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22- bloody bandages

Spooky Cookie month continues on Cookie Thursday is a Thing. Today’s make is bloody bandages.

These are operating room folks, and it is hard to gross them out.

No ick matter here!

Bloody Bandages

Sugar wafer cookies, the ones with the cream filling between thin crispy wafers.

white chocolate Candiquik. This is meltable chocolate that comes in a variety of flavors and colors and here in the United States it goes by that unfortunately spelled name, or some craft stores carry it for candy making. It melts fast in the microwave and smoothly.

toppings- for effect I used a combination of green sprinkles, and freeze-dried raspberries

I had to experiment a bit with technique. The first tray I laid the wafers out, melted the chocolate, tried to make a square of chocolate with a spoon, put the toppings on

This works but it gets messy as the chocolate begins to dry.

The second tray I had the wafer cookies in a stack, picked them up, spread the chocolate using a knife, added toppings. This worked much better and I was able to get a more uniform square of chocolate

What makes these bloody bandages is the rectangular shape of the wafer cookies, and the hopefully white square of chocolate. And the raspberry “blood”.

On some I added green sprinkles to simulate infection.

I think they are adorable, and they were very fast to make. I barely got through NPR morning edition podcast, which is about 15 minutes long. Seriously one of the fastest makes yet.

Tuesday Top of Mind 7/21/26- GI Joe would never

I have been kicking this idea around, writing it in my head for weeks now and the current and much lambasted military decision to test all soldiers over 30 for decreased testosterone and to offer meds if the numbers were found to be low, made the decision for me.

I have been a lifelong GI Joe fan and what Pete Hegseth is doing is not okay. Nothing that is happening in this country is okay. And hasn’t been for a while.

GI Joe premiered as a cartoon in 1983/1984. I was 8 and the show didn’t register as something to watch until I was at least 10 and the show was in re-runs.

It had everything: armed forces, good and evil, and, most importantly, planes. And strong female characters that held their ground and fought alongside the men. Lady Jaye and Scarlett and Cover Girl were instrumental to many of the episodes.

Long before Xena, Warrior Princess debuted, Lady Jaye was the strong female character I needed. She wasn’t a stick thin waif that always looked to the men for rescue. She and Scarlett often rescued themselves and even rescued the men. Even her hair was not mainstream, a short wavy cut rather close to the scalp. (I don’t have a word for that) She was smart and didn’t let the men talk over her. Lady Jaye was the smart, curvy, take no BS role model I needed in my pre-teen and all the way up to my adult years.

I seriously got into collecting the comics when I was working in my later teens and had access to a comic book shop.

I’ve been collecting and reading ever since.

Through Marvel and Dark Horse and Devil’s Due and Marvel again and to Skybound Entertainment (the most current publisher). My collection is very complete through all the different publishers. I even have most of the Action Heroes run, which is how it was published in the UK. I also have most of the trade paperbacks; this is what the collection of several comic books into a paperback. And I also definitely purchased the hardbound copy that was going around as a Kickstarter a couple of years ago.

I’ve been to conventions, comic book and actual GI Joe conventions. I’ve cosplayed at Lady Jaye wearing my dad’s old flight suit and a short hair cut. When the action figures were re-released for the 25^th anniversary in 2007, I bought them when I saw them. When articulated action figures were released in 2020, I bought my two favorite characters. I have a standing order at my local comic book shop of all GI Joe comics as part of my subscription.

I was so excited for the GI Joe movies that started with GI Joe: The Rise of Cobra that I took the night off work and went to the midnight showings. The movies weren’t terrible and I have the novelization of the movie comic books as well.

I am a serious long term fan and collector. And a completist.

Being a woman in a traditionally male space I do not advertise my interest or knowledge. Especially as an adult. Especially in these times when certain individuals challenge the validity of a woman’s interest in the comic book sphere.

I have always been treated with dignity and kindness at the comic book shop, and I try to extend that dignity and kindness to others who don’t know that I am a fan, or how many years I’ve been a fan.

