I haven't posted on here in ages. In fact, looking back on things, this is my first post of 2007. Craziness. Way too much to catch on for a recap. I miss the peeps on here though and hope you have all been well. I'll make an effort to make an attempt to try and post more often. We shall see what comes...

BTW, I'm alive and relatively well.
And I am minus one roommate.
So if anyone knows someone who wants to live westerly, challah!

Till the next
Ciao!
~SiX

All work and no play.
All work and no play.
All work and no play.
All work and no play.
All work and no play.
All work and no play.
All work and no play.
All work and no play.
All work and no play.
All work and no play.
All work and no play.
All work and no play.
All work and no play.
All work and no play.
All work and no play.
All work and no play.
OK, maybe a little play.
;)
~SiX

I had my first gunshot victim last night!!

It wasn't nearly as gnarly as I thought it would be going into it. It was a minor wound to the lower extremity from a small caliber handgun. But yet and still, it was my first gunshot wound. And there was a nice amount of blood. The medics actually BLS'd the call, surprisingly enough, so it was all mine on the way in to the hospital.
=)

Is it weird that this shit excites me?? We were actually all cheering out loud when the call went out. Someone across the street from where we were all parked thought we were cheering the world series or something like that. I guess normal people just don't get it.

In other news...

The last few weeks have been a bit rough for various reasons. Some shitty things have happened that have taken a toll on me emotionally. I have noticed myself over compensating in unhealthy ways. I try to wear the mask of "I'm OK" but on the underneath, the shit still festers. Gotta work on that.

I am taking myself up north next week for my birthday. I already have my ticket. I think getting out of here for a bit will be good for me. I need to see some beautiful people that I love and miss.
And get some perspective.

Hope everyone is well.
Till the next one...

~SiX

The call came out at around 5:30 for a GI bleed. We responded to the house and the patient had been vomiting blood for the last 3 days. She wasn't in good shape, but was still alert and oriented and talking to us. We got her in the back of the ambulance, put her on some oxygen, the medics started an IV and we transported her to Santa Monica hospital code 3. When we were preparing to move her on to the hospital bed from our gurney, she went unresponsive and fell into a full arrest.

No pulse.
No breathing.

The ER staff went to work on her.
I hung around just so that I could watch and learn. An opportunity came up to get involved when one of the nurses, who was initially doing chest compressions, started to complain about a her wrist hurting. I offered to jump in and take over. It was the first time I had ever done CPR on anything other than a dummy in class. In the midst of all that was going on, I looked down and saw that the woman was just not there. Her eyes were glazed over and rolled back in her head. She was completely lifeless. I can't even begin to explain to you what that look is like. You have to see it for yourself.

But we kept working on her.

I can't really be sure how much time went by;
five...
ten...
Maybe fifteen minutes. Everything was so surreal that it was hard to keep track of time. It seemed like a second and an eternity all rolled into one. But eventually, we got a pulse back and suddenly, she started breathing on her own.

She came back.

I tell you, this woman was done.
I looked into her eyes, and there was nothing there.
She was gone.
I even heard one of the fire fighters that had stuck around say the same thing.

But she came back to life
Fuckin amazing

I mean, don't get me wrong, I know I wasn't the one to actually SAVE her.
It was the Dr. and the nurses and the atropine and epinephrine that were humping it to get her back that saved her. But I was part of that group. And my hands, for a short period of time, kept her heart pumping when it couldn't beat on it's own.

I don't know if she'll make it through the day, or the week or what...
But I do know that, for a series of moments, she was not of this realm.
And we brought her back

I can't even begin to tell you how amazing I felt walking out of that room.
The high was incredible.
Indescribable.

Fuck I love my job

~SiX
p.s. couldn't get LjCut to work. Sorry! =)

I'm in Rite Aid on Pico in SM the other day and there are these two little kids, both right around 9 years old, nonchalantly riding those obnoxious razor scooters around the store.

One of them was a boy and the other, a girl. As I pass by them on my way to the beer aisle, I couldn't help picking up their conversation:

********************
Boy: "Dude, my friend Brian..."

Girl: "Mmmhmmmm" (in acknowledgment)

Boy: "...Everybody that lives at his house that is a boy has a mohawk"

Girl: "Awesome!!"
********************

I say rock on little dudes!!!

Ciao
~SiX

I went to the DMV today to get my registration and I have $666 dollars in outstanding parking tickets. Apparently the DMV is now the bill collector for the city parking department and you can't renew your tags without squaring up with the house.

The best part of my visit was when my clerk, who was an older Filipino woman, actually used the word "cocksucker". I thought it was fuckin hilarious. I mean she was like 62 years old! "I don't like that number" she says. "You better pay  your fine soon or they're gonna tow that cocksucker". It totally made up for the fact that I can't afford my new snowboard now cuz I have to pay out the ass for registration on my car. Ok... maybe not TOTALLY, but it sure helped ease the pain a little.

Life never ceases to be entertaining
~SiX

Have you ever been 100% sure of anything in your entire life?
Really?
What was it?

Nothing is really ever garunteed is it?
I mean, honestly.
I feel like certainty is an illusion that we entertain in order to avoid the wave of panic that sets in when we momentarily glimpse the reality of it all.

I think the only thing I'm certain of right now is that I'm not sure anymore.
And I will take comfort in that.
I will embrace it and own it and make it mine.
For there is no need to fear the unknown.

Thank you for tolerating my incoherent ramblings...

~SiX

I miss you.

~SiX

Just got off of work.
Pretty good night.
Guy got hit in the head with a hammer for bonin someone else's girlfriend.
Karma is a motherfucker I guess.

I am starving and need to get some grub but I'm not sure what I'm in the mood for.
Maybe mac and cheese??
Hmmmm
Hope everyone has a great day.

Ciao
~SiX

Had a "school minded" day today. Recently I have been trying to put together a game plan for my continuing educational goals, both work and personal enrichment wise. The other day I had moseyed on over to SMC and reapplied for admission. Today I found a physiology class that will work quite well with my new job schedule (WThF & alt. Sat. 5pm-5am)  At first, things appeared rather grim and slim, especially this late in the game for enrollment. But I stumbled across a class that fits, and although it is full with no wait list, I have never taken no for an answer when crashing a course. I emailed the prof today and let her know I'd be trying to crash and that even if she weren't adding, I would keep showing up until someone dropped the class. I think tenacity will get you far in most scenarios.

I have also been shopping around for  paramedic schools and have opened myself up to the possibility of going out of state. The benefit would be that I would potentially learn a lot more due to wider scopes of practice in other areas compared to LA county. Seattle and Denver have emerged towards the top of the list, but I'm still keeping local Daniel Freeman up there as well. In addition, I've found a few courses through UCLA that will help boost my career and application processes, the first of which is a really cool Prehospital Trauma Life Support class that will be 2 days at the beginning of Sept. Now I just have to figure out the $ end. Faith moves mountains, they say...

Till the next time.
Ciao!
~SiX