Tag Archives: Night shift

Freaking Fantastic Friday

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Last night was the end of my night shift career.  I’m not going to lie, I was pretty sad because I am going to miss my night shift crew.  I’m going to miss the sort of “laid back” atmosphere it has.  I am actually kind of nervous to go to day shift, because I’ve never worked day shift in my 3 1/2 years of nursing.  It will definitely be a busier and different kind of shift, but I’m ready to feel normal.  I think I forgot what it was like to not be tired.

Things that have caught my eye on the Interwebs:
These girls are amazing, I can’t wait to see more of their videos.  There is something so pure in their voices, I hope fame doesn’t corrupt them.

 30 Black & White Photos That Will Haunt Your Dreams (No Joke)

10 Words You Need To Stop Misspelling

And now here is picture of my cute dog… Have a good weekend!

 

Yay For Small Victories!

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As many of you know, I work night shift at a hospital in the CCU.  In order for my poor, miserable body to stay awake, I will drink this:

I know it’s bad for you.  I know this.
Why don’t I just drink coffee?  That’s a little better, right?
Coffee stimulates a lot of things in my digestive tract.  I know that it happens that way with most people.
I, on the other hand, have Crohn’s Disease.  This makes things a little trickier.  If I drink a cup of coffee to stay awake at work, I do not have the luxury to go to the bathroom 85 times while my patient(s) are crashing.

 DISCLAIMER: This is not a real patient.  I know my drawings are so realistic that it can be confusing at times.  Easy mistake.

I also don’t frequently talk in text slang to my patients, but when ya’ gotta go, ya’ gotta go.

Alright, I got a little off the subject.  The past three nights that I have worked, last night being a 13.5 hour shift, I have drank water.  I drink water anyway, but I always drink a Diet Coke around 2 in the morning when the sleepiness creeps up.
I did not have a Diet Coke any of these nights… and I was T-IRED.

I don’t normally drink pops on my days off, although I will occasionally at restaurants.  This Diet Coke work habit is something I’ve been trying to break for awhile.  I feel a sense of accomplishment…

Plus, none of my patients had to suffer while I was jammin’ out logs in the loo.
(I’m such a lady.)

Any healthy suggestions to keep awake while I’m working this dreadful night shift?

Hypochondriac

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I’m pretty sure that I’m a hypochondriac.  Well… I know I am.

So far I’m convinced I have:
- A Stress fracture
- A Hip Labral Tear
- Arthritis
- Plantar Fasciitis
- Hypothyroidism (which is true, I have the lab test to prove it now.)

I know it doesn’t help that I’m a nurse, so once I see one patient with an ailment, I believe I have it.  I will then research it and convince myself that I do, indeed suffer from testicular cancer.

It does suck getting older though.  I can definitely feel it more so now than I could 10 even 5 years ago.  I’m only at the ripe old age of 27 (this month), but I’m not getting any younger.  This night shift career has aged my body significantly as well.source

I’m sorry this hasn’t been more of an extensive post.  I’ve been so tired and beat up after work that all I can really do is eat, shower, and sleep.  Like I said, hopefully a change will come soon.  A change where I can be among the normal living people and not be a zombie.

Night Shift Life

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Since I am still pissed about my trigger point blog being destroyed, I’m trying to build up the motivation to write it over again.

If you will notice, or maybe you haven’t, my running has been lacking.  It’s not because I’m injured and it’s not because I don’t love running, I’ll tell you that much.  I am just constantly exhausted.  Don’t get me wrong,  I understand completely that everyone has busy lives, working weird hours and children to raise, and yet they still find time to workout.

I have worked night shift for 3 years.  I work 12 hour shifts from 7pm to 7am. Some nights are high stress, and some nights are pretty easy.  Regardless, I am always tired.  I don’t know what it’s like to feel normal anymore.  My mind always feels foggy, I cannot lose weight no matter how healthy I eat, and my Crohn’s Disease has started to really not like this night shift thing.  When my GI tract isn’t digesting how it’s supposed and getting the vitamins and nutrients it needs, it adds to the exhaustion.  Contrary to popular belief, diarrhea isn’t a great time.

When I was on vacation and I was sleeping and eating normally for about 2 weeks, my body liked it.  My GI system liked it.  I could think clearly, my muscles didn’t ache as much and I actually had…. energy.  Energy?  Such a novel idea for my body.

The first 2 years that I worked night shift, I honestly didn’t feel it.  I felt pretty good and I didn’t understand why some people had such a difficult time with it.  I could flip back to a somewhat normal schedule on my days off and be okay.  Yes, I was still tired, but not a significant amount.

I don’t know what changed after the 2nd year, but this past year has been a nightmare.  I can’t fathom doing this for another year honestly, and I have no idea how some nurses have done this for 20+ years.  Kudos to you for not falling apart, because I am on the verge of it.  This is why I have decided to make some changes soon.  I can’t continue to live and feel like this.  I want to feel…good.  I want to workout normally.  I want to run without feeling like I have to push through dead legs EVERY. SINGLE. TIME.

I want my life to stop being like this:

and be more like this: