Random Stuff

Whew! Well, it's never dull, I'll say that.

A few updates:

RobinMSW's patient Joseph (Heartbreak in the Nuthatch, November 10) was transferred to a state hospital this week. He turned out to be the unit mascot and everbody sort of misses him now. He accepted the transfer with surprising equanimity.

My patient Andy (One Small Step For Man, October 29) is still waiting for his state hospital bed. He's still pacing, but he seems to be washing both himself and his clothes more often. He has these brilliant moments of clarity, though, that make me swell with an almost maternal pride. Take the other day for example: he was crowded around the nurses' station with the other patients getting his cigarettes for smoke break, and he turned to the young woman next to him and smiled, and asked how she was doing. He's flirting with a girl! Oh, I just wanted to kvell! I'm pretty sure he still thinks I work for Interpol, though.

Here're some current happenings: New patient today was wearing a pirate hat and had a gold earring. He had no explanation for this. He reminded the resident of Johnny Depp, and I have no explanation for that. Little old lady with her crooked wig got me into a half-nelson the other day. I was actually a little scared -- little old ladies can be much stronger than you think. Another little old lady downstairs is slowly accepting the grim reality that her husband really is alive, afterall. That business about his being dead turned out to be wishful thinking run amok. I have this other guy upstairs faking hallucinations so he could get away from his group home for a while. Someone else thinks she's punishing me somehow by refusing to go to groups. She is torturing me with her continued presence on my caseload, but I don't feel chastised in the least. I'm hoping that she'll eventually realize that in the end, the joke's actually on her, and so maybe she should start pulling herself together and go home already.

Uncharacteristically, I have no point here. I think I'm just too tired and emotionally played out. So I'll end with a quote of the day. This one's actually from last week. Middle-aged lady -- little tiny thing -- all manic-y and rambling on and on while doing this little side-together, side-together, side-together step across the room. Then she'd walk back normally to where she started and side step back over, and again and so on. All the while just talk, talk, talk, talking. She's trying to get her story out, and you can tell she's getting a little frustrated with this, too. Finally she just says, by way of explanation, "I have a tangled-up brain disorder." Hey, this isn't exactly rocket science.

Peace out,

M.