of a passion for your vocation and snakes

Update on the Snake Bite Victim:


I know some people want to hear the whole story of how and why Charles was bitten by a snake after handling them for many years.... I cannot take away the story that is surely his to tell.  I can't wait to hear the version in five years.  I am sure it will involve snow, hills, and perhaps a long struggle.

But the real answer is statistics.  He just finally lost to the odds.  Do something long enough and something will happen, especially with animals (and reptiles).

He of course was aware of what to do and what the identity was, etc.  He was doing what he has always done, learn and watch and try to educate others about the wildlife in Florida.

The update is that he is doing so much better.  His finger has reduced in size to the equivalent of a very fat cigar.  It is still wearing the purple badge of honor which will deteriorate as the bruised tissue is replaced.  He will probably regain total movement (though now it is a little stiff).

He is a very lucky man and had wonderful people to assist him in his moment of need.  Of course, he is back fishing and wandering the woods, and parks and waterways.  And of course there will be more snakes - hopefully of the red rat variety though.....

Thank you for your concern and thoughts.

Part One:  Most of us work 40 hours a week, 50 weeks a year.  That is 2000 hours a year, almost a third of your time and over half your waking time.

So lucky the ones who choose a vocation or a calling rather than a job.  Lucky those who have a passion and are able to do it for a living.  I know so few who chose what they love to do as a way to earn a living. So if you are one, then you have my admiration and my envy.

This is never so evident as in the healthcare field.  There are those doctors, nurses, pharmacists, phlebotomists, and nurse assistants that make you feel  like you are a person that matters.  They make you know that your pain is not their goal.  They make you know that the pain that you feel is recognized, that there is empathy.

The needle in the arm for the tenth time finds no veins.  The veins can be "fished" for or they can roll.  But, the truth is, the search for the vein can be done with gentle finesse or with the careless skill of a novice.  And of course, there has to be a novice.  I wonder how they select the novice tasks... "follow me and do what I do" or "follow me and you can learn on those with the least pain"...?

The difference in those paths are simple, the one who is passionate about providing the best care with the least pain, and those who want to get the job done. 

Neither are truly wrong.  But the difference is amazing.  And who do you want leading the next generation to provide care?  the passionate caregiver or the functional performer?

It is not fair to make someone who is truly good at their craft an automatic leader or teacher.  Not everyone has that knack.  But when you find the two combined, you have true inspiration!  Think back on your best learning experience.  I promise the person was truly excited about their topic and couldn't wait to tell you all about their knowledge.  It is funny, but my husband and my father are examples of people who were passionate about their fields and could not wait to share their interest with others.

This weekend my husband went to the ER with a snake bite.  A water moccasin snake bite.

 For those who are not normally involved with poisonous snakes, that is a hemotoxic bite:

Hemotoxic venom radically attacks blood and tissue cells causing traumatic damage to the area which received the bite. In some cases the after effects are so bad the patient may require skin grafts due to tissue degeneration and muscle damage.  Hemotoxic venom works by preventing the body’s blood supply from coagulating, therefore causing bite victims to experience large amounts of blood loss. 

" The victim’s limbs quickly start swelling as the body resists the effects of the cottonmouth snake venom. The swelling is as a result of body fluids collecting around the bite area which gradually spreads to other body parts. The swollen body parts redden followed by severe itching " according to cottonmouthsnake.org  and snakebite trauma  

The experience in a medical facility is dependent on the experience of the staff with the specific trauma.  It was very interesting to see the staff respond, calling poison control center, following the protocol and keeping the indicators recorded.  There was a huge difference in confidence when a doctor with experience with snake venom talked about treatment and those who were just following protocol.  It was a confidence issue as much as a credibility issue.  We were fortunate to have a doctor who had learned from cobra bites...  she exuded confidence, control and knowledge.  How fortuitous. 

And back to the beginning, she not only knew the treatment, but told me the patient would not change.  That there were more snakes in his future.  Hopefully, no more poisonous bites though.  She smiled at me with the knowing, " I have a recalcitrant husband too" look.

Between the doctor and the kind phlebotomist, the nurses who helped pass time all night, the difference in those who chose their passion, and those who chose a job was clear. And lest there be any doubt, I a grateful to both. It's just a little more fun, a little more certain, a little more reassuring to have the ones who are passionate and skilled.

Thank you to all those who helped at #CCRMC 

@CapitalRegional

Rising to the Gifts of the Husband

My husband is a different kind of man.  Being a Game Warden, he is more earthy than most.  He hunts and fishes.  He has no concern over the often gruesome tasks of his job, necropsy and autopsy of long passed critters.  He often deals with the very fortunate plantation owners and rich hunters of dove and the not so fortunate "redneck" hunters who are both sporting and shopping for food.

The people he meets, meet is a word which I use loosely, have the variety of values that most have with one difference.  They all have guns.  And knives.  And the will to hunt or at least the belief of the will to hunt. So knowing that about him, one could expect his view of the world is different and his idea of presents and gifts might be unique....

So it started long ago, with valentine presents in heart shaped boxes with red ribbons that either contained pocket knives or garter snakes.  And it progressed to a case of my favorite tea in bottles or a set of camouflage pants.  One year, he gave me a vacuum cleaner, at least an ORECK.

