Today is . . .

July 29th,
Eleanor Louise,
mom. 

Do you remember a  4th of July parade I told you about in the post

about my 4th at work???

Reread it below if you missed it. You remember the pretransplant pt.

whose brother was handing out "glove balloons" and glowsticks

for celebration??

Well . . .

https://www.facebook.com/thebeatgoeson4evan

No longer a "PRE" transplant patient!!!

Listening to his own "new" heart for the first time!
Check him out!!!

Oh, what weekend they have coming up!

This is one for the diary to burst at the seams with!

Enjoy this. . .

I wonder if that is "Mary Ellen", her cousin. How excited they must be-
getting picked up for the dance in an army truck!

Wow, pretty darn cool! Some big truck, all those girls and now "cozy"
with soldiers to escort them home! No details once they arrived home, but
then we all know everything was on the "up and up" as mom
used to say!


Helen met her dream man again! She's over Freddy! Now it's "Blond Baby"!



I love how she adds her favorite songs of the time.
Her music, always so special to her.
I can still see her smile and hold up her arms
to the music of Glenn Miller and Tommy Dorsey.




 Still kicking up her heels and showing us "how it's done"!
Love you, mom!

Fireworks,  bbq hotdogs, apple pie?

We were scattered, each celebrating in our own corners.

Terry was home watching fireworks from the front

porch (compliments to LA Dodger's home game), while

Taylor took off to celebrate with friends.

I went off to work, after missing the night off

due to unusually high census.

Not without fireworks, though!

Started out my shift with code blue at 5 min. to eight, just after

finishing report from the day shift charge nurse.

I was night shift charge nurse tonight.

Off to follow the code lights to find

the little post op infant whose struggle with

pulmonary high blood pressure got the best

of her. In no time, compressions were started, a dose of epinephrine

to jump start her heart and vecuronium to paralyze her struggle,

we took over with manual ventilation, a little volume

and we were good. Move on.

I got a call on my polycom from the other end of the unit.

Baby struggling with increased work of breathing.

In no time, the baby was intubated and place on the ventilator.

Before 9pm, I still have time to make "huddle"!

 Huddle is a discussion downstairs by all the charge

nurses of all the units with the nursing supervisor of

the hospital to go over census, expected admits, ORs

discharges and transfers.

Oh, and that important issue, STAFFING!

Yes, I'm short nurses, my census and acuity is high!

We will make it tonight, but am shift will need help.
We have 3, maybe 4 ORs tomorrow!

I am optimistic. ER and PICU are not busy, and

are actually over staffed tomorrow, if the night

holds, there is hope!

I return to the unit to make my rounds to check for trouble spots,

both with the patients and the nurses.

I have a new nurse and the end of the unit with a busy pair.

I've sent my team leader to stay close with assistance, as

the newly intubated patient may need her help too and is

nearby.

I start on the other end.

 First part of the unit seems to be in good shape.

I move on.

We have an unexpected admit from day shift that was rushed

to surgery. A newborn, well, 4 days old, with an undiagnosed cardiac defect.

Until today, when the proverbial "s#@* hit the fan".

Now, post-op, the baby is oozy. Blood transfusions, platelet transfusions

are in the works, inotropes titrated with blood pressure responding.

My nurse has it all under control.

I move on.

Next, the baby we waited all night the previous night for from Guam.

The baby started it's journey on Sunday with out transport team in Guam.

On its way in the airplane over the Pacific, things went down hill fast

and the plane was ordered to land in Hawaii by the physician.

This baby needed a septostomy. And fast!

Fortunately, there was a cardiologist in Honolulu who could provide

that. He was able to thread a small cannula with a balloon, into the heart, thread

it through the upper chambers and inflate the balloon to rip it back through the

wall to make a bigger hole. This would provide blood to be oxygenated better,

as the defect without this "shunt" would not support life.

