Goodbye 2006, Hello 2007!

Wow, can you believe a whole year has flown by us like a blink of the eye?

I made it home safely from my Christmas travels. We had a great time, but it is sure good to be home. I've been busy at home today. I got everything unpacked, and started working on getting everything sorted and ready for next semester.

I'm not doing much tonight. I made spaghetti and garlic toast. It was delicious. I also started a fire in my fireplace. I'm just sitting here enjoying the 6th season of ER. It was one of my Christmas presents. Today and tomorrow will probably be the only days I have a chance to watch it for awhile. I work 9 days in the next two weeks from the 2nd to the 15th. Should prove to be interesting. I need the money and the time at work, but the time off has sure been nice.

I've set a few goals for myself this year, but I'm not going to share them here. I've got less than a year left until I graduate from nursing school. That is my biggest goal for the year ~ survive nursing school and pass the NCLEX.

I wish you all a very happy and prosperous new year. I know I'm looking forward to things 2007 has to bring. Hopefully most of it will be good. But whatever may come, be it good or bad, may you and I make the best of it. Until next year! cj

Hail, hail, the gang's all here. . .

Thought you might like to see a pic of the entire gang. I'll be posting more pics when I get home, but I didn't bring my USB cord, and you know how picky the makers of cameras and such are. Hope everyone had a great Christmas. We ate too much and laughed a lot. It was grand fun!! Enjoy the pics. . . cj

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays

Just a quick post to wish everyone a very Merry Christmas. We did our Christmas presents last night (as per family tradition) because my brother's birthday is today. You see, this time of year is very busy for my family. My parents were married on the 22nd, and I was born on the 23rd (2 years later). We have Christmas on the 24th, and then my brother's birthday. It was a wonderful Christmas, as we were all together again (the first time since Easter of 04). It's going to be kinda laid back the rest of the time. I think we have a movie planned for later today, then my brother leaves tomorrow. The rest of us don't leave til Saturday. I hope the rest of you have had a wonderful day!! Enjoy your season, cj

I made it

Just wanted all my blogger friends to know that I made it to my folks safely. My plane was delayed a bit, but we arrived and that's all that matters. However, if I can help it, I would prefer not to fly when there are two low pressure systems pressing up against each other. It causes a great deal of turbulence and me to get airsick. Now, I knew I had a problem with motion sickness, but I have NEVER gotten literally sick on a plane. I guess there's a first time for everything. I was never so happy to be on the ground as I was yesterday. Oh well. It took me sleeping all night and well into this morning to get over the icky feeling, but I'm well rested today and ready to have some fun with my family. Everyone else gets here Friday and Saturday, so much fun is yet to be had!! I will be touching base soon!! Thanks for reading, cj

Busy, busy, busy

Well, I successfully completed my three days at work. I have to go back today at 3:00 until 7:00, but it shouldn't be too bad. At least I know I will have a little bit of money waiting for me when I get home. It was tough getting back into the routine, but I managed, only to get out of it again!! I'm busy packing, cleaning, and doing laundry (all those things you have to do before you embark on a massive trip). For some reason, my suitcase doesn't want to pack itself. I keep hoping that I'll go into my bedroom and all the clothes I've put on the bed will magically be folded and put away neatly in the suitcase. I'm really hoping that I can manage with the 2 bag limit. Sweaters are big and take up a lot of precious space. Oh well, I must get back to folding and such, since there are no elves in my home. (Unless, of course, you want to volunteer to pack for me while I lounge on the couch and catch a quick nap!!) Have a great day. I'll be posting while I'm out of town. Ahhhh, the glory of the internet ~ and wireless access on the laptop!! Take care, cj

Not too happy . . .

I finished the semester with a 3.0. One C and two A's. I know that's not bad, but that's not what I'm upset about. You see, among the few that my class is at risk for losing, is one of my best friends and study partners in the class. I can't tell you for sure how many we lost to grades, but I know of one for sure. I'm crushed. I only have one other person in class that I trust with my life. I have some friends, don't get me wrong, but not like that. I've been almost sick about it most of the day. What is my last year going to be like with that? I know I'll make, I'm not worried about that. It would just be so much easier with someone you really trust and get along with and study well with. I have to work all weekend, so probably won't be around much. I'll stop in when I can, cj

I'm half a nurse

Ok, so finals are over, I still don't know all my grades, but I know that I passed. I should know my final grades tomorrow or Monday at the latest. It's been a rough week for several of my classmates. There are several that are on the line and their wait is much worse than mine. I'm not sure how many we are going to lose due to grades, but I hope that it's not too many. We've developed friendships and it's hard to see those change.

I have one more day off this week before I head off to work. I have an action packed day planned. Pinning for the 4th semester students and lots and lots of cleaning and organizing should be taking place. I work Saturday, Sunday, and Monday. Then Tuesday, I pack for my trip for Christmas. I'm looking forward to having some time off. As soon as I get back, it's back to the grindstone with work.

3rd semester sounds so much less stressful right now. For starters, we are done with skills lab. That gives us an entire extra day of the week to study, work, or do with as we see fit. I am taking the opportunity to go part-time at the hospital. I have my pediatric and OB rotation next semester. It should be good. I'm really looking forward to it.

But, first things first. I have four weeks of no classes and I am half-way done with nursing school. Good luck to the rest of my fellow nursing students who still have finals to take. I'll be in touch throughout my break!! cj

One down, two to go

Well, I'm officially finished with 2nd semester theory. I pulled an 82 off, which is quite shy of the 91 I needed for my B. I'm ok with it. I did the best I could. I have to retake the ATI test tomorrow and hopefully get at least 82 on that, and then my lab final on Thursday.

This afternoon is being spent relaxing with Jen at her house. I needed to run away from home for a bit. I've been sick all weekend at home, that it was time to be sick somewhere else. Oh, yeah, that's the other thing, I woke up without a voice today. Gotta love it. I'm just glad our final wasn't a verbal one. I don't have to go to work until Saturday, so hopefully I'll be all better by then.

That's all the news for now ~ until later, cj

Notice my counter?

I'm taking a quick break from studying and just realized that my counter says "12 months"!! WOO HOO!! It's officially 369 days, but I'll take 12 months! Only a year left of nursing school. Finals, care plans, clinicals, paperwork, etc. I know that working as a nurse will entail paperwork and such, but at least I'll feel like it has a purpose (other than to give me a grade!!) Ok, I'm back to the books. Have to pass the final, have to pass the final, have to pass the . . .

Slowly getting through

Today was a semi-successful day. I passed my final scenario of the semester. It was on trach care. After scenario, we had to take ATI testing. We had to pass psych at 82% in order not to remediate. Well, leave it to me, I came in at 81.7%. Oh well, I have a horrendous cold starting, so I wasn't all there. I'm going back to my couch and resting some more. I have to get over this cold before Monday. Lots of studying to do this weekend. Later ~ cj

BRRRRRRRRR

Ok, so I've been gone for a little while. It has been an eventful few days (as well as cold ~ in Texas standards). I worked Friday (it's always chaotic there!!) And then somehow managed to spill my freshly boiled hot tea all over me. I have two second degree burns on my abdomen and a first degree burn on my right thigh. (Sorry, Mom, for giving you a heart attack by calling you all freaked out). I don't know if this has ever happened to you or not, but when you do something to hurt yourself in some way, you react instictively at first and get the pain down somewhat and then lose all practical sense. I did ~ I called my mom, who lives many, many states away trying to get my bearing straight again. Her first question was what do you do for burns? I told her that we haven't covered them yet. Then she wanted me to call 911. I didn't think it was serious enough to do that. Finally, she suggested I call one of my classmates. I happen to have one who lives close whose husband is an EMT. She was here within 10 minutes. Enough of my sob story. I'm much better now. The bad ones on my abdomen are slowly healing. I got an RX for silvadene and am keeping them dressed while I'm out and about.

Saturday mid-morning was spent in the lab practing for my final scenario ~ trach care. I came home and napped, then had to work on my Psych Major Care Plan that was due today. I got it finished around 9 and headed off to bed.

Worked Sunday. It was rather interesting given my leg was wrapped and I had a dressing on my abdomen. Have you ever tried to empty a foley without bending over? You ought to try ~ it's not easy. Every time I tried to bed over my two burns on my abdomen would rub together (OUCH!!). I made it until 3:00 when I was pulled to the desk to be unit secretary for the rest of the shift. I was very thankful to be off the floor for a while.

Today I had the last theory lecture class of 2nd semester. It was long and tiring, but we made it through. I finished my paperwork for psych after class and am ready for my court experience tomorrow. Should prove interesting. Wednesday is back to med-surg for one day before the semester is over. Thursday is the last scenario and ATI testing. Monday is my theory final, and then the following Thursday is my lab final. I think I can, I think I can, I think I can.

If you don't hear much from me, you know why. I will get back into blogging after finals. I have to focus. I found out today that I have to make a 93 on my theory final in order to pull a B in theory. I don't know that it will happen. That means I can only miss 7 questions. I think I can, I think I can, I think I can. Gotta hit the books. Until later ~ cj

Dr. Bailey is BACK!!