There were no years of jewelry or fancy clothes.  But there were many years of children and toys and relatives and gift wrap.   There were several years of Cape San Blas and cold water polar bear swims!  And as the kids got older and the jobs more demanding, we stayed in Tallahassee or Gainesville or sometimes the farm in Madison.

I have tried to minimize gifts and the marketing side of Christmas and Valentine's day.  A gift of stock or a 401k contribution is nice.  An agreement of siblings to not get gifts and spend money on a holiday that is really not about shopping (blasphemy!) is working well.  Less clutter, less muss.  This year, after the socks and underwear were opened, the entertainment was nerf guns and all had a fabulous time.  With so many boys in the family, we had an all out sponge war going.

But back to the husband gifts.  He bought me a fishing creel once and a net, that I think was more wall decoration than real.  The gifts were never traditional, and usually, not expected.

So this year, it is my turn.  I am giving him something he wanted.  He retires in February, and he bought his retirement boat.  Cash.  Done.  I have to tell you as the household accountant, I felt a shortness of breath when he told me he was paying cash.

So, over myself, I hope he loves it.  I hope the Valentine beginning to his retirement is lovely.  and full of fish for me and mine and his and ours.

Happy Valentine's Day Charles Higman and Happy Retirement!

Rising to the Occasion of the New Supreme Court Decisions and Their Bold Interpretations

the new definition of marriage

The rulings leave in place laws banning same-sex marriage around the nation, and the court declined to say whether there was a constitutional right to such unions. But in clearing the way for same-sex marriage in California, the nation’s most populous state, the court effectively increased to 13 the number of states that allow it.

voting-rights-act decision

The decision in Shelby County v. Holder revolves around Section 4 of the Voting Rights Act, which establishes a "coverage formula" to determine which states and local governments fall under Section 5, and therefore need to get approval before changing their voting laws. The justices ruled that Section 4 is unconstitutional, and that the formula used for decades — revised and extended several times by Congress — can no longer be used to establish those "preclearance" requirements: "The conditions that originally justified these measures no longer characterize voting in the covered jurisdictions." 

I am not a lawyer or a policy analyst, but I am a mother, boss, taxpayer, tuition payer, wife, and female.

What those roles give me is the experience that knows and feels difference.  Whether it is the good old boys at work regaling us with chauvinistic stories of the past or nuns telling the girls that science was a waste of time or the people who still talk about colored folks, I know this feeling of difference.  And it doesn't feel good.

I think regardless of the law, the judges are saying that different doesn't feel good.  Whether the remedy to the difference is a 50 year old law to right a horrible wrong or whether the cancellation of the difference is a nullifying a state law, the effect is the same: NO DIFFERENCE.  There shouldn't be a difference, not to the blind eye of the law, not to the open eyes of the judges and not to the feelings of those that are not in the norm. +GayWeddings.com 

The judges are saying that difference does not have to be embraced, it doesn't have to be "guaranteed by numbers" and it doesn't license some and not others.  The judges are saying what every speaker on the gen Y generation says: Get Over IT.  They are different, they are staying, and soon they will be in the majority.  Technically, They already are.  Women have been different for a long time.

Different may not be acceptable to you, but it is not a reason to legislate the relegation of others to a lesser status.  The court is saying to the southern states, okay don't use the numbers to mandate difference.  Let the difference be in the voting booth.  I am nervous.  I don't trust that equal access is there all the time in Mississippi.   But I don't trust that it is there all the time in Minnesota or Michigan or Florida. 

When  the civil rights laws were passed, the people who needed protection were all considered black.  Now, the different people are African American, Muslim,  Jewish,  Irish American, gay, female, Hispanic American, Indian American, Haitian American, Colombian American, Mexican American, Chinese American, need I go on? +Equality Texas 

 They are as different from the 1965 act as can be:

"The chief justice concludes that times have changed: the formulas that govern singling out one state from another for different treatment, which once "made sense," have lost their relevance, and "nearly 50 years later, things have changed dramatically." 

"But history did not end in 1965. By the time the Act was reauthorized in 2006, there had been 40 more years of it. In assessing the “current need[]” for a preclearance system that treats States differently from one another today, that history cannot be ignored. During that time, largely because of the Voting Rights Act, voting tests were abolished, disparities in voter registration and turnout due to race were erased, and African-Americans attained political office in record numbers."

I am worried about the change in the Voting Rights Act and the absence of change in the Gay Marriage issue.  "If California becomes the 13th state to allow same-sex marriage, about 30 percent of Americans will live in jurisdictions where it is legal." says the decision on gay marriage.

So the court is saying that 70% of Americans live in a place of difference.  We are not yet to a place where we can be at least treated by the law as the same, whether or not our neighbors do that.  The court is placing that burden on the American people.  Do we want to be a place of difference.

And the court is saying that while the laws of 1965 are precious and were necessary for the time, that the time has come for us to stop the difference for all states, not just the few.  Again, the court is placing that burden back on the people of America.  Almost every southern state voted for the republican candidate in the last election.  But almost all the midwest did too.  And yet, what a difference there is in the white house.

Please check your heart and check your beliefs and check the future, because the nation called America is not the brave and free for some; it is the home of the brave and the free for all.  And I for one will embrace the court rulings and trust in the future.  And more importantly, I will not accept being treated or treating anyone different.