Buggin' Out

The flu bug that is. One might think that my second ever post would be about something more serious. But that's not how I roll.

I clock in to work yesterday, head through the doors, make a right, and Bam! Closed door (not a funny joke at 6:45am before I've had a chance to sit down at my desk and enjoy those first couple sips of coffee!) Yep, closed doors leading to my division... with a nice little sign "We're experiencing an outbreak of a GI virus on this division. If you do not have a family member here, or if you are feeling ill, please proceed no further. Staff members who do not work on this division, please turn back. Gloves and masks are available at the nurses' station."

Greeeeeaaat. Why did I pick this year to try out my "The flu shot doesn't really help, I get the flu just as much without it, so I'm not going to get it" theory? Clearly, someone is laughing at me. The flu bug has been going around for a couple of weeks now. And it's a doozy: think projectile vomitting and never-ending diarrhea. Not fun. So far, I've managed to avoid it... but it seems that the number of infected residents has reached such a number, that my division is now on "lockdown". No leaving once you're there (except to clock out and go home). No taking patients out of the division to take advantage of activities or just to save their sanity by showing them different walls. No visits from the social worker I adore (and whose office is in the "safe" part of the building).

I spent the last two hours of my day today with the heavy-duty-nothing's-gonna-live-on-surfaces-I-clean wipes, wiping down everything anyone ever touched in our department. It started with "I'll sanitize doorknobs, keyboards, and phone handles" and ended with me heading up the hallway sanitizing every square inch of hand rail in our division, going through a whole container of the (expensive) wipes.

I think I lost 234897849735901 layers of skin on my hands that I'll never get back. They don't make lotion strong enough to counter the effects. And I have to go back into that place tomorrow.


But I don't have the flu...







yet.