I am not saying my fondness for GI Joe led to me striving for and accepting an Air Force ROTC scholarship, but it didn’t hurt. The family military path was either Air Force or Navy and I chose the planes. I remember being crushed when I was informed that because I wore glasses, I could not be a pilot. I was 8. My AFROTC scholarship was for nursing school. A little known fact is that I almost chucked the nursing and switched to chemistry or pharmacy. The science, you know.

Strong female role models, men who knew how to shut up and listen to ideas that are not their own and work with the women to attain their shared goal. And an ongoing story line with twists and turns and real life scenarios that spanned decades was perfect. They prioritized safety for all, including those on the other side and knowledge and saving the world. There is a reason the tag line for the cartoon was “Now we know, and knowing is half the battle”. This is acknowledgement that even as men and women and adults there are things that are unknown to them and the entire group seeks to understand. To me the entire mission of GI Joe was exploratory, therefore educational.

I kept reading and collecting GI Joe. I branched out to other Marvel properties, but my first love has always been the Joes. DC? Eh. I do have the entire arc of the Death of Superman from the 1990s and Batman I can take or leave. I’m happy with the comics that I have.

And then the 2024 election happened and that Fox news personality was chosen to be the secretary of defense.

I have much to say about the past 18 months and none of it is good. But this is top of the heap today.

The current secretary of defense has made a mockery of those who have bled and died for this country. He wants to remake the military in his twisted image of manhood and has been shitting on the very people who have put in the work and the years to be generals and highly placed officers. But the secretary doesn’t like women who are more highly placed than him, or more highly educated, or more highly name the thing. He just doesn’t like anyone who is not white or male or properly subservient. He ignores laws, commits murder in the name of the flag, and defies international law and the Geneva convention.

In a sea of swamp muck, he is one of the worst.

And then there is Jesse Watters at Fox making rape jokes for the women on bases or in ports was contemptible and my mouth dropped open when I heard the clip where he playfully mentioned that women around the world needed to be careful. That the men would be monsters with the resurging testosterone because even the men who did not require it would accept it. As if that is a thing that happens in healthcare.

What a fucking jerk. Thankfully, the outraged reaction has been swift and shared across many media sites.

All we can do is hold on and work to survive the next few years. So no, I do not advertise my fondness for GI Joe but it will continue. Because he and his boss and their band of unqualified merry fuckwits have enabled the worst of us to engage with and treat all women with the grossest and most base of intentions.

And we’re supposed to be scared of them?

Please.

The Joes would never. In fact they would be furious on the behalf of women everywhere.

Cookie Thursday 7/16/26- Twix cookies

This week is continuing the Favorites theme for July.

First favorite we had was Chex Mix, to kick off the 4th of July weekend.

The second week was my birthday so no cookies were made.

The third favorite is one of the first cookies I ever made for CTIAT. It wasn’t called CTIAT at that time. It was called “Let’s take turn making cookies for the evening shift, I’ll start”.

And there were other bakers.

For a minute.

I’ve done it ever since.

The Twix cookie was one that I remember being so excited about. Except I couldn’t choose just one flavor.

I mean there are TWO flavors of Twix. Peanut butter (my favorite) and OG caramel.

I had to do both. And not just back then.

But remember, CTIAT started the first of the year 2014. Even accounting for several other bakers, my second week would’ve been sometime in February. And not when it was 1000000000000 degrees outside. And 10000000000 billion percent humidity.

Yeah, Twix making in humidity *making a face* doesn’t quite work the same.

I am definitely writing that down and remembering this time.

It took the chocolate hours to set.

Good thing I started baking before the sun came up.

Two mistakes were made.

The first is that I was foolish in thinking that the chocolate would set, even in an air conditioned house.

The second is that I ran the dishwasher at the exact time.

Mostly because we get charged more for “surge” electricity above our normal. Such as the dishwasher. Or the washer. The surge hours are between 1500-1900. And I had a meeting at noon so this was rather a rush job.

Cool, cool.

The chocolate barely set properly hours into my morning.

The leftovers of the chocolate and the peanut didn’t set either. I combined them to see what would happen. Like you do.

What happened? Nothing. Sticky happened.

There was a third mistake. The caramel that I used was fruity. Made for an interesting flavor profile.

On the positive side, next week’s cookie is going to be the perennial favorite of the OR, the jalapeno chocolate chip.

