Literally Litterer

We encounter so many pleasant people every day at work, that it is so uncomfortable when we come across a rude one. Well let me tell you that is EXACTLY what I had the unpleasant experience of encountering today.

We were sitting at the counter working on billing, and the windows in front of us face the patio and the parking lot outside. The windows have a mirror tint so we can see out, but you cant see in from the outside. There is a pharmacy next to the clinic that is open on Saturdays so there was a fair amount of traffic this morning. 

An older hispanic woman got out of an SUV and headed into the pharmacy. As she came out, she had a paper towel in her hand, and we watched as she threw it down literally (no pun intended) three steps from our HUGE trash barrel. I could not believe my eyes! What an example for the three kids in the car. 

So as they were backing out of their parking spot I marched out right in front of them, picked up her litter, and placed it (a little harshly) in the trash can. 

Want to guess what the grandma and family did? Did they apologize? Did they hang their heads in shame? Hell no, they started CLAPPING. That's right clapping, and laughing, out loud with the window down. 

Karma dude....Karma.

I learned early how to be good at Therapy...

Four years old and at the movies with my Daddy. Days don't get any better than that. It was the brand new, uber advertised, Disney movie of the year. 101 Dalmations, opening day, and I was so excited I could hardly keep from throwing down my Rainbow Brite doll and sprinting in the theater. 

One teeny tiny problem.

 Cruella DeVille was FREAKIN scary. Not just creepy, or spooky. I was terrified to the point that we had to leave half way through the movie. I could NOT stop crying and thinking about those poor little puppies (and that hair).

Problem number two. 

Months afterward I was still appearing next to my Daddy's side of the bed in the middle of the night saying "Daddy......can we talk about Cruella?"

A Birthday Wish

Ms. Martinez (name changed) had a birthday yesterday. 

I met Ms. Martinez for the first time about a year and a half ago. She was 88 lbs, and so dehydrated we couldn't find a vein to stick. All of her hair was gone, and she had an old floral scarf wrapped around her little head. Her eyes were completely sunk in, and she could barely stand to greet us when we walked in the room. (No matter WHAT we said, and how hard we tried, she ALWAYS stood to greet us when we came in). The most disturbing thing about Ms. Martinez was her color. Let me tell you, we see lots of "colors" on a daily basis, but Grey is not one of them. Her little body was so poisoned by cancer, and the chemo, that she was literally grey. 

We immediately fell in love with this little lady. No matter how sick, how nauseated, how frail and tired she was, she was always the picture of kindness, and there was always a sweet sparkle in those sick eyes. She spoke Spanish only, and mine wasn't that swift at that point as I hadn't been in El Paso very long, but she made me feel like I came straight from Mexico City. She would sit patiently while I found the right (or close to right, or flat out wrong) word, and then speak extra slowly so I could have a shot (be it a long shot) at understanding. 

Last week I came across her chart while up to my nose in paperwork, and just happened to notice that her birthday was October 6. That evening, at the grocery store, I ventured into the Spanish language card section. It was at this point that I realized that I know absolutely NO proper Spanish. It became very apparent to me that this was not going to be as easy as I thought, so I started with the pictures and narrowed it down to, oh, about twenty. I moved on to words I knew like "esposo, esposa, hermano, hermana, hija, hijo", "husband, wife, brother, sister, daughter, son, etc.... And then there were four. So I picked the two "prettiest" ones and decided to have one of the girls at the clinic "censor" it  in the morning and translate so I could pick one.

Turns out they were both sweet and appropriate (pure luck) and we chose the one that said something like "If the sun is bright,  the breeze is pleasant, and your day is perfect then my wish for you on your Birthday has come true" (definite paraphrase) and then had a little verse from Proverbs at the bottom. It was SO SUPER cute, we all signed it, and I made lots of little hearts on the envelope. 

