Wednesday, December 24, 2014
Seeing the World Through My Eyes!: Merry Christmas: A Reason to Believe
Seeing the World Through My Eyes!: Merry Christmas: A Reason to Believe: A Reason to Believe I am a cradle Catholic, I grew up in a Catholic Family and believe in God. As I grew older and developed a love ...
Merry Christmas: A Reason to Believe
A Reason to Believe
I am a cradle Catholic, I grew up in a Catholic Family and believe in God. As I grew older and developed a love for Science sometimes in the back of my mind I wondered but I never lost my faith. As a Nurse I saw some very interesting things as I stood by a persons side as they died. It always deepened my Faith and helped me to believe there was in fact something more and greater then us.
On June 7, 2014 something happened to me and I will never forget. I was in the ICU sitting by my Dad and we were talking and covering a lot of things. He shared some very personal things with me. HE had been in the ICU for 13 days and had been suffering from a bit of ICU delirium. On this day he was very clear headed. After we talked for about an hour he asked me to lay him flat in the bed which was an odd request for him since he does not like to lay flat and he was constantly wanting us to raise him up. I lowered the bed and got him comfortable and than... Something very odd occurred. He started talking to God. Honestly I started laughing. I actually started texting my sister about what he was saying as I thought he was getting crazy again. Then I started to listen to him, he was talking to God and I remember it so clear. It didn't make sense but he was saying "I am resetting my binary clock and realigning with the Earth and going to be with you God He kept talking about the binary clock, realigning with the Earth and coming home. He was talking about the clouds and how soft they were and how cold it was up there. He kept saying how cold he was and I touched his arm and retracted immediately as it was as cold as ICE! I was so overwhelmed in that minute and tears fell from my eyes, I couldn't even process what was happening, I was torn between; was he talking to God or has he lost his mind. During this entire time he had his arms extended to the sky and was totally focused on his conversation. Finally he rested his arms and began talking about being in a warm swimming pool and his skin was warm again. I just sat there in bewilderment as he continued to ask God to help him. Finally he opened his eyes and asked me to raise the head of his bed and we continued to talk as if nothing had ever happened.
I just kept this information to myself thinking that maybe he was just really suffering from ICU delirium. That evening just before 9pm we got the phone call that there had been a change in his condition and we needed to come to the hospital. I already knew he died. I knew because he was already headed home that afternoon. There is no doubt in my mind that God exists and my Dad is in Heaven today.
May you truly enjoy the reason for the season and find comfort in knowing there is more to come for us!
Merry Christmas
Sunday, December 21, 2014
Christmas Movies
Merry Christmas
In honor of Christmas week I thought I share my favorite Christmas movies...well they are all my favorite!
I grew up in a home that loved Christmas and that included Christmas Movies.
I have so many favorites but I have always loved "One Magic Christmas" a bit of a lesser known main stream movie but it taught me as a teenager to always be thankful for what we have. I really wanted to name my first child Gideon....Mike refused!
Gideon, The Christmas Angel
"Its A Wonderful Life" How could you not love this movie! In the 90's Target sold the Bedford Falls Village and I think I own all of them. I have grown up loving "every time a bell rings, an Angel gets it's wings" and "no man is a failure who has friends". Of course I loved Clarence!
I liked the Movie "Family Stone" and than I watched it the Christmas following Mike's sisters death, Shelley, and loved it! I cried through the entire movie!
How can anyone not love "Christmas Vacation"? The entire movie is funny! I still remember seeing it at the Greentree 10 when it first came out.
There are so many fun Christmas movies...I love the Santa Clause Series, Fred Claus, Christmas with the Krank's, A Christmas Carol, The Best Christmas Pageant, The Rise of the Guardians, and of course The Nativity Story. There are a lot of Hallmark Christmas movies that I enjoy too. These are just some of my favorites that I try to watch every year.
What is your favorite Christmas Movie and Why?
Regardless of your favorites I hope that everyone reading this has a wonderful Christmas Season. Merry Christmas and Happy Birthday Jesus!
Monday, December 8, 2014
Seeing the World Through My Eyes!: Did a High School Class impact your career?
Seeing the World Through My Eyes!: Did a High School Class impact your career?: We take lots of classes in high school and feel like we will never use any of it. Have you ever gotten to a point in life and thought wow I...
Did a High School Class impact your career?
We take lots of classes in high school and feel like we will never use any of it. Have you ever gotten to a point in life and thought wow I am so glad I took that one class?
I have. I had four years of journalism. I started as a staff member of the newspaper, "The Creek's Current", then I was the sports editor of the newspaper. My junior year I was the sports section editor of the yearbook. My senior year I was the editor of the yearbook. I am not a grammarian and quite frankly I'm pretty rotten at grammar. I had a great Journalism teacher in Mr. Terry McCartin, who told me even Stephen King has an Editor! My teacher was my editor and the 1991 yearbook went on to win many awards like previous years had.
