School

I don't think I've written about where I spend most of my day. I am the school nurse at a elementary school. I have been a nurse for 38 years and a school nurse for 19 years! That really dates me! I love my job, because I love the kids and feel I really make a difference each and every day. I will write about a few of the kids I saw today.

There is the 7th grade special ed student who because of a genetic disease has been constipated for years. He is finally no longer constipated, but was having accidents several times each day. He and I worked out a reward system which he can choose a reward at school each day he is accident free (help me in my office at recess and eat lunch there, help his teacher or the school psychologist, get to come to my office at the end of the day for a healthy snack, etc). It's like a light bulb turned on in his brain. He is finally excited about and wants to be accident free. He is also talking a lot more. The past 2 weeks he has been accident free for 9 out of 10 days!

I always talk to kids about the importance of healthy diet with lots of fruits and vegetables and lots of exercise to maintain a healthy weight. Usually I give them information on a web site where the whole family can keep track of their exercise. I gave one 5th grader who is quite overweight a journal to write about her meals and her exercise because she has no computer at home. I suggested that she write in the journal and bring it back to me in a week. She brought it back without me even calling her and was quite proud of her progress. She started out setting an exercise goal: to be able to run a mile each day. She ran 1/2 mile each day this week and kept track of her vegetable intake! She wrote about other forms of exercise she wants to do!

A Mom called me saying they would be homeless by the end of December. They are moving back to the reservation, but have no where to stay there. I wrote her a letter introducing the family to agencies up there so they can find reasonably priced place to stay. The counselor suggested we give them a food box to take with them to tide them over for a week after they leave Phoenix. We will have that ready for them next week.

I am busy non stop all day every day and really try to teach kids healthy body things they can use their whole life. For example many students come in with headaches. Most headaches are caused by stress or dehydration. I always have them drink water and lie down and relax with a cold magic towel on their head and eyes. 9 times out of 10 this works and they are surprised. We talk about why this simple treatment often works, no drugs required! Many kids come in with stomachaches. Most of these kids haven't eaten breakfast. I have them figure out how many hours between dinner last night and lunch today (it is usually about 18 hours!) when they don't eat lunch. We talk about the importance of feeding and watering your body and I feed them.

Costa'a Hummingbird

I was putting up the outside Christmas lights the other afternoon. I had just moved the ladder close to the hummingbird feeder when all of a sudden this hummingbird zipped all around me and started feeding a foot away from my head at the feeder. I had never seen a Costa's Hummingbird and was blown away by it's beauty. It has a dark purple crown and throat with a long purple gorget reaching almost to it's wing. I went in, got my camera and tried to take a picture. This picture doesn't do it justice. It is much more gorgeous in real life. Jules came home. I called him over and we just stood there with these little hummers zipping and dive bombing all around us.

This is a female Anna's hummingbird. The Anna's males have a bright red head and throat. Sometimes you don't see the red until it is sparkling in the sun.