We pulled up to Ms. Martinez little apartment, and it could not have been a more beautiful day for her. After we opened the gate (and avoided the neighbor's dog) she spotted us and was headed down the front steps to greet us. I have to say that she smile on her face when she saw the card was one of the most rewarding sights I can remember. She was THRILLED! She was full of hugs and kisses and " Gracias' " and was so surprised to see us. 

She took us on a tour of her three room apartment. Not three bedroom, three room. Her living/bedroom, kitchen, and bathroom, all full of knick-knacks, pictures, rosaries, crosses, and knitting. She was so proud to show us her sweet little "casita". 

It will be  forever a sweet memory in my mind and heart. You see it was an extra special birthday for Ms. Martinez. For the first time in four years her cancer is in remission. She is 113 lbs, has her beautiful little head of hair back, her natural tan color, and those bright eyes that never gave up. 

Compassion...(and an important lesson) #1

Forward: This post is disturbing, slightly graphic, and does not pass the breakfast test, just a warning.

Im going to call her Mary. I had never met her, which at this point, is odd in itself. I've met almost all of our patients at the clinics, and can usually tell you their first and last names, which pharmacy they use, and if its time for them to come in for their lab work.  So that day I was back in the office paying bills, and didn't see Mary come in. 

I was called to the very last exam room, Amy wanted me to meet a patient. I walked in to see Mary, a 50 something very normal looking woman in a long-sleeved corral colored shirt and grey shorts. I immediately noticed that she had both of her legs bandaged from the ankles to the knees. We see ALL KINDS of things in the clinics, so I wasn't surprised to see Amy kneeling down next to her with gloves on.

What I did NOT expect, was what I would see when she removed the bandages. Mary's legs were rotting. They were swollen with dozens of large(about the size of limes) deep, open wounds. The kind of wound where you can see the meat. They were full of puss, some bleeding, and all the skin that wasn't eaten away was completely black. Not purple, grey, or red... black. 

My first thought was that she would most certainly loose her legs, and I was prepared to immediately leave the room and begin preparing the paper work to admit her to the hospital. At this point, I hadn't really heard anything yet. The sight was so overwhelming, I hadn't bothered to use any of my other senses up to that point. The first thing I recall hearing was "So it was just a bad batch? Yes, whatever they used to cut the heroin was bad."

You see Mary has a heroin habit. Has for the last 22 years. I found this out when she looked at me quite frankly and said, "Well you're getting quite the education aren't you? See what 22 years of heroin will do? If you think this is bad, you should see my ass." She has a $50 dollar a day habit, no health insurance, a steady job, a large circle of friends, and grown children. Her ex-husband got her started after a bad back injury to "help her relax". She was hooked after the first injection. She knew how to clean and dress her own wounds, which antibiotics to get in Mexico, when to start them, and obviously, when it was bad enough she needed to come in to see Amy.

Evidently, when you have a heroin addiction for that long, eventually you run out of good juicy veins, so it is necessary to do a method called "skin popping". It involves injecting the drug just under the skin in an attempt to hit one of the millions of capillaries that lie just beneath the surface. Whatever the drug makers used to "cut" the herion and make it go farther was toxic, and everywhere she injected she got a massive, skin eating infection. She was rather calm about this fact, I guess she realized that this was just the risk of it all. 

So Amy changed the antibiotic, gave her some new supplies, and told her to follow up in a few days.  I love that our clinics are so non-judgmental, and our patients can come in, be honest about their problems, and get kind and appropriate treatment. 

Mary was absolutely pleasant, intelligent, and quite frank, all of which I appreciated. In fact, I liked her very much, and I hope she gets to keep her legs awhile longer...

Biased...

Well this is a self indulgent post if ever there was one, but I have to introduce you to the newest member of the family (the one that was almost a snake snack...) Miss Ruby Red.

I know, I know could she be any stinkin cuter?!

So they're a little mismatched right now, but I have a feeling she will grow into it! (If I can keep Miss Scarlett from sitting on her between now and then we'll be in good shape)

Ok I'm done now....thanks for your patience!

Ding Ding Ding...We Have A Winner!