Keep it to yourself, will you?

Tuesday Top of Mind 7/14/26- Endometriosis can be diagnosed with a saliva test

New hopeful diagnostics tools for endometriosis diagnosis are out. There is a possible blood test and a possible blood test.

This is amazing.

It is early days yet and, of course testing needs to be done but in the research study I have read the blood test can be effective in identifying more than 95% of patients.

Currently, the road to an endometriosis diagnosis is long and the definitive diagnosis is made through laparoscopic surgery.

How long?

As many as 10 years can pass for a woman to be misunderstood, thought to be drug seeking, passed from doctor to doctor, denied the definitive laparoscopic surgery by insurance companies, more pain, more abnormal bleeding, more trips to the ER, more doctors, more insurance denials of care until, exhausted, the woman is finally diagnosed.

How long?

A long fucking time.

It is estimated that the incidence of endometriosis in women is between 6.4% and 11%. And that is just in the US and Canada.

Endometriosis affects women worldwide. Of all age groups, but is more prevalent in childbearing age. And, goodie goodie gumdrops, the incidence is rising and they don’t know why.

But what they don’t tell you in nursing school is that men can be diagnosed with endometriosis too. This is vanishingly rare

But typical of today’s healthcare.

Endometriosis, which has affected millions of women per year for years has only had proper attention paid to it. By proper attention I mean research dollars and even a new understanding of endometriosis as a systemic disease, not unlike an auto-immune disorder after a very small amount of men were impacted. (less than 20)

But a woman is “crazy” for seeking care for debilitating pain.

Right?

Oh, and those 10 years that endometriosis goes undiagnosed? Yeah, those are years where it is growing unchecked. And can impact a woman’s fertility and the health of ALL abdominal organs. Yes, I mean every single one- liver, stomach, pancreas, spleen, uterus, fallopian tubes, colon, small bowel, bladder and ovaries. The endometrium can escape and grow anywhere. And can lead to spots of the endometriosis being burned away by cautery or even laser. I have run the carbon dioxide laser during many laparoscopic endometriosis surgeries.

Did I mention the pain? I remember one of my classmates in 2000 get into a shouting match with our instructor when the instructor tried to tell her she knew nothing about endometriosis. Mic drop, the classmate had been suffering for YEARS and had just received a diagnosis in the late 1990s. I think her knowledge and experience was more up to date than the middle aged male instructor.

I believe this news is hopeful.

I just wish women had been believed and the work had been done years before this.

Think of all the suffering that could have been avoided.

Cyclosporiasis is spreading soon to a state near you

Cyclosporiasis is an intestinal infection that is caused by a parasite. It has been reported in 32 states as of July 10, 2026.

This is not infectious. This means it does not spread person to person. The oocytes have to be injested.

This is caused by a teeny tiny oocyte (egg) that has been found on fruit and vegetables. Kind of like e. coli in bagged lettuce but so much worse.

Like e. coli it is spread through food or water that has been contaminated with fecal matter.

You know, poop.

The products on the hot seat this time is various types of imported fresh produce. According to the CDC includes raspberries, basil, snow peas, mesclun lettuce, and cilantro.

Never has there been a better time to avoid cilantro because it tastes like soap. But that just be me.

Washing your produce with chlorine is not enough. Washing your produce period is not enough.

Cooking your vegetables to 60-70 degrees Celsius is recommended. That means 140-158 degrees Fahrenheit. For at least 15 minutes.

There is an antibiotic available that the infection is susceptible to but you have to be diagnosed to treat it.

And a whole lot of people are suffering in silence at home.

That brings me to how wide is this infection?
No one knows for sure.

How many people have gotten sick?
No one knows for sure because people suffer at home without telling anyone.

In all probability it is vastly underreported.

The most common symptom is watery diarrhea with frequent and possibly explosive bowel movements. Leading to embarrassment and the not seeking help.

Drink your fluids.

But the real question is why.

Did the DOGE cuts/RFK gutting of the public health infrastructure of last year cause this?
I and all the scientists who have been warning of an outbreak like this give a deafening YES. And they certainly stopped monitoring the infection in 2025.

