It's over! That long and extremely intense combined A & P class is done as of today. I never knew I could physically feel my brain become too stretched and exhausted until this class. It's been 4 days straight of intensive studying culminating in a 3 hour final this morning. Some of the students got together for lunch (and a lengthy bitch-fest) after the test. The instructor wasn't kidding when he said that comprehensive exam was going to be rough. I wanted to bang my head against the desk through most of it. Thankfully he ran the grades right after. I am happy to report an A in 241, and an A- in 242.
Some have said that this class is just a precursor of how rigorous the nursing classes are going to be. I must say I go a little limp at that thought but then I remind myself that its only a 22-month program. AND it will begin after a lengthy 8 week break (starting today!!!) I can do it. Wish I was going to be able to do it close to home surrounded by friends and family, but maybe its better to be away where I can focus. I do hate to miss out on any goings-on around here. The many breaks throughout the year will allow me to travel home and reconnect during times when I won't be loaded down with stress.
8 weeks seems like a lot of time off. Remember summers as a kid? They seemed to stretch into eternity and by the end all I could do was look forward to school starting with excitement. Silly kid. :) Now I look at my calendar and gasp at how short a time that really is to pack up and move out of my house, get it ready to rent, get my son ready for college AND myself. AND move across country! (The list is really much much longer, but I won't bore you...)
On the very top of the list is scheduled time with close friends and family, and hopefully some long leisurely days on my beach.
SCHOOL'S OUT...SUMMER TIME!!!
Tuesday, June 28, 2011
Tuesday, June 21, 2011
Good Riddance
In the final week of my A & P class, I FINALLY was able to be seen for those pesky kidney stones that happened during the first week of class! After an ultrasound today I learned that one of my satan's babies is no more, having wandered out of my body in tiny enough bits that I never felt a thing. It may have been the tanker-load of fluids I've been downing, and quite a bit of help from above. (Thank you GOD!) Still have one hanging out in my right kidney, but it may decide to hang wallpaper and stay a while. I don't really care, since they called it "non-occluding," meaning it isn't blocking anything. And it doesn't seem to be kicking up a fuss. Fine by me. Plus, if it should make an appearance at some future date...hello, I'll be living the next 2 years in a magnet hospital!
How strange that I studied the urinary system and kidney anatomy just last week, watched as my instructor dissected down into the cadaver to reveal the kidney in place and then today I got to see my whole entire system on the ultrasound. I got to watch the blood flowing *cue rote memorization* in from the renal artery, through the renal medulla, pushing through those tiny nephrons to be filtered and back out again with every heart beat. I actually saw the ureter jets propelling fluid into the bladder.
In my former life, I doubt I would have even bothered to look at the screen during the test. But today I was a bit transfixed by it all. Sad that I'm my own guinea pig, but weirdly pleased that it all came together this way to reinforce my interest in all things medical these days. And...bonus, I came out with 2 working kidneys to boot.
It's nice to know I won't be requiring surgery in these five weeks of summer left on the beach before the big move across the country.
How strange that I studied the urinary system and kidney anatomy just last week, watched as my instructor dissected down into the cadaver to reveal the kidney in place and then today I got to see my whole entire system on the ultrasound. I got to watch the blood flowing *cue rote memorization* in from the renal artery, through the renal medulla, pushing through those tiny nephrons to be filtered and back out again with every heart beat. I actually saw the ureter jets propelling fluid into the bladder.
In my former life, I doubt I would have even bothered to look at the screen during the test. But today I was a bit transfixed by it all. Sad that I'm my own guinea pig, but weirdly pleased that it all came together this way to reinforce my interest in all things medical these days. And...bonus, I came out with 2 working kidneys to boot.
It's nice to know I won't be requiring surgery in these five weeks of summer left on the beach before the big move across the country.
Monday, June 13, 2011
Turning Point
There are only a handful of days I call "Turning Point Days," that happen in life. Days you can point to that really changed everything that happened next. A wedding day. The birth of a child. Leaving a job.
