A life was saved ...

I don't like to make a practice of talking about my ambo jobs on here because of privacy issues. But this one is very special to me and I won't be mentioning any names or private details to identify the person.

I woke up this morning and decided to do a full simulated check on our defibrillator (shock machine) and put fresh batteries in it. It hadn't been used all week so theoretically could have got away without doing it ... but that gut feeling told me to do it anyway.

Just before midday the pager went off and I saw it was chest pain. Normally this would make my heart race, knowing the potential danger... but today it didn't. I remained calm and quickly headed out the door towards the ambulance, picked up my partner on the way and got there in no time flat.

Walking in I got a brief history of what lead up to him calling an ambulance and on taking the vitals he seemed fine. But ... his description of chest pain he felt left me with an uneasy feeling. On giving an update to COMMS I listened to my gutt feeling and called for an Advanced Paramedic. As we gave him oxygen his pain level disappeared and as the second ambulance turned up I started to think I was being extreme on calling for backup.

The paramedic arrived and I did a handover to him. Then the patient felt like being sick so I reached for an emesis bag and as I did so I heard the paramedic say "He's arresting" ... For the last year I have been doing test after test, study after study on how to deal with this situation... and here I was dealing with it in person ... here... now!! ... No time to panic or fumble!! I had to get it right!!! The next few moments were a blur ... I reached for the bagmask, someone asked for scissors which I grabbed from my pouch ... someone was doing compressions, another pulling out defib pads and putting them on the patient. I was asked for an OP airway (piece of equipment I'm not going to go into here) which I tried to put in but couldn't because of body functions, so was asked for naseopharangeal airway... grabbing for what I thought was it, hoping like heck it was it... yep I got it right... handed it over ... then I heard "he's coming back! Yep we have a pulse!!!" The next few minutes were relief and panic and ... oh my friggen goodness ... I can't believe all that happened!!

My absolutely feel good moment was when the wife said from the front passenger seat "he's talking!!!" And the look she gave me of complete relief ... that was it, that was the moment that made that last year of hard study worth it all!!! No more gratification was needed, that one look did it for me!!!

I then had to drive the Paramedic's car behind the ambulance to the hospital 40minutes away with flashing lights and a few hairy moments with cars both sides of the road and us going down the middle.

He made it to the hospital ... oh my God I saved someone's life today ... like REALLY saved them ... if I hadn't listened to my gutt feeling of calling for backup one person might not be here tonight!!!

Yep still here!

Just a quick update to let you all know I'm alive and well. We had a great Christmas with Mum and Dad, my younger brother, his fiancee and us. Ate way too much. Thought I was doing fine after lunch with my intake but then a new meal was served up for dinner and skipped on dessert. Was all very point friendly but just ate way too much of it. Went to bed feeling really uncomfortable. Tried to blame it on the grapes I ate in the afternoon making me gassy ... but no I think I just ate too much!

The last few days have been crazy!!! The crowds arrived yesterday and we've been run off our feet. And ambulance shifts have been crazy too. Not sure how much longer I can keep up the pace but taking it one day at a time. Bill must be getting tired too cause he's cranky!!!

But I'm not complaining, at least the money is coming in the till to get us through winter and I'm getting some good hands on experience with my ambo work.

Lee-anne tooted as she drove past the shop the other day. I didn't get who it was till after she'd passed ... so if you're reading this Lee-anne ... HI!!!! And hope to catch up for a coffee while you're still here.

Hope everyone else had a good Christmas! Not weighing in this week ... my one week off weighin for the year. Food hasn't been pointed out but watching what I eat and certainly getting lots of exercise running behind that counter!!

I'll catch you all in the New Year if I don't get a chance to update again before then!!!

Dis Santa's doin da boogie!!

Shhh!! I'm whispering this so Bill doesn't hear ... but ... guess what????


I AM LIGHTER THAN BILL!!! I AM OFFICIALLY IN THE LEAD!!! Whoop whoop!!! What a wonderful christmas present to myself!! Ohhhhhh yeeeaah!!!!! 1.3kgs I lost this week!!

I thought when I had a stay the same last week that hopefully the fluid would be gone this week, giving me a double whammy loss today!!

Unfortunately (and I'll say this real quick) Bill had a little itty bitty gain. And while I feel empathy for him, he's been cheating so nahhh I don't feel sorry for him. heheh!

And it's been a verryy loooooooong time since I've been lighter than him.

This brings my total to 18kgs lost and now have under 40kg to lose... woah still a long way to go but feeling good and confident I can make it.

Let's just hope I don't stuff it up over Christmas!! If I don't get a chance to say it ... hope you all have a fantastic Christmas!! Relax and don't stress!!!

We're nearly there

I have another ambulance exam to do today ... but not a stressful one. Basically we do it online and we can do it over and over until we pass, to pass we need over 80%. We can take as long as we need to do it, so I'll be working on that. I want to get it out of the way before Christmas ... and ... the rush!!!

