Health care was still on my radar as a new occupation for two reasons. It was what I had put some recent heart and soul into, and its 24-hour work environment fit into my college ambitions. In other words I could plug in some work hours around school and my ambulance shift schedule. After leaving the nursing home job, I quickly slid into working as an attendant at an Alzheimer's Center up in Madison.
They put several patients in one group-type house setting. There were usually eight or so in a ranch style house. They would each have their own rooms. Then there were several houses in the cluster. Immediately, I realized this was better than mixing an Alzheimer's patient into a nursing home population. Alzheimer's patients will frustrate regular nursing home patients to no end if the regular patients still have their own wits about them. Yet, when Alzheimer's patients are in a group, they seem to mingle better in their own population. It is not unusual to see two patients talking about some absurd topic, each prattling at the other in completely different topic and not bothered by that ever so much.
Patient One: "There is a corn picker on the card table so we can bale the hay."
Patient Two: "It will be better if we smoke our cigarettes now then."
Patient One: "There is a corn picker on the card table."
Patient Two: "I will call you after breakfast then."
Patient One: "Bale the corn before breakfast."
And on and on this would go all day.
We would cook, administer out their medication, and attend to their personal cares.
The patients, or some times they were referred to as residents, could be fatiguing. One day I forgot my wallet in the lock cabinet. You had to keep your personal belongings locked up. If one of the patients moved your stuff, no one would even remember moving it let alone where the hell they put it. I walked back in the building and the residents greeted me as if they never met me before. At the end of any given day I was forgetting everything like my car keys just like they would forget their own names. I was starting to fit right in.
Note: This blog "Jobs of Bob" Category does not list the jobs chronologically - I write about the experiences as they pop up in my memory and I often revisit an older job. Go to the Cooldadiomedia Web site and the Jobs of Bob Page for an ordered chronology.
Wisconsin Military Service Person Special Mention of the Week
(each week Cooldadiomedia mentions a Wisconsin service person killed in Iraq or Afghanistan)
Army Reserve Sergeant Nathan J. Vacho, 29, originally of Ladysmith, Wisconsin, died in Baghdad, Iraq on Friday, May 5, 2006. An improvised explosive device detonated by his Humvee vehicle during combat operations near Al Hillah, Iraq. Sergeant Vacho was assigned to the Army Reserve’s 489th Civil Affairs Battalion, out of Knoxville, Tennessee. During Operation Iraqi Freedom, he was attached to Company B, 490th Cavalry Squadron, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division. Nathan was one of three soldiers killed in the incident when the roadside bomb detonated near their vehicle. Ladysmith, is known as a small Wisconsin North Woods community. The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel noted Nathan recently lived in Janesville, Wisconsin. And, that he was of a military family. Vacho was the son of Army Reserve Command Sergeant Major John Vacho of the 88th Regional Readiness Command, out of Fort Snelling, Minnesota, which encompasses six states and commands 24,000 soldiers. Nathan's father had also spent a year in Iraq and served in the Reserve and National Guard for 32 years. Nathan Vacho's term of service ended March 23, 2006, but the Army kept him on in the "Stop Loss" program. He had told his family he was planning to re-enlist despite the extension. Nathan was a 1995 graduate of Ladysmith High School; he was a running back on the football team and an avid wrestler. He was also on the school newspaper staff. The Journal Sentinel went on to say Nathan was an avid deer hunter. Vacho was a licensed practical nurse and had worked in nursing homes and emergency rooms in civilian life. He first joined the Army Reserves in March of 1998 as a military firefighter. He later became a trained Army health care specialist. He had experience in the civil air patrol during high school. He loved gliding, and built a glider. He had a penchant for technology. His first Army Reserve unit assignment was with the 336th Engineer Platoon out of Duluth, Minnesota. Vacho transitioned into the Army medical career field in 2002. He attended the Practical Nurse Course at Fort Sam Houston, Texas, and graduated in spring of 2003. In 2005, Vacho completed the Army Emergency Technician Refresher Course and was assigned to the 330th Medical Brigade out of Madison, Wisconsin. At the time of his death, he was assigned as a health-care specialist for the 489th Civil Affairs Battalion. Vacho told family he was being sent to the infamous "Triangle of Death" area south of Baghdad. He had been in Iraq for less than two weeks when he was killed, and was on his second patrol. The 2005 Wisconsin Assembly Joint Resolution 108 noted Sergeant Nathan Vacho’s military awards and decorations include the Bronze Star Medal, the Purple Heart, the Meritorious Service Medal, the Good Conduct Medal, the Reserve Components Achievement Medal, the National Defense Service Medal, the Iraq Campaign Medal, the Global War on Terrorism Service Medal, the Armed Forces Reserve Medal with Mobilization Device, the Army Service Ribbon, and the Overseas Service Ribbon. The Resolution also noted he had attained the rank of Staff Sergeant. At the time of his death Nathan was survived by his wife Amanda; daughters, Emma Grace and Bayli Ellen, of Janesville and Colfax, Wisconsin; a sister, Ashley; and, his parents, Carol and John of Ladysmith, Wisconsin. Sergeant Nathon Vacho was the 54th Wisconsin military service member to be killed in Iraq since the spring of 2003.
As of this blog entry's posting date:
96,739 Iraqi civilians have been killed in Iraq since Spring, 2003.
9,509 Iraqi Security Forces have been killed in Iraq since Spring, 2003.
4,405 Americans have been killed in Iraq since Spring, 2003.
1114 Americans have been killed in Afghanistan since October, 2001.
318 Coalition soldiers have been killed in Iraq since Spring, 2003.
712 Coalition soldiers have been killed in Afghanistan since October, 2001.
31,839 U.S. troops have been wounded in action in Iraq since Spring, 2003.
6,141 U.S. troops have been wounded in action in Afghanistan since October, 2001.
102 Wisconsin soldiers have been killed in Iraq since Spring, 2003.
19 Wisconsin soldiers have been killed in Afghanistan since October, 2001.
142 journalists (several nationalities) have been killed in Iraq since Spring, 2003.
21 journalists (various nationalities) have been killed in Afghanistan since October, 2001.
Wisconsin military service person special mention of the week, military casualty, and journalist casualty information sources: Committee to Protect Journalists; cnn.com; Milwaukee Journal Sentinel; washingtonpost.com; thehighground.org; Wisconsin Department of Veterans Affairs; iraqbodycount.org; and, icasualties.org.