I love it!! The opening scene with Dr. Bailey and the interns was classic Dr. Bailey!! And what's up with George? Since this mess with Dr. Torres and his dad, he has turned into a total jerk. I want the old George back. I miss the old George. And the whole conjoined twins surgery was incredible! I know we're talking drama here, but I love it. As if I don't have enough drama in my life, I have to escape to Seattle Grace once a week. The whole family theme was awesome. Meredith helping her step-sister deliver her child. George's dad and all his family. The scene at the end with Meredith telling Christina that she is her sister and all she has followed by the scene with her mother ~ incredible. I love Grey's. Is January here yet? I can't believe I have to wait four weeks for another new episode. I'm off to bed ~ have to work early, and it's freezing with icy roads.

Let it rain, let it sleet, let it snow.

Welcome to north Texas. Yesterday the high was almost 80. Today our high was early this morning at 34 degrees. It is now in the upper 20s and sleeting like crazy. Class was not cancelled today, which isn't necessarily a problem for me, since I live less than a mile from the school and the roads hadn't started freezing yet, so most of my classmates were ok, too. Around 11, things started getting bad. The temps were continuing to drop and the sleet was really starting to come. I really am thankful to live so close to school. They didn't close campus until 3, so we had to stay for class until 1.

I'm staying inside where it's nice and warm. I'm getting ready to start a fire in my fireplace for the first time this season. I made a nice pot of tortilla soup that is delicious. I'm looking forward to a relaxing day at home. Oh wait, I have a TON of psych paperwork to do. I guess it won't be so relaxing after all. I'm going to do that paperwork and then relax.

If this cold front hit you, I hope you stay safe and warm. Have a great afternoon.

Running behind

Let me start by apologizing for being absent for a few days. I've been kind of busy with work and school. I will update you subject by subject starting with the one dearest to my heart!

Derby update
All is well in land of Derby. He is finally responding more actively when I remove his igloo from the cage. He is eating and drinking well and not sleeping near as much. It has been wonderful to watch him recover so quickly. He loves his antibiotic, so there is no fight trying to get him to take it! That makes my life so much easier.

School update
Things with school have been absolutely crazy over the last few days. I wasn't able to get as much school work done over the break as I had hoped, but I'm not behind. I'm right on schedule. I prefer to be ahead, but such is life in the real world. I only have one more lecture day left. I can't believe it. This semester has just flown by!! I finished my psych clinicals today. It was a good day to end on. Had a classic manic patient. It was interesting to watch. All in all, school is going pretty good. I'm just ready for this semester to be over. I'm ready for this break.

Work update
I worked Saturday and Sunday. It wasn't too bad this weekend. I was able to give the kind of patient care that I like to be able to give. I had one of my favorite patients in the hospital again. I hate seeing the same faces over and over again, but there are some that really bring joy into my life. Sunday, I had a minor incident while I was giving a bed bath to a patient in the afternoon. I was done with the bath and just needed to finish changing the sheets. This particular patient had SCD's on and the machine was on the end of the bed. As I was walking around the end of the bed, the SCD machine fell onto my left foot. It hurt really bad, but I checked to make sure that nothing was wrong. I elevated it for a few minutes and put some ice on it. And then hobbled through the rest of my shift. All is well now. I just have an ugly bruise on the 2nd toe of my left foot.
I also sat down and talked with my boss on Monday afternoon about my status. After the first of the year, I will go part-time at the hospital instead of PRN. I will start getting PTO and EIB time, as well as qualify for health benefits. I need all of that, and will also have more time to work. It was a good conversation.

Life update
Not much else is going on around here. I'm really just trying to maintain my sanity. It seems that no matter how hard I try, my house stays in disarray. It has taken a back seat to all my other priorities in life right now. At least I have the pleasure of living alone and being the only one who has to deal with my mess. When it starts to annoy me, I clean up. That's all there is to it.

Well, I guess I've taken enough of your time tonight. Thanks for reading. I'll try to be better at posting, but won't promise anything since finals are creeping up very quickly. Until later ~ cj

Cleaning and studying

I made it home safely and much faster yesterday evening. I got home in time to watch Grey's. What an episode. I sat here in shock most of the night. Lots of lessons can be taken from last nights episode. I think the biggest one I got was ~ no matter what the consequences may be, if you have made a medical mistake, be sure to report it. Don't let things get out of hand. Christina and Burke let things go WAY to far. Know, Burke probably won't get to be Chief because of it. (just my speculation). Anyways, enough of that. I could go on and on.

Thanksgiving day was nice. There was a total of 20 at my grandparents house. Most of them I haven't seen for a year. Some were cousins of my dad who I don't ever remember meeting. We had lots of good food, and lots of good visiting.

I got up this morning and picked up Derby from Holly's. He looks so much better. He was squealing his normal Derby squeals while I was petting him and nibbling at my finger like it was a carrot. He has eaten well for Holly and is slowly getting his energy back. I have to continue his antibiotics for a total of two weeks and I will probably continue to feed him by syringe when I am home. He really likes the baby carrots (go figure). He's eaten some of the pears. I'm going to try to find some others that he may eat. I've got to get him back to drinking from his water bottle, though. We'll see how it all pans out.

I've rearranged a little bit to move him away from the draft of the door. It's required much cleaning. Since I was in the cleaning mode, I kept going. My bathroom got an overhaul today, as well as my bedroom. It's been awhile since I've done real deep cleaning, so I figure it's time. I'm just about done in the bedroom and then need to get a little more done in the living room. Mostly my books and school papers. They are a pain to keep up with, but I must have them. After I finish that, I'll get on paperwork for psych. I have quite a bit to do for the rotation as a whole. I only have a little bit of it due Monday. My goal is to finish the stuff for Monday and start on my major psych nursing care plan. We'll see how much gets done, but I'm supposed to work all weekend, so I need to hustle to get some of it done. I also need to read for class on Monday. Ugh. My med-surg text always puts me to sleep. Oh well, only 384 days left until graduation!!

I must get back to the task at hand. Hope you all had a lovely Thanksgiving.

Thanksgiving Traffic

I made it safely to my destination in Waco. I left McKinney at 10:30 this morning and everything started off ok. Traffic was a little heavier than normal on my way to 35, but it was tolerable. I like to take 35W down through Ft. Worth rather than going through Dallas because it cuts quite a bit of time off my trip. Plus, I don't have to deal with downtown Dallas traffic. Things rolled along pretty smooth until I got just north of Ft. Worth and things slowed down to a crawl. It took me an hour to that point (which is a tad bit longer than usual) but I had my patient pants on ~ because after all, it is the day before Thanksgiving ~ and I'm not the only one driving somewhere for the holidays. I passed a really bad accident that had the highway shut down to one lane. I finally got back up to speed and was contently driving along. I had to make a stop on the south side of Ft. Worth because by this time I had already planned on being in Waco and I had a Route 44 iced tea from Sonic with me that was already empty. I got a couple of snacks and got back on the road and things were rolling along great . . . until . . . everything literally STOPPED! I was just north of Hillsboro and there was a warning sign that the speed was ~ 22 mph, but little did I know that I wouldn't go anywhere for quite awhile. It literally took me 25 minutes to go 1 mile. Thankfully I had my handy nursing magazines sitting in the front seat and was able to read a couple of articles while patiently waiting for things to start going. The gentleman behind me was rather amusing. He was obviously annoyed that traffic was stopped and was talking on his phone and looking at his map trying to figure out if there was a way to get around the mess we were in. Once we started moving again, things picked up a little bit. This stop was due to another very bad accident. Thankfully both accidents had police and medical personnel already on the scene ~ so I didn't feel like I needed to stop (though I would have if I needed to). I finally got past the accident and I was pretty much home free. I pulled into Waco right at 2:00. It took me 3 and 1/2 hours to go 150 miles. That is a bit crazy. Oh well, the important thing is that I made it safely and I'm here with my parents, my grandparents and my aunt. The rest of the family will be here tomorrow mid-morning or early afternoon for lunch. I'm not sure what time I'll leave, but I'm not in a hurry. I'm going to sign off for now, but I have a special guest who would like to say something, so for now ~ have a great Thanksgiving ~ cj2

hi all!!! This is cj1...she is cj2. We are having a totally awesome time in lovely downtown Waco bonding with family....can hardly wait til tomorrow when the rest of fabulous Boggs family descends on the homestead. Have a wonderful Turkey Day tomorrow and keep up the great work learning to be the best nurse ever....I'm getting older and will need y'all to take care of me in style I would like to become accustomed.

New Day, New Piggie

Before you freak out, Derby didn't die and I didn't get another piggie. When I got up this morning, he was pretty much in the same shape he was in when I posted yesterday. Still not eating or drinking and just laying on his cage looking sick and pitiful. I went to clinicals and came home to find him in exactly the same spot I left him in. I called one of my good friends (she is also in nursing school ~ a semester ahead of me) to see get some more advice on what to do because I felt bad watching him suffer. I didn't want him to just die of starvation or respiratory distress and in pain. If he was going to die, I wanted it to be done. She has a classmate who works for a vet that deals with little critters and they were willing to give me a very good price break on putting him down. When I got back with the vet, she was sooooooooo sweet. She asked me about Derby, how old he was, what happened to bring this on, and why we couldn't treat it. I explained that I didn't have 300-400 dollars to spend right now because of my living situation and school and that I just didn't want him to suffer. She really thought he would be ok with some antibiotics and an antiinflammatory. She weighed him ~ he weighs a whopping 1.5 lbs and then went to get his meds. She came back in with my instructions and also gave Derby a subq shot of saline ~ just to get him rehydrated a little. She waived her office visit fee and only made me pay for the meds ~ which turned out to be under $6.00. That alone had me in tears. She also told me to give him his medicine, water and feed him baby food through a syringe. Why didn't I think about baby food? He eats regular carrots ~ so why not mushed up ones? My dad told me that I wasn't supposed to think about things like that because I'm not the vet. I guess he's right, but now I kinda feel bad for those days that he didn't eat. I wasn't even able to get him to drink through a syringe.