Why was Journalism so important? Well that is a great question. In everything I do as a nurse I write. I began writing notes in patients charts, back when everything was narrative. I wrote sentences and make thoughtful remarks. This was useful many times over. Later I created a newsletter for the Emergency Department Staff every month. It included writing stories and taking pictures. As I moved into management I wrote evaluations. Then I was able to write some articles for publication.
Knox, C & Smith, A (2008) HIPAA and the information age. OR Nurse June Volume 2, Issue 6: 56
Knox, C & Smith, A (2007) Handhelds and HIPAA, Nurse Manager. June 38;(6): 38-40
Knox, C & Vereb, J (2005) Allow natural death: a more humane approach to discussing end-of-life directives. Journal of Emergency Nursing. Dec; 31(6):560-1
As I continue through my career I write polices and procedures, memorandums, standard operating procedures, etc. I am paid to peer review articles by other nurses for nursing magazines.
Besides the writing I take pictures. Taking pictures is a hobby. When you get a great picture of a kid playing a sport like football it is so much fun. I couldn't handle the stress of taking wedding pictures. I just do the fun stuff. Also, I lead meetings at work and have leadership roles in community groups.
How does this all take me back to Journalism? Well I learned to write in journalism. Not only write but be creative. I remember getting back an article that was drenched in the dreaded red pen. After 4 years you finally get it and then one day you get back an article with very little red ink on it! We also had to take pictures. We learned how to take action shots. It was so awesome to see them in the paper and yearbook. As an adult it is fun taking pictures and knowing how to take them, which I learned in journalism. Also we had to sell ads in the yearbook. We had to go around to businesses and sell them and then design the ads. It was a great experience learning to approach business leaders and ask for their business. You have to be prepared at work when you make a presentation and selling ads helped me.
My journalism experience was top notch. I was able to go to a journalism conference at Franklin College my senior year and to the IU School of Journalism camp the summer before my senior year. I truly feel like Journalism has made a difference in my life.
What about you? Did any of your High School classes leave a lasting impression?
I have. I had four years of journalism. I started as a staff member of the newspaper, "The Creek's Current", then I was the sports editor of the newspaper. My junior year I was the sports section editor of the yearbook. My senior year I was the editor of the yearbook. I am not a grammarian and quite frankly I'm pretty rotten at grammar. I had a great Journalism teacher in Mr. Terry McCartin, who told me even Stephen King has an Editor! My teacher was my editor and the 1991 yearbook went on to win many awards like previous years had.
The 1991 Silver Creek High School Yearbook: Moving in the Right Direction Volume 47
Why was Journalism so important? Well that is a great question. In everything I do as a nurse I write. I began writing notes in patients charts, back when everything was narrative. I wrote sentences and make thoughtful remarks. This was useful many times over. Later I created a newsletter for the Emergency Department Staff every month. It included writing stories and taking pictures. As I moved into management I wrote evaluations. Then I was able to write some articles for publication.
Knox, C & Smith, A (2008) HIPAA and the information age. OR Nurse June Volume 2, Issue 6: 56
Knox, C & Smith, A (2007) Handhelds and HIPAA, Nurse Manager. June 38;(6): 38-40
Knox, C & Vereb, J (2005) Allow natural death: a more humane approach to discussing end-of-life directives. Journal of Emergency Nursing. Dec; 31(6):560-1
As I continue through my career I write polices and procedures, memorandums, standard operating procedures, etc. I am paid to peer review articles by other nurses for nursing magazines.
Besides the writing I take pictures. Taking pictures is a hobby. When you get a great picture of a kid playing a sport like football it is so much fun. I couldn't handle the stress of taking wedding pictures. I just do the fun stuff. Also, I lead meetings at work and have leadership roles in community groups.
How does this all take me back to Journalism? Well I learned to write in journalism. Not only write but be creative. I remember getting back an article that was drenched in the dreaded red pen. After 4 years you finally get it and then one day you get back an article with very little red ink on it! We also had to take pictures. We learned how to take action shots. It was so awesome to see them in the paper and yearbook. As an adult it is fun taking pictures and knowing how to take them, which I learned in journalism. Also we had to sell ads in the yearbook. We had to go around to businesses and sell them and then design the ads. It was a great experience learning to approach business leaders and ask for their business. You have to be prepared at work when you make a presentation and selling ads helped me.
My journalism experience was top notch. I was able to go to a journalism conference at Franklin College my senior year and to the IU School of Journalism camp the summer before my senior year. I truly feel like Journalism has made a difference in my life.
What about you? Did any of your High School classes leave a lasting impression?
Tuesday, November 11, 2014
Veterans Day 2014
Happy Veteran's Day
Its Veterans Day today. Over the past 6 plus years I have had the opportunity to work first hand with Veterans on a daily basis. It has been a wonderful thing for me. Not only to I work with Veterans but over 25% of the staff are Veterans as well. I have learned so much from the stories they tell. I have been able to participate in the Run for the Wall, ok not participate but go out and meet the men and women on the journey. It is awesome to listen to them. I have had the opportunity to listen to Wounded War Fighters tell their amazing stories!