Today is one of those days.
I have been waiting to hear if I am accepted into a nursing school back east and today, while I was in lab getting ready to do a pluck dissection (everything that fills the thoracic cavity: trachea, heart, lungs) my phone rang. Seeing the area code, I ran out into the hall to answer the call. It was the recruiter for the school with the good news that I will be joining their fall 2011 cohort! I think she was as excited to tell me as I was to hear the news (since she usually sends an acceptance letter, but made an exception this once since I'll only have a short time to get my life out west sorted out.) I giddily floated back into class and was congratulated by my A & P prof and fellow classmates.
I thought it would be difficult to focus on the lab, but I have to say they saved the best for last. This is our final dissection, and I found it the most interesting (other than the cadaver.) We got to feed an air hose into the trachea of a fresh set of calf lungs and actually re-inflate them. They blew right up like lung-shaped balloons and turned a pretty shade of light pink. It was really incredible to hold them and feel what they were like empty and full. Then we got to cut away the heart from the rest of the pluck and actually dissect down until we could see through the valves and into the chambers. We had to fill them with water and compress the heart to watch the action of the valves opening and closing. Without question, the hands-on experience of the labs in A & P are SO reinforcing in terms of bringing it all together. Just studying photos and diagrams wouldn't be the same at all.
And speaking of the cadaver -- I wasn't as brave as I wanted to be, but I didn't disgrace myself either. I double-gloved as if I might dig in and root around...but when it actually came time, I stood by and watched others. It wasn't so much the gore that bothered me, but rather the chemical smell they use to preserve the body. It was strong enough that I got a bit green around the gills. Standing next to him was the best I could do. I think if we had had several chances to work with him, I would have become accustomed to it and may have laid hands on eventually. It was rather fascinating to wonder what killed him. He still had a central line attached, and his heart looked about 2 times normal size. Most of his ribs were broken, indicating they had done CPR on him. Heart event?
Tonight I need to study for the last big exam we have before going into finals in a couple of weeks. This test is going to be a doozy, and yet I am fairly distracted with all of the details now that I know I'll be moving. I am going to TRY and put it aside until after the test tomorrow. After that I'll think about:
- planning out the budget
- renting out the house
- packing up the stuff
- servicing the truck
- getting son off to college
- enjoying the weeks of summer left here on the beach
- what the uniforms look like for nursing students
- what my dorm looks like
- where my neighborhood will be
etc...
Onward!
Monday, May 16, 2011
Blogcrastination
I made up a new word for tonight's blog title. I have hit a studying funk in the lead up to the 2nd part of our finals for the first half of our anatomy class. I aced the lab final which was all labeling. Tomorrow's is the physiology final...and that stuff is tricky. Still, I can't seem to get my head in the game today.
Maybe because today I heard back from that college I applied to out east and I'm moving further into the application process. They asked me for an interview. Which makes everything so much more real. When I looked under every nook and cranny out here in my area for a place to start nursing school and discovered there were no more seats available for fall, I began to broaden my search. This school has 2 open seats for fall, so I pulled my package together and applied.
If I am accepted I'll be faced with a tough decision.
a) Go!
b) Don't go.
One would immediately think option A. For a woman living on rapidly dwindling funds, it makes sense to get in and get out and get working as fast as possible. Leave home, family, friends, church and just buckle down and plow through a program. (Plus I used to live on the east coast, and love it.)
Option B, not going, means a certain delay before I can even apply to be accepted locally for winter quarter -- and with their lottery selection process, it's a 1 out of 20 chance they'll take me. I could easily be waiting a full year or more to start if I stay in town. (And during that delay, all of my hard-won science knowledge might dribble out of my head.) Still, I wouldn't abandon the kid, who will be attending college locally and could conceivably be home for sunday dinners, laundry, church. Friends and family would still be accessible. But if I stay I'll run out of money and that will be a huge bummer.
Choices...choices. Wait, what's that saying about not counting chickens before they hatch?