Well, we left and my friend took Derby with her because I go out of town tomorrow for T-giving and my grandmother wouldn't take too kindly to a guinea pig in her home. He needs A LOT of TLC and she has three boys who love Derby. He gobbled down his first dose of antibiotics like he really liked it (he only gets 0.1 cc of antibiotic and 0.03 cc of antiinflammatory) and then he sucked down 3 cc's of water like there was no tomorrow. I couldn't believe it when she called me and told me this. I called her after dinner with my folks to make sure I didn't need to bring anything extra over and he was still lying on his side, but wanting more and more water. By the time I got there with his cage, water bottle, and pellets, he had already eaten a carrot and a half, several cc's of baby food (pears and carrots), and quite a bit of water. He was also standing up. He hasn't stood up since Saturday. I was seriously almost in tears again!! He's in good hands and I'll get him back on Friday, but I leave early tomorrow and wanted him to not be tossed around too much more today.

I am more excited right now than I even was about my test! I can't believe that he's made this awesome turn around. Thank you all for your kind words of support. When he gets back on his feet, I'll take more pictures and post them. The pics that I have posted (way back in my archives) are from when he was a baby. He's grown quite a bit since then.

On another note, driving back from the airport after dinner with mom and dad, I saw a shooting star. Don't ask me what I wished for because I won't tell you. But seeing shooting stars always brings a smile to my face. I just wanted to share.

I'll try to post while I'm out of town, but I'm not making any promises. It may be Friday before you hear from me ~ so just in case, I hope everyone has a safe and happy Thanksgiving. Enjoy your family and friends, or whatever else you may be doing. For those of you nurses (and other medical/service personnel) who have to work, THANK YOU!! I know it's a big sacrifice, but our patients need us. I hope your hospital or other venue has a wonderful meal for you and that everyone else brings lots of baked goodies! I love the holidays!! TTFN ~ cj

Derby and test update

Well, I guess I should start with the not so good news. Derby isn't improving at all. In fact, I think he's getting worse. He hasn't had anything to eat or drink all day. I can't even get him to eat his favorite food, carrots. It's very depressing, but I'm trying to focus on all the smiles he has brought to my little apartment. I've cuddled him a lot today (since I've been up since 3:30 this morning). He likes to snuggle right under my chin. I can't tell for sure, but I don't think he's running a fever. He is having some problems breathing, which leads me to believe he has a respiratory infection. And, he's still VERY lethargic. Probably more so than the other day. I'm just trying to keep him comfortable and let him know that I love him. I keep hoping that he'll pull through, but am also trying to be realistic about it all.

As I mentioned earlier, I was WIDE AWAKE at 3:30 AM!! This is VERY unusual for me. I was very anxious about my test/Derby/school work/etc. I got up and showered and headed to IHOP a little earlier than anticipated. I was able to make it through all the NCLEX questions r/t the test as well as the review questions in our books in 3 hours. I felt very well prepped after that. Plus, I had delicious french toast and oatmeal at 4:30!! I came back home around 7:00 (I only live a mile from school) and cleaned up around the house a little, cuddled Derby, filled out my scantron and headed to school. The test itself went ok. I knew when I left that I had done either really well, or really bad. I finished a 100 question test in under 1 and 1/2 hours and I took my time!! I re-read questions, made sure I didn't miss important words and still finished under the amount of time the other tests have taken me. I was kinda worried.

I came home and cuddled Derby some more, then went to lunch. Lunch was at a wonderful place called Poppy's here in McKinney. Very relaxing and delicious place to eat. Back to school for lecture on ortho problems. (I'm making you wait to know how I did because I had to wait to find out and if you want to know, you'll either read the whole post, or you'll skip down to find what you want to know ~ either way, I feel like I've accomplished something). We also had a thing on MI's today. It took up the last hour of class. Nothing major.

Finally, test review rolled around. I got my test back and we went over the answers. "Man, I missed the first question. How could I miss that question? I knew that answer? Oh well, there's 99 more to go, maybe it'll be ok." I could go on like this, but that would be cruel and unusual punishment. I did very well on this exam. My raw score was 82. I will probably get at least one or two points back from badly worded questions. This is my first B this semester, so I am very happy with that. I needed it to be higher than that to pull a B for the whole semester, but it's still not completely out of reach. I'll know next week what I have to do on the final to get a B for the semester. I would love to pull that off, but I don't know if it's going to happen or not. Time will tell. I'm going to start studying for the final over Thanksgiving. The only new material we cover is musculoskeletal, renal, and blood. The rest is comprehensive. Should be ok. I'll just keep telling myself that.

Well, my rant has gone on long enough. A piece of chocolate of your choice if you've made it this far without skipping anything is in your future!! (And the calories won't count!!). I hope you have a good week. I'm off to a different psych facility tomorrow. Will be interesting to compare and contrast the two. Until later ~ cj

Derby - pt. 2

There's really no change in Derby. Thank you for your kind words of support. I was just laying in bed trying to go to sleep when something dawned on me. Late last week or early this week, Derby got ahold of a business card that was on top of his cage. When I cleaned his cage yesterday, I don't remember the card being in there (and I don't think I took it out of his cage because I saw it as I was walking out the door late for class). I wonder if the ink on the business card has caused this. Keep in mind that I use shredded paper for his bedding, so he is exposed to inks some. Petey (my first piggie) had a bad reaction to newspaper ink, so I couldn't use that for him. I am not using newspaper for Derby, but shredded bills and other papers that could be recycled. Just a thought. I had to get it off my mind so I could go to sleep. I plan to get up early and go to breakfast at IHOP and review NCLEX questions for a couple of hours before the test. That seems to help me get into test mode. We'll see if that pans out or not (I have to be able to go to sleep first). I'll let you know how Derb is doing as well as how my test goes tomorrow. Until then ~ cj

My piggie - Derby

For those of you who don't know, I have a guinea pig. I've had him over a year. He makes my day better when he squeals for carrots and runs around his cage. Well, somethings not right with Derby today. I noticed this morning when I got up that he wasn't his jovial self. As the day has progressed, he has grown very lethargic and uninterested in what's going on around him. I picked him up without him running away (very rare) and finally got him to eat some carrots. I clean his cage on a weekly basis, but today, I'm scrubbing it and bleaching it. I don't know what's wrong with my baby. He looks so sad and pathetic that I don't even want to put him back in his cage. He has curled up on my chest and doesn't move unless I move. His squeals sound sad and depressing. Everything I've read online tells me to take him to a vet ASAP, but I can't afford to do that. I'm going to baby him the best I can and hope that he gets better.

Why is it that when you have a ton of stuff to do, some crisis like this always happens? I must get back to my books. I'm making great progress, but still have quite a bit to go. I'll keep you updated (though I'm really just posting for my sanity). Thanks for reading. ~ cj

Test weekend . . .

I will be very busy this weekend. I must pass this test, I must pass this test, I must pass this test!! I will be spending the weekend in my books and my notes. After all, we did get a fairly good review. I have a great study guide worked up (at least I think it's great) and will read all the chapters again. I need to pass this test! I'm off to get a few more things together for my busy weekend studying. I'll touch base if I have some down time, but don't count on it! ~ cj

Change of Shift is up

Change of Shift is up over at Life in the NHS. If you have a chance to read through it, you might find some interesting stuff. I have submitted my first post ~ AND it was included. Tho, if you are a regular reader, you have already read the post. Hop on over and have a read!

I woke up . . .

This may not be a big deal to most of my reading audience, but I actually got up on time and made it to Terrell way early. I only have one more day out there. Today was a much better experience than last Wednesday.

I'm feeling some better today. However, the albuterol makes me very jittery. I'm not coughing near as much, so something I'm doing is working. Thank you all for your well wishes and "kicks in the butt!" Goodness knows that we all need to be reminded to take care of ourselves. I have closed my window and intend to keep my promise not to sleep with my window open anymore. Goodness knows, I don't need to get any worse than I am.

I'm looking forward to Thanksgiving break. I have to take a test on Monday and then have a clinical day on Tuesday, but then I have the rest of the week off. I will be going down to my grandparents for a pretty large gathering ~ including my folks. It will be good. I will be there from Wednesday to Friday and then work Saturday and Sunday. I can't be lazy the whole break, I still have bills to pay. I'll have a little bit of clinical paperwork to work on, but other than that, the time is mine!!

