Sips, Snacks, and Healthy Hacks-A Nurse’s Blog
-
I love classics. They are a lot meatier than many modern books out there. They’ve got substance. They stick with you. Give you something to think about. There’s classics I’ve read years ago that I still think about from time to time. Some of my favorite authors are the Brontes and Thomas Hardy. I really…
Overrated
-
I’ve had my share of obsessions in the 50-some odd years I’ve been around, only a couple of which were actually damaging. One of the more benign was my obsession with video games, in particular the 10 months or so when I couldn’t go to bed unless I played through certain scenes of Star Wars…
Space/Invaders Part II
-
I was a 70s/80s kid. And while I’ve written about my gaming obsessions before, along with my space/alien obsession, I’m not sure that I’ve really gotten into Space Invaders a whole lot. I loved that game. Played it until my eyeballs would practically dry up from not blinking for 45 minutes straight. We played it…
Space/Invaders
-
If you or someone you know is starting chemo, this one’s for you. People don’t always know what to bring. Here are the 3 things I tell people to bring along, especially for their first day and if they are going to be there a long day of treatment: #1 A blanket or hoodie Bring…
3 Things I Tell Patients to Bring to Chemo
-
I love my little town. It’s very quaint, with lots of shops and lots of restaurants. The shops have a very boutique-vibe. There’s a bookstore. Coffee shops. It’s fun to shop there, especially when I’m looking for something unique, or for a book. 🙂 A couple weekends ago, I went downtown with my sister to…
Shop/Eat/Read/Repeat
-
I was a 70s/80s kid… This meant movies like E.T. the Extra Terrestrial, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, Star Wars (like, the first one… in the theater). Old Doctor Who episodes. Star Trek. I loved it. My dad was a bit of a sci-fi fan. I think he passed it on to me. So…
Unsolved Mysteries…
-
“Let’s check your labs.” We check labs a lot! We want to make sure your “counts” are good for chemo. Or, we might check them if you come in for a triage visit to make sure that your hemoglobin, white blood cells, and platelets are okay. Sometimes, the problem is electrolytes like potassium, calcium, or…
Things Your Oncology Nurse Says Daily-Outpatient Edition!
-
Did you ever read that poem, The Road Not Taken? It’s a poem in which the writer has to choose a road, and he decides to take the one less traveled which in retrospect has made all the difference. (The actual meaning of the poem that I only learned about more recently than I care…
Direction
-
There’s this phrase they use in AA, from the Big Book of Alcoholics Anonymous: “Acceptance is the answer to all my problems today.” I’d say more than anything, that’s a phrase that I’ve adopted for my own and one that I live by. But let’s talk about what acceptance does and does not mean. Acceptance…
Acceptance
-
“Everything tastes funny.” I hear this from patients all the time. When you’re going through cancer treatment, one of the most frustrating challenges can be eating. Food might not taste the same. “Everything tastes like cardboard” is something I hear on an almost weekly basis. Between nausea, fatigue, and low appetite, full meals can feel…
Why Small Meals Help During Cancer: A Nursing Perspective