___
Random observation sidebar:
I see anatomy whenever I eat food. It's a bit gross. String cheese has been my favorite snack but now its the spinal chord with the white matter fibers running vertically up and down. Vanilla yogurt isn't very far from brain tissue. Never knew how delicate that was until this class. The roast I made today, I noticed the bundles of fasicles all held together with their respective connective tissues. Had to do a little dissection before it went in the pot. I was momentarily grossed out but recovered when it slow cooked all day and filled the house with aroma.
___
Alright...bombing tomorrow's test would put a huge cramp in my style. I should get back to the books...
Night!
Maybe because today I heard back from that college I applied to out east and I'm moving further into the application process. They asked me for an interview. Which makes everything so much more real. When I looked under every nook and cranny out here in my area for a place to start nursing school and discovered there were no more seats available for fall, I began to broaden my search. This school has 2 open seats for fall, so I pulled my package together and applied.
If I am accepted I'll be faced with a tough decision.
a) Go!
b) Don't go.
One would immediately think option A. For a woman living on rapidly dwindling funds, it makes sense to get in and get out and get working as fast as possible. Leave home, family, friends, church and just buckle down and plow through a program. (Plus I used to live on the east coast, and love it.)
Option B, not going, means a certain delay before I can even apply to be accepted locally for winter quarter -- and with their lottery selection process, it's a 1 out of 20 chance they'll take me. I could easily be waiting a full year or more to start if I stay in town. (And during that delay, all of my hard-won science knowledge might dribble out of my head.) Still, I wouldn't abandon the kid, who will be attending college locally and could conceivably be home for sunday dinners, laundry, church. Friends and family would still be accessible. But if I stay I'll run out of money and that will be a huge bummer.
Choices...choices. Wait, what's that saying about not counting chickens before they hatch?
___
Random observation sidebar:
I see anatomy whenever I eat food. It's a bit gross. String cheese has been my favorite snack but now its the spinal chord with the white matter fibers running vertically up and down. Vanilla yogurt isn't very far from brain tissue. Never knew how delicate that was until this class. The roast I made today, I noticed the bundles of fasicles all held together with their respective connective tissues. Had to do a little dissection before it went in the pot. I was momentarily grossed out but recovered when it slow cooked all day and filled the house with aroma.
___
Alright...bombing tomorrow's test would put a huge cramp in my style. I should get back to the books...
Night!
Sunday, May 8, 2011
Taking a Break to Whine
The lab final for Anatomy 1 is tomorrow. That's all the labeling of all the parts: bones, tissues, nerves, muscles, joints, body movements, eyes, ears... Actually writing the list gives me a bit of anxiety. Anxious why? Well, because no matter how well one has done throughout the class, getting less than 75% tomorrow means an automatic FAIL!
No pressure.
I mean, I just need the class to get into nursing school. That's all.
It's also Mother's Day. I'm a mother who has a cool kid. My 18 year old boy had a big breakfast with me this morning and gave me a lovely planter that he planted up with his choice of flowers. It's now my job not to kill them. Historically speaking, I have kept alive all 2 and 4 legged creatures. All botanical life forms have perished under my care. Which is why I live on a beach...no lawn! Still, very motivated to try this green thumb thing again, for his sake.
Oh...and an update on that TEAS V exam I took last week. As it turns out, I didn't study after all. Was too wiped out. I took the test and obtained an 80% overall score! The national average is 64%. So I'm pretty darned pleased about that. Should look good on the applications...
Well, I could likely procrastinate and think up many more things to write about. Instead, I think I'll study.
No pressure.
I mean, I just need the class to get into nursing school. That's all.
It's also Mother's Day. I'm a mother who has a cool kid. My 18 year old boy had a big breakfast with me this morning and gave me a lovely planter that he planted up with his choice of flowers. It's now my job not to kill them. Historically speaking, I have kept alive all 2 and 4 legged creatures. All botanical life forms have perished under my care. Which is why I live on a beach...no lawn! Still, very motivated to try this green thumb thing again, for his sake.
