Tribute to Transfusion

There's a lot of things that have been hard about saying goodbye to Utah, and one of the biggest reasons (aside from friends and family) that Mike has had to drag me (kicking and screaming) to Arizona is because I've had to leave the best job, and the greatest co-workers I've ever had.

A little over a year ago, we'd just moved up to Salt Lake from Provo, we were brand new parents, and Mike was still working down in Spanish Fork until I could find a job. I was scared to go back to work, unsure of how I was going to balance a job with the demands of being a mom. I saw the job opening in Transfusion (my favorite subject in school) and I thought to myself, "Man! I'm really not qualified for the job, but what the heck, I might as well try!" I remember the job interview was the most terrifying one I've ever had. Before I went in and talked to anyone, I had to fill out a quiz, prioritizing 10 different situations that could occur in the blood bank and then I had to justify my reasoning for ordering them that way. I almost threw my hands up in the air and gave up. A quiz before an interview? Who does that? I realize the value of it now, but it was very scary at the time. I had turned down several different jobs, trying to find the "perfect" one that would fit the needs of our family. And when I was extended the position in Transfusion, I was ecstatic!

Right away, I knew that I had landed an awesome job! I had the most wonderful trainer who taught me everything I'd forgotten from school, and helped me become a more confident tech. And the people I worked with on my shift could not have been more welcoming.

There's pros and cons to every job. Let's start with the cons, to get them out of the way.

Things I won't miss (and sorry, some of these might only make sense to my co-workers):

• Vocera - sorry phlebotomy... I couldn't understand a thing you said.
• "Our tube is beeping but no one called with a security code." Yes we did. We always do.
• Incorrectly labeled tubes
• Safetrace (our computer system) causing problems at really inopportune times.
• A certain hospital (which shall remain unnamed) lying about their inventory so they don't have to give up their AB platelets to save a baby's life.
• Having the saline run out right in the middle of washing your cells.
• Prenatals - ok, ok... they weren't always that bad. But when they were bad, THEY WERE BAD! 5 antibodies, 3 titers, an elution... all in one shift? Nope. Won't miss that very much.
• The exhaust fumes from Life Flight seeping into our lab.

Things I WILL miss:

• My co-workers - they really weren't just co-workers, they were friends.
• Antibody workups - using my mad detective skills to discover different antibodies people had made. Like the guy who looked like he had a warm-auto, and did have one, but had also made like 4 other underlying antibodies and it took me about 9 hours to finish his work up. Very satisfying at the end of it all.
• Trauma Ones: I never thought I'd say this, but by the end, I actually enjoyed going up on traumas. The very first trauma I went up on was a self-inflicted gun shot wound to the head, and they came in doing chest compressions on her and needless to say, she didn't make it. I thought, "If they're all like this... man... what have I gotten myself into?" But they weren't all that bad. I enjoyed feeling like a part of the Trauma Team.
• The days we would all bring in foods that started with a different letter of the alphabet. And then having so much food it would last us the entire weekend.
• "Faxing things up" - Emily :)
• MTPs: Mass Transfusion Protocol. I know, I know... it's a weird thing to miss, but if and when the patient survived, it sure gave you a good feeling inside knowing that you helped save a life.
• Baby aliquots - something to break up the monotony of the regular type and screens.

Some of my favorite Trauma moments:

• A gun shot wound to the arm. The funny part was that he'd been seen in the ER a week earlier for a gun shot wound to the head. Some people have horrible luck.
• The rock climber who fell off a cliff and came in perfectly fine. He got himself off the gurney and on to the bed himself and was incredibly embarrassed that 2o+ people had been called to the trauma bay to fuss over him when he was fine.
• The guy who had been stabbed in the chest and refused to get off the stretcher until he could smoke. Trauma Doc: "Sir, you have a hole in your chest." Patient: "I don't care. I need a smoke." And he was wearing a fanny pack, which also made me smile.
• The gun shot wound that turned into an MTP where the OR orderlies were coming down every 2 minutes for a new MTP pack. The plasma wasn't thawing fast enough, so Emily H. was throwing half-thawed plasma at the orderlies and ordering them to break up the ice chunks. It was awesome.
• Emily B. stuck up in the ER because they'd put a tongue in our blood cooler.

And now here's a few pictures of my co-workers. I missed a few of them, but here's the majority:

Me & Stuart (pulling teeth is easier than getting this guy in a picture!)

Jason & Hugh - Jason said he's making that face cause he's sad I'm leaving. Or maybe it's because we had to throw that blood away.

Me & Audrey (who's having a baby in 3 months!)

My Going-Away Party

Best party EVER: they brought foods that started with the letters in my name. I especially like that L stands for "Layered dip, seven".

John, Emily, Becky, & Lisa - who have been really awesome supervisors & mentors

Maryanne! I'll miss hearing about ghost stories and Sir Winslow!

Amy (who stopped by just to say goodbye my last night, so sweet!)

Nancy! (Don't worry Nancy, I'll show Ellie your picture so she won't cry when she sees you next.)

Jana! (I'm glad she came back from maternity leave so I could see her again!)

Lauren - "It's 3 o'clock!" I'll miss the crazy faces you made at me across the bench.

Lauren & Emily - There was probably 80's music playing in the background, cause that's the way Emily H. and I roll!

Bryant & Emily - the night crew! I'll miss the laughs, you guys! And if I'm ever stuck on Sporcle quizzes, I'll probably have to call you.

And this was my view of the hospital on my last night. That bottom row of really bright lights are the Trauma Bays, and the next floor up was the Cafeteria. I always wondered what people in the Cafeteria would think if they knew what was going on right below their feet. Lose their appetite?