Uh oh

If you were to talk to my parents, they would tell you that when I get something in my head that I'm going to do, I WILL do it. Some people may call me stubborn, but most of the time it works to my advantage. Today, however, was not the case. You see, another cold front came through north Texas over the weekend, and I thought it would be nice to sleep with my bedroom window open. I don't know why I continue to insist on doing this because most of the time, it flares up my asthma something fierce. Saturday night it was in the upper 30s and last night it was in the upper 40s. This morning I woke up with my tell-tale cough of my asthma attacks. I left for school without my inhaler (duh, Crystal!) I seriously feel like I'm going to cough up one or both of my lungs. A lot of times I can head off bronchitis, but I don't know if it is going to happen this time. I'm starting to feel icky and am already tired of coughing. I have been using my albuterol every 4 hours and also have another inhaler that I use twice a day. Hopefully this will help me get better. Please, please keep me in your thoughts and prayers as I go through the next couple of days. I closed my window and will not sleep with it open any more (I promise). It was kinda ironic that today was our day in lecture to discuss respiratory issues! Oh well, I will beat this, I always do. I'm just tired of always having to fight something off. I guess that goes along with the stress of nursing school and having to work as much as I do. I am off to bed EARLY tonight. I have set three alarms to make sure that I don't get up late in the morning. I will get up and I will have time to get myself together before jumping in the car and driving to Terrell. Have a great night. I'm off to rest. ~cj

Dear Patient . . .

***Please note, the following has been in the works for quite some time ~ nothing here is directly related to any circumstance in particular, but rather a compilation of lots of experience at a nurse's aide going through nursing school***

Dear Patient,
I am here to help you, however, you are not at the Hilton. If you have more than one thing you need, please let me know the first time I ask you, so I don't have to leave your room five times to get five different things. It is much more worthwhile for both of us if I get everything you need at one time. If, however, I have forgotten something, please let me know. I want you to be comfortable during your hospital stay, after all, being sick and not being at home is bad enough.

Dear Patient,
While you are lying in bed thinking about what is wrong with you, I am busy taking care of not only you, but many other patients. Your needs are very important to me, as are the needs of my other patients. Please understand that I don't always have the answers you want, when you want them. It may take me a few minutes to get to your need, but I will get to it. If you are able to get out of bed, I am probably busy changing a diaper, or giving a complete bed bath to a patient who is on bed rest. If you tell me you want me to wait to change your sheets, please tell me when you want me to change your sheets. It is better for all involved if you don't wait until shift change, as the task may get put off onto the next shift. I like to make sure ALL my patients have had the opportunity to get cleaned up and have at least been offered clean sheets. If you have told me to come back, and its late in the afternoon, please do not complain. After all, you are the one who told me to wait ~ so I pressed on with my duties.

Dear Patient (and Family Members),
Please understand that I am a competent and hard-working individual. If you want me to take your blood pressure on a certain arm, please let me know. And please make sure there is not a load of family members on the side of the bed I need to be on. It's makes everything much harder. If, by any chance, you are a member of the medical profession, please be understanding that everything may not happen the way you want it to and when you want it to, just because your loved one is sick. If you want to take total responsibility for your loved one's care, please let me know, and don't smirk at me like I'm supposed to read your mind. Again, I am here to make your stay more comfortable. I know this is not a happy time in your life, but you don't have to be rude to me.

Dear Patient,
Thank you for laughing at my stupid jokes while I was giving you your bed bath. I know that this can be an uncomfortable time, but I want you to feel better. If you happen to be 92 and still feisty as ever, thank you for putting a smile on my face every time I walk through your door. Being sick is hard enough, but making the best of it makes us all better people. You make my day worth working. You negate all the bad looks and comments I have gotten from other patients. Your smile has made my day and makes me want to come back tomorrow!! Thank you!!

No news

Today has been relatively uneventful. It's my one day to get things done around the house and for school. I cleaned the kitchen and straightened the living room. Then the rest of the day has been spent in my psychiatric textbook trying to prepare for the next exam. I must pass this next exam with flying colors. It's going to be ok. I'm going to get back to my books. I still have a little bit of time to study before bed and going to work tomorrow. Have a great weekend. ~ cj

Seriously

Ok, so despite the drama with Grey's Anatomy I still seriously cannot pull myself away from it. I am so entrigued by the whole concept of the show. It is my time away from my life. I am so enthralled with all the different story lines. Oh well, I just finished watching tonight's episode and absolutely loved it. I guess it's time to get back to my life.

Another scenario bites the dust

Today's graded scenario on IVP/IVPB proved to be a success in the long run. While a few kinks were thrown in, I managed to use my "critical thinking" that has been ever pounded into my head to solve some of my problems. The first curve ball started when I entered the scenario to find out that I actually had to write out my MAR. (For those of you non-medical people, this is the medication administration record.) While I had 45 minutes from start to finish, I hadn't practiced writing a MAR ~ the thought never occurred to any of us to do that. So, knock about 10 minutes off my time between noting my doctor's orders and writing my MAR. I was starting to get flustered. Then came curve ball number two. I gathered my supplies without a hitch, but when I started to get my medications, my exact medication wasn't in the drawer. The order was for Ampicillin 500 mg/50 mL in .45% NaCl. All of the Ampicillin's in the drawer were in .9% NaCl. AAAARRRRGGGGHHHH. I mentioned this to my instructor ~ who complimented me on a job well done on checking and double checking the order ~ and then proceeded to tell me to pretend that it was the correct medication (if I'm not a great actress by the time nursing school is over, I don't know what I'll be!!). Then, I headed to my med room where I prepared my medication. I drew my flushes up for the Dilaudid 2 mg/mL in a 2 mL ampule. The flushes were not an issue. My third curve ball came when I realized that I didn't have an extra syringe for the saline to dilute my Dilaudid. I had to draw my Dilaudid up first because I only needed only mL of of 2 mL ~ then I had to dilute it with 5 mL of NS. I stood there just looking at what I had for what seemed like forever. And then it finally dawned on me to take my medication and go back and get another syringe. I did that and the rest of it went off without too many other issues. I had between 2 and 3 minutes to write my nurses notes and I was rushing to get those done. I managed to hand them in just in time. My instructor was very complimentary of my process and how I diluted the Dilaudid. I felt, the whole time, that I was going to have to remediate because I was sure I had made a HUGE mistake!! Glad that one is under the rug. I only have one more scenario!! Then I don't have to do scenarios any more during nursing school.

I decided that I needed to cook tonight. This is a big deal for me. I went and bought noodles and marina sauce and garlic bread! It was wonderful ~ after all, I LOVE carbohydrates!!! I have to clean the house some tonight and get some studying done tomorrow. I work Saturday and Sunday. Should be a pretty decent weekend. I'm just so excited because I only have 399 days until graduation!! I finally got under the 400 mark!! That's a big accomplishment!!

As Promised

Ok, so my day at Terrell didn't go quite as I had pictured it. To start off with, I didn't wake up until 5:45. I was supposed to be out of the house by 5:30!! YIKES!! I called my classmates I was supposed to be carpooling with and told them to go on without me. I think I got ready faster than I have ever gotten ready in my life!! I made it to Terrell just in time. It was kinda stressful getting there, but the traffic wasn't bad. We did a mini tour of the administration building and then were off to our unit. We were on the women's unit today. It was a bit uncomfortable at first, but things started settling down. The client's on the unit seemed more than willing to talk and share.

Then it happened. . . We headed over to another building to attend a group session and I FREAKED OUT!! I don't know what happened. I felt like I was going to pass out and throw up at the same time. I spoke to my instructor and she graciously let me sit outside and try to regain myself before going back into the unit. I really didn't think that I would freak like that. I don't know what my trigger was, or what happened, but something just didn't feel right to me.

I have two more days at Terrell. Hopefully they will be a bit better. I must go do my paperwork and get it ready to turn in tomorrow.

Another day, another story

Well, today started out like any other clinical day. I got up, showered, and dressed in my beautiful white uniform for my last day in the OR. I got to the hospital at 6:30 and met my classmate, Ashley, for our day. About 7:30 or 7:45, management starts coming around in a tizzy because the mock JACHO people were going to be in the hospital. We continued on as normal, just made sure we weren't in the way or doing anything wrong. There wasn't much going on, so we decided to head up to the floor around 11:30 to drop off paperwork to our instructor and found out that the entire group had been out of the hospital all day. They showed up, but left after finding out that the survey team was coming in. Ashley and I were forgotten, as we are to start our psych rotations this week ~ I guess they thought we had already started. Oh well, I guess it's just that much more experience, right?

Tomorrow is my first day of psych, and I have to drive about 60-65 miles out to Terrell State Hospital for three clinical days. I'm carpooling with the others that are going out there, so it shouldn't be too bad, but we have to be there at 7:00. I need to leave here by 5:00 to make it to our meeting point on time. In case you didn't know, early mornings and me don't get along. I have managed to get all my paperwork ready for tomorrow, as well as several CDs. I have to have music when I'm driving, and if I can choose the songs I listen to, it's even better. I'll try to get myself awake by the time we are to meet up by blaring my music and drinking some coffee (I may even splurge on a caramel machiatto from Starbucks).

I'm going to finish watching Dancing with the Stars and then start winding down for the night. I'll post tomorrow sometime. I have plans with Jen after clinicals, since I haven't seen her since her birthday. Then I'll come home and nap, I'm sure. I'm sure I'll have some interesting stories since we are going to the state hospital. Time will tell. Have a great night ~ cj

Long, tiring Monday

The amount of Monday lectures I have left for this semester is quickly dwindling, but that doesn't make them any easier. Today's lectures weren't too bad, and we got so good direction as far as our next exam goes, so that was great.

