Popular but Unorthodox Drug Names

Levophed - Leave'em Dead: This is a vasocontrictor (tightens your blood vessels) and if overdosed, your extremities can necrose from no blood flow and lack of oxygen. It does its job very well. Use with caution!!

Milk of Amnesia: This is the slang for Diprivan (propofol). It is a milky white drug given IV that is used for sedation. It is VERY quickly metabolized so don't run out! By the time you get back from the drug room your patient will be waking up!

Vitamin A: This is for Ativan. Ativan is a wonderful anti-anxiety med that you give to your patients who are a pain in your neck and freaking out. Everything is better when everyone is calm.

MONA: This one is real: Morphine, Oxygen, Nitroglycerin, and Aspirin. This is the acronym for what the first line treatment for heart attack is.

Other interesting euphemisms....

Code Brown: This code occurs precisely after you have given your patient a bath and changed the linens...Yes, they crap everywhere!! Code Brown! Damn why don't we have a rectal tube on this guy??!??

First Hard Day

I had my first challenging day in the ICU. My patient who was on 7 different IV's tried to die...all day long.

It was a constant day of running, no lunch till 3PM and then you look up and see that it is already 5PM. Crap I still had lots to do! I feel as though I kept it together but it was oh so messy. My charting has a ways to go before it is good and knowing what drug to push when and how fast is a distant dream I hope to attain one day.

And FYI, when the monitor takes the blood pressure and it comes back with "unable to assess" that isn't a malfunction, that means there is no measurable blood pressure.

All...Day...Long....

Keep'em Alive Till Seven O Five!!

Motorcycles!!

I went to watch my friend ride his bike at the Eagle's Canyon track in Slidell, TX. Both cars and bikes race there. The track is about 3 miles long and has elevation changes as well as left and right turns.

It was great fun and definitely whetted my appetite to gear up and ride the curves there at the track. My friend rides in Level 3 and his wife goes for a while and watches thru her fingers as he zips around the track. ( He had a bad wreck on a country road last year) It looks like great fun! I am shooting for next year as a place to live is first priority. There were all kinds of bikes there, all fast of course, but I did see another Duc like mine in the beginner class. Lo and behold a woman was riding it too!

The track will wait for a while, but it is very close to the top of the list!! It looks like too much fun to avoid for very long!

House Hunting...

I have officially started house hunting. I am approved for a mortgage and am looking for a new residence. I have found some interesting places and am researching on in particular at the moment. All the ones I have looked at will need a little TLC, but I am good at the fixit thing and I like doing it.

Wish me luck in my searching!! It is kinda scary, but I think it will be just great in the long run.
You gotta live somewhere!