Satan's babies, the kidney stones on both sides of my body, made themselves known last week, and that is how I ended up here on my friend's couch, instead of on the beach, packing.
Yesterday I went in for surgery so I could rid myself of them once and for all before heading off to school. Though it was a surprise that I was going to need surgery in the last two weeks before my move, somehow the schedule would have worked out if everything had gone according to plan.
But it didn't.
In the middle of my operation, when my surgeon was going to blast one of the suckers with his laser beam -- the machine refused to operate! I was brought out of surgery, only half done with the procedure and told he'd have to go back in when a new machine was found.
Today I am recovering on the couch from surgery #1 and dreading #2, which will happen next Tuesday. Morale is low and my moving plans are shot all to hell considering the schedule didn't have much play in it. When I can concentrate further, I'll be working on Plan B for getting myself to Pittsburgh on time in order to become a nurse.
Life sure does take a turn sometimes. The bright side being, this is one more experience that will give me greater insight and compassion when I begin taking care of patients.
All I can say folks is...Drink Your Water!!
Thursday, July 28, 2011
Wednesday, July 6, 2011
Last Call
Have started thinking about everything in terms of "lasts." Last 4th of July on the beach. Last time I might see that friend. Was that the last time I'm going to see my nieces and nephews? They had better not grow for the 22 months I'll be gone. Will this be the last time I get a My Pie at Katie Downs Pizza?
I'm having a strange sort of paralysis. I have less than four weeks to execute a to-do list that, when I look it over, makes me want to go back to bed. All I really want to do is wrap on a sarong, sit on my deck slathered in spf 42, and listen to the waves. I am trying to figure out how to bottle the scent of home: salty brine, cocoa butter tanning lotion, evergreens and wood smoke.
I have diagnosed myself with Premature Homesickness.
The calendar is certainly filling up. Lunches, coffees, dinners with friends. I feel like a rock band on a farewell tour! I'll have to squeeze in the packing and organizing in between these events. It doesn't help that I'm jetting off to the east coast on Monday. A quick trip to New York to see a friend, then down to Pittsburgh to attend a pre-registration thing. I'm pretty excited to get a preview of what will become my life for the next 2 years.
I dug my way through a pile of paperwork for the school yesterday. I am gratified to know how closely they look at anyone who wants to work in healthcare. Can't just swan in. They want to know if you are a felon. Or a druggie. Today I need to head to the police station to submit my prints for an FBI background check.
Great. Now I'll never be able to go on the lam!
Other than the necessary action items to make sure I actually qualify to do nursing school, I'm not really thinking much about my upcoming east coast life. I figure I'll have about 3000 miles to go over all of that in my trek across the fruited plain.
I'm going to soak up the sun and the fellowship with friends first.
I'm having a strange sort of paralysis. I have less than four weeks to execute a to-do list that, when I look it over, makes me want to go back to bed. All I really want to do is wrap on a sarong, sit on my deck slathered in spf 42, and listen to the waves. I am trying to figure out how to bottle the scent of home: salty brine, cocoa butter tanning lotion, evergreens and wood smoke.
I have diagnosed myself with Premature Homesickness.
The calendar is certainly filling up. Lunches, coffees, dinners with friends. I feel like a rock band on a farewell tour! I'll have to squeeze in the packing and organizing in between these events. It doesn't help that I'm jetting off to the east coast on Monday. A quick trip to New York to see a friend, then down to Pittsburgh to attend a pre-registration thing. I'm pretty excited to get a preview of what will become my life for the next 2 years.
I dug my way through a pile of paperwork for the school yesterday. I am gratified to know how closely they look at anyone who wants to work in healthcare. Can't just swan in. They want to know if you are a felon. Or a druggie. Today I need to head to the police station to submit my prints for an FBI background check.
Great. Now I'll never be able to go on the lam!
Other than the necessary action items to make sure I actually qualify to do nursing school, I'm not really thinking much about my upcoming east coast life. I figure I'll have about 3000 miles to go over all of that in my trek across the fruited plain.
I'm going to soak up the sun and the fellowship with friends first.
Tuesday, June 28, 2011
Sweet Relief
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!!!
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 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.
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