Blog Negligence

That's right. I'm super guilty. But you see, I think if I blogged just to blog, I'd bore the heck out of you. And that's no fun.

My school days feel like they are going by slow and fast all the same time. At present, it feels like the days just drag on. I just want to be done and graduated. Guess you call that senior-itis. On the other side, I look at the countdown (that's 244 days remaining) and it'll probably go by really fast. But honestly, I think I'm ready. I guess that's one of the joys of college; you're so ready to be done with the classes so you kinda get over the fears of starting "real life".

Anyway.

I've been able to go home the last two weekends and I love it! Coming back to school is a little depressing. I love being close to my family and friends and in my hometown. It's gotten me to thinking that I really want to move back when I graduate. I've said that if I get a job offer in Portland from my last clinical rotation I'll take it, but I'm going to be applying to other places too. And if I get a job in/around my hometown I would have a very very hard time turning it down. So I don't think I will. But hey! I'm getting ahead of myself. I still have 244 long days left. And there's that small part of applying for jobs and actually getting job offers...

So if this isn't completely random, I don't know what is. I've decided my new favorite word is "snarky". It's a good description of my recent attitude. Kind of sarcastic...okay, a lot sarcastic. Perfect example of how it applies to my life: I went to the PHS football game on Friday night. Halftime rolls around and the marching band comes out on to the field. Yes, you heard me right...marching band. PHS has a marching band. So anyway...all I could do was sit in the stands and laugh to myself. Other fans were quite proud of the whole deal, but c'mon! We're a small town, the marching band was no more than 30 people (mostly clarinet and flute players) and really!? Yes, I was being a snarky snark. Not very nice. Bad Stacy!

Ok! I'm just rambling. And there is homework to be done. As much as I would like to procrastinate, I also have to get it done so I can sleep tonight. If anything interesting happens, I'll post again soon.

Racing for the Ladies

This weekend was jam pack full and awesome! Friday afternoon I traveled home. Home always = good weekend. Friday was also "talk like a pirate day" so Madre had a poker party. We played a little bit of poker, but mostly just sat around laughing and talking. Now, I can't talk like a pirate very well. I think the extent of my pirate-talk includes "Arrrr", "ahoy!" and "why is the rum always gone?" :) But I can dress up a little. A couple of years ago Madre made me a wench costume for Halloween. It's great!

But what happened Sunday morning is the whole reason for this blog post. After getting up at the butt crack of dawn, Madre and Lani and I drove up to Portland for the Race for the Cure. So much fun! So many people running/walking for the "girls". AND it was Lani's birthday! We ran the 5K and finished in 28 minutes and 45 seconds (that's less than 9:30 minute mile). Not bad for not training very much in the last couple of months! Great way to start the morning (even if it was early).

It was hardt to drive back up this morning. Why are weekends so short? No worries, I have another one in 4 short days.

Unremarkable

My last couple of days haven't been anything really special or cool. I have clinical on Tuesdays and Wednesdays, but this week I didn't get to see as much as I did last week. I'm feeling more comfortable at clinical and feeling more like a real nurse. (You know that is what RN stands for right? Real Nurse.) I do most, if not all the patient care myself.

What is nice about this rotation is that I see the same patient and take care of the same patient 2 days in a row. I get very familiar with them and they get to know me. My patient was pretty cool this week. She's mainly in the hospital for observation because they don't really know what was going on and what is causing her health problems. She has a good attitude about it though and she really liked to talk. On my down time I got to go in and chat with her for a while. She's just so cute!

The only part that I'm not getting the hang of is getting up at 5 in the morning. My sleep cycle just isn't there yet. I haven't been in the habit of making coffee in the morning but it is going to become one.

Heelarious

I saw these on the news this morning...
They are high heeled shoes for babies 0-6 months. The heel is soft and collapses when you put weight on it but they are high heels none the less! I know it is a little bit ridiculous but I would probably buy some...even if it is just for laughs. There is a big debate online about the trend of marketing inappropriate clothing to children, and in most cases I agree, but I don't see the harm in this. First, they're babies and it's obviously for fun. And when they are older, what little girl isn't going to go into her mom's closet and play dress-up with her heels?

Anyway...just wanted to share. :)

Dialysis, EKG's and Cardiac stents. Oh my!

Day two on the cardiac unit went well. My patient ended up going down for dialysis, which I got to see part of. Having to be on dialysis is not cool but the fact that we have the machines and the technology to do it is cool. And seeing a patient being hooked up was a cool experience. Dialysis is a 3-4 hour process so I didn't have a patient to take care of after my patient went to the dialysis unit so I watched a whole bunch of EKG strips for a while. I got to see different rhythms like atrial flutter, and atrial fibrillation. I know this doesn't mean much but whatever.

There is only so much I can do on the cardiac unit without a patient so I paged my instructor. She sent me down to the catheter lab to see if there were any procedures going on. We smiled real pretty and asked real nice and they let me in to observe a cardiac stent procedure. Can you say WAY COOL?! This procedure is done by sending a tiny catheter (wire-like tube) up an artery in the leg all the way into the heart. A big x-ray machine takes pictures/video and dye is used to see all the arteries surrounding the heart. Everything is seen on a monitor so the whole procedure is done through a very tiny incision. The patient had a narrowing of one of her cardiac arteries so they went in with the catheter and inflated a balloon (a very tiny balloon) and then in it's place they put in a wire-like-mesh (kinda looks like a chinese finger trap) stent to keep the artery open. It was amazing to see the heart beating and all the arteries. In-cred-ible is all I can think to say.

