Blog - Kitchen Table Devotions

Bye bye, Medical Intensive Care Unit

by Rita Macdonald

When I left my unit, and walked out of the hospital back in May, I really believed I'd have surgery and come back soon. I never anticipated an entire summer spent at home recovering from an extensive surgery on my knee, and coming to embrace the fact that I should probably look for a job less physically demanding than ICU. It wasn't until about a month ago that I started really looking seriously at other job opportunities, and when this one landed in my lap, I simply couldn't turn it down. But it was not a decision that came easy, and that's because I love you peeps. I have such mixed emotions. I love, love, love the end-of-life aspect of working in ICU, and so accepting a position as a home hospice nurse was not a difficult decision when I used my head, but when it came to my ... View Post

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Dear Bride

by Rita Macdonald

Recently a friend of mine posed a question on social media, asking for advice on being a mother-in-law to her soon-to-be son-in-law. I really, really appreciated her humility in doing so because what it revealed to all who read it, was that she was thinking of the new couple instead of herself. She wants to be good to him, and to them as a new married couple. So she was seeking advice from those who've walked in the shoes she is getting read to slip on. I loved that! A few years ago I sat outside having lunch with someone who often has wisdom worth not only remembering, but writing down. She shared with me that early in her marriage, she often spent a couple of days per week with her mother, and it just never occurred to her to invite her mother-in-law over to join ... View Post

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Taco Soup Versus Burrito, by Sue Ulbrich

by Rita Macdonald

INGREDIENTS: 1 pound ground beef (or sirloin) 1 package of taco seasoning mix 1 package of Hidden Valley Ranch dressing mix One 16-ounce can of stewed tomatoes One 16-ounce can of Mexican flavored stewed tomatoes One 16-ounce can of pinto beans One 16-ounce can of chilli hot beans One 16-ounce drained can of corn DIRECTIONS: Brown the beef, rinse & drain. Add everything all together. Presto! Sue brought me a big bowl of this while I was recovering from knee surgery. It was one of my favorite meals! I froze some of it, and another night thawed it out and wrapped it up like a burrito with sour cream! Deliciosa! ... View Post

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Servanthood in the Midst of COVID

by Rita Macdonald

From the beginning of March of this year until early May when COVID-19 reared its ugly head in the pandemic of 2020, I drove back and forth to work in the busy Medical ICU of Beaumont Hospital in Royal Oak, Michigan day after day. Quarantined for a couple of weeks prior to the rest of the state of Michigan, my days off were often spent at home coordinating drop offs for masks, hats, and other PPE that so many friends and folks I hadn't even come to know yet, volunteered to provide. My drives home from work often involved stopping at people's homes to pick up bags of supplies on porches. Frequently I'd come home to warm, home-cooked meals on the porch, brownies, and cookies. Once there was even an entire homemade coffee cake that was absolutely scrumptious. Friends sent pictures of ... View Post

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Ram’s Horn Wisdom

by Rita Macdonald

My friend and I stopped in for a carryout lunch yesterday at the Hills City Grill in Troy, Michigan. Familiar faces greeted us at the door. This is the famous old "Ram's Horn" of Troy, where for decades everyone in the neighborhood met, and all of the customers knew each other. The name of the restaurant may have changed, but the atmosphere never did - thank God! You know those people in your life who, you can go a year without seeing, and when you do see each other it's as if it were just yesterday? That's Lisa, and Debbie, and the others..... These days, I'm a Registered Nurse in a busy ICU. But had it not been for those waitressing years during high school, goofing around with Lisa and Donna when we weren't busy waiting tables, I wouldn't have the skills I do now to carry ... View Post

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I’m A Nurse – NOT A Hero

by Rita Macdonald

When I began nursing school, I remember having to learn how to correctly fold a washcloth in order to give my first patient a bath. My buddy and I spent ten minutes trying to accurately wrap the corner of the wash cloth around our four fingers, and get the middle of it correctly in the palm of our hand...... Frustrated, we finally just gave up and got to work bathing him. I remember thinking to myself how ridiculous it was, and our patient likely thought we looked pretty funny too, trying to figure out how to hold the washcloth. In the end, he was more comforted by our compassion than our correct hold of the washcloth. I'd raised two sons who were now in middle and high school, and had given them both thousands of baths as children. It's not rocket science. I'm a ... View Post

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What You DON’T See in the Hospitals

by Rita Macdonald

Texts to and from co-workers, "Do you wish you were at work, when you get a day off?" are not uncommon during these pandemic days. "Yesssss!" I answer! I am so relieved to know I'm not the only one who feels this way! And one of my friends texted me Sunday and said, "It's okay to not want to talk sometimes." Sunday was one of those days. It just feels as though we are the only ones who "get" each other right now. If you are interesting in keep your backyard in a good shape, you need to have best tools to make your job easier, in https://lawncareguides.com/ you can find the best tools to work in your garden. We've gotten more free meals than I can count. People have sent sweets of every kind, hand-written notes, pictures drawn by their children, photos of their pets, and even ... View Post

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Light at the End of the COVID-19 Tunnel??

by Rita Macdonald

In 1991 when my daughter was born with anencephaly, I agreed to participate in a 10-year March of Dimes study about neural tube defects. At that time, I had not yet become a nurse, but my brother was a physician, my sister a pharmacist, my Mom was working in a busy Detroit hospital Emergency Room, and my dad was continuing to suffer from a blood disorder. My family was always steeped in the medical world in one way or another - so how could I not participate in a study that would benefit someone else or potentially save a life ? (And it did, by the way - help many). I never dreamed I would have that chance again - to participate in another study that would help others. But tomorrow several of my work colleagues and I have appointments to have our blood drawn looking for antibodies ... View Post

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