Recently I heard a Veteran say he wishes returning home from Vietnam was like it was today. I asked him to tell me more. He shared that they "were not heroes", he felt people didn’t like them. He said he never talked about his military experience until recently. He said today people care about Veterans. That really affected me for some reason. I grew up with people all around me that were in the Vietnam war but I know so little about it. My dad was in the Navy on an Aircraft Carrier and to be honest I know little about his Military experience. The only thing he ever really talked about was a friend of his that died, Danny Vandivier. When we went to Washington DC my Dad refused to visit the Wall. I never really understood why and I still don’t. I feel like as small as it is it is a symbol of respect to those men and women that died.
My senior year of High School I had a friend that was a year older them me that had enlisted in the Army and was sent to Germany. We wrote letters often and visited when he came home. Oddly I feel like I know more about his military experience them my own dads. The letters he wrote were all about what he was doing as a medic with quite graphic stories. Many of the men and women I work with now were in the Gulf War and I feel like I can relate to them when they tell their stories.
My dad, Steve Yochem, and his Aunt Lou Zeagler on the USS Bennington in 1970.
My grandfather, Joseph Yochem
Mikes cousin is career Air Force and a Lt Col and Mikes Nephew is in the Air Force. I have great respect and admiration for both of them. I have loved listening to Joel’s stories over the years about some of the things he did. In 2014 we were able to skype with Kevin while he was in Saudi which was awesome. We have been fortunate enough to visit them as they have moved around the Country and visit Air Force Bases. Both of these men have coined Cole which has made him a very happy kid!
When Jordan Spears died recently it really affected me. I knew Jordan, he had been to our house. He was really a great kid. He was just too young to die. When you see a news story on a service member dying it is sad but when you know the person it is much worse and totally real! It is something I really can't put into words. Everyday when I pass Jordan's driveway I pray for him, his family and friends, and all those serving this great Country.
Cole and I had the privilege to meet Bryan Anderson in early 2014. I hope this will be a day Cole will always remember! This man is a triple amputee and truly and inspiration to every person. Cole and I watched him on an episode of Hawaii 5'0 earlier this year and I have never been prouder! This man has left an impression on my son that will likely stay with him forever! No matter what you never give up! Bryan has every reason to give up, instead he is leaving his mark on the world! If you want to see the world through his eyes pick up a copy of his book, NO Turning Back. Trust me you'll love it! Most of all enjoy his story about driving at Walter Reed! It was a great story to read but even better to hear him tell the story! We are proud of your Bryan!
If you are not a Veteran and want to understand the Veterans a bit more, I encourage you to pick up one of these books:
"Our Veterans are loyal, easily trained, accustomed to being members of a team, and they're mature. They have a foundation of character and experience that any business would want to build upon,: Howard Schultz, For Love of Country.
One of my favorite books ever. Dakota is an amazing man the truly shares his story which made me feel like I was there and his personal story which is completely awe inspiring.
A great book about a Marine that really makes you have an understanding of what he went through!
"Our Veterans are loyal, easily trained, accustomed to being members of a team, and they're mature. They have a foundation of character and experience that any business would want to build upon,: Howard Schultz, For Love of Country.
I am proud to be an American and I'm proud of and thankful for Veterans and Active Duty Servicemen and Women.
Sunday, November 2, 2014
Quote/Poem
I was about 20 in Nursing School at IU when a teacher asked us to share a quote with the class.
I had never really thought about quotes so I really didn't know where to start. I went to the library and found some books but nothing appealed to me. The assignment date was nearing and I had nothing. One night I was working in the computer lab and there was a magazine there and I was flipping through it when this quote jumped out of the page to me.
I was dying
First I was dying to finish high school and start college.
And then I was dying to finish college and start working.
And then I was dying to marry and have children.
And then I was dying for my children to grow old enough for school so I could return to work.
And then I was dying to retire.
And now, I am dying…and suddenly I realize I forgot to live.
It stuck me in a way I had never imagined. I was very early into the quote or poem, whichever you chose to call it, but I understood it. I was so ready to graduate from college and get a job. I was already thinking about marriage and kids. I wasn't living in the present I was hoping for a future. I started learning to live in the present. You will rarely hear me say I cant wait for ....... I can wait. I love Christmas and snow, but I don't want to rush the rest of the year to get there. I enjoy the beauty and new life of spring, as well as windows open, sun shining, and short wearing. Then there is summer. I love mild summers, vacations, fun trips and swimming. The smells of fall, the crisp leaves under foot, hoodies, football, and fires. I do enjoy life throughout the year.
I'm thankful for this attitude so early on in my life. It helped me to enjoy the here and now and make the most of it. It helped me make choices that have caused few regrets. My kids have done things Mike and I really didn't get to do. They have been on trips with all of their grandparents. This may seem like no big deal to some people but to me its important. They were able to spend quality time with their grandparents and got to know them in a different way. The bottom line is living in the present has created a world of few regrets for me. Enjoy today so you also have no regrets.
