Scrubs in the Trenches: Recent Episodes
Isaac BenJamIn
An inside look at Healthcare from a RN with 15 years experience of Being inside the hospital. The goal is to give a Frontline Perspective of the Healthcare system to help people understand what is really going on inside these Walls. So join me as I interview people from all different backgrounds to provide a glimpse into Healthcare that you otherwise wouldn’t get.
On this episode I go into the 3 different stages of Lyme and how my symptoms lined up with its progression. Early localized Lyme is the first stage and the bacteria stay within the skin.
Early disseminated or stage 2 of Lyme disease is when it has spread throughout your body and more serious complications begin to emerge.
Stage 3 or Late disseminated Lyme is when the Lyme Bacteria has never been fully eradicated and will cause issues in cycles for the rest of your life if left untreated.
I hope sharing my story can shine a little light and let people know that even if your not getting any better through traditional medicine, there are medical professionals who want to hear you and help heal you.
I'm also advertising a new Unground Mushroom Coffee, If a more Robust Mushroom Coffee is what you are looking for then Shitakee Coffee may be right for you!!!
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Is@@c BenJamIn
Since PhizaDerna pulled my sponsorship for the week you get to meet my Russian Reflection Ivan in the beginning of this episode and I quickly lock him back up before he gets me into Siri US trouble!!!
In this episode I share my insights and how I believe the Borrelia bacteria works inside my body. I don't only have the bacteria that causes Lyme but I also have tested positive for things like mycoplasma and Epstein Barr Virus. I don't mind being walking Petri dish but mainstream medicine isn't really equipped to help people like myself.
I highly recommend the Book Unlocking Lyme and go into the author's,Dr. Bill Rawles, theory on Stealth Microbes. I see parallels between his journey and mine since we are both medical professionals that couldn't find help from mainstream medicine.
He also groups Fibromyalgia and Lyme under the same umbrella and I give my opinion on how hypocritical Western medicine is when dealing with a Fibromyalgia patient vs a Lyme pateint.
I also give a brief history lesson on the term know as the Herx reaction and explain Syphilis and Borrelia are both spirochetes and how two dermatologist in the late 1800's treated Syphilis with Mercury. It's interesting how their research has helped people understand whats happening to them after starting antibiotics with Lyme.
Next I go into the Life cycle of Lyme and how its not beneficial for the bacteria to kill its host since it requires an infected tick to bite a host and then another tick needs to attach to the infected host before falling off and now being infected and ready to spread its Lyme Love...
I also tell a short story from the Unlocking Lyme book about a iceman that was found preserved and in his cells and joint tissue were arthritic and positive for some type of spirochete bacteria.
Spirochete bacteria are corkscrew shaped and are designed to drill and hide in tissues like the heart so its very crafty in staying hidden from Dr.'s and your immune system. I currently use low dose doxycycline daily and don't claim that that's the best solution out there but it is a workable solution for me.
It wouldn't surprise me if a lot of people that have health issues that aren't being addressed by Western medicine don't have some sort of stealth microbe or microbes that are affecting their Health and Wellbeing.
So if you or anyone you know doesn't feel Heard or Seen by the Western Medical Model, then please reach out to me at isaac@higherreflectioncoaching.com
Even if I am not the best fit for your personal Health and Wellness needs, I promise to find the right Nurse Coach for your unique needs. My personal experience with Lyme may be the support your need but if you need help in menopause or other health issues I can point you in the direction of a Nurse Coach that has extensive experience in that field. Nurse Coaching is slowly building an army and the results are speaking for themselves.
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Thanks for listening! If you enjoyed my show join above and join me on my Patreon page and help support growing this show, Thanks again,
Is@@c BenJamIn
On this episode I talk about the different treatments I have used and my understanding of how they work against Lyme disease. There's no one size fits all treatment plan that cures Lyme but I have found a few different treatments that have helped me maintain a Healthy Quality of Life that allows me to enjoy my family instead of feeling like a burden to them.
Follow me as I go over how I.V. antibiotics, the Doug Coil Rife Machine, Herbal antibiotics, Anaerobic exercise, supplements, and proper diet have all played a role in allowing me to Live with Lyme.