The countdown is nearly over ... not Christmas ... but till Boxing Day when 30,000 people drive over that hill towards us!! Most of me is looking forward to it. We are running all day, sweating our butts off!! And each night we collapse into bed. This happens for 3 weeks and at the point you almost think you're not going to be able to get up and do it all over again ... they all go home!! 80% of our yearly turnover is done in the next 6wks so it's our time to kick arse.

And for the weeks leading up to it money is so tight, trying to buy in summer stock without the turnover being there yet. $8,000 worth of coke! $18,000 worth of cigarettes! $2,000 worth of 5c lollies!! and the list goes on!! We are banking daily, writing out cheques we hope we do the turnover for that day to cover!! It's nail biting stuff!! But of course once the clock passes midnight on Christmas night ... we're on baby!!! party, party, party!!!

One small note ... weigh in tomorrow ... I think it might be a good one, on what the scales said this morning ... heheh! Let's hope!

Yes I do talk to myself ...

I've spent the last few days sick with aches and fever. Glad to finally be on the mend again. My cat also had a fever with an absess and had to have it lanced by the vet. We're both feeling alot better today.

I don't make a very good patient. I started coming right yesterday afternoon but still just wanted comfort food. I made the decision in my head to have a large bag of potato chips. I chose the one I wanted and took them upstairs ... Bluebird Salt and Vinegar ... just about to open them ... mind games going on in my head. I deserved them with the stress and sickness I've had to endure ... yeah but who are you punishing? yourself? ... but they'll taste so good ... but you'll feel so sick afterwards ... I don't care about that ... I just want to feel good now! ... comon! You know you shouldn't!! Think of how you'll feel on weighin day if you don't have them!! ...

So I put them down ... and marched straight into the kitchen and cooked up some popcorn. Really didn't taste quite the same but I felt so proud of myself. And this morning I had an all time low on the scales. I have a feeling it won't last this low till weighin but still nice all the same.

That's ok ... better than a gain

Weighed in the same this week at 105.9kg. Happy with this given it's my TTOM week this week. Hopefully that means a good loss next week because Bill is gaining ground on me with a 1.2kg loss this week.

Off to a surprise birthday dinner for a friend tonight. Since I haven't seen the menu not sure how good I'll go on points but will try and make good choices... promise!!

Gotta get this house sorted before the babysitter arrives. Better get cracking!!

Tis the season

Isn't it amazing how the stress factor at Christmas time flows onto everyone. The restaurant across the road had a new menu starting and being their produce supplier we needed to get lemongrass ordered. We tried to get it three days in a row on our produce order from the wholesaler and everyday even the wholesaler couldn't get it.

We rang round all the supermarkets in the area, the produce shops, growers, nurseries ... even hardware stores. We just could not locate any!!

On telling the chef from the restaurant the bad news, she threw her arms up in the air and walked out before we could even tell her how hard we tried to get it. But I guess she really didn't care about that. All she was probably thinking of was the stressed out guests throwing their arms up in her face because something on the menu wasn't available.

This consequently put Bill in a stressed out mood and of course he threw his arms up in the air at the poor rep who informed us that there would be no deliveries of his product of the Christmas/New Year period. He probably carried on the tradition to the next person that stressed him out.

It's amazing how we react to someone can totally change their day both good and bad.

This reminded me of a personality quiz we did at ambo training one night a few weeks back. Everyone is basically divided into four personality groups ... melancholy (green), phlegmatic (blue), sanguine (yellow) and choloric (red). I find this subject fascinating!!

I found a quiz on the internet to find out what you are. I came back as a laid back phlegmatic while Bill is a raging red choloric. They say that generally speaking people are attracted to the opposite side of the spectrum. Cholorics and phlegmatics are opposites as are Sanguines and melancholies.

You can take the test here to see what you are.

Put your foot down... how fast can you go??!!

Thanks for all your wonderful compliments!!

Bill reckons his gain this week was due to constipation!! And now (apparently) his bowels have started working again. So he reckons he'll be in for a good loss next week and leave me for dust! Bring it on I say!!

The challenge is going to be tight this next week. I have TTOM arriving soon and I always struggle with food choices the week before. I seem to be forever hungry and craving sugary bad food. I have a plan set in place with lots of easy meals organised that I don't have to think about.

Oooooh!! And I forgot to tell ya about my ambo shift on the weekend. I did my first P1 drive (lights and sirens) with a patient in the back. Normally we only have lights going on the way to a job and not after picking the patient up... unless the patient is REALLY sick. This P1 drive was from Waihi to Waikato Hospital (1.5hrs away) travelling at around 130kms!!! Trying to keep it smooth and steady because we had up to 4 people in the back working on the patient. Very tricky thing to do, drive fast but not swing everyone around the corners. Got a compliment back from the Hamilton Advanced Paramedic that I did really good on my driving. At a couple of bends I threw some people off balance so to hear back that it was a difficult drive coped with very well was great.