Don't rush things. Don't wish for tomorrow. When today is gone, it is gone. Create memories today. While you are planning for tomorrow do something today. Honestly its the crazy things you will always remember. Go to a park and play. It really doesn't matter how old the kids are, when early teens think no one is looking they still act like kids. Throw a football in the yard, play a game of scrabble, set up a tent, make cookies together, etc. It really doesn't matter what you do but enjoy today with the people you love and care about and make every day count.
I love snow!
Santa Claus
Easter: Enjoying a Spring Day
Summer Swimming
Do you have a favorite Quote or Poem? Share it...
The author is unknown for the Quote/Poem listed above.
Sunday, October 26, 2014
Fall Fun: Cornucopia Farms
It's going to be a beautiful fall day, get out of the house and do something fun.
It is not uncommon for the kids of Clark County to visit Cornucopia Farms, in Scottsburg, Indiana for a field trip during the week but have you ever been there? It is not just a pumpkin patch! It is so much more.
Your general admission includes the following:
Corn and Soybean Mazes: Great for older kids and younger kids
A Tunnel Slide
Super Straw House: The kids love crawling all over it
A Petting Farm
Giant Feed Bunk Slide: For all ages and trust me this will wear your kids out!
Milk a "Cow" or Ride a "Horse"
Big Trike Track: The BEST part of the day for everyone
A hayride to get your pumpkin!
If you are lucky their dog, Sally, will escort you on the hayride.
Lots of neat decorations for the kids to play on.
There is also a picnic area. My advice is to stop at KFC in Scottsburg and grab a chicken bucket to go. Drive out to Cornucopia and eat your lunch in the picnic area then go have fun with the kids. Trust me it is a lot of fun. It's a great way to get the kids out of the house and away from electronics. I bet you even have a little fun too! It is $8 for adults and $6 for kids for 3-12 and adults over 65.
Cornucopia Farms is open from 1-6 today. Their address is Cornucopia Farm, 5444 N Rutherford Hollow Road, Scottsburg, IN 47170, and their Phone Number is 812-752-6694. There website is http://www.cornucopiafarm.com/
This is not an advertisement, nor does it reflect the opinions of Cornucopia Farms. This is a personal endorsement. We have always had a great time and I wanted to share a local Gem. Pass up a $10 movie today and get outside and enjoy this stunning fall day.
Happy Fall
Share your pictures or experiences at Cornucopia Farms.
Thursday, October 23, 2014
Toliet Paper Dispensers
I've talked about this on Facebook before but I really need to talk about it again! Who decides where toilet paper dispensers are placed in the stalls of public bathrooms? The reason for toilet paper dispensers is to use it. Therefore, you must be able to access it!
These pictures are at a local movie theater. Yes I took a picture. It has great placement. It is elevated and you can see I am reaching up to get it from my seated (squatting) position. Easy to access, it does not fall on the floor, and you are able to reach in and pull it out if there is not a piece hanging.
This is at a different place. In the first picture it shows how my knee is resting against the dispenser from a seated position. You can also see that I must reach down in some sort of contortionist move to reach the toilet paper. Then after untwisting my arm (see TP twisted) it nearly touches the floor, which is just nasty! This is especially a challenge when you can't locate the end and must twist your arm backwards and upside down while trying to hover over the seat (we don't sit on those nasty public things). I just want to know who decided to place this in this position. There is nothing on the wall so it could have been placed much higher. This is actually a common occurrence and I find it quite frustrating and annoying.
If you have a business please go and check the toilet paper dispensers placement. It would be helpful if we can actually reach the toilet paper!
Wednesday, October 22, 2014
"Those Hershey Kiss Cookies"
Growing up my mom would bake all winter. I loved those long, dark, cold, winter nights. The wood stove would be roaring away and the smells from the kitchen were delicious. My favorite smell was the banana bread. The smell would fill the house and make your mouth water.
If we were lucky Christmas Cookies would start on Thanksgiving Day. If not the weeks to follow always had lots of special treats. There was this old red rectangle Tupperware dish she would move the fudge and cookies too. I would love to sneak into her room after school and sneak a cookie. My favorite were these cookies with a Hershey kiss on them. They were so addictive. I would just take one so no one would know I had been there!
Over the years my mom taught me to cook and bake. I remember asking her about those cookies with the Hershey kiss in them. Then she told me how to make them!
If we were lucky Christmas Cookies would start on Thanksgiving Day. If not the weeks to follow always had lots of special treats. There was this old red rectangle Tupperware dish she would move the fudge and cookies too. I would love to sneak into her room after school and sneak a cookie. My favorite were these cookies with a Hershey kiss on them. They were so addictive. I would just take one so no one would know I had been there!
Over the years my mom taught me to cook and bake. I remember asking her about those cookies with the Hershey kiss in them. Then she told me how to make them!