Also check out the latest Power couple move by Phizaderna and the FAD on the latest creation by your favorite corporate fascist...
Support the show
Thanks for listening! If you enjoyed my show join above and join me on my Patreon page and help support growing this show, Thanks again,
Is@@c BenJamIn
In this episode I give a glimpse into how I started losing my own faith in the Western Medical Model after dealing with the confusion of being diagnosed with Lyme. I share how even as a medical professional I wasn't equipped with the knowledge to be able to shake this chronic infection which wasn't even viewed as a chronic infection by the CDC when I was attacked by 3 Ticks in 2011...
I began to realize that if I didn't have a flavor of disease that mainstream medicine acknowledged, then I would have a difficult time feeling better unless I took command of the situation myself.
I briefly touch on the different healing treatment routes I used the first couple years of dealing with Lyme and I also tell you about one of the absurd things an Infectious Disease Dr. said I had to experience in order to receive IV antibiotics. Needless to say I found a medical group that is no longer open that offered IV antibiotics for cash prices and I gladly paid them to feel better.
I may be a little repetitive this episode since I recorded it unscripted but I wanted to practice telling experiences from my life to help others find Healing by just going within myself and sharing it from the Heart.
I don't claim to have any secret formula for healing Lyme but I have been able to find unconventional ways to keep myself Healthy enough to work enough hours and still have the Energy to enjoy the Time I have with my growing Family.
So join me as I Share some of my experiences within the LYME LIGHT!!!
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Is@@c BenJamIn
This is every fake commercial from my 1st 6 episodes all located on one easy to listen to episode!!!
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Thanks for listening! If you enjoyed my show join above and join me on my Patreon page and help support growing this show, Thanks again,
Is@@c BenJamIn
As a Scrub wearing RN with over 15 years in the Hospital Trenches, I've seen my fair share of Code Blues that have made me ask myself the question, "What Am I Doing Here?!? The practice of performing CPR on the elderly as the default setting, regardless of their physical condition makes me wonder, "How did we get Here?!? Or when a family has the "right" of revoking a DNR in order for a surgeon to perform a Life Resuscitating Surgery, how is this the "Right" thing to do? This and many other components of our current medical model are why I feel the need to share my experiences with You and the World.
As Time moves forward and Modern Medicine continues to evolve, we continue to figure out new and innovative ways to keep a Pulse within a Body. And unless We start having meaningful conversations about what we are actually trying to accomplish by using life prolonging technology, it will continue be used improperly on the terminal and elderly population because it sadly makes certain individuals rich...
And one of my problems with Resuscitation is that we've gotten so good at it! We can bring severe dementia patients back to life like we be handing out green 1-up mushrooms or something. Even though we avoid GameOver temporarily, we opened up a can of worms that created Nursing Homes full of agitated and medicated Zombies wondering around in Pillgatory... Which makes me ask myself, "Where do I want to End Up Dead!?!".
Basic Physics teaches that the Universe is made up of 2 things, Energy and Matter. Neither can be destroyed but both can be transformed. If your body is made up of Matter and eventually returns to dust and transforms into different forms of Matter, what then happens to the electrical Energy that lives within everyones Heart once it becomes undetectable by modern machines? It has to go somewhere, doesn't it?
So join me as I ramble for 15 minutes about my point of view on death from bedside while being sandwiched between an excerpt from the Flaming Lips track, "Do You Realize". I Hope you Enjoy!!!
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Thanks for listening! If you enjoyed my show join above and join me on my Patreon page and help support growing this show, Thanks again,
Is@@c BenJamIn
This weeks episode tells the story of my Pawpaw. He was an absolutely wonderful man that was a beacon of Joy wherever he went. And even though my family and I were convinced that he would easily make it to 100 at his 90th birthday, the decline started rapidly after he broke his hip at 94.
This is the last story detailing how losing an older loved one looks through the eyes of a Nurse that has worked in virtually every hospital department possible. The hospital is really good at solving acute problems but death isn't acute, it's inevitable. I know that I have a skewed perspective from the things I've seen in the ICU, but I believe that it is worth sharing in order to bring an understanding that there are things worse than death in this world.