Oh...and an update on that TEAS V exam I took last week. As it turns out, I didn't study after all. Was too wiped out. I took the test and obtained an 80% overall score! The national average is 64%. So I'm pretty darned pleased about that. Should look good on the applications...
Well, I could likely procrastinate and think up many more things to write about. Instead, I think I'll study.
Thursday, April 28, 2011
Massage...A&P Style
Went into an anatomy quiz this morning all frazzled because I waited until basically the last minute to start studying for it. Started yesterday at 4:00 pm and went until midnight -- which is nothing. I went in feeling the least prepared I have so far. Still I only got 1 question wrong. Shazam! I am realizing I have a talent for quick-aborption-and-regurgitation of material, which is no comfort really, since I must find a way to get it all to sink in. Permanently. Then after only four hours of sleep (the kid had to rise early for rowing practice) and then a quiz, we rolled into a mind-numbing 4 hours of lecture on nerves and action potential. (Now I know it's my least favorite part of A&P, at least so far.) So, after all that I was totally fried, and it was only noon.
I also have a talent for indulging in self-care. I marched right over to treat myself to a gourmet 3-course meal at the culinary school. Seven bucks! You can't even get fed at Applebee's for less! Then, since I was on a roll...I then signed up for a massage at the student clinic on campus. I'm going to have to fold that into my regular routine! It wasn't great, but it was better than...any day without a massage!
Trouble was...and I hope this symptom goes away -- I found myself doing a running commentary in my head while they worked on me; naming all the muscles and bones along the way! I seriously couldn't seem to shut it off and just have a little doze. LAME! Maybe next time I'm going to have to ask the student-masseuse to chat with me the whole time, as a distraction?
It's dinner time now, and all I want to do is take a bath and continue reading Atlas Shrugged for the first time. Then I want to head to bed early. The problem with that is I just scheduled yesterday to take the 4-hour TEAS V exam tomorrow morning! (The school I'm applying to out east needs it a.s.a.p.) I've been reading on the blogs that folks study for weeks for this thing, but I can't seem to muster up much interest in another cram session tonight. I realize this might be a critical error, but I think I'm going in cold tomorrow, and if it has to be my "practice round," so be it.
So bath. Book. Then BED!
(Who are we kidding, I'll take the damned study guide to bed with me...)
[Growl.]
PS: No news on the kidney stone, whom I've dubbed "satan's baby."
I also have a talent for indulging in self-care. I marched right over to treat myself to a gourmet 3-course meal at the culinary school. Seven bucks! You can't even get fed at Applebee's for less! Then, since I was on a roll...I then signed up for a massage at the student clinic on campus. I'm going to have to fold that into my regular routine! It wasn't great, but it was better than...any day without a massage!
Trouble was...and I hope this symptom goes away -- I found myself doing a running commentary in my head while they worked on me; naming all the muscles and bones along the way! I seriously couldn't seem to shut it off and just have a little doze. LAME! Maybe next time I'm going to have to ask the student-masseuse to chat with me the whole time, as a distraction?
It's dinner time now, and all I want to do is take a bath and continue reading Atlas Shrugged for the first time. Then I want to head to bed early. The problem with that is I just scheduled yesterday to take the 4-hour TEAS V exam tomorrow morning! (The school I'm applying to out east needs it a.s.a.p.) I've been reading on the blogs that folks study for weeks for this thing, but I can't seem to muster up much interest in another cram session tonight. I realize this might be a critical error, but I think I'm going in cold tomorrow, and if it has to be my "practice round," so be it.
So bath. Book. Then BED!
(Who are we kidding, I'll take the damned study guide to bed with me...)
[Growl.]
PS: No news on the kidney stone, whom I've dubbed "satan's baby."