It is so easy.
1 cup of Peanut Butter
1 cup of sugar
1 egg.
Mix together. Roll into balls and place on a cookie sheet. Place a Hershey kiss in each ball and press down. Heat the oven to 350. Bake for 5 minutes. Remove from the oven and leave on the tray to cool. This is one time I do not recommend using stoneware, as it holds heat and the cookies will not cool. I like to use a pizza pan.
Once they have cooled and are set they are delicious. Once your family has these they will be requesting "those Hershey Kiss cookies" too.
Thursday, October 16, 2014
Gatlinburg
Like many people we've made several trips to the Gatlinburg area. We have done many things over the years. I have complied a list of some of our favorite things.
Restaurants: Little Tokyo (my favorite), José's Cantina has the best salsa ever, and the Apple Barn is good.
We all like Clingman's done. It was quite a hike so bring water and wear good shoes for the hike.
Me and the boys at the highest point at Clingman's Dome.
Drive to Cherokee, NC. It is about a one hour drive through the mountains. On the sway stop at the TN/NC lookout. It is very pretty. BTW Clingman's dome is on the way. Also Mingus Mill is along the way. It is a quick stop right off the road and you can get up close and personal to the mill.
When you are almost to Cherokee there will be a welcome center on the left. They have bird and flower guides, etc. They also have a junior ranger program kids can participate in. They have a lovely place there. You can walk around the old time village or along the creek.
After you leave the welcome center go on driving and you will come into Cherokee. There is a creek to the left that you can walk/play in. That is where they do Indian stories on Thursday thur Saturday nights. They do a play at the stadium every night which does have a cost but it was very good. It was all about Indian history. There are lots of small stores around that sell similar items but the entertainment at them was quite enjoyable.
There are lots of areas to tube down the river. The river was very tame and enjoyable. This is great for young families or people that are not into high thrills like white water rafting.
If you camp this is a great area to camp in. I would recommend you check with the KOA campground. They have family activities every evening. They have a great pool. You can rent tubes there and they will transport you up the river and you can get out right at the campground. Remember if you tube or whitewater raft you need water shoes. Buy them before you go since they are 10x the cost there. All the water is fairly shallow and has rock bottoms
There were some good trails to hike too around Cherokee too.
There were some good trails to hike too around Cherokee too.
You can spend a day or week in Cherokee. When you head back home remember to stop at a show like the Dixie Stampede in Pigeon Forge. No trip is complete without a trip to the Christmas Place. While you are there get a personalized ornament. Before you get back on the interstate get a bag of Krystal's for the ride home.
What is your favorite thing to do in/around Gatlinburg?
Tuesday, October 14, 2014
Death of a Parent
Life is short. As you get older you start to see just how short it is. As a 41 year old, I look at 60 now and think wow that's not old at all. I was able to spend time this year with my husbands Aunts who are in their late 80's and 90's and I don't really think that is old either, especially when you see how well they get around. They both live on their own, are happy and are an active part of their families. Unfortunately everyone is going to die someday.
For me having my dad die was especially hard. He's my Dad. The first man I ever loved. My dad dreamed of having a son. I was as close as he was going to get. I was a tomboy. I loved going to the Sportsdrome with him. We would go to mud bogs. I loved playing in the creek. We joined the Sellersburg Volunteer Fire Department together. During the summers when he was home he would take me and Sally on adventures. We visited the Coke museum multiple times. We would go to the old bat factory and go on tours. We had a lot of fun exploring. He gave me the wonderful gift of gab. I can talk about anything to anyone. Fortunately I can't talk forever like him! He was not a perfect man. I'm sure there are things he is not proud of in his past. I chose to leave those things there. Let me tell you though, that man could make my blood boil. He could make me madder than I knew I could get. He loved to instigate me when I was mad. That taught me too. I learned to ignore it. As an adult I am able to deal with people like that. As a daughter I have few regrets. I had a husband that was willing to share our live with our families. Because of that I was able to offer Dad many fun experiences with us. We went to the Brickyard, NYC to see the Macy's parade, 2 cruises, a week a Boy Scout Camp and various other small trips. I had 2 of his 4 grandkids. He loved spending time with all of them. He would spend hours playing trains and legos when they were young. He would work on 'projects' with Cole. Over the last year he said "If I die today I will have lived a great life". I believe he really had.