Pawpaw lived his life to the fullest and even though he couldn't get his butt more than a few inches off the water, I do remember him water skiing behind a pontoon boat at the age of 70 something. He was in his mid-80s tubing in the smoky mountains before he got sucked into a hydraulic for a second or two to get out. Then he stood up and said, I'm getting too old for this. And somewhere in his late 70s or 80s he had a stroke and then got west nile virus misdiagnosed as a second stroke and survived with a feeding placed and gave him many more quality years.
But at the end he agreed to a feeding tube probably knowing that it wasn't going to solve his problems. He gave himself to the very end for the woman and children he loved dearly. I feel blessed that he was able to keep his mind for 94 years and share it with the world.
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Thanks for listening! If you enjoyed my show join above and join me on my Patreon page and help support growing this show, Thanks again,
Is@@c BenJamIn
Join me in the 3rd installment of how it looked from this Nurses ICU eyes as his grandparents exited this world. This episode features my Mawmaw and how she much like my Papa, faded off into the land of Pillgatory...
The Average Life expectancy has increased by over a decade from when I was a child but there hasn't seemed to be a correlating increase in the Quality of Life during those final years.
I aim to shine a light on what is really happening to our elderly population and how we can have meaningful conversations to have the most Enlightened Ending for you or your loved one.
So join me and I'll share some of my favorite memories of Mawmaw and follow me as I tell you the story of how my Mawmaw faded away in a Nursing home as her mind slipped away.
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Thanks for listening! If you enjoyed my show join above and join me on my Patreon page and help support growing this show, Thanks again,
Is@@c BenJamIn
This is the story of my Grandmother, Thelma Louise Smith, and how her Ending snuck up on me and my family. In the previous episode I told you about her husband and how he hung around in a land I call Pillgatory so now I'd like to share how I was able to help coordinate getting her out of the hospital so she could pass peacefully as possible at her home surrounded by loved ones.
Louise was a librarian and was definitely my "fun" grandparent. She helped formed my sense of humor and took me on cross country motorhome trips. She was a church going Methodist that loved her some X-Files and wasn't afraid to say what was on her mind.
She got a bad cold during February of 2022 and developed into pneumonia that landed her intubated in the hospital. She was a DNR and had some words to say when she was extubated but was glad to not be dead at the same time.
She began to decline again and I felt the need to go to the hospital to assess the situation with my own ICU eyes. I then tell how I was able to suggest the proper non invasive treatment to tank her up enough to allow her to make it safely home to be set up on Home Hospice.
It wasn't easy but I poured every ounce of medical knowledge and called on the advice of other medical professionals to formulate a plan to do what was right by my Grandmother!
Also listen to the post credit scene to hear about how my grandmother wanted me to dose her and Papa up with so much morphine that they could go in each others arms like in The Notebook... Spoiler Alert, I Didn't...
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Is@@c BenJamIn
This is the beginning of a 4 part series that details each of my grandparents endings. As an ICU nurse I began seeing death of the elderly population in a whole new light and dealing with my own grandparents endings has forced me to really reflect on how we are dying these days. It's not a pretty view in some of these 12 hour shifts where we as a medical team try to prevent the unpreventable. Death comes to all and we need to talk about it...
This is my story of Arthur Wilmer Smith (Wilmer to Friends and Family)
I am very passionate about shining my light on what I believe our Loved Ones deserve and that includes an Enlightened Ending to their Life Story.
One of my last meaningful conversations with Wilmer consisted of him telling me that he no longer felt like he was LIVING but rather EXISTING... This conversation probably happened 3 years before he passed but not long before he wound up in the land of Pillgatory...
More and more people are ending up in the place I have termed Pillgatory and most people can't even see it. So I feel obligated to give it my best to Save as many people from this land as possible.
Nobody wants Forced Health until they wish Death on themselves but that's the sad reality that many of our elderly Loved Ones face everyday and nobody seems to want to talk about it. So I AM gonna talk about it and your welcome to listen.