By Wednesday evening, we received word that this transport team, still in Hawaii,
was leaving with the baby to arrive early the next morning at 3am.
Enroute, I received a call from the access center, that the team had coded the baby
twice over the Pacific and that things were dire. No communication was
possible. We had to prepare for all case scenarios.
Cardiologist was called in. What is the septostomy failed? It would have
to be done on arrival at the bedside.
What if the baby needed ECMO? I made a plan with the team we had on hand.
Assignments would have to change. The surgeon on call
was notified. She was in the OR at our sister hospital in the middle
of a heart transplant! Well, we had a few hours still.
The baby arrived with the ragged transport team
enroute since Sunday, now Thursday morning,
and none of the scenarios played out, fortunately.
Equipment malfunction was fixed and all was not dire!
This baby was not a worry now. Sick, but my nurse was OK!
Move on.
I passed a parade by one of our pretransplant patients (waiting for a heart) 
with his family in tow.
Brother was passing out glow sticks and balloons he had made with
gloves for all the staff! Our 4th of July celebration!
Armed with my glowstick and balloon, I moved on!
A couple more post-ops, one arrythmia intervention,
a pre-op for the following day, another pre-transplant crying with her nightly
bath ritual, the teenager in bigemeny again

Is his blood pressure stable, I asked one of our newer nurses? Any more vomiting?
Did we check his electrolytes? Sounds like he's handling it ok, move on.

I'm making it down to the end, the pair with the new nurse is fine, a pre-op next,
but the newly intubated baby is still struggling. The tube is too small and there is a
leak of air around the tube that is impairing our efforts to ventilate.
We need to re-intubate with a cuffed tube. Meds, sedation, and volume all
at the ready. I record for the nurse as the new tube is inserted.
The procedure goes well.
I look up through the large windows in this room above the computer,
and what a panorama! It looks out over the city and
I see three firework displays going off simultaneously!
Can we turn the lights off guys! Look what we are missing!
And it is not even 11pm!

 Hope your 4th was just as exciting!

 

Has a month really slipped by?

Time just has been slipping through my fingers!

Been busy with work and getting ready for Sean and Katie's wedding, and

oh that thing called "life" that always crops up.

Sean asked for some pictures of his life for the "video".

His life started before digital, so that involved digging through

old albums, boxes stashed in the cedar chest, and the tedious job of scanning

them into the computer to send him.

It's been so fun looking through all those pictures!
Like this one:

Well, we left mom back at the end of February.

Grandpa Lynch was sick, we heard about Helen and how she was crazy

 for her soldier Freddy, and so many dances to go to!

Let's see what happening . . . 

  Wonder what happened to Frank?



Those songs still brought out smiles and memories till the end of her life!
Frank is not winning any points tonight!



Hmmm. . .  Francis.  I found out that who she calls "Francis" signed his
letters "Klyne". I posted a letter a while back in which
she addresses it "K. Francis".

LA-jan: She's still feeling bad about how she treats him

Here is a letter he sent back to her which sounds like an introduction
and was early in 1941:


In 1942, they must have been to several dances by then, as this letter sounds
like he is more familiar with her:






 and thanks to Francis' "wandering musician" offspring,
we now know this was Francis in India!

 

Thank you "Wandering Musician"  !

To those identified and those that are not . . .

they are remembered here . . . 


for all the joyous times . . .

 for all their strength . . . 

for being the impressive men that they were . . .

and for all their contributions to "the wildest year" . . .

despite all of what they may have been through
in service to their country
for all of us . . .

I will remember all of you.

Thank you!

Happy Nurses Week to all the nurses out there!

Special mention goes to the newest nurse in the 

family "Katie" who is also on the

cusp of being a new mother!

A double whammy this weekend!

One day in the life of this nurse

remembered here. . .

check this little bit of history out! 

and this one. . . 

and lastly. .  

Well, her birthday is just around the corner and as always,

Mom is looking forward to the weekend!

At least, she is feeling better.

Can you imagine? Taking out Life magazine at the dance! 
Came in two's, so as not to cause a commotion! LOL!
Did they go home in Mickey's Army truck loaded with soldiers? 


Exhausted, so glad there is no work or school, but a enough energy left to
look forward to another big weekend! Oh, Jayne, I remember they didn't count
you among their "good" friends.

