"Go shorty, it's your birthday...

We're gonna party like it's your birthday. We're gonna sip on Bacardi like it's your birthday"
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"Oh, what a beautiful morning, oh what a beautiful day. I got a beautiful feelin', everything's goin' my way"
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I know, I know, it's a horrific mix of genres, but it is my birthday, and for the first time in a while, it is a beautiful day. The sun is shining, and although there are setbacks happening on the stroke unit this morning, it seems like nothing can get me down. Many thanks for the birthday messages and e-cards I have already received earlier today!!!! I woke up and stumbled downstairs as the zombie I normally am in the mornings, only to find a big sign plastered onto our hallway mirror that said "OVER THE HILL" highlighted in bright orange with a picture of an old lady knitting. I think I woke up both Nicole and Leeanne, I was laughing so hard. It is such a typically American way to take the piss, I knew immediately it was Nicole who put it there.

I have two sad stories this morning-- one of my little elderly ladies was scheduled to go home on Monday, which was already a delay from the original date of discharge this past Wednesday. She is the first person I have ever met who was "in service." She was a maid in the household of a posh Welsh family, and has loads of fascinating stories. She now can't leave on Monday, because they want to do an MRI and see if she needs surgery for a blocked carotid artery. If I were her family (and they are very unhappy about this), I would complain, because her D/C had been scheduled, she'd had a previous scan where they told her they thought everything was ok, and now at the last minute have changed their minds. And then there's another lady in her 60s, ready to go home for a visit this weekend, and then be discharged a week from Monday, but she did something very unsafe last night (poor insight and safety awareness can be such a problem with patients who've had a stroke), fell, and fractured her femur. So, no weekend visit, and she's being transferred to the orthopaedic ward.

But at the risk of sounding uncaring (which you all know I'm not), the sun is still shining, and I am not going to be brought low today. I will deal with these problems as they arise, comfort my patients, and keep my sunny mood. Happy Friday to you all, and Happy Birthday to me! Lots of love, Allison.