This is where I start talking about it so follow me on a journey that will hopefully make you think about where we are going and whether or not you want to end up in the land of Pillgatory...
So if you think that you can handle my Truth then I'd love for you to join me on this episode of Scrubs in the Trenches
Ode to Papa: Tougher than Nails...
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Thanks for listening! If you enjoyed my show join above and join me on my Patreon page and help support growing this show, Thanks again,
Is@@c BenJamIn
I'm going to spend this season laying out my passion for helping people feel empowered by their Medical and Personal Health choices. I became a Board Certified Nurse Coach last year and I have to admit, it's a little confusing understanding exactly what a Nurse can offer you outside the traditional medical model. I'm excited to bring some clarity on the profession of Nurse Coaching by diving into the profession of Life Coaching a little bit.
This season is going to get straight to the point and deliver you an entertaining perspective on what's really happening inside our complex medical machine. And even though I might touch on some Heavy topics such as dying, I'll always STRIVE to help you THIRVE! So give me around 10-15 minutes every week to bring some JOY into YOUR LIFE...
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Thanks for listening! If you enjoyed my show join above and join me on my Patreon page and help support growing this show, Thanks again,
Is@@c BenJamIn
I want to thank Tyler for being on the show again. He’s always a hoot and remember that this show is for entertainment purposes only so remember that nothing we say is medical advice or even advice at all. Just a couple of Murses making a podcast after working two 12 hour shifts in a row.
I’m currently in training to get board certified in Holistic Nursing and Nurse Coaching so Tyler was gracious enough to be my first practice client for my program! While we didn’t dive into the nitty gritty details of our conversations I do appreciate Tyler talking about how the process works for the show.
While we joked around, I hope that this episode will help give others an insight into what nurse coaching is. Enjoy!
Support the showThanks for listening! If you enjoyed my show please consider joining above on my Patreon page and help support growing this show, Thanks again,
Is@@c BenJamIn
I'm super excited to have long time friend Owen Hunt joining me on the show and sharing some of his insights into the coaching world. I'm currently on a journey to understand more about the profession of coaching while I myself am training to become board certified in nurse coaching and holistic nursing.
I worked with Owen after his training in becoming a Life Coach and without him your favorite podcast wouldn't be here today, wink wink. But seriously, most of us talk a big game but rarely do we actually take the steps necessary to follow our passion. Nurse Coaching can get you from where you are to where you want to be healthwise through accountability, support, and by leveraging what's really important to find personal purpose to motivate you to make better lifestyle choices.
Owen was gracious enough to allow me to be one of my practicum patients for nurse coaching. I appreciate his growth mindset and really allowing me to dive deep into the Nurse Coaching modality of healing. If you enjoy today's episode please check out Owen's Blue Collar Mystics content all overs the Internets!
Support the showThanks for listening! If you enjoyed my show please consider joining above on my Patreon page and help support growing this show, Thanks again,
Is@@c BenJamIn
In this episode I sit down with a medical professional that knows plenty of hearsay about the Canadian medical system. He was born in Canada and moved to America at a fairly young age. Francois Champagne has insight on what his family deals with inside the Canadian system and understands our own Healthcare system's advantages and disadvantages and I really appreciate him articulating his point of view.
We also discuss how our system is morphing into something it wasn't designed to be by being forced to patch up deep rooted problems instead of actually dealing with the underlying issue. He talks about his LTAC (Long Term Acute Care) experience and what kind of patients end up there. We go behind the feelings of dealing with people that end up on life support and the struggle their families deal with making the best decision for their loved one.
I also open up about what I experienced in the ICU during COVID and Francois revealed what he saw in his LTAC setting. It was nice reflect on that time with another Scrub that experienced the pandemic from within the trenches.
We also go into our biggest problem with our current system, INSURANCE!!!
Guidelines and reimbursement dictate care and it seems to be ruining our system from my point of view. Francois makes a good analogy about how the hospital bill should look more like a bill from your car mechanic. I mean were both RN's and neither one of us really understands how our billing system works.
So if any of this sounds interesting or insightful I hope you take the time to enjoy!