Ok, yes WE GOT HIM!

Fortunately for him, (and us) we did opt for the "Catch & Release" turns out he is the cutest thing you've ever seen (as far as rodents go). The Rat/Squirrel is actually this weird large mousy thing. So the peanut butter worked and there he was yesterday morning not at all happy about being in our trap. 

Here's what the little booger looked like post-trapping, and on his way to his "Release Site"

My camera was dead  (gasp) or I would have a much better picture, and Im ashamed...

So we took him down the road to the Howdy's / Dairy Queen (Im sure they appreciated their new addition) to let him go. There is nothing but desert behind it, and we figured he would have plenty to eat (but his cholesterol will most likely suffer).

We sneakily crept down the arroyo and I hit the button to open the doors. Ok, here's what we didn't expect. He took two steps out of the trap and then JUMPED literally 10 feet. He hit the ground and lept again, another ten feet. Three more jumps and he was out of site. Amy and I sat there and stared in complete AWE.  After a few seconds, I said something like "he jumped just like a Kangaroo"... that was about the time that lightbulb went on, an Aha! moment. In unison "KANGAROO RAT!!!!"  This is what my Google search revealed. Sure enough we had ourselves a GIANT Kangaroo Rat. We set the trap again, so hopefully I can have better pictures AND a release video next time.

Promises Promises..

Mmmkay, so I promise I will stay on my intended topic...after tonight.

I HAVE to get a few funny things down that happened the last few days you know, for the record.

First of all, we went to Key West for labor day. It was FABULOUS, we split the hurricanes down the middle so it was calm and peaceful, the weather was perfect, and it wasn't too crowded. I am normally pretty "with it" when it comes to packing and unpacking (as Ive been doing it my whole  life with parents in different states) but for some reason, even though I had only taken a tiny little suitcase, it was still sitting in my floor completely full(albeit tucked in the corner almost out of sight) until this week. I FINALLY unpacked and filed everything away where it went on Monday. So Monday night (really Tuesday morning) I get up in the night to nature's call (which I NEVER used to do). I'm sitting there in the dark with just the glow from the little nightlight, and I notice a "shadow" on the wall. Now you  must realize that I live literally in the desert, and there are all sorts of creepy crawly things that I murder on a daily basis (see "Unwelcome Visitor" below). So I immediately assume the worst. Im sure it is a Nina de Tierra or a scorpion or something gross along those lines. I tepidly turned on the light, not really wanting to find out what it was, and lo and behold a GECKO. Now remember folks, desert. Lizards = yes, Snakes = yes but GECKOS?!!! = NEVER. He was bright orange, had those little suction cup feet, and was about an inch long. 

All we can come up with is that he must have stowed away in my suitcase from Key West, and been chowing on dead bugs and mosquitos for the last month...who the heck knows, but how weird is that? Needless to say that my screaming for Amy to come see scared him behind the mirror and I haven't seen him since.

Number Two

Amy has had a "huge rat" in her shed for years. He was the stuff legends were made of. He made intricate dog poop houses, moved huge-o rocks from the front yard into the shed, built ramps with paint stirrers, just an all around super rat. Well lately he has been hoarding the bunnies food. Like A LOT of it, and they are hungry dangit. He was also making a rather large mess in the shed, so we decided it was time for his reign to come to an end. Rat trap time. So in all these years, Amy (nor I ) had never actually seen Mr. Rat-King, but surely saw the mess he left behind. It just so happened on the day we went to set the big-ole trap, when we opened the door there he was. Only problem...he wasn't a rat. He was a big ass squirrel. Turns out squirrels are smarter than rats, still haven't caught him, and Miss Scarlett and Ruby are still hungry.

And for number three....

Kokkie likes to go under the clinic and hunt. Kokkie = 9 year old Samoyed. He came out last night with something's dead foot hanging out of his mouth. It evidently had been dead for quite sometime as it was super CRUNCHY, and it took him a long time to get it all down. Needless to say he slept outside last night...