August 11, 2017

Things I Learnt Working As A Nurse For My Brother

Many of you may know and others may not know that this sweet boy is my brother Matt. He truly is the happiest thing in my life and my best friend in the entire world. He has the sweetest spirit and the funniest sense of humor. Matt has Down Syndrome, is on life support, and is a quadriplegic in a wheel chair. He has been on life support and in a wheel chair since he was 4 and is now 24. He truly is the best person in the entire world and to know Matt is to love him. If you want to read his entire story you can here.

Caring for Matt is my pride and joy. I knew I wanted to be working as a nurse at a young age because of watching the way the nurses would come in and out of our home and change not only Matt’s life, but my life too. They became an instant part of our family, our best friends, and the people that we trusted to take care of our absolute favorite person. I wanted to share a few things with you that I have learned from working as a nurse and taking care of Matt, things that have changed my life, made me a better person, and given me a completely different outlook on life.

1 – You choose the way you want to see yourself. Matt doesn’t see himself any different than you and I see ourselves. He doesn’t see himself in a wheel chair, with mental and physical disabilities, or on life support. He sees himself the same as everyone else. He never limits himself due to what he has going on. He has taught me that I can see myself however I choose and that what I choose to think about myself can change my life. If we see ourselves capable of things then they will be so much easier and we will be able to conquer them differently.

2 – Life isn’t worth complaining about. I have never heard Matt once complain that he can’t do things that everyone else does. He just doesn’t. Instead he is grateful for his wheel chair, that he has people that can come in and care for him, etc. He has a G-Tube that we feed him through in his belly, every single time without fail after I feed him he thanks me. He thanks me for doing something so simple that we all take for granted instead of complaining that he has to have someone help him. Life isn’t worth complaining about. If Matt doesn’t have anything to complain about then I for sure don’t either. 

3 –  Give compliments. Matt is the first to tell you that he loves your shirt. He always notices when I wear my Urbane scrubs. He always tells me that I look nice, that he likes the black on my scrubs like Batman, or that my hair is pretty that day. He truly is the best at telling people what he thinks and that is something that I look up to so much. I think we all often times think nice things about people but never let them leave our thoughts. I challenge you to let it leave your thoughts and to tell them. It will brighten your day and theirs. 

A little quick run down about these scrubs because I am obsessed. They are the Urbane Scrubs by Landau. I love that they look professional but yet still classic and put together. They are crazy comfortable, wash up amazingly, and truly feel like you are wearing your pajamas but you look put together. I love that there is a variety of colors and sizes so they always get the perfect fit for me. They have new styles that just launched for fall and I am obsessed. If you work in the medical field, you will need these in your life!