I guess I need to tell you everything that happened in the 13 days so you understand why he death was bit of a surprise to us. On Monday May 26, 2014: Memorial Day, he called and said he was having a heart attack. When I walked into the Emergency Department (ED) I knew he was not having a heart attack but a pulmonary embolism (PE). I've been a nurse for almost 20 years and 13 of those years were in the ED. He had chest pain, was sweaty and was anxious beyond belief. A doctor I know was working that day, he was not his doctor, but knew what was going on. I said PE? He said most likely, we ordered a d-dimer and it was positive so we ordered a CT. Great I thought, as always, they were on top of things and he'd be getting a special medication and he'd be on the road the healing. Not long after the CT I seen the look in their eyes. I've been a nurse too long not to recognize that look. It took them a short bit before the Doctor approached us. He ran in and said he has a dissecting Abdominal aortic aneurysm and he needed to go to another hospital right now and the ambulance was en route. I called my sister, my mom and my husband and told them to get there as soon as possible. I walked into the bathroom and cried. Dried my eyes, got myself together and walked back to the bed. This all occurred in about 7 mins. The first thing my Dad says is "this is what killed my mom". The internal battle was raging in my brain, what do I say. I did what I do best, be the brutally honest nurse. "Yes, Dad it is." Then came all the dreaded questions, what next? whats going to happen? Am I going to live? Honestly I had no idea, as an ER RN we shipped these people off to another area, our job was to quickly figure it out then move you to where they fixed them.
He arrived in the ICU at the larger inner city hospital. He settled in for the evening. The Doctors reviewed his tests and didn't think it was actually dissecting but had a false lumen so they were going to wait for a few days to make a decision. The first few days are a blur. He went for a test and coded during it. When Sherri called I was stunned so I rushed back to the hospital. He has had uncontrolled high blood pressure for years, so it was no surprise that his blood pressure was high. As I sat by his bed and listened to him and watched him I knew he was getting worse. Sally and I brought the kids to see him, he told them how proud of them he was. He told them they needed to go to college and be successful in whatever they chose.
I was concerned. Here is my facebook post that night:
Today's update: today is stressful. I listen and I watch I'm a nurse. It's hard being a nurse today! Dad's sick! He's on a lot of oxygen 100%NRB. As soon as he takes it off his oxygen levels drop. He's back on IV meds for BP control. He's very restless and confused. He's got some kind of infection going on. His lungs have some fluid in them (not completely unexpected with laying in a bad for several days). He's having a TEVAR done at 730 am Friday (Google it). Will be in the OR for 2-4 hours. There are a lot of risks but this must be done. Praying for a positive outcome.
They ended up intubating him that night. On Friday he went for the surgery not even knowing we were there. We sat in the waiting room forever. I smiled and kept it together, but as every hour passed I was more worried than the previous hour. We quickly past the 2 hour mark, then the 4 hour mark, than another hour and another. Every time a Doctor walked out I prayed they were for us. I watched several families be escorted to the "room". The 'room' is the place for bad news, and I didn't want to be called there. The waiting room was cleared and it was just us left, and seven hours in, when the Doctor walked out. Thank God he didn't call us to the room. He started talking and starred right though us. He said, 'well things took a little longer than expected, we had to do blah blah blah blah blah (that's all I heard) and we nicked his artery so he had some additional bleeding, and we had to put a graft on it", and than he left. Everyone looked at me. What does that mean? I have no idea. It sure doesn't sound good.
We waited some more. Five hours, I believe it was, to finally see him. He was still intubated and looked awful. He was so swollen with tubes everywhere and something constantly alarming.
Over the weekend we took turns sitting with him. It seemed like every hour there was something new. On Sunday we learned that he had a stroke in his spine during the surgery and it was unknown if he would walk. I knew when he recovered he could deal with a lot of things but, not being able to walk was not one of them. I couldn't imagine how he would react to that. I was crushed. He wasn't able to be extubated, he was extubated, he was reintubated, he had blood in his lungs, and so on. It was one thing after another. Than on Friday June 6, 2014 he was extubated and then I received this picture of him getting out of bed for the first time. The ICU delirium was improving and he was able to bare some weight on his legs. Thank God I thought. With some good rehab he will be able to walk. I ditched work and went to see him for a bit. After a bit I went to work. I got a call from him Friday evening insisting I get there as quick as possible.
I went to the hospital and he was mad because they would let him eat or drink. I got him some ice chips and he settled down. For 12 days I was worried he was going to die, nothing was going right. If he would have died at any time during those days I would have understood. On Sat he was fired up. He was irritable and he called me and demanded that I bring him coffee right now. I did. He wasn't supposed to have it so I poured the coffee over the ice chips and he ate coffee flavored ice chips and he was happy. He wanted to talk to me alone so Sherry left the room. He told me some stuff that had been on his mind, mostly financial. I explained everything and told him
he would be ok. I asked him to take a nap as he needed to be calm and rest. He said "only if you hold my hand". I held his hand and than I just listened. He could not get comfortable. Finally he asked me to lay him down flat which is an unusual request for him. I did. He started talking to God. Yes, God. He told God he was ready. He was ready to be one with the earth. He extended his arms to the sky and talked. He talked about the Angels, he talked about soaring in the clouds. He said he was once again becoming one with the earth and he was ready. He repeated some of these things many times. He moaned and groaned a lot but his arms stayed extended. Finally he said I am so cold up here soaring in the clouds with you. At that time I put my hand on him and he was ice cold. After a few more minutes he was with it again. He told me to sit him up. I did. His skin was warmer now. I just passed it off as the ICU delirium. Sally and Sherry came back and we all sat with him. We talked him. We laughed. I wanted to get home and celebrate a few minutes of my 18th Wedding Anniversary. As Sally began to give him a massage I left. It was after 6:30pm. Sally left a bit later, and than he made Sherry go home so she could get a good night of rest. It was around 8:30 when she left. We had just sat down to eat when the phone rang just after 9pm. The person said there has been a change in Mr. Yochem's condition. I've made that phone call so many times I knew he had died. We stood at his bed and looked at him. It was just unbelievable how fast things can change. Just when I thought he was out of the woods he died. We had a grand funeral for him. He would have loved it. So much red, white and blue. He always said his last move would be to St. Joe Hill, and he was right.