Then after class, I had to go to the hospital for an hour long code of conduct class that is a yearly requirement. Ugh. At least I got paid to sit through the class, and it wasn't too bad. Just a gentle reminder on how we are supposed to treat everybody.

This week is my major transition in clinicals. I have one more day in the OR, then I start psych. I'm kinda excited for the change, but in the same way, just ready for the semester to be over. My countdown clock tells me I only have 402 days left until I graduate. I can't believe that this time last year, I hadn't even started nursing school yet. I was getting everything ready and was very anxious for everything to start ~ now I'm almost half-way through. This is where everyone can chide in with "I told you so." I can't tell you how many times I've been told that school will fly by. I know in hindsight it will, but when you are in the heat of the moment, somedays it really stands still.

I know I have some stuff to do around here. Paperwork to print, drug cards to write, notes to review, so I'll close for now. Thanks for reading ~ cj

A lovely Friday afternoon

Well, yesterday's nap turned into much more than that. I was extremely tired and starting to get sick. I planned on sleeping for a couple of hours and getting up and doing some school work, but you know how that goes. I ended up turning off my alarm and sleeping until about 8:15. Yikes, I missed the first 15 minutes of Grey's Anatomy. I'm so upset. I'm going to have to watch it on abc.com. It was worth waking up for. I then watched ER and some of the news and went back to bed. I felt much better this morning.
I spent the morning in the lab working on the skills for the next scenario. It was another cool, crisp day in north Texas. Just a slight wind. Nothing too chilly. I was able to spend the afternoon with a wonderful friend. We went to lunch and had a great time. I came home and was able to relax and get some minor things done on the computer and such. It was a nice break.
Tomorrow holds another day. I must go back up to the lab to get two more peer reviews on my skills. I'm feeling pretty confident about this one. No major issues. Just little things I have to remember.
Sunday, I will work again ~ then we start the school week all over again. I have tons of typing to do for tomorrow, so I must go. I hope you all have a great weekend. cj

Fall is here!!

It's a beautiful day in north Texas and I feel like crap. My allergies won't go away and I think my asthma is starting to turn to bronchitis. It inevitably does this every season. I'm holding off as long as I can because I've had enough of being sick for awhile. I worked quite a bit this week. Of course, I worked Sunday, but I also went in to work on Tuesday and Wednesday (to make up for the work I will miss on Saturday). I've got to get some practice in for our next scenario and I need to get a jump start on my next theory exam. Today, however, is free game. I give myself one afternoon to rest, watch tv, relax, basically to do what I need to do around the house to maintain my sanity. Today, I think I'm going to take a nap. I'm starting to have problems concentrating again ~ but I'm fairly sure it's due to being tired. I'm going to go lay down, I'll post more later.

All is not lost

Ok, so I wasn't in the best mood when I posted earlier. I apologize, but the stress of nursing school can really get the best of you sometimes. Today was one of those days ~ until now. I just finished one of major projects for clinicals that isn't due for another week. It was my major nursing care plan which involves a lot of research and neatness (I'm a perfectionist and type everything out!!). It took me quite awhile, but I seriously just put it in the folder and am finished with it. It's nice not have to worry about it. Especially since I start my pschy rotation next week. I go to the OR tomorrow and Wednesday. Should be interesting. Maybe I'll get to do some more IV's and maybe even some foleys.

My headache is down to a low roar after a nap and some migraine meds. I also had to make a run to the dreaded "Wally World" at the dreaded time of 5:00. Derby was completely out of food and running around like a crazy piggie and my allergies are insanely bad right now and I was out of allergy medicine. Derby is a much happier piggie (even carrots don't make him happy all the time!!) and my nose isn't sneezing near as much. But, as a side note to any of you who don't know this ~ stay away from the Halloween section the night before Halloween!! I couldn't believe the chaos I saw as I walked by that aisle!! Doesn't anyone plan ahead anymore? I guess not because it seemed like all of Texas was in the halloween aisle. Oh well, no kids here, no chaos for me. I go in the back entrance and check out at the gardening register and can generally get in and out pretty fast. I still despise going in there, but it's the only place I can buy the food that Derby eats for a reasonable price.

I plan to work tomorrow after clinicals and wish everyone a safe and happy Halloween. I'll post more later.

Long, hard weekend

Ok, for those of you anxiously awaiting an update from me, you are going to be sadly disappointed today. I had a long weekend at the hospital ~ and today was a killer in lecture. I just wanted to pop in to let you know that I'm still here. I officially did crappy on my last exam. I'll just leave it at that. I've never done that bad on a nursing exam. I don't know what I did differently this time ~ I studied the same, tested the same, etc. Oh well, life goes on. I have to kick butt on the next exam to boost my grade up. I have to try to pull a B out of theory. I've got a killer migraine, so I'm getting off the computer and lying down for a bit. I'll update you later. cj

I did it! I did it!!

Ok, so today was a GREAT day at clinicals. Not only was it my last day in med-surg for the semester, but I got to try to insert my first real IV!! :-) My nurse was GREAT. She let me get everything set up before she came in to watch me "stick". She also gave me some great advice. I missed on the first try, but the second try was picture perfect. The veins were gorgeous and I got immediate flashback. Everything kinda just fell into place, and instinct kicked in. I know that I still have a lot of IV's to do before I know what I'm doing, but I feel a lot more secure in what I'm doing. My skills are coming together!! It's such a great feeling.

I'm off to my OR rotation for the next three clinicals days, and then it's psych for the rest of the semester. I just have to finish my major nursing care plan for med-surg, and that's coming along quite nicely. I may actually finish it this weekend (depending on how work goes).

Well, I'm off to glow in my success for a few more minutes. Then I have to get back to reality. Thanks for letting me brag ~ wait, it's my blog, I can say what I want to about whatever I want to!! You only read what you want to!! Ya'll are great!! Thanks for reading!! cj

Some fun things about me.

I ran across a couple of fun internet quizzes on fellow blogger pages that I found interesting. So, I did them and thought I would share the results. Let me know what you think. Do you think the brain one is fitting? Kinda cool about the "How many of me"! Just something to redirect my mind after a not so good day!!

What Color is Your Brain?

BLUE:

At work or in school: I like to be with people, sharing with them, inspiring them, and helping them. I work and learn best when I can take into consideration people and the human element. I flourish in an atmosphere of cooperation.
With friends: I always look for perfect love. I am very romantic, and I enjoy doing thoughtful things for others. I am affectionate, supportive and a good listener.
With family: I like to be happy and loving. I am very sensitive to rejection from my family and to family conflicts. I really like to be well thought of and need frequent reassurance. I love intimate talks and warm feelings.
Take this quiz!








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HowManyOfMe.com

There are: 37 people with my name in the U.S.A. How many have your name?

I despise nursing tests.

I seriously think nursing tests are made to make you feel stupid. I came out of the test feeling pretty good. (That should ALWAYS be my warning sign!!) I studied so hard this weekend (and seriously since the last exam), it frustrates me to no end. By the time they finish with the exam, I will have passed, but that's all. I know that as long as I pass my classes, that's all that matters, but I do have scholarship money that is riding on my grades. I'm doing great clinically and in lab, but theory is kicking my butt. This happened last semester, too, but I was able to pull off a B. I'm not so sure that it will happen this time. Life will go on. I'm doing the best I can do. That's what my parents always taught me to do. My goal is to pass school and to pass the NCLEX. If the theory holds true, our exams are WAY harder than the NCLEX. I can handle that. I just want to succeed at what I've chosen to do. Success in my mind has to be redefined. I'm off to bed so I can have a great day at clinicals. Hope everyone had a good weekend ~ you know how mine was! CJ

Busy studying - - - get back to you later.

Sorry for my long absence. I must study to pass my next exam. I will post better next week.

I passed! I passed!

Ok, so all that anxiety for nothing. It's not really for nothing. I think it's how I end up passing. Oh well, that's how I work. I can officially insert IV's. Do I have any volunteers? I'm off to work on studying for this next exam. I'll touch base later.

Nerves are flying high

I have to be at school at 9:00 tomorrow morning in full clinical regalia (white uniform, looking like a marshmallow!!) to get checked off on IV's. I'm not worried about getting the IV in, it's all the other stuff that we have to do with it!! I've resigned myself that remediation is ok, and then if I pass, I'll be extastic. I have severe performance anxiety. Get me in the hospital with actual patients and I'm fine. But, put me in front of an instructor and a "dummy" and I just about lose it. I do think there is an advantage to going first. I can get to school and not have to sit around and listen to everyone talk about how bad they did and such. I can stay in my own little focused world and do my best to remain calm. I learned last semester that being up front with my particular instructor helps a ton. That tends to calm me in itself. I'm going to try that again tomorrow. It worked well with catheters. Oh well, I'm rambling. I'm going to practice drip rates some more before I go crazy. I'm tired of watching drips drop in the tubing. We have to count for a full minute and only be +/- 1 drip in order to pass. AGGGHHHH!!! There go the butterflies again. Gotta go before they get the best of me!

I want to see the wizard

Do you ever have one of those days that you really don't think you'll make it through? I think today was that for me. I got out of bed just fine, but my mind wasn't with me completely. I gathered everything for school (including that delicious fruit pizza that everyone was pining for) and trekked out of the house and into the rain off to school. (It rained most of last night and then on into late this morning ~ it was glorious, and much needed!) I got to school and realized that I had left my phone laying on my table. On most days, this wouldn't bother me, but today it did. I wanted to be able to call my mom and check in on my grandmother on my breaks and lunch and such. I have become very cell phone dependent and because of that have stopped learning phone numbers. This poses a problem when you really need to get in touch with someone and don't have YOUR phone. I was able to get her number from my lovely aunt and borrowed a phone from a friend in class. Problem solved. It still bugs me that I forget little things like that.

