the antibiotic was pushed in slow as they could. Well, I did not know the reason for that, but I now do. You go slowly because if you do not the patient gets nausea and can throw up or faint. Well not little Miss Godzilla, she used all 500 lbs of body weight and 6 feet of height to shoot that antibiotic in me as fast as she could. Let me tell you that was not pleasant but the good news was I did not get sick.

I was telling Cherie and Isla about her and they said "why didn't you tell her you had a name and how she hurt you with the IV?". I said to Cherie, " I am not about to make her mad at me because she is the one giving me my medicine and she could do me in if she wanted" She had her mind made up about me before she ever saw me.