Got a job

So I finally got a job as a CNA. It's at a short term rehab facility. It's mainly geriatric patients recovering from stroke, surgery, injuries, etc - along with the occasional Hospice patient. The maximum stay is 3 months. So for the most part the patients are fairly independent and low maintenance. It's also a small facility. They have a maximum of 16 beds, but we've been running around 8-11 right now. Supposedly they always get low during the summer time.

Anyways. I trained on several different shifts, but they've had me working mainly on the 4 PM - 12 AM shift. Which, honestly, is a breeze.

After I get to work and get report, I just get to walk around and take everyone's vital signs. All I really have to do is respirations and blood pressures. Temp, pulse, and O2 saturation are all done electronically. So thats pretty easy and it gives me practice to keep up those skills!

Usually soon after I finish the vitals, its time for dinner! Which is generally enjoyable. We just help everyone get down to the dining room and serve meals. We get one free meal per shift we work. So I usually eat in the dining room with the residents. This serves a double purpose - 1. We have to have at least one CNA in the room whenever there is food. In case of choking. And 2. It's fun chat time!

After dinner things get a little busier for a while, trying to get everyone back to their rooms and settled in, and people sometimes want to start getting ready for bed.

Things settle down pretty quickly. And then its basically just chilling, doing some cleaning, charting the vitals that were taken earlier, and answering call lights.

There are some... less than appealing parts of the job. I get to help a lot of people to and from the bathroom, change incontinence pads, help people wipe, etc. And I'm really not a big fan of emptying catheters. But... those parts are definitely outweighed by the enjoyable things. And it doesn't bother me as much since I know that its something that these people really just need help with. So its really rewarding.

Anyways. That is my job. And so far, I love it. Hard work, but worth it.

20/15

That is my vision at my second post op appointment this morning. One week after surgery. 20/15.

Also, and much less awesome, I have a sinus infection.

Post Length?

Are blog entries supposed to be short/thought provoking things? 

Or am I allowed to write longer discourses detailing whatever lately?

I don't know...

Sick

So.. I'm sick. The week before my wedding. Which is sad. Although, looking on the bright side, I guess I'd rather be sick now than the week OF the wedding. Or the day of the wedding. Or the week of the honeymoon. So maybe I should stop complaining. Although really.... I'd rather not be sick at all!

Also... I miss Jake. He's in Minnesota and I'm in Nebraska and I won't see him until Monday evening. Boo that.

LASIK

In an attempt to do at least a bit of catching up, I got LASIK last Friday. To both eyes. 

I was kinda worried when we got there because I realized that I would be VERY conscious and awake throughout the ENTIRE procedure. Every other surgery I've had (all of 2) have been done under a general anesthetic. So this was going to be a new thing for me. That was really just my biggest worry going into it. They gave me some motrin and some vallium, but that was it. (And also, the vallium didn't noticably start kicking in until on the drive home... Which I suppose is understandable because the procedure only took about fifteen minutes).

But anyways. To answer common questions I've been getting asked...

No, it didn't hurt. I barely felt a thing. They tell you you'll feel some "pressure". But this time, that really was all I felt. And it wasn't even to an uncomfortable extent. Just like if you close your eye and kinda press with your fingers. That was all.

Yes, I could see almost immediately after they were done. I went in with pretty bad vision (In my pre-op exam, I couldn't even see the big E thats at the top of the eye chart without my glasses). But I could see fine that day. The next morning (approximately 24 hours after the surgery), I had my first of several post op appointments and I checked out at 20/20 vision. Which they said is actualy likely to clear up even a little more by the time I'm done healing. 

Some other random stuff about it...

You can't wear eye makeup for a week after the surgery. And also, I need to go buy a new tube of mascara because they don't want you going back to an old one and getting an infection. Oh well, I've needed some new mascara for a while.

They projected the surgery onto a screen in another room so that family/friends can watch if they want. Mom watched the whole thing. Jake managed to come in and see the last 3-4 minutes. Sounds like they were pretty much in agreement that the weirdest part was watching them remove/replace the corneal flap and then to watch them smooth it out once they put it back on.

The worst part of the surgery was just a smell. There are two lasers. One to cut a flap in the cornea, which they then peel away. And one to reshape the tissue underneath. I don't really remember much about what the first laser was like. But the second one just kinda flashed all over in different spots and was a violet type color. But there was this smell with it as it vaporized the tissue that was kind of like burning hair. It was a bit unnerving. But that was the worst that it got. And really, if the worst part of a surgery is just that there was an unpleasant smell for a minute or so... not so big of a deal.

I was mislead about my sleep. They told me that I was encouraged to sleep as much as possible the day of the procedure (which was at around 9 AM). However... It turns out that you have to stay awake for the first four hours you get home, and THEN you get to sleep. Which I thought was quite lame. Because I was kinda sleepy going into it, figuring I'd get to nap all day. And then when the vallium kicked in, I REALLY wanted to sleep. Jake sat on the couch bed with me most of the day trying to keep me awake. He kept all my facebook apps updated for me so I didn't fall too far behind in Mafia Wars, Farm Town, whatever (also to distract me from sleep). We kind of watched The Office. As in he watched and I listened. And supposedly I was very grumpy about not getting to go to sleep. And also I kept asking Jake and Brigette about some hallucinations/dreams/whatever that were not real and I'm assuming induced by the vallium.

