I'd Like The Non-Smoking Section, Please

If we did not have Nursing care I am not sure what I would write about folks.  So far this year we have dealt with The Nurse who I wanted to duked it out with while Austin was in the hospital on New Years Eve, The Pointy Nurse, The Choking Nurse , the Nurse who said Austin was too violent (trust me that was a doozy), and now we have the newbie Nurse who asked ME a very dumb question. Yes, that was a long sentence, but it has been an equally long year.

"I'm not sure how to ask this, but...well...I'm a smoker. Can I smoke after the baby goes to bed?"

I had a two-word answer. "Absolutely NOT!" Then I added a few hundred more words and went into a 10-minute speech on the evils of Smoking. I guess that'll teach her.





I know most of you will be shocked that I did not toss her out, but I explained "The Rules". She agreed to them, so we are good for now.

The Rules:

• No Smoking whatsoever on the premises, ie: There will be No "breaks" for Smoking, No "let me just Smoke outside" and No "let me just crack open this window and stick my arm out".
  
• Don't wear any clothing to work that has been smoked in and not washed ie: Don't smoke in the car on the way over and expect to keep your shift.
  
• If she cannot stop herself from Smoking for 8 hours, three days a week then this is not the job for her. She can work on destroying her OWN lungs on her own time.
  

So all of this discussion this begs the question: When she read Austin's medical chart what part of Chronic Lung Disease did she not understand? Or do you think maybe she saw our snazzy oxygen cart and wanted one of her own in a few years? Perhaps the idea of being hooked up to Oxygen while you sleep is enticing to her who knows?

Truthfully I have never been really fond of being in the presence of cigarette smoke or Smokers even before Austin came along. But now it is a non issue. Smoking in his presence is OUT.OF.THE.QUESTION. There are plenty of statistics on the health effects of second hand smoke on children and as you can imagine smoking near a child with a Trach (direct access to the lungs) and chronic lung disease does not mix, to put it mildly.

I don't know about you, but I'd like to to NOT add any other Specialists or medical issues like asthma, heart disease or lung cancer to my 2 year olds already packed medical resume.

Do you allow smoking around your children?


Thanks for peeking,



Photo by Lucas Janin @ Flikr