Hands up if you knew this would happen.

And say it with me “You dumb fucks!”

FFS Friday 7/10/26- Fortress

Have you ever not had the means to get testing for STIs? Have you ever not had the means to go to a doctor and get birth control? Have you ever not had the means to get simple healthcare, such as a mammogram?

For millions of Americans this is their everyday life.

And millions of Americans turn to Planned Parenthood.

For sex ed.

For birth control pills.

For mammograms.

Because health care in this country has failed them.

I’ve written about this at length.

Planned Parenthood is the Fortress that shelters and protects these everyday Americans from disease and unplanned pregnancies and basic sexual education has been eaten away at in our schools by religious zealots who believe that sex should only be undertaken to produce a child.

Planned Parenthood protects them all.

And has been protecting them all.

Even after they were defunded from Medicaid in last year’s Big Bullshit Bill.

Millions of us donated so that women didn’t have to go without.

But now the defunding provision of the BBB has expired.

Yeah, last weekend. This means that the Medicaid funds are restored to Planned Parenthood and other reproductive health providers.

But be wary.

This particular battle is subsiding but they think they can shout us down.

By they I mean the anti-choice crowd who are very much not happy with this development and are making plans to steal the money back.

We have to be smarter than them.

We have to be louder than them.

We have to be strong for those who need us.

FFS Friday 07/03/2026- Fealty

Fealty can be to the wrong person or thing. And it is dangerous when it is so.

Fealty was defined by Francis Bacon in his 1629 book The Use of Law as “to take an oath upon a book, that he will be a faithful Tenant to the King”.

We’ve been shouting and protesting and shouting that there are NO KINGS in America.

The problem with fealty or fidelity is when the masses swear it to an incorrect thing.

However, an Air Force officer demonstrated his fealty to his Oath of Office in this past week.

6 sitting members of Congress warned us against blindly following orders. Even when those orders were unlawful. They got excoriated for it.

But some of us praised their bravery and their strength and echoed the message.

On July 1st Major Jason Watson criticized the administration’s actions in Iran and Venezuela and the draconian immigration policies. He called for impeachment and removal of the president. He is an active-duty Air Force officer and did this in full uniform. He had a poster that read “Impeach, Convict, Remove”.

He was speaking specifically about the American deaths and American injuries tied to an illegal war.

Of course he was immediately arrested. He had been escorted to the House Steps by Representative Al Green.

This should shock us all.

This should chill us all.

I know people are going to bleat about The Uniform Code of Military Justice not allowing his actions.

This was established last year because of a fucking memo.

I believe he had had enough and protested the way that he did to grab the attention of the world. I also believe that he believed that this was his way of honoring his Air Force Officer Oath. So that someone would finally fucking pay attention and listen.

Cookie Thursday 7/2/26- Out of season Chex Mix

The July theme is Favorites.

I have done Chex Mix out of December before. But it has been VERY rarely. But I thought this would be a great way to kick off the 4th of July weekend.

And, besides people have been asking for it.

And besides besides I wanted to test out Stove #3’s bottom oven.

The test went swimmingly.

I was initially unsure if the bottom oven would accommodate the turkey roaster I use for Chex Mix. And it did.

Even if I couldn’t get the bottom grate out to move it down. I will have to look into that and check the manual.

I have a list of favorites that people gave me when I was creating the Cookie Thursday is a Thing poster for the North Carolina Nursing Association and the AORN EXPO. I will be working my way through them.

Call Secrets of the OR 7/1/26- Holiday weeks are weird

Holiday weeks are weird. They just are.

It is either too many cases or not many cases at all.

There is no middle ground.

And if the holiday is on the weekend, as is the case with 4th of July, it goes double.

Add in the summer travel season, it might even go platinum.

The normal surgeons are out for vacation. Sometimes out of the country. Don’t worry, the ones that are left and taking the calls are bitter about it.

My notes indicate that the weirdest summer we ever had in the OR was in 2010. No lie, we did 5 laparoscopic appendectomies a night. Every night. For a month. From the middle of June to the middle of July.

It has yet to be topped.

Not that that is a challenge to the universe.