Support the showThanks for listening! If you enjoyed my show please consider joining above on my Patreon page and help support growing this show, Thanks again,
Is@@c BenJamIn
This episode dives into the coaching world and gives the listener an inside look into coaching.
I'm super excited to be able to sit down with my former Dermatology PA Hope Cook and discuss her career choice to cut back on PA hours and focus on working with clients as a Life Coach! It is the perfect time for me to talk about this topic since I'm currently working on my Practicum to become board certified in Nurse Coaching. I have felt really aligned with the principles presented to me thus far and it was nice to sit down with Hope and get an inside look into her journey to coaching.
I really enjoyed recording this episode and learning some coaching tools from my amazing guest who has her own Podcast, Recharting your Life with Hope!
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I had the privilege to talk to 1 of the co- founders of the Ga Overdose Prevention organization that helped form the Don’t run call 911 law that prevents legal action against someone for reporting a suspected drug overdose.
Robin also graciously shared her story about her son and how it led her to her amazing work which includes distribution of Narcan that reverses the effects of opioids.
This episode concludes my 3 part mini series on the opioid crisis. Thanks again to Barbara and Robin for opening up about their personal tragedies in order to shine a light on a problem that is affecting so many families.
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Barbara has so much Knowledge and personal experience with the opioid epidemic I had to make this into 3 part series. This episode dives deeper into how fentanyl gets to our streets and what it may look like or be disguised as.
She also talks about test strips and the pros and cons with using them and other tools that can help save a loved one if you think they have overdosed.
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I am so happy to have Barbara back on the show to help shed some light on a subject that almost everyone has dealt with in one way or another.
We discuss a wide variety of topics that include laws that protect people who report overdoses, how you can save a loved one with Narcan, and Barbara shared her daughter’s story to help others who have loved ones with problems with addiction.
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I sit down with my buddy Byron and talk about our time together in the Cath Lab, where his career is going, and a whole bunch of bleeps to cover up our shenanigans!
This is a fun episode, Enjoy….
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I sit down with RN Tyler and we share some of the experiences we have had working within the Hospital system.
Crazy things happen within hospital walls and Tyler did a great job explaining the absurdness that we bear witness to every day we show up to work.
This episode was a lot of fun to make and big Thanks to Tyler and Owen for making this episode possible💚
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I got to have a Mandate with my friend and Coworker and we talked about Mandates.
This episode was recorded in January so Covid was still a thing but fingers crossed, hopefully a Germ will never highjack our Medical Freedoms so aggressively ever again!
Moving forward with season 2 I will be interviewing other Medical Professionals and diving into how the Healthcare system really is from a Frontline perspective.
I will also be recording longer episodes and releasing a new episode on the first Wednesday of the month, Enjoy!
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Again, it seems like the aggressive vaccine status inquisition has cooled off, but this episode highlights my belief in medical freedom.
This is the last episode from my very raw season 1. Season 2 should be a bit more polished and will be focusing more on other health care professionals experiences over my own.
More details coming soon on release dates and the overall layout for Season 2!
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Australia was getting a little out of hand and started forcing unvaccinated people into literal camps.
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My thoughts on how natural immunity should eventually make COVID phase out. Recorded in November of 2021.
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This episode was recorded last year so it may not be as relevant now but some shady stuff was happening at the bedside depending upon your vaccination status at the time.
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This episode has a cameo appearance by Bootsy Greenwood and sound effects! Enjoy
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Dealing with Life and Death situations at work throughout the years has shaped how ICU flesh bags. ICU have a spark inside your Heart, ICU have a Light inside your brain, and it appears that when Love connects them, Truth unfolds in front of your very eyes…
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Using simple analogies I break down what mask are actually accomplishing. While they may not be perfect and I personally don’t believe in forcing anything onto anyone, I do believe that when cases go up in a community then mask probably will help prevent spreading to some degree.
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Some Oldies but Goodies Immune Boosting regimens that are available over the counter.
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This episode was recorded back in September of 2021 and it explains proning and how it works.
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This was recorded in August 2021 and wanted to give you a view of what a Covid RN was seeing.
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