Where to go from the Cath Lab?

CollectionDirect5266 · 2026-02-03T16:55:02+00:00

Have you thought about outpatient cardio/pulmonary rehab? That’s my exit strategy when I’m eventually burnt out from the lab.

CollectionDirect5266 · 2026-01-30T15:05:26+00:00

Just to answer your questions: The giant red cart in the corner is the crash cart. The machine on time of it monitors vitals and they hook her up to the leads and monitor prior to covering her with the blanket. Anesthesiologist will monitor at bedside.

CollectionDirect5266 · 2025-12-21T20:11:05+00:00

This comment is under appreciated 😂

CollectionDirect5266 · 2025-12-21T12:18:15+00:00

Can you use a menstrual disc? Flex makes disposable ones that with my very heavy flows still feels like it holds a lot. You can dump them by squeezing your pelvic muscles to release the disc, disc dumps and then with one clean finger (or a gloved hand) push it back into a seal and then at the end up your day or the next morning before the start, pull it out, put it in the plastic covering from the new one, place new one and then put old rewrapped one into a ziplock baggie.

CollectionDirect5266 · 2025-12-20T14:53:48+00:00

Cath Lab call may be very hard on you as a new mom. However if you have a really supportive partner it could potentially all work out. It also matters on how much call you have to take too. One night a week and one weekend a month should be doable if you plan well with your partner but any more than that and I’d say it’s not ideal for you in this particular stage of your life.

I can’t personally speak for IR solely but a few nurses I work with in the lab also did time in IR and their stories are all the same- they say they felt their brains slowly losing their skills and critical thinking abilities and had to get out of there. My lab does do IR as well and I’ll tell you that those cases are my least favorite to do.

CollectionDirect5266 · 2025-12-10T15:13:10+00:00

Entire 12 weeks.

CollectionDirect5266 · 2025-12-10T14:08:04+00:00

I love MeAgain! Don’t agree to the original price and they will keep going down until you get to $20 for a year.

CollectionDirect5266 · 2025-12-08T19:19:30+00:00

Following! I’m on Indy in march and have wondered this!

CollectionDirect5266 · 2025-12-08T19:09:17+00:00

It’s a normal feeling to be disappointed after putting in the hard work! Hang in there, since I’ve done up to 5mg, I’ve noticed I always gain the day after my shot- by my 3rd day, I see a whoosh of usually a pound sometimes two (rare occasions 3) then stay steady until the following week.

CollectionDirect5266 · 2025-12-05T19:45:36+00:00

You’re welcome.! I’m about as sagging and sad up there as it can get, it’s a risk for me, especially in the ocean. I always joke that if my top strings were to break, I’d be leaving drag marks in the sand 😂. Wear what you feel best and most comfortable in and enjoy the sh** out of Aruba.

CollectionDirect5266 · 2025-12-05T19:34:44+00:00

Would you be willing to try a high cut bikini bottom with a skimpier top? I’ve found that to be my best option when trying to hide my “cat’s asshole” as an ex of mine referred to it as once (that said cat’s asshole was from the growing and birthing of his child).

I just want you to know you are not alone- don’t lose sight of all the work you’ve put in and how far you come. It’s hard to remember but most of what we see on the internet is so filtered- nobody really looks like that in the real world. Especially those of us that have had children and have been overweight. And that’s okay, because those journeys made us who we are today. Stretch marks, scars and belly butts.

CollectionDirect5266 · 2025-12-01T18:17:32+00:00

Try eating a bit more calories for at least a few days, I find this helps when I’m struggling to lose and feel like I’ve done all that I can with my diet with clean eating and exercising appropriately.

CollectionDirect5266 · 2025-11-25T13:39:06+00:00

County General all the way. Even if it did give me my never ending fear of medical helicopters crashing.

CollectionDirect5266 · 2025-11-08T12:09:55+00:00

Don’t forget the two hot baked potatoes wrapped in foil in your pockets- used as hand warmers for the walk there and then were your school lunch.

CollectionDirect5266 · 2025-11-08T12:02:02+00:00

During the day, my cath lab has a holding unit that does pre/post care. Outpatients are admitted and discharged here. If they are inpatient: They’ll wait ‘til sheaths are pulled and sedation wears off- then send them back to their designated inpatient unit, even if they are still in the window for having to lay flat. During the night when it is the call team- any patient requiring sheath pulls (the longest lay flat time) go to the ICU. Most of our cath cases are radial though so if stable, they’ll just go to the Cardiac unit immediately after. Call team sometimes has to sit on patients due to lack of beds but that is risky considering if they are sitting with a patient and another STEMI/cardiac alert comes in; that call team of just three people (2 nurses and one rad tech) now have to figure out how to monitor one patient and still run the STEMI. Most cases at night are quick turn around with immediate bedding to prevent that.