And as promised, here's some more pictures of my co-workers in a better setting (The Melting Pot - yum!), where we're wearing nice clothes instead of scrubs and lab coats.
There. The ramblings of an unemployed stay-at-home Mom. As much as I'm THRILLED to be able to stay home with Ellie for awhile, it's still hard to say goodbye. Thanks for the good times IMC Transfusion!

Drinks

We found an old timey soda shop in Old Town Sandiego. They had a zillion different types of soda, so we thought buy a few different kinds and take them home to sample.

Here's the bartender showing off our Taste Bar.

There were all sorts of different flavors. Sasparilla, Huckleberry, Chocolate soda (it was like carbonated chocolate milk... weird), Ginger, Shirley Temple, Cream Soda, Prickly Pear, Brain Wash (had jalapeno oil in it), Butterscotch Rootbeer, and Lenin-ade ("Get Hammered & Sickled --- A soda worth waiting in line for").

I think my favorite was the Butterscotch Rootbeer. It tasted like what I imagine Butterbeer would taste like.

Tantrum

Ellie was standing on the stairs, playing with a cup.

Mama thought it might not be a good idea to play on the stairs, so she picked her up and moved her to the floor.

Ellie threw a tantrum and dropped to the floor, screaming.

Then she stayed there, quite happily for the next five minutes. Silly child.

At least she smiled for the picture.

The Zoo

We went to the zoo for Ada's birthday!

This isn't a very good picture, but it was Ice Block day at the zoo. Basically, they just gave large ice blocks to all the animals to help cool them down. It was neat though, because the animals would all flock towards it and some would fight and push others out of the way. Well, then there was the gorrilla. They had his ice block hanging from a chain, so he just sat underneath it, perfectly positioned so that the ice would melt and drop onto his outstretched tongue. No physical exertion required; he let the ice do all the work. It was so cute!

Ellie's favorite part was the teeter-totter.

Best Friends Forever

Can you say BFFs?

They're doomed to wear the same outfits for the rest of their lives.

San Diego

Well, this is going to be a super long post with ridiculous amounts of pictures from our San Diego trip. You've been warned.

Mike's family was wonderful enough to invite us on a trip to San Diego with them. The military gets free tickets to Sea World every year and so the Trowbridges went to California!

We left the morning of the 4th of July and drove to Vegas. We stayed on Nellis Air Force Base in a nice little place with a kitchen and 2 hide-away beds. We went swimming and then watched the fireworks that night on the base. Ellie LOVED the fireworks. She was completely enthralled, and kept saying, "More please!"

Here's Ellie in her patriotic hat.

The next morning we left for San Diego, and stayed on the Naval base there on the coast. We went to the beach on Coronado Island. Beautiful! It was nice and overcast, and the water was cold but not so cold that you couldn't get in. Mike really enjoyed playing in the waves, which looked pretty gigantic to me. Everytime a wave came, I mentally said goodbye to my husband, sure that he would get swept out to sea and disappear. I'm glad to report he's still alive.

Ellie wasn't too sure about sand. She refused to walk in the soft sand, but didn't seem to mind the wet sand. She enjoyed the water!

This was Mike's first time being buried in sand.

Ellie coming to see what's happening to Daddy.

Giving Daddy kisses.

We spent the next day at SeaWorld, and it was awesome! Ellie was a little grump all day due to missing naps and not eating well, but I still think she enjoyed herself.

Here she is frowning at OP the Otter.

We took her on the Sesame Street Rides: Abby's Sea Star Spin (teacups), Elmo's Flying Fish, and Oscar's Rocking Eel.

Although she doesn't look like it, she actually really enjoyed the rides. What she didn't enjoy was getting off. "No! Stop Mama! More. More." Yeah, she didn't quite grasp the concept of taking turns and standing in lines. She would've ridden the teacups all day if she could've.

Sea Lions. My new favorite animal.

Some Shamu action shots.

The underwater shark tunnel.

And for lunch we had turkey legs!

Even Ellie tore right into it!

And this is how we all felt by the end of the day!

The next day we ventured to Old Town San Diego. We stopped by the new Mormon Batallion Visitors Center. This was seriously the coolest visitors center I've been too. Here's the link: http://lds.org/placestovisit/eng/historical-sites/san-diego-mormon-battalion-historic-site

So you start out in this room with tents and logs to sit on and a movie comes on and tells you about how the early church members were asked to join the US Army and how Brigham Young promised that if they were true and faithful, they would never see a battle. Then you travel to the next room, which is a fort and they show you what equipment they were issued. The next room you find yourself in a night-time camping setting. They tell the story of how the batallion thought they were under attack, but it was really just a herd of wild bulls and they ground actually shakes as you watch the movie. The next room represents the first courthouse in San Diego the batallion members helped build. Then there's a courtyard with hands-on exhibits where you can pan for gold, make bricks, wash clothes on a wash board, etc. Seriously, coolest church site I've ever been to thus far in my life!

Here's us panning for gold.

This was the most bizarre flavored ice cream I've ever seen. Not very appetizing.

Old Town San Diego

And before we headed out, we stopped to see the beautiful San Diego Temple.

On a side note, Ellie had a blow-out in the car (the first time in a very long time) and it was bad. We had to stop at a gas station and strip her down. Anyways, afterwards we put her back in the car and get back on the road and she kept talking, and talking, and talking about what had happened. She'd look at me and say, "Big poopy diaper (jibber jabber)...Big one!" And then she'd tell Mike, "Big poopy! (Jibber jabber) Big poopy diaper." And this went on for about 10 minutes. Hilarious! She's starting to become a very vocal child.

We had a wonderful time on this trip and were glad to be able to spend some time with Mike's family before we move. Thanks Trowbridges!