It's also the first time I've seen a true 'resus' team set up at the hospital. We were ushered through some double doors and greeted by 8-10 people gloved up and ready to go. Watching them work in such a synchronised way was mind blowing. Each person had their job and even though they were working in such a confined space no one got in anyone's way. Absolutely awesome to watch!

Ambulance work is starting to wind up at the moment with more jobs and jobs more serious. It's amazing the effect Christmas has on society. There is more stress, meaning more sickness, more tension, meaning people are making silly mistakes. Less money, meaning people are not going to the doctors for minor things and waiting till they turn major. And generally more people around this area with some towns growing ten times their winter population.

Wonder what next is round the corner?

Best policy??

Weigh in day again ... this week I'm 105.9kg ... a 900g loss. I am over the moon with this result ... mainly for the fact that I've managed 5 weeks of losses in a row!! I'm really enjoying my relaxedness about it that I have at the moment. I'm able to just quietly track my food and live my busy and sometimes stressful schedule ... and still stick to plan.

Sometimes I have the tendency to get over passionate about weightloss and while there's nothing wrong with that short term, for me I find I burn out. I can't keep up that energy imput focussed weightloss without something else being effected and/or giving up.

For the last few weeks I've been able to just plod away at my tracking, having the blowouts, feeling bad about them but getting right back on track the next day.

It feels good, it feels comfortable. But as we all know comfortable CAN be a dangerous place to be with mediocrity soon taking it's place. And before I know it I've fallen off the bandwagon.

So how do I find the sensible ground in this? I guess by being stern on myself in regards to tracking and accountability, with honesty being the central point. Other things can and will go wrong some time but as long as I'm honest with myself and those around me ... THAT is what will get me to goal!!

It's gone up another level ...

The friendly challenge has now morphed itself into a full on watch your back all out war!!! The gap is getting closer and I'm about to pass the hare. But the hare is sneaky, he's trying all sorts of tricks but the smart tortoise won't fall for his sneaky traps.

He made me a wonderful breakfast in bed this morning. I had to interigate him before taking my first mouthful to check no fat had been injected into it! After finally assessing the scene was safe I thanked him and got stuck into my vegetable omelette. And it was devine! On complaining how full I was and leaving a third of it on my plate a sly smirk came over his face ... "heheh" he chuckled "I gave you a full plate full while I only had a bit ... think of all those calories you've just eaten!" oooooooohh, the slimebag!! "I'll get him back!"

As I was putting stock he bought on the shelves I noticed a jar of manuka honey. What's this for? "A new diet plan I have worked out ... manuka honey and meat" That's it??? You won't be able to eat just that!!! He assured me he'd be able to survive a week with just manuka honey and meat.

But hahaha!! As I got home this afternoon Lauren informed me he had a pie for lunch!!! LOL He didn't even survive one day!!!

I don't know how he's doing it ... but he is actually losing weight... damn it!! lol But slowly bit by bit I'm catching him up.

That pandora bracelet has to be mine!!!!

Awww thankyou

Not a lot has happened over the weekend ..ooooh ... other than having two compliments given to me in two different parts of my world.

The first came from another retail owner in the street. She asked me if I'd lost more weight because it's really showing. Infact the other compliment that came today from another ambulance officer said the same thing.

I said "Yes I have actually, thankyou for noticing". It's always hard to know how to respond to compliments like that, but I think I handled it well.

I remember someone telling me the first time round that people don't start commenting until you've lost around 15% of your start weight. It's very true. 15% for me is 18.4kgs lost ... so a little earlier than usual, but hey I'm not complaining!! Always makes one feel more motivated when others give positive feedback.

We can do this!!

After I did my little skite about how I was able to not succumb to stress eating ... I did!! The very next night it all got a bit much and I ordered chinese chicken and cashew, spring roll and pineapple fritter! The next day I felt like such a failure and told my mate Mandy. She gently but sternly kicked my arse and told me to get back ontrack ... NOW!!

And it worked! I owe my loss this week to Mandy.

I guestimated 30pts for the day and saved a few points each day for the rest of the week. Slowly bit by bit my gain on the scales came down and down. And by yesterday I was showing a very small gain, so hoped like heck it would be at least a 'stay the same' ...

As I said yesterday I felt slimmer but who knew what today would bring ... and this morning ... 106.8kgs ... a 400g loss!!! yayy!!

Kate you were exactly right! Overnight it dropped by 600g ... phew!! Bill had a 600g loss, go Bill!! It's going to be a close race I think!

So this being my 1st of the month weighin shows a 4.1kg loss for the month ... The scales behaved well!!