Now, I don't know if it was due to the rain, or the hard work this weekend, but I was having a hard time concentrating in class today. My mind drifted everywhere but where it should have been considering we have our second exam next Monday. By the time 2:30 came, I couldn't get out of class fast enough. I was struggling to make it from break to break without sleeping. This is not normally how I am. It was cold in the classroom and I was bundled up. I like to sleep in a super cold room under LOTS of covers ~ even in summer. I'm weird that way. The cold room and our lovely professor's soothing, rythmic voice will do it every time. Oh well, I made it through and got home and took a nap.

Then I went to the hospital to pick up my patient for this week. It didn't take me all that long ~ I think mostly because I was the only student there. It worked well for me. I don't really care who I get as far as patients go. They are all learning experiences. Might as well let everyone else fuss and fight while I'm napping. I just finished my paperwork for tomorrow. Should be interesting. I think it will be slow, though. I'm going from two very needy patients to only one. We are going to have 8 of on the floor and there just aren't enough patients for all of us to have two and for our instructor to keep up with us. I only have this week and next week left on med-surg. Then I do a very short surgery rotation, then it's off to psych.

But I still want to see the wizard. I need a new model brain. I've got to excel on this scenario Thursday and the test on Monday. You know what I'll be doing this weekend. Being a test weekend, I won't work. Books, here I come!! Wizard, please send me a brain!!

Weekend of work excitement

Well, I don't know if you would call my weekend exciting, but VERY eventful!! Saturday started off with 16 patients on two halls. I had more total care patients than I cared to count. It was my self care patients that literally took ALL my time. I don't understand how patients that can get up and move around can be harder to take care of than those who are completely bed-ridden. By the time lunch came, I was so over the whining and complaining. I could go on and on, but my mind is just about on collapse. Today was a little bit better. I only had 9 patients and was able to care for all my patients the way I want to every day. We were still run ragged, but at least ratios were a bit better.

On a more personal note, I'm dealing with my grandmother having been admitted to an ICU for an abdominal hematoma. My mom flew down to help care for her, so I have a direct in to her care, since I can't be there. It's tough because I really want to be. I know she's in good hands, but I want to be there.

I did manage to make it through the entire weekend without any pain flareups! I was very thrilled about this. I don't know for sure what fixed it, but I'm not going to complain. Thank you all for your thoughts and well wishes. I'm off to finish making a fruit pizza for a potluck at lunch for class tomorrow. Have a good night, all. Until later, cj

What to say?

Today at clinicals was very busy. I did have the same two patients again. It was nice to have some continuity. One of my patients had a total turn around from yesterday. Was much more awake ~ though not very oriented. We had a nice visit about all sorts of things. Overall, it was a pleasant day. I learned quite a bit ~ even got to push some "good drugs". I'm grateful for my instructor, who lets us work with our nurses if she's not available. It makes things nice when you are the only student down one hallway. I kinda had all the attention from all the nurses. They are mostly all very receptive to students, and as long as things on the unit are relatively calm, they will talk through everything with us.

I went back to work after clinicals. I'm still doing the whole cross-training thing. Today, I asked if it was ok if I actually did some of the order entering. I learn best if I'm able to actually do the stuff as I go. A lot of this will come to me as I do it over and over. I'm very slow at it right now, but I think I'll get better. I like the thought of having experience reading dr's handwriting and entering orders and all that fun stuff. It'll kinda help pull the whole picture together for me. I also got to put several charts together from scratch for new admissions. It sounds easy, but there's quite a bit that's involved. I'm really grateful that they've given me this opportunity ~ and I plan on taking full advantage of it.

I'm off to rest. Have to practice a lot on IV's tomorrow and Friday. Will post more later. Good night.

Worn out

I'm pooped. I was run ragged at clinicals today. The good news is that I didn't have a "flare up" of my pain while I was in the hospital and working with patients. I was starting to wonder if it had to do with patient care. Today was my test. I had total care of two patients and was almost overwhelmed. Hopefully, I'll have the same two patients tomorrow.

We got a lovely rain today. It must have rained solid for three or four hours. We need it so badly. There's supposed to be a MAJOR cold front coming through, too! WOO HOO! It may actually cool off to comfortable autumn temperatures. I'm so ready to turn my air conditioner off and have a cheaper electric bill. I came home from clinicals and took a nap. I couldn't keep my eyes open to do my paperwork. It was nice to relax for a bit. I must finish up a bit more paperwork and get ready for clinicals tomorrow. Have a great night ~ cj

I think I'm in love

Now before you go and get all excited, let me explain! While I was sitting in lecture today, I think I found what I may want to do with myself. We were talking about the heart and hypertension and the like, when the topic of electrical transmission came up. My attention was immediately drawn to the strip on the screen many of you would know as an EKG. As my instructor explained the nerves and how they work, I was fascinated. Since we have wireless access on campus now, I immediately Googled EKGs. I can learn all I want to at this link and many more! It's amazing to me. Maybe I've found my place. You can tell so much by such a little strip!!



I mean, seriously, how cool is that? I'm utterly amazed and confounded. I still know nothing about it, but I'm fascinated and that makes me WANT to learn!!

I must quit procrastinating and do my paperwork for clinicals. Supposed to have two patients and give meds to both. Should prove to be an interesting week. Have a good week. And Happy Thanksgiving to all my readers in Canada!!

Overheard conversations

I was at dinner tonight at an area resturant and sat behind a mother and daughter (around 8-10 years old). I was minding my own business when something the little girl said caught my ear. She was talking about the car she was going to drive when she was old enough. She was asking her mother how she was going to get this car. Her mom proceeded to tell her that she would get a used car, etc., etc. Well, the girl went on to say something to the effect of "I know what I'll do, I'll marry a boy who has a doctor for a dad and a lawyer for a mom and HE'LL buy me the car I want!" I seriously couldn't believe what I was hearing.

I went back to my meal and a little bit later, another conversation of theirs caught me off guard again. (I promise I wasn't intentionally listening, but this little girl's voice was REALLY loud and hard to tune out!) The girl started asking her mom about why she stopped working at a certain place and the amount of money she made there (are you seeing a trend?). She was VERY persistant about this line of questioning. How much did you make? Why did you quit? How much did you make in a day? In an hour? In a minute? This girl wanted to know what was going on. The mother kindly evaded her line of questioning and eventually turned her attention to her meal.

These are just two snippets of the conversations I overheard. It was kind of disturbing to me that this child was so obsessed with money and the things that money can buy and the jobs that supposedly make you that money. I guess part of that has to do with the way that my parents raised me.

On another note, I'm doing some better today. The pain has subsided quite a bit again. I'm not real sure what this last flare up was about. I'm really trying to keep track of what I'm doing and eating while this is going on. I'm trying to do more without overdoing it. It's a hard balance to find. I do feel much better than I did this time last week. That has to count for something. I've got some reading and stuff to do for class tomorrow ~ so I'll close for now. Happy reading, cj

What's wrong with me?

Ok, so I just came home from work. I really tried to stay. I did. I promise. Why can't they find anything wrong wtih me with the amount of pain I'm having? Yes, the pain is back. I found myself getting flushed and light headed. Had one of the techs take my BP ~ 127/89. Not good for me. Why won't this just go away? I had it fairly easy today. Only 10 patients. But most of them noticed that something wasn't quite right with me. I was moving very slow and trying hard not to show my pain (I think it shows more when you do that). At least I got four hours in. On top of the 6 the other day, I may get a little bit of money this next paycheck. I'm going to take some pain medicine now (which I haven't had to do in DAYS) and lay down. I feel like such a wimp. Really. This sucks.

An interesting day

Today, I witnessed my first Catholic funeral mass. One of my classmates' fathers passed from a four month fight with brain cancer. Eric and I are study partners and friends, and I have been around to mostly listen to Eric. It was a tough journey, and this departure is one that has been expected. That being said, I witnessed something that I really didn't know still existed. You see, the last funeral I went to was several years ago. While we were in the funeral procession to the cemetery, I was utterly amazed and touched by the amount of people that pulled over and stopped out of respect for the deceased. I was also pleased with the police escort. They made sure that the traffic that was behind us stopped and didn't pass us. At one point, a lady was right beside me and this officer was trying to get her to pull over. She wouldn't stop, so he (being on a motorcycle) pulled between us and literally stopped in front of her and made her wait. When we made it to on of the major intersections in Dallas, you could see the point where our procession stopped. There were three lanes of traffic going 25 miles an hour right along with us. It was just an eye-opening experience that I haven't seen in a long time. I send my condolences to Eric and his family during their time of loss.

On a different note, I also spent some time at the school lab working on IVs. I still have a lot of work to do. I don't know how all of this is going to work out. I may have to be in lab all day next Friday in order to get this down before our next scenario. Our test grades were finally posted. I really didn't do that good. I shouldn't be so hard on myself because I did pass, but I have scholarships riding on my grades, so I worry about them. I'm going to have to work harder at concentrating and reading the questions and answering what is put before. I definitely read too much into the question a lot of the time.

