Confusion

Someone forgot to tell the meteorologists what season it is. They keep telling us we're in for a week of snow. That is soooo not fair. It's been spring for almost two months and we keep getting dumped on with white stuff.

Today I got out while it was still in the 40s but windy, before the snow moved in, and did a little over 6 miles. First I took Iris walking for a couple of miles, then I brought her home and went out, determined to get MY workout in. Even if it was only an hour. I woke up with no pain in my back today, as I have the past three days.

I'm afraid to start any weight workouts or even any core work without weights, because it seems like everything has been aggravating it. After I am pain free for a few weeks then I will start. I am getting so tired of feeling like a flabby limp noodle.

I wish I had more to report. I am planning to run/walk for 12 hours and 9 minutes on March 21 in Arvada at a Fat Ass event. Ready or not, I'm going down there and plan to stay out all day. I don't care how many miles I get in, either. I'm taking my music and dancing around the lake all day. Catch up on my vitamin D, hopefully, if it's a nice day.

My dad is starting on oral chemo, even though they don't have all the results back from the bone marrow biopsy. His hematologist thinks it's the same leukemia that he's had for years and is starting him on methotrexate. I guess it won't hurt him even if it turns out to be something else because it's the same class of drugs they give in the thing we're hoping it isn't. We'll know in about a week or less. What drives me crazy is the lack of thorough education that they do with patients, even at the big name hospitals that are supposed to be the top cancer clinics. They're all the same as far as I can tell. All trying to make a buck and not paying attention to the needs of the entire person and family members. I always want to bang my head against the wall... but thankfully I can give him the information he needs to know. I hope he does well on this stuff, it won't make him lose his hair but it can cause diarrhea and nausea and mouth sores, and making him more susceptible to infections.

I always wish I could tell people in public they should be more considerate of the fact that there are people among us who have weak immune systems so please keep your boogers to yourselves. Like the guy at the airport last week. Dennis and I were waiting for our flight out of Phoenix to come home, and this guy sat down next to me, blew his nose into a paper napkin, then deposited the napkin on the seat next to me. GROSS! Or people who cough or sneeze and don't attempt to cover it or wash their hands.

I am much more of a germophobe ever since I became a nurse. Watching people is really interesting, and disgusting. People don't realize how filthy their hands are, and what they touch. Cell phones are gross. Did you know that E. coli are found on cell phones? People take them to the bathroom, and those surfaces are full of E. coli, and who knows if they ever wash their hands, but if it gets on the cell phone and you don't disinfect the cell phone, might as well not wash your hands because it's all going back on your hands. And then you shake someone else's hands after touching your E. coli-infested cell phone. Computer keyboards are the worst. I always used to freak out when I'd see a nurse typing on the computer and not washing their hands before touching the patient again. And these days the way nurses have so much more documentation to do on the computers and so much more work to do in an understaffed setting, there's even more likelihood of contamination. Just FYI. Always make sure the person taking care of you is keeping their hands clean.

I am excited about launching Fighting Dinosaurs. Nursing evolves March 1. I can't wait to see what kinds of stories will come out.