In the months since I have struggled mostly privately. I quickly moved through the first three stages of the Kubler Ross's Five Stages of Loss and Grief. I'm kind of stuck between 4-5 now.
1. Denial
2. Anger
3. Bargaining
4. Depression
5. Acceptance.
What makes me sad is knowing I'll never get a phone call from him again, he'll never annoy me again when he shows up on a school/work night at 8pm just to hang out, and he won't be Santa Claus again. It leaves me wondering who will hand out Halloween candy this year while we trick or treat, who is going to carve the Thanksgiving Turkey this year, and who will I drink eggnog with this Christmas. I guess I'll find replacements but I'm just not ready too! As I look back through my pictures I am thankful for some of these
For me having my dad die was especially hard. He's my Dad. The first man I ever loved. My dad dreamed of having a son. I was as close as he was going to get. I was a tomboy. I loved going to the Sportsdrome with him. We would go to mud bogs. I loved playing in the creek. We joined the Sellersburg Volunteer Fire Department together. During the summers when he was home he would take me and Sally on adventures. We visited the Coke museum multiple times. We would go to the old bat factory and go on tours. We had a lot of fun exploring. He gave me the wonderful gift of gab. I can talk about anything to anyone. Fortunately I can't talk forever like him! He was not a perfect man. I'm sure there are things he is not proud of in his past. I chose to leave those things there. Let me tell you though, that man could make my blood boil. He could make me madder than I knew I could get. He loved to instigate me when I was mad. That taught me too. I learned to ignore it. As an adult I am able to deal with people like that. As a daughter I have few regrets. I had a husband that was willing to share our live with our families. Because of that I was able to offer Dad many fun experiences with us. We went to the Brickyard, NYC to see the Macy's parade, 2 cruises, a week a Boy Scout Camp and various other small trips. I had 2 of his 4 grandkids. He loved spending time with all of them. He would spend hours playing trains and legos when they were young. He would work on 'projects' with Cole. Over the last year he said "If I die today I will have lived a great life". I believe he really had.
I guess I need to tell you everything that happened in the 13 days so you understand why he death was bit of a surprise to us. On Monday May 26, 2014: Memorial Day, he called and said he was having a heart attack. When I walked into the Emergency Department (ED) I knew he was not having a heart attack but a pulmonary embolism (PE). I've been a nurse for almost 20 years and 13 of those years were in the ED. He had chest pain, was sweaty and was anxious beyond belief. A doctor I know was working that day, he was not his doctor, but knew what was going on. I said PE? He said most likely, we ordered a d-dimer and it was positive so we ordered a CT. Great I thought, as always, they were on top of things and he'd be getting a special medication and he'd be on the road the healing. Not long after the CT I seen the look in their eyes. I've been a nurse too long not to recognize that look. It took them a short bit before the Doctor approached us. He ran in and said he has a dissecting Abdominal aortic aneurysm and he needed to go to another hospital right now and the ambulance was en route. I called my sister, my mom and my husband and told them to get there as soon as possible. I walked into the bathroom and cried. Dried my eyes, got myself together and walked back to the bed. This all occurred in about 7 mins. The first thing my Dad says is "this is what killed my mom". The internal battle was raging in my brain, what do I say. I did what I do best, be the brutally honest nurse. "Yes, Dad it is." Then came all the dreaded questions, what next? whats going to happen? Am I going to live? Honestly I had no idea, as an ER RN we shipped these people off to another area, our job was to quickly figure it out then move you to where they fixed them.
He arrived in the ICU at the larger inner city hospital. He settled in for the evening. The Doctors reviewed his tests and didn't think it was actually dissecting but had a false lumen so they were going to wait for a few days to make a decision. The first few days are a blur. He went for a test and coded during it. When Sherri called I was stunned so I rushed back to the hospital. He has had uncontrolled high blood pressure for years, so it was no surprise that his blood pressure was high. As I sat by his bed and listened to him and watched him I knew he was getting worse. Sally and I brought the kids to see him, he told them how proud of them he was. He told them they needed to go to college and be successful in whatever they chose.
I was concerned. Here is my facebook post that night:
Today's update: today is stressful. I listen and I watch I'm a nurse. It's hard being a nurse today! Dad's sick! He's on a lot of oxygen 100%NRB. As soon as he takes it off his oxygen levels drop. He's back on IV meds for BP control. He's very restless and confused. He's got some kind of infection going on. His lungs have some fluid in them (not completely unexpected with laying in a bad for several days). He's having a TEVAR done at 730 am Friday (Google it). Will be in the OR for 2-4 hours. There are a lot of risks but this must be done. Praying for a positive outcome.
They ended up intubating him that night. On Friday he went for the surgery not even knowing we were there. We sat in the waiting room forever. I smiled and kept it together, but as every hour passed I was more worried than the previous hour. We quickly past the 2 hour mark, then the 4 hour mark, than another hour and another. Every time a Doctor walked out I prayed they were for us. I watched several families be escorted to the "room". The 'room' is the place for bad news, and I didn't want to be called there. The waiting room was cleared and it was just us left, and seven hours in, when the Doctor walked out. Thank God he didn't call us to the room. He started talking and starred right though us. He said, 'well things took a little longer than expected, we had to do blah blah blah blah blah (that's all I heard) and we nicked his artery so he had some additional bleeding, and we had to put a graft on it", and than he left. Everyone looked at me. What does that mean? I have no idea. It sure doesn't sound good.
We waited some more. Five hours, I believe it was, to finally see him. He was still intubated and looked awful. He was so swollen with tubes everywhere and something constantly alarming.
Over the weekend we took turns sitting with him. It seemed like every hour there was something new. On Sunday we learned that he had a stroke in his spine during the surgery and it was unknown if he would walk. I knew when he recovered he could deal with a lot of things but, not being able to walk was not one of them. I couldn't imagine how he would react to that. I was crushed. He wasn't able to be extubated, he was extubated, he was reintubated, he had blood in his lungs, and so on. It was one thing after another. Than on Friday June 6, 2014 he was extubated and then I received this picture of him getting out of bed for the first time. The ICU delirium was improving and he was able to bare some weight on his legs. Thank God I thought. With some good rehab he will be able to walk. I ditched work and went to see him for a bit. After a bit I went to work. I got a call from him Friday evening insisting I get there as quick as possible.
he would be ok. I asked him to take a nap as he needed to be calm and rest. He said "only if you hold my hand". I held his hand and than I just listened. He could not get comfortable. Finally he asked me to lay him down flat which is an unusual request for him. I did. He started talking to God. Yes, God. He told God he was ready. He was ready to be one with the earth. He extended his arms to the sky and talked. He talked about the Angels, he talked about soaring in the clouds. He said he was once again becoming one with the earth and he was ready. He repeated some of these things many times. He moaned and groaned a lot but his arms stayed extended. Finally he said I am so cold up here soaring in the clouds with you. At that time I put my hand on him and he was ice cold. After a few more minutes he was with it again. He told me to sit him up. I did. His skin was warmer now. I just passed it off as the ICU delirium. Sally and Sherry came back and we all sat with him. We talked him. We laughed. I wanted to get home and celebrate a few minutes of my 18th Wedding Anniversary. As Sally began to give him a massage I left. It was after 6:30pm. Sally left a bit later, and than he made Sherry go home so she could get a good night of rest. It was around 8:30 when she left. We had just sat down to eat when the phone rang just after 9pm. The person said there has been a change in Mr. Yochem's condition. I've made that phone call so many times I knew he had died. We stood at his bed and looked at him. It was just unbelievable how fast things can change. Just when I thought he was out of the woods he died. We had a grand funeral for him. He would have loved it. So much red, white and blue. He always said his last move would be to St. Joe Hill, and he was right.
In the months since I have struggled mostly privately. I quickly moved through the first three stages of the Kubler Ross's Five Stages of Loss and Grief. I'm kind of stuck between 4-5 now.
1. Denial
2. Anger
3. Bargaining
4. Depression
5. Acceptance.
What makes me sad is knowing I'll never get a phone call from him again, he'll never annoy me again when he shows up on a school/work night at 8pm just to hang out, and he won't be Santa Claus again. It leaves me wondering who will hand out Halloween candy this year while we trick or treat, who is going to carve the Thanksgiving Turkey this year, and who will I drink eggnog with this Christmas. I guess I'll find replacements but I'm just not ready too! As I look back through my pictures I am thankful for some of these
You'll always be my Santa.
Dad and his boys.
Christmas 2013. The boys and their Santa.
Our last complete Family Christmas picture 2013.
Dads last picture in April 2014 at the girls Baptism.
Take my advice and love your parents while you have them. If you haven't spoken to them in a while pick up the phone and call them. Take the kids to see them. Take a weekend trip or a vacation with your family and your parents. Take them to dinner. Invite them to sit around the fire. Enjoy your parents while you have them. No one is promised tomorrow and we are all going to die eventually. Enjoy the time you have. Mom, would you mind hanging around for 40-50 more years! I love my Parents.
Rest in Peace Dad! Until we meet again!
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