Tomorrow should be amusing

[SeaCat]

Tomorrow should be an amusing day.

My wife isn't working tomorrow and the weather is supposed to clear tonight. If it does then I'm taking the bike to work. That will put a few twists in peoples drawers.

Off and on for the past several years I have been part of the team taking care of a certain middle aged male patient. For the past couple of weeks I have been taking care of him three days a week. Over the past two weeks we have seen him becoming more and more delusional. His mental staus is deteriorating for some reason. Naturally this has been well documented.

For some reason he has fixated on me being his friend and/or savior. Making claims about my intelligence etc.

Last week he had a psychotic episode. Making comments about commiting suicide. Talking about how the Medical Staff in the hospital were trying to kill him. Comments about contacting the Supreme Court of the United States as well as suing the Hospital. He attacked an R.N. and an M.D. and ended up being commited for an Eval.

Sometime during this period he wrote a letter to yours truly on the backs of multiple pieces of paper. (Including pieces torn from single sheets.) This letter goes on for more than ten pages. It rambles from topic to topic and includes such things as thoughts of suicide, a mixture of Avogadro's Principle and Boyles Law. String and Chaos Theory, and of course all sorts of Metaphysical subjects, (including his views on sexuality, followed by his attraction to me even though he staunchly claims he is not homosexual.) He rolled this letter inside a pillow case and gave it to a Dietician to give to me, which she did on Saturday.

I read through the letter and decided this was something the Head of the Unit needed to see so I made a copy of it and re-wrapped the original. I gave the original to the second in charge today and after reading it she agreed that this was something the boss needed to see. The boss will be seeing this in the morning. (Several others on the floor heard about it and asked me about it. When they read it they agreed with my assesment and then shook their heads over it. Now all of these are highly trained R.N.'s and M.D.'s and they all agreed that this was truly strange.)

My work assignment has been shifted so I am not working with this patient. (I can agree with this, with reservations.)

What shall be interesting is what my boss has to say about this whole thing. She is not happy about his condition as he does have money and was at one time a prominent person. She is looking for a reason behind his change. I shall of course find out her reaction tomorrow.

Cat

 

[kimbalee]

Wow. Good luck with this situation. Something must have triggered it, right? Can't imagine just becoming delusional outta the blue.

 

[SeaCat]

Wow. Good luck with this situation. Something must have triggered it, right? Can't imagine just becoming delusional outta the blue.

Actually could be a lot of things that have triggered this.

He is a long term cancer patient. His Chemo could have altered his brain chemistry.

Stress could have done this.

His cancer may have spread and caused lesions to the brain.

There could be an underlaying Psych Issue we don't know about.

Recreational or additional medications could have done this.

Changes in body chemistry could have changed his brain chemistry. (Electrolyte Imbalance.)

Mental Instability is one of those things dealt with in medicine. It's amazing what can cause Altered Mental Status.

Cat

 

[starrkers]

Good luck with it, Cat. Do let us know how it plays out.

 

[SeaCat]

Well the weather did clear up last night as predicted so I hopped the bike for the run into work. It was a little cool for this area and humid as hell which means I had to keep wiping my visor and the mirrors. Other than that the ride was an absolute blast with almost no traffic.

I actually got to work a bit earlier than I normally do. I parked the bike and started digging out my bags and sneakers from the cargo box. I kicked off my boots and tossed them along with my helmet in the box and locked it. Now I'm ready to head in. Reaching my locker I peel off the coa and hang it on the door as I stow the bags. While I'm doing this here comes my boss along with several of the floor R.N.'s. Of course they saw the coat and added things up. My boss gave me a dirty look as a couple of the R.N.'s made comments. I just smiled and went on my way.

About an hour later I was called to the bosses office where I had to answer several questions. I did so to the best of my knowledge and then had to listen to one of her little speaches about the responsibilities of dealing with patients. It almost sounded as though she were trying to find some way to blame me for the situation with the patient. I left her office and went back to work.

A short while later I was again called, this time to the Nurses Station. When I got there I found the Boss as well as the patients M.D. and another standing there. The other was introduced to me as the patients Psych. We sat down and talked for quite some time. Once again I had to answer questions dealing with both my treatment of the patient and the letter. By the end of this the Psych. looked at me for a minute before turning to my boss and informing her that he was impressed with the way I had handled the patient. Once again I went back to work.

This evening as I went out to the bike the M.D. and the Psych joined me. It turns out my boss had mentioned to them my riding and they wanted to see my bike. When we reached the bike they looked it over as I pulled my helmet and boots out. They asked me about the letter again, specificly some of the things the patient had mentioned and they seemed interested in the answers I gave. The M.D. finally decided he had to leave and did so while informing me he would be riding his bike in to work next weekend. The Psych mentioned that he was going to be talking with the C.E.O. of the hospital in an attempt to get me onto his response team, which would be interesting.

By the time I was ready to leave the hospital I was smiling. Maybe things are looking up for the Cat. I pulled on my helmet and straddled the bike. With a prayer that I had actually fixed the bike I pulled in the clutch and hit the starter. I was more than pleased to hear and feel the bike kick over and start right away. Maybe it is fixed.

The ride home was slick. It was clear and cool, with the air temps dropping quickly. I pulled out of the garage and onto Old Dixie for the ride north. I was in fairly heavy traffic but nothing I haven't been in before. The only difference was the sun was going down and it was getting dark. I was having fun even as I ended up dodging a couple of idiots. The only part of the ride I didn't like was the drawbridge. This one, like so many others has steel decking and riding over it feels like riding over grease. I made it with no problems and finished the ride with cold hands and a smile on my face. (Cold hands because my gloves are mesh.)

Cat

 

[Stella_Omega]

For two years, Cat, you've been showing us things that tell us your immediate boss has it against you-- It looks as if her crusade against you will get you promoted right out of her jurisdiction.

 

[rgraham666]

Nice to hear that your good work gets the reward you deserve, Cat.

 

[john-the-author]

Bravo, old sea biscuit! I'm very pleased for you. And yes, I love the stories of your boss ending up looking the fool, too. Makes me smile--I've a temporary boss right now who's a complete dickhead (very soon to get another; the whole team is doing the Happydance).

Good luck! And please keep us posted.

John

 

[starrkers]

One day, maybe, this boss is going to work out her vendetta only makes her look bad, not you.
Good things may be coming your way.