Saturday, April 16, 2011
A New Twist in the Storyline
Spring quarter started off well. Did a dry-run commute to my new campus the week before classes began. Found the building. Purchased the books. Even caught up on a hundred loads of laundry. I was tired of leisure after spring break (if that's even possible) and ready to get started on what is going to be a very challenging term. I'm taking both Anatomy & Physiology I & II in a combined, ten-credit class which is only offered at another school, and the reason that I will be a commuter for the next 12 weeks. The only other class I'm in is an online Psych 200. I figured I'd burn my last "easy class" this quarter in order to give me the best chance of success in A&P.
So...prepared? Yep.
Like the teacher? Yes. (Awesome!)
Working my butt off? You bet. But seeing great results so far and feeling ahead of the game going into our 2nd week of class. I even decided to sing in the big Easter choir performance at church, even though rehearsals were going to take a bit of time.
So far so good. (If a sound-track were playing, ominous strings would begin now...)
Then yesterday I woke up moaning and writhing in agony and spent the day in the ER. (Not working on the paper that was due, or reading the 4 chapters I need to, or studying for the first big exam next week...or doing my taxes.)
So this quarter's surprise plot twist is...kidney stones!
Lovely.
On my left (and the reason for yesterday's little side-trip) is a whopping 4 x 6 mm stone which passed from my kidney to prepare for it's painful journey out of my body. And on my right, another similar stone is just hanging out in the kidney and could make itself known at any future point in time.
I actually did a little amateur diagnosing yesterday morning between groans -- seeing as I'm developing a rudimentary working-knowledge of anatomy. Not my stomach. Not my liver. Not the lady parts. Left side. Sudden onset of excruciating pain. And seeing as I am usually running a quart low in a perpetual state of dehydration, I suspected kidney stones. (Especially since mom had 'em too.) I am a terrible drinker. (Of water!)
So the nice doctor told me he had been told by former women patients, that passing kidney stones has been labeled worse than the pain of child birth. To this I smirked -- they must have been sissies, since it's likely their babies arrived in the usual amount of time, in the proper presentation. Not ear-first and face up after 36 hours of labor, like my child. (For which he is still grounded...) Plus, I've had my share of pain since then, which I wouldn't care to revisit, and which already beat my pretty good "horrible birth story." So I scoffed and went over with him the kind of narcotic pain meds I am sadly accustomed to taking at this point in my life. (After showing him my scars...the doc took my word for it.)
So yesterday afternoon I had a bit of a chip on my shoulder thinking -- I'm gonna beat this, no problem. Granted, I may have been more delusional than normal since I was high on Dilaudid.
Have you ever Googled "kidney stones?"
Don't do it...especially when you've got a couple just hanging out in your innards waiting to pounce.
The chip on my shoulder has melted.
They look like 3D throwing stars. Or those jax we used to play with. Something you wouldn't want to step on in the dark with bare feet.
It's just a waiting game now. The doc said it could be days or weeks. With pain that cycles from mild to...yikes!
Morale is low today.
I'm back home guzzling gallons of water. Peeing like a race horse and hoping this thing resolves as quickly as possible. I am like a watched pot that won't boil. I get nervous at any twinge that signals the return of the knife-like pain of yesterday. I am basically gearing up for a battle of unknown duration.
I started laughing hysterically this morning at this set-back. Another one, of many that have hit like little road-side bombs since I started this journey. Some just nuisance firecrackers. Others leaving big craters. That's when it felt like my life is like a reality show, and that the producers must get easily bored with the storyline. I guess the original premise for my "show" isn't enough -- that I left a great job, in the middle of my son's senior year to live off meager savings and pitifully small student loans to retrain into a science-based career, single and at the age of 40.
Nope. Those producers and writers of my plot-line must be gunning for ratings, because since this show started we've had a cancer-scare, weeks of pneumonia, scary financial twists, several car accidents and now the kidney stones. It makes me a little skittish to think of what could possibly happen next to make this series a little more interesting.
I imagine the director of this show saying something like this to me:
"Okay, you're pulling an all-nighter. The third in a row. Yeah...wait! Now try doing it with a rib-breaking cough! Better!"