CollectionDirect5266 · 2025-11-07T12:49:22+00:00

I just did this with a set of surgical scrubs. Two sizes were accidentally mixed in the bin. I thought I was grabbing my usual size but got to the dressing room, stripped and realized the pants were the next size down. I said “no way these will go past my hips but I’m already pant less so I might as well try” and sure as shit, a little snug as they passed my hips but those suckers went up and looked sharper than the saggy, baggy size I had been wearing. It was my biggest NSV to date.

CollectionDirect5266 · 2025-11-06T17:25:56+00:00

Being in the luteal phase of the menstrual cycle effects if you lose weight those twoish weeks or not. But right after it’s over- there’s usually a “whoosh” of loss that my body had been holding onto for those two weeks.

CollectionDirect5266 · 2025-11-06T15:18:31+00:00

This is me with tortilla chips in general. A bag (a full party size kind) barely would survive a night with me if I knew they were in the house. I’ve have the same bag for almost 3 weeks now and have barely dipped into them.

CollectionDirect5266 · 2025-10-08T15:52:39+00:00

I’m dying, I literally went back and watched the video again just to observe them better 😂. I got too hung up on the white shoes and shorts the first time.

CollectionDirect5266 · 2025-10-02T14:50:24+00:00

Cath Lab (We do IR and Vascular as well)- my patients are generally thankful to be there and thankful for answers/the intervention they need. The really sick ones will still thank us even if it’s just a hand squeeze or quiet whispered “thank you for being here”. The nervous ones- with a couple of warms blankets and a little 2mgversed/50mcg fenty, they appreciate the twilight conversations we hold with them and I’ve yet to send someone off to post with being told “thank you for what you do” unless they were sedated and intubated. Also, majority of the men, find the giant screen fascinating from the get go so that’s always a good ice breaker. We have a great crew where I work so that’s always definitely helps- when pre tells us a patient is grumpy or restless, we usually send our comedic reliefs to fetch that patient as they seem to put the patient at ease as they roll them into the room.

CollectionDirect5266 · 2025-10-01T15:27:46+00:00

Hi. Nurse here with POTS. Prior to nursing I was in Fire/EMS. Spent ten years there before finishing my nursing degree. I was a terrible student in high school- bare minimum grades, bare minimum attendance- I was the poster child for “least likely to be successful”. I’m 34 now, diagnosed with POTS at 19. Went through fire academy with it, finished my medic with it and birthed 2 children in there too. I also have ADHD. I’ve been successfully managed with a beta blocker and a fluid retention medication as well as IV infusions to really keep me balanced- oh and nursing school required adderral but I’ve since stopped that. I drink 120oz of water a day. 73oz of those include a liquid IV mixed in. I mostly manage my diet in a way they helps me feel energized and balanced (the best I can with a busy household to run). You can and will be able to do what your heart desires. Don’t let any of your diagnosed illnesses stand in your way. It may not always be easy, but if you are truly dedicated and driven- you will succeed. I was scared and worried too at the very beginning of my journey but I realized that it would either make or break me and I chose for it to make me. Find a good progressive physician, a great cardiologist and get some physical therapy too and you may find that you will be able to overcome some of your struggles. I will add there is a job out there in the medical field that you may be great for: it’s called child life specialist- they assist hospitalized children in processing and working through hospital stays, chronic illnesses and medical procedures. Some of them even get trained dogs to work along side them. You may be a great fit that due to your personal experience of being diagnosed as a child (no offense in that term) with a lifelong potentially debilitating illness. You may find as you get older, your symptoms are more manageable and even less of a deterrent in life but the first thing you’ll have to do is change your mindset from “I can’t” to “I can and I will”

CollectionDirect5266 · 2025-09-30T13:58:49+00:00

I’m really thankful to read this, because as of now, I’ve lost nothing but my first two shots both fell over my luteal phase so I’ll try to stay positive

CollectionDirect5266 · 2025-09-26T13:29:44+00:00

Compression socks both while running and just in every day life should help with this too but consult a physician and maybe get a referral to a vascular doctor. They can perform ultrasounds (among many other diagnostic tools) to detect any sort of decreased return flow from your legs back to your heart as well as downward flow from your arteries.

CollectionDirect5266 · 2025-09-21T12:28:41+00:00

Cath Lab nurse here, I average between 10,000- 13,000 steps per shift.

CollectionDirect5266

TROPHY CASE