However, we have WAY more instruments and I would not have to do the equivalent of running the 1 laparoscopic scope in the Steris scope sterilizer that lived between ORs 2 and 4.

It was better than Cidex.

Or flash sterilizing the laparoscopic instruments because we only had 2 sets.

Good times. I don’t want to go back there but thinking on my feet kept me sharp.

This holiday week has just begun. Since the full moon is over, I have hope that the universe will be kind to us night shift folk.

Fingers crossed.

Tuesday Top of Mind 6/30/26- It’s hot! Damn hot!

To quote Adrian Cronauer “Fool, it’s hot! I told you again! Were you born on the sun! It’s damn hot! So damn hot!”

That is, of course, taken from Good Morning, Vietnam. And is in fact the scene that Robin Williams riffed off the temperature in Vietnam and set the audience screaming with laughter.

Hot is no laughing matter. Hot and humid is another step down the ladder into hell.

The World Health Organization attributes 1300 deaths in Europe due to this most recent heat wave. Most of the deaths are over 65.

We were just in Virginia, on vacation, and the hottest dang day of the ENTIRE trip was the day we have all bought tickets to Williamsburg. It was going to be 95 with at least 70% humidity. I had warned everyone the week before that the temperature was not going to be what they were used to. As the nurse on the trip, I recommended lots and lots of fluids, reflecting hats, getting out of the sun in the middle of the day, and lot of breaks.

The day we went to amusement park I backpacked in 12 bottles of water.

Right now, half of the US is under a heat dome. Here in North Carolina, we are expecting highs to crest over 100 degrees. For several days in a row. Including over the 4th of July.

Stay inside in the middle of the day.

Drink lots of fluids. And eat fluid containing foods like watermelon.

Do not mow the grass in the middle of the day. Your HOA will probably care about that but I certainly do not.

Wear loose fitting clothing, including a hat, in lighter colors.

Cover your windows that are sun facing.

Fans are your friends.

Speaking of friends, don’t forget to take care of the pets. The asphalt will be really freaking hot on your dog’s paws. It can be as hot as 140 degrees. Stick to the grass.

I’ve already set up the wildlife watering station for the birds, squirrels, etc. that come into our neighborhood. They are hot too. And thirsty.

Heat stroke is no joke. Nether is hot exhaustion.

Monitor yourself and your loved ones.

You should drink enough fluids to counter the fluid loss from sweat.

Humid hot is sneaky and will overwhelm you before you know it.

Have some water. Your kidneys will thank you.

Stay inside where it is cooler. Watch Good Morning Vietnam. Or cue up No Where to Run To by Martha and the Vandellas.

If you know, you know.

Cookie Thursday is a Thing 6/25/26- Blueberry chip and the July theme announcement

Chipapalooza was very successful. I say that knowing that a bunch of the baking chips I had in the baking pantry got used. Over two months. Well, 1 month and 3 weeks because I was on vacation.

The last chip of this theme is the blueberry chip. I tried to make it blueberry lemon but the blueberry chip overpowered the lemon. A lot.

Odd.

These were still good and edible and I would not kick them out of the cookie jar. In fact I kind of want to add the cherry chip and the blueberry chip together to see what will happen.

I still have a few different types of chips. I didn’t even use the caramel chips or the cinnamon chips. Those will have to wait.

The Cookie Thursday is a Thing theme for July is going to be CTIAT Favorites, No Holds Barred. This is going to be wild.

I am going to take the CTIAT favorite cookies that I used for a conference poster way back in 2023 and pick and choose. A little Favorites and a little bit Baker’s Choice.

The number one requested cookie isn’t really a cookie. It’s more of a vibe. The first cookie of CTIAT Favorites, No Holds Barred is going to be Chex Mix. This is something that I traditionally only make in December. There are 2 reasons for the selection- 1) it has been requested a lot and I’m tired of seeing people’s face falls when I explain the December rule and 2) I want to see how Stove #3 handles it. Because I haven’t made anything in the lower oven yet.

Just in time for the 4th of July.

I did tell someone at work the theme and also what the first cookies was going to be. I said they could tell people if they wanted, or not. I might tell more people myself.

Or not.

The bake might just have to be an explosive surprise. Like fireworks.