"Okay, you're driving to school in rush hour traffic. Late for a test...yeah. No, that's boring. Try doing it with ice-picks dragging through your guts....Grrrrrreat!!!"
What will they think of next...?
Stay tuned!
So...prepared? Yep.
Like the teacher? Yes. (Awesome!)
Working my butt off? You bet. But seeing great results so far and feeling ahead of the game going into our 2nd week of class. I even decided to sing in the big Easter choir performance at church, even though rehearsals were going to take a bit of time.
So far so good. (If a sound-track were playing, ominous strings would begin now...)
Then yesterday I woke up moaning and writhing in agony and spent the day in the ER. (Not working on the paper that was due, or reading the 4 chapters I need to, or studying for the first big exam next week...or doing my taxes.)
So this quarter's surprise plot twist is...kidney stones!
Lovely.
On my left (and the reason for yesterday's little side-trip) is a whopping 4 x 6 mm stone which passed from my kidney to prepare for it's painful journey out of my body. And on my right, another similar stone is just hanging out in the kidney and could make itself known at any future point in time.
I actually did a little amateur diagnosing yesterday morning between groans -- seeing as I'm developing a rudimentary working-knowledge of anatomy. Not my stomach. Not my liver. Not the lady parts. Left side. Sudden onset of excruciating pain. And seeing as I am usually running a quart low in a perpetual state of dehydration, I suspected kidney stones. (Especially since mom had 'em too.) I am a terrible drinker. (Of water!)
So the nice doctor told me he had been told by former women patients, that passing kidney stones has been labeled worse than the pain of child birth. To this I smirked -- they must have been sissies, since it's likely their babies arrived in the usual amount of time, in the proper presentation. Not ear-first and face up after 36 hours of labor, like my child. (For which he is still grounded...) Plus, I've had my share of pain since then, which I wouldn't care to revisit, and which already beat my pretty good "horrible birth story." So I scoffed and went over with him the kind of narcotic pain meds I am sadly accustomed to taking at this point in my life. (After showing him my scars...the doc took my word for it.)
So yesterday afternoon I had a bit of a chip on my shoulder thinking -- I'm gonna beat this, no problem. Granted, I may have been more delusional than normal since I was high on Dilaudid.
Have you ever Googled "kidney stones?"
Don't do it...especially when you've got a couple just hanging out in your innards waiting to pounce.
The chip on my shoulder has melted.
They look like 3D throwing stars. Or those jax we used to play with. Something you wouldn't want to step on in the dark with bare feet.
It's just a waiting game now. The doc said it could be days or weeks. With pain that cycles from mild to...yikes!
Morale is low today.
I'm back home guzzling gallons of water. Peeing like a race horse and hoping this thing resolves as quickly as possible. I am like a watched pot that won't boil. I get nervous at any twinge that signals the return of the knife-like pain of yesterday. I am basically gearing up for a battle of unknown duration.
I started laughing hysterically this morning at this set-back. Another one, of many that have hit like little road-side bombs since I started this journey. Some just nuisance firecrackers. Others leaving big craters. That's when it felt like my life is like a reality show, and that the producers must get easily bored with the storyline. I guess the original premise for my "show" isn't enough -- that I left a great job, in the middle of my son's senior year to live off meager savings and pitifully small student loans to retrain into a science-based career, single and at the age of 40.
Nope. Those producers and writers of my plot-line must be gunning for ratings, because since this show started we've had a cancer-scare, weeks of pneumonia, scary financial twists, several car accidents and now the kidney stones. It makes me a little skittish to think of what could possibly happen next to make this series a little more interesting.
I imagine the director of this show saying something like this to me:
"Okay, you're pulling an all-nighter. The third in a row. Yeah...wait! Now try doing it with a rib-breaking cough! Better!"
"Okay, you're driving to school in rush hour traffic. Late for a test...yeah. No, that's boring. Try doing it with ice-picks dragging through your guts....Grrrrrreat!!!"
What will they think of next...?
Stay tuned!
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