Day One Down

My day started before dawn this morning, but it was a fun day. I started clinical in a cardiac unit and will have an opportunity to go down to the renal unit in a couple of weeks.Today was just orientation and shadowing but tomorrow I get to start taking care of a patient by myself. I'll still have a nurse watching what I'm doing and she will have to co-sign everything I do, but I'm doing it myself! Tomorrow starts at 6:00 am, so hopefully I'll be able to get to bed early tonight.

One of the coolest things I got to do today was a tour of the operating rooms. We put on the scrub caps and the booties and went in to an operating room. There were a couple of surgeries in progress so we got to watch through the windows in the doors. The hospital that I'm at is pretty high tech and have 2 robots that do surgery. Of course they are controlled by surgeons but they are way cool! The "hands" are tiny and go in through very small incisions and can move in ways that human hands cannot. Everything is put up on large monitors and it was just way awesome. I would like to be in the OR for one of these surgeries if I can't see an open heart surgery.

Little bit of this, little bit of that

I stayed dry Saturday night! It was a much better night in that respect. I did have a combative patient, however. She was not very much fun. Part of my job is to check people to see whether they are wet or dry and then change them. This patient was quite serious about not being checked to the point she said she was going to "beat the hell out of me" if I tried. I backed way up and went to get some help. To make a long story short, we ended up being able to check her. While at the time it is scary to have someone threaten to hit/punch you, now I just feel bad for her. She has lost practically all of her independence and her quality of life isn't that great. I guess lashing out is all that she has left.

But on to other news...

I start clinical this week. I'm working in the cardiac unit at the hospital right across the street from where I live. This is going to be very convienient as I have to be there at 6:30 am. I can sleep in a little bit more and I don't have to spend money on gas! Overall, I'm excited and nervous to work in the cardiac unit. The patients I'm going to be working with are going to be in more of a life-or-death situation than other clinical rotations I have had. I will get some time in an operating room, most likely seeing open heart surgery, and that I'm super excited to see. I will feel very Grey's Anatomy-like. :)

This is my first full week of my last year of college! Actually I only have 265 days left and that includes Jan term which I don't plan to be taking classes. Holy cow! I still don't believe that I'm a senior!!

I thought I was going to be running the fall festival 5K but I'm going to be running in the Race for the Cure instead. In registering it asks you to make a fund raising goal for yourself. Because there are less than 2 weeks until race day I made my goal $100. Race for the Cure is sponsered by the Susan G. Komen foundation in the fight against breast cancer. Money goes to help aid women in the early detection of breast cancer, and research for a cure. I'm excited to be participating! And I'm running with friends so it should be fun.

The One where I get Peed on

This week has been crazy. Monday night I got a call to work a graveyard shift. It was about 4 hours before I was supposed to start the shift and I had not really prepared (taken a nap) for it, but I took the shift anyway because of lack of funds in my bank account. The night went well. It was the best shift I had ever had. God was great in that way. And the sleep I got in the morning after being awake for 22 hours wasn't bad either.

So, I'm working at the same place last night and during one of the rounds of changing I'm working with a patient and I've almost got him all changed. As I'm rolling him over to finish attaching the adhesives of the "undergarmets" he completely wets himself. The catch here is the front flap of the undergarment has fallen forward...thus exposing the bed and myself to the joy that is urine. You'd think that my years of experience changing baby boy diapers would clue me into the fact that you have to make sure the front is secure unless you want accidents, but no. The guy didn't mean to, in fact he was totally oblivious and just kept asking for water. But I had a hard time staying calm and friendly. The guy just peed on me! In the end, I was able to change all of his bedding and him again (successfully). He only got the lower half of my pants which dried quickly, but I was ever so happy to be able to change out of them when I got home.

I'm working at the same facility tonight and here's to a good night and no one wetting themselves on me!

White Water Rafting - Take 2

There weren't as many pictures taken this year on the rafting trip, but the pictures that were taken were the most important and exciting. They almost look the same as last years but the river was higher and it made it all the more fun.

This rafting trip includes a class 5 rapid, which would be better described as a waterfall (because that is what it is). We get a little training and practice before we go over but there really isn't anything like the real thing.

Paddling up to the falls. We literally paddled until we saw the bottom of the falls and then "got down".

This is the "oh my goodness" moment
This is us, you can't see us because this year we actually went completely under. Way cool!
Popping back up. The only down side to the falls is the blast of water you get up the nose. The guides call it a brain washing.
Next fun thing: Riding the bull.


I'm the person in the left hand corner falling out of the boat. I don't really know what happened. I was on the boat one second and off the next.

The rescue - or what the guides refer to as the flop and giggle. I was pulled up by my life jacket and flopped into the boat. I did giggle the whole time.

After riding the bull the river gets pretty calm because of the dam on the river. It made for a nice, easy way to end the day. It does get really slow at the end, especially if you are really hungry. We stopped at a local pizza place and I tried a local favorite that included goat cheese and huckleberries. It was seriously one of the best pizzas I've ever had.

I'm bummed that I'm not going to be an RA next year because I won't get to go on this trip. But I know where it is so maybe I'll take some friends with me and I'll get to do it again.