President Roosevelt was giving his "fireside chat", when that bombing happened.
You can imagine the newspaper headlines, well, here is the story on the front page that day:
 
The family scrambled outside their home in coastal Winchester Canyon and peered out at the dusk-shrouded Pacific of Feb. 23, 1942. Bright flashes could be seen near an oil field on the shore. A few were followed by "an eerie whistling and caterwauling," Hollister said. "It was a sickening sound."
In an adjacent canyon on this rural stretch of coastline about 100 miles northwest of Los Angeles, Ruth Pratt was tending to her garden. Her husband, John, was on Home Guard duty 10 miles away in Santa Barbara. She, too, heard the explosions.
"I thought something was going wrong at the refinery. Then there was something like a whizzing sound coming right at me," Mrs. Pratt said.
It wasn't until early the next morning that the Pratt and Hollister families heard the radio bulletin: A Japanese submarine had shelled the Ellwood oil field, the first enemy attack on the U.S. mainland since the War of 1812.

And the Headline:

1942 Shelling of California Coastline Stirred Conspiracy Fears : History: Submarine's attack did little damage. But it whipped up support for Japanese-American internment.

When did Japanese internment begin?

It had just begun:

"On February 19, 1942, soon after the beginning of World War II, Franklin D. Roosevelt signed Executive Order 9066. The evacuation order commenced the round-up of 120,000 Americans of Japanese heritage to one of 10 internment camps—officially called "relocation centers"—in California, Idaho, Utah, Arizona, Wyoming, Colorado, and Arkansas."

Ok, so we're coming up to Lincoln' birthday, back when
it was celebrated on the 12th of February, all by itself.
And just around the corner from that is Valentine's Day!
What do you suppose the twins are doing?



"just hope he's not a crumb", ha!



Now, you didn't get the wrong idea, did you?

Was it scandalous to be surrounded by 5 or so soldiers?
Was it giving someone the wrong idea if she had that much fun?
And why did she spend an hour or so looking for a Valentine
for Gene, if Frank is "cute and personality +"?
Oh, I know. Because she is being polite, he gave her one!
She is so sweet.


Now Wally!
Frank and Gene! Whew!



She's got it bad for Frank, but it's all catching up to her.
Now, she's sick!

Do you suppose she caught the measles from Dorothy?

 

As I started the year of 1942, I was so excited to get started

with her New Year that I forgot one very important page!

The front cover!

 This is such a fun cover! I love that she "titled" her year!
This was a young lady who was so excited about her life
she just couldn't stand NOT to share it, even if only in her
diary. And, really, if you keep a diary, now, don't you know one
day it will be read!
Check out the notation above the calendar! She circled the happiest days of her
life so far. Take note and you might want to use this page as reference!

So, on with the "Wild Year"!
We are now into February . . .


Helen, flipping a dime to see who she'll see tonight! Ha!
Are soldiers' a "dime a dozen" and so plentiful?
She gets her due! Dad doesn't let mom and Dorothy go out,
and Helen has a terrible time!
Can you imagine, not enough soldiers and the officers go tell
the soldiers to show up at the dance so the girls have
a good time! Nice guys, getting out of bed
to show up so the girls have fun! Everyone does their
part!


Did I tell you I found her shorthand books? Do you think I'll ever be
able to decipher her "sho."?


I'm a little confused. "Sr. called and I told her and now I'm glad
it's all over." Did she not want the job? 
Mom taking "charge" of the phone, LOL, and "no wonder
she has a headache"!



Whoa, such a lot going on, no wonder the girls are getting sick!
Gee "stacks of soldiers"! And they missed out!

So, did you know DST, originally enacted in 1918, but found to be a
"contentious" idea and repealed in 1919, was reinstated in 1942 with
the War Time Act in January and instituted on Feb. 9, 1942, with the purpose
to conserve energy resources. It remained in effect
until the end of the war in 1945, when it ended. Until 1966, it didn't exist!

I've been trying to find some mention of all the soldiers camping out at 
Griffith Park. I can't find anything, yet. It really must have been amazing!

Not sure what she meant by " drove out to Curtiss-Wright"
"During World War II, Curtiss-Wright produced 142,840 aircraft engines, 146,468 electric propellers and 29,269 airplanes". Must have employed many "Rosie the riveters".
 It was based in New York and had manufacturing
plants in Ohio and Kentucky and Missouri, so not sure of the reference unless
this is not the same thing.

Poor Helen's just not having the luck! Sick with a cold, then gets stuck
with a fella she doesn't like and to top it off, gets stuck on the phone
with him for an hour and fifteen minutes! Maybe she shouldn't
have been so cavalier earlier!
"He's got it bad and that ain't good"!
HA!

Helen

(taken on what is now, our front lawn!)