I need to go ~ have an apartment to clean, books to read, dinner to make, TV to watch, lots to do, priorities to make . . . What's a girl to do? Have a good night.

Happy Thursday

Ok, so I know it's late, but I'm on my way to bed before too long. Lab went ok today. I inserted my first IV in a dummy's arm today. It wasn't too bad, but it's going to take some time to figure out how to insert the catheter and remove the needle at the same time. I know once I get it down, it will seem silly that I had problems with it. I have a lot of practice to do before I even begin to feel comfortable attempting to stick a patient, but one day I will get there!

I wanted to take a moment to mention the links on the left hand side of my page here. I am constantly making changes and adding bloggers that I read on a regular basis. Please take a moment to check out my links. You may find yourself there! I have made several new blogger friends.

I hope everyone has a good weekend. I have a pretty busy weekend ahead of me and don't know if I'll get to blog much. I have to do most of my studying tomorrow since I work a 12 hour shifts on Saturday and Sunday each. And then it will be back to the grindstone on Monday. If fall weather has arrived in your area, enjoy it ~ because it's still hot here, and I'm ready to have some cooler weather. This is part of the reason I'll be moving after nursing school. I'm not sure where I'll be going, but I plan on leaving here!

I'm rambling, but hey, it's my blog, I guess I can do that. It's not good for me to do, though. I need to go. It's getting later by the moment and my eyes are drooping. I don't need to push it much further! Thanks again for everyone's well wishes while I've been sick! Until next time, cj

Sorry for my absence

Ok, so my mini-meltdown Monday, turned out to be a little bit bigger than I anticipated. I had a mild flare up of my pain again (probably induced by stress) and couldn't sleep. I spoke to my clinical instructor on Monday evening (during the mini-meltdown) and she instructed me (as any good instructor would do) to mind my mental health and go to bed. That was much easier said than done. I was so overcome with the thought of having to complete the amount of paperwork I would have to do, plus drug cards, plus trying to think with Vicoden/Lortab in your system doesn't work too well. She told me to stop doing my paperwork and NOT TO WORRY ABOUT IT! That is so not me. If you've picked anything up from my posts, it should be that I take pride in my school work and my regular work. I strive for excellence in everything I do. I don't generally give in to meltdowns. Well, Monday I did. I put my computer away and I attempted to go to bed.

When the alarm went off on Tuesday morning, I couldn't bear to think of getting out of bed. I was hurting again, my head hurt, I was still in mild meltdown mode. So, I did as instructed, and call my instructor. I told her about my night and she told me to stay home. I knew the way I felt, I couldn't provide excellent care to patients and provide a good learning experience for myself in the process. I went back to bed (and to sleep). When I got up, I did a bang up job on my paperwork for today's clinicals. I had all my labs filled out. I did everything I could to prepare. It turned out that one of my patients was discharged, so my instructor told me to just work with the one patient that I had done my paperwork on. That worked for me. I still don't have all my energy. I didn't sleep well last night, either. Kept waking up. 2:45 I woke up with a horrible sinus headache. I got up and took something for that because it was clearly not going away. Just what my body needs, more drugs. Oh well, such is life.

My patient today was precious. When I went in to take his vital signs this morning, lab was in to draw his blood. He wasn't quite awake yet, but he was responding to questions. After lab finished, I introduced myself and told him I would be his student nurse for the first part of the day. When I asked him how he was, his response was, "Terrible, but thanks for asking!" It was that way all day! Too cute! He had no idea where he was, just that he didn't feel good. No sense of the time of year or what year it was. He did know who he was and recognized familiar faces. His daughter came to visit and he was especially happy. While I was helping him with breakfast we were discussing where I was from and all that. I think he asked me four or five times in the same conversation if I had kids and was married. When I got him set up for lunch, I explained to him that I would be leaving soon, but that I would try to stop in to see him again later. (Remember, I do my clinicals at the same hospital I work at as a tech). He said to me that he really didn't want me to go and that he wanted me to come back today if I could. It was so sweet. It was nice to hear that I made his day a little brighter because I know he put a smile on my face.

Thank you all for your well wishes while I've been sick. This has not been fun. I now have no appetite (which isn't necessarily a bad thing ~ except for all the antibiotics I'm taking). I'm trying to work through it by eating all my favorite foods and those things that "sound good" to me. This too shall pass!

I have class again tomorrow and then I'll work this weekend. I have a lot to do between now and then. My biggest angst right now is that I still don't know my grade from my test last Monday. They normally have grades posted the same week, but this is getting a bit ridiculous. It'll be time for test two by the time we get test one results. Gimme a break already! (Okay enough complaining about that ~ maybe they'll be posted tomorrow)

If you have a chance don't forget to check out CHANGE OF SHIFT over at EMERGIBLOG. I haven't been there yet, but that's my next stop after publishing this. I hope everyone has a great night. I'll be updating again soon!

Just another Monday

Ok, so maybe it's not just any other Monday, but it is Monday. I made it to class today. I don't think much could've kept me away. I'm doing some better. Still waiting for that energy burst to come rushing back ~ but could be waiting awhile because I never really had a lot of energy to start with :)!

After class, I had a doctor's appointment. Got to sit in the office and wait and wait and wait. Finally, she got to me, asked me how I was doing, etc, etc. Nothing new to report. Just going to finish the antibiotics and if the pain doesn't go away, she'll refer me to a GI doctor. Lots of fun, huh? Oh well.

Next, I had to go to the hospital to pick up my patient information. Thankfully it was right across the street. By this time, it's 4:00 and I'm well past ready for a nap. I pressed on because I didn't want to be the only one who didn't pick up patients. I get there and of course there are only two patients left. One on the south hallway and one on the west hallway (all the way at the end). With the way I've been feeling, this is not good at all! I'm going to have to be doing lots of walking, and both of the patients have dementia. I don't know if I can take all that tomorrow. I couldn't get ahold of my instructor, so I'm going to press on like I know what I'm doing. Even though I'm in the process of a mini-meltdown with a headache and tears to go along with it. Oh, yeah, there's more to my story. I got my patient information and just wanted to double check one thing on my patient on the south hallway. I realized when I went to double check my information, that I had done all of my paperwork on the wrong patient. Seriously, maybe I should be checked for dementia!

I must get off here and get on to my paperwork. The night is not getting longer. More later.

I will survive

Now the phrase may be a bit overused, but I really will live. It's been well over 12 hours since I've had any pain meds. Now, that's not to say I'm not in pain, but it's not anywhere near the pain it was. The antibiotics must be working. Despite the fact that I didn't earn any money this weekend, I'm glad I didn't work. My body really did need time to recoup from the traumatic experience it went through! Life is supposed to return to normal tomorrow with class at 8:30. I do follow-up with the doctor at 2:45 for her to tell me that the medicine is working and that she doesn't need to see me again. Then off to the hospital to pick up my patient information for clinicals this week. I need there to be less drama in my life this week. I don't think that will happen, though. A girl can always wish! That's all for now. I'm going to try to finish up my reading for tomorrow. Have three very intriguing subjects. Diabetes mellitus (part 2), psychopathology (part 2), and psychopharmacology (part 1). More to come later.

Ugh, maybe a little a better

Well, I made it through yesterday. I managed to wash a couple of loads of laundry, but still haven't put them away. I have to use my energy wisely. I feel fine when I'm sitting around, resting, but I can't rest through clinicals. I did get a full nights sleep and then some. It was good not to be waking up every few hours itching like I was the night before.

I'm obviously not working this weekend. When I called in, they weren't very happy about it. Why is it that when we're sick, it's our fault that there's not enough staff? I happen to know that I was scheduled as extra. I know it's frustrating that for them that I can't be there, but they had more than 24 hours notice.

I don't know what else to say right now. I'm still kinda groggy from the lortab. I'm trying to wean myself slowly off the pain meds to see if the antibiotics are working. I'll update you later. I have lots of reading to do for school on Monday.

Still no diagnosis

You know, I really hate not knowing for sure what is wrong with me. I had my appointment this morning with my doctor. Of course, she couldn't tell me anything more than they told me in the ER. What she decided to do was to treat me like I have diverticulitis. So, for the next 14 days, I am taking Cipro and Flagyl. I had to nearly knock her out to get her to give me more pain medicine. The ER doc only gave me 15 pills. She wasn't going to give me anything. My friend, Holly, asked her what I was supposed to do the rest of the weekend. She then asked me how often I was taking my pain meds. I told her I was taking it every 4 hours like the doc said I could. The pain starts coming back in 3, so I'm doing good to last. I proceeded to tell her I wasn't there for the pain meds. She's been treating me for at least two years and I think this is the first time she's ever given me anything for pain beyond Naproxen or something like that. I understand the concept, but I have my pain under control right now, and I don't want to have to have it get back where it was to be treated again. So, she finally caved in and wrote me a script for 20. That's all I know about my pain. I'll let you know how the antibiotics work.

On a lighter note, for those of you Grey's Anatomy fans out there, how did you like last nights episode? I was on so much pain medicine, but I thought it was great. The whole Derek and Addision scene in the hotel, Izzie and the muffins (that's gotta be a classic there!), Cristina and Preston with mom walking in (too funny!!), Meredith telling Derek and vet guy that she wants to date both of them. I love it. I'm so totally addicted it's not even funny. My world stops at 8:00 on Thursday nights. Even when I'm writhing in pain, my world stops. I could go on and on, but I'll spare you. I'm going to rest now and study later. I was supposed to work this weekend, but I can't very well work while I'm taking Vicoden around the clock. I'm sure I'll be blogging a lot this weekend.

Home from the ER

Well, I spent over 4 hours in the ER with my friend Jen and her 4 year old son, Ryan. We got there about 11:45 and they got me straight back into a room. My blood pressure was extremely high for me (135/89) and I was hurting like I haven't hurt in long time. I got to pee in a cup and change into a beautiful hospital gown. I was then stuck with a needle and had 5 or 6 tubes of blood drawn as well as an IV inserted. Thankfully, the ER believes in "killing two birds with one stone". I only had to be stuck once because I know where most of my good veins are. Unfortunately, it was in the bend of my arm. My nurse left shortly after inserting my IV and within about 15 minutes, the doctor came in. He asked me the same questions that everyone else had asked me today. I really felt like I should have had a sign on my chest with all the answers. I know that it's best coming from the source, but it does get tiring after awhile. He did a brief abdominal exam and told me that they would do blood tests and a CT scan. I had already explained to EVERYONE that I had an ultrasound that was negative. My nurse came back in right before 1 with a bag of NS (normal saline) and Dilaudid and Zofran. They pushed the Zofran first and then the Dilaudid. I was much happier and in much less pain afterwards. It didn't take very long (and I do have a witness to how much pain I was in!!).

About 1:30 or 2:00 they came and got me for the CT scan. It was a relatively quick and painless procedure. The hardest part about it was getting off the bed and into the wheelchair and vice versa. I was quite lightheaded from the meds. The transporter from x-ray didn't seem like a very happy guy. Since my IV was in the bend of my arm, every time I bent my arm, it would occlude the IV and the machine would beep. He was VERY irritated by this. Then when we got to the CT room and I got on the stretcher, my IV wouldn't stop beeping. The battery went low and he was even more irritated. The CT was over within a few minutes and we got back to my room. I got back on my bed and he couldn't get the part that pulls out for the legs to pull out. I seriously thought he was going to scream in my room! He finally got it adjusted, and my IV plugged in. He put my BP cuff back on, but it was too tight and all lop-sided. When the machine went off, the cuff almost popped right off my arm. Instead of having it pop off, I pulled it off and called my nurse. When she got there, I told her that he tried to get the cuff back on, but that he didn't seem like he was having a very good day. Her response was, "You know those people who never seem to have a good day?" That's all she said. I knew what she meant. I guess we all know people like that. I felt bad for him. I was in pain, and I felt bad for him.

While I was having my scan done, Jen took Ryan to get something to eat and they came back around 2:15. Ryan was REALLY good while we were there. He watched intently while my IV was inserted and was very curious about the BP machine. It was really sweet. He was/is very concerned. By then, my pain was starting to come back. It never totally went away. My breathing had gone back to normal after the pain meds and I was much more calm. By 2:30, I was noticing that I was holding my breath (and Jen was asking me about my pain). About that time, my nurse came in, so I asked her when I could have some more medicine. She said she would check with the doctor about the results of my tests and see if I could have some more medicine. She came back about half an hour later with more Dilaudid. She also said that all my tests came back "normal". Before they gave me my medicine, I went to the bathroom. Jen walked with me and when I came back, they had moved me out to a stretcher in the hall due to more cases coming in via ambulance. It was not much fun. I had this student nurse that was helping out with me. She started out ok, but as the day wore on, she got more and more annoying ~ I think that's the word. (More on that in a few).

While I was in the bathroom, Jen told the nurse I wanted to talk to the doctor. He came to talk to me not long after that. I was just concerned about what was going on. Here I am, my pain hardly being controlled with Dilaudid and all my tests are coming back normal. Something is not right. He said that the only other test he would have order would be a sonogram, but since I had already had one, and it was negative, there was no need to order another one. He did say he would call my doctor and see what she wanted to do. So, we waited some more.

A little bit later, the student nurse came down to take out my IV. We mentioned that the doctor was calling my doctor and she abruptly stopped what she was doing and yelled down the hall to my nurse (whose name she couldn't remember) about me. So, since my room is technically in the hallway, does HIPPA still apply to me? The student wasn't the only one to do this (she did it twice), my nurse did to. I don't know how many people were in the hall. I was lying down on the stretcher kinda out of it from the meds, but it was a bit disheartening.

My ER doc finally got ahold of my GP and they were in agreement on sending me home. That's fine, I just want to know what's wrong with me. I have an appointment with my GP at 11:00 tomorrow. By 4:00 we were signing out of the ER. I got my script for some stronger meds than what I have at home and some well wishes. I won't bore you with anything else. If you've read all of this, you've got to be almost asleep. If nothing else, the pain meds from the ER helped me get the pain somewhat under control. Now, I have to attempt to keep it there. This whole experience really opened my eyes to how I want to treat my patients. I want to send a special thank you out to Jen and Ryan for suffering through the ER visit with me, to Holly for bringing me medicine last night, and to all my other friends and family for your supportive calls and well wishes today and over the past few days. I will do my best to keep you updated. Now, I'm going to try to sleep. Good night.

The good news is

it's not an ovarian cyst, a kidney stone, or a urinary tract obstruction. The bad news is, we don't know what it is. I hurt so bad right now, I'm literally in tears. I feel like such a wimp. Though I know this is my body's way of asking for help. One of my sweet friends is on her way over to take me to the ER or sit with me or figure out some plan since I can't think straight. Why now? I had to miss class today. Hopefully it's the only day I'll miss. I just want the pain to go away.

Clinicals . . .

Ok, so clinicals this week started ok. I went to the hospital on Monday and picked up my patient information and came home and started my paperwork. Things fell into place nicely Monday night. I got up and got to the hospital on Tuesday morning and found out that my patient had been in dialysis until after 10:30 the night before. He was tired and irritable. He was also NPO for a surgery that I didn't know about that day. Great ~ yet another drop in the bucket. I have to try to get everything done because we don't know when they'll come and get him for surgery. Blood sugar was high ~ gave the insulin. Explained what I would be doing for him during the day and what our goals were. He kindly told me he wanted to rest. I obliged him for a little while. He called not long after that needing to go to the bathroom. Perfect time to get cleaned up, right? Wrong! Well, I took the opportunity to change his sheets and straighten his side of the room up, but that's all he wanted to do. I was getting frustrated. I kept thinking to myself that he was going to be going to surgery for very bad diabetic necrotic ulcers with the possibility of amputation and you don't want to take this last opportunity to get cleaned up before you hurt so bad that you can't move? I didn't say that to him, of course, but I was thinking it. This man was a very kind, sweet man, but he was very depressed. And who could blame him? So, I approached the nurse I was working with for advice, and she went and talked to him. When she came back out of the room, she told me that he was ready to get cleaned up and for me to do his assessment. WHAT!?!?!? She said that she had told him that we really needed to get him cleaned up to get the bacteria off his skin for surgery and that we weren't sure when they would come and get him ~ basically they could call at any time, since he was an add-on surgery. So, I went back in the room. He was smiling and happy and ready to do whatever I needed him to do. I did his assessment, and we got him cleaned up. I was even able to get his face shaved. He was REALLY happy about that. It wasn't the best shave in the world, but it was better than nothing. We talked about his diabetes and about his family and his shunt and his dialysis. He was very open and honest with me. He told me how he was just ready for this surgery to be over so that he knew what was going to happen with his foot. You see, he had already lost his left lower leg due to diabetes. Now he is at risk for losing at least his right foot. My heart was breaking for him. When I did the dressing change on his toes, I was surprised they didn't fall off right then and there. They were so black and necrotic. He complained about very little. By the time I finished the dressing change, it was time to go home. I said my good byes and gave him my best. Told him I would see him tomorrow.

That gets us to today. (I know I totally skipped over last night, but really nothing happened at home, so there's nothing to tell.) I get to the hospital plenty early ready to go check on my patient. I start to head into his room, but something isn't right. He wasn't wearing diapers. He wasn't incontinent of stool yesterday. What happened overnight? The day nurse wasn't on yet, so I started talking to the night nurse. I asked her about him. She said, "I don't know, when I got on he wasn't here. I think I heard he went to The Unit." Oh, man . . . That means his surgery didn't go well. Sure enough, he was in ICU. I don't know what happened. I don't have access to any records once the patient leaves the floor we are on. I hope he'll be ok. It will never cease to amaze me how quickly we can bond with our patients.

I ended up taking his neighbor. He was in with diverticulitis with a perforated bowel. He had had surgery Friday and was hoping to go home. Very independent man. Didn't mind me listening to his hypoactive bowel sounds. Very distended belly, but everything was starting to function again. He didn't need or want anything from me, other than the doctor to write his discharge orders!

My instructor is wonderful. She is very application oriented and if we don't finish all of our paperwork ~ it's ok. It's not the end of the world if our patient goes home, or is transferred to another unit. Just take a deep breath and start another set of paperwork. It's all practice. This will happen in real life nursing anyway. Except we won't be able to take the paperwork home. Next week we pick up two patients. That will be interesting. I'll be sure to let you know how that goes. I must close now and get ready to go see my doctor. Until later ~ cj