I get to put in LOTS of eyedrops. Including this special one for when I go to sleep. It's actually a gel. Rather than a liquid drop. Its pretty goopy and odd to have in your eye. 

I have these crazy goggles that I got to wear for the whole first day of the operation, and still get to wear when I sleep for a bit longer. They kind of look like the really old fashioned aviator goggles. Or so my family thinks.

I had a few spots of hemorrhaging in the whites of my eyes. Just from the pressure of the laser and the thing to hold my eyelids open, etc. They said it could take up to three weeks for them to fade. I'm hoping not since the wedding is about a week and a half from now. (we enter the single digit countdown tomorrow!!!) But they're already starting to fade quite nicely. So I think it may work out alright. 

But... yeah. I can see now. No contacts. It's quite nice. Yesterday and today my eyes are feeling particularly better. They mainly just get a little dryer than normal but thats all. I was pleased with it all. Its good.

Evidently I suck at this blogging nonsense...

So I think I'm kind of a failure at this blogging stuff. I go throughout my day and I'll think "That'd be a good blog topic", etc.... But do I ever get around to it? Nay. And its not that I'm not on the computer. I waste literally hours a day on the computer. So I don't know... But I'll work on it. 

So Much To Do

I have been looking forward to today for... a very long time. It's the day after finals are done. I'm finally free. I get to relax, it's all smooth sailing...

Or so I thought.

In reality, I think i'm going to be busier today than any day of finals. Except for maybe the day I took three tests in a row. Although I think today will still be busier. 

I have to pack. A LOT. Basically everything in my bedroom and kitchen. I best get moving I suppose.

Drawing to a close

So... its been a while. I was very enchanted with this whole blog thing. But then I got distracted by kidneys and whatnot. So... I'm gonna give it another try.

Finals are about over. I take my last one tomorrow. I only have three nights left in my apartment. Then I'm leaving Utah, never to return as a single girl. Only two days left at work. 

Things are ending and drawing to a close.

Hmm...

Followup on Kidneys

Update on the kidney stones (I flatter myself to think people read this/care... heh heh)

So... I came home sometime on Wednesday morning. And spent the next few days passed out drugged on the couch... unaware of the world through some combination of narcotics, nausea, and pain.

Thursday evening during the episode of The Office, I went pee and did the straining my urine deal. ONLY THIS TIME I HIT LE JACKPOT! I got blood and a tiny tiny little kidney stone. Its only 2 mm in diameter. I will put up a picture of it... as soon as I take one... and then as soon as I figure out how to post them... So maybe tomorrow.

But... its tiny. Which makes me feel kinda like a wuss... that something SOOOooo little could cause THAT much pain! Cuz... its tiny. I think I've had bigger things in my eye and been okay. You will see when I picture this.

I go to see the Urology specialist on Monday. And I get to take him my kidney stone and he will do the analysis.

YAY. Then I'll have more info. And more STORIES!

No More Roommates

I got my last new roommate the other day. (I'm not exactly clear on precisely what day she moved in, as I was drugged and unconscious at the time). She sleeps in my bedroom. And her name is Casey A. She just got back from her mission to Chile and she's an Elementary Education major, but doesn't start back to school until April. She's looking for a job and a car. But thats all I know about her. All I know. The end.

But anyways... This morning, as I was straining my pee for more kidney stones (just in case), I was thinking... I will get one more roommate ever. And then thats it. Which will be new to me. Because I never had the same set of roommates for more than one semester. It went like this:

Fall '07: Me, Jordin, Jessica, Heidi
Winter '08: Me, Kara, Heidi, Shantell
Fall '08: Me, Gretchen, Brigette, Heidi
Winter '09: Me, Gretchen, Brigette, Casey
May 16th - Eternity: Jake

Hmmm... Could be an adjustment.

Especially since I will also share a bed with the Jake roommate.

But I'm excited about that part

Emergency Room

So... fantastic little dose of irony or something... I went to the hospital twice within a 24 hour time span... For two very different reasons. First I went to HR about my job/externship. Then I made an unexpected visit to the ER.

Here's the story regarding the second trip.

Now I think that maybe they were connected, although at the time I didn't think much of it. This morning I woke up (as in Tuesday morning... so really yesterday I guess) with menstrual type feeling stomach cramps. Which I thought was weird since I'm between periods. But I just kinda blew it off, Gretchen had mentioned there was a stomach flu or something going around. So I took Ibuprofen, took a dump, and went on with my day.

Anyways. The crampiness kind of continued throughout the day, but I didn't think much of it. Did the stuff I needed to, and went to bed around 0100-0130 ish.

A little after 0200, I was awakened by the most horrible pain in my side. I thought maybe it was just a stomach cramp again (although I'd never had a stomach cramp feel that horrible). I thought if I could poop or vomit or something I might get some relief. So, I peed... but there was no pooping. Couldn't poop. That didn't feel good. Couldn't vomit either. So I kinda laid down curled up around the toilet.

Then I got the thought "My appendix! I have appendicitis!"

I went and laid down in the hallway in front of the bedrooms. Curled up and writhing in pain. Finally, I knocked (weakly, mind you) on Gretchen and Brigette's door and managed to groan out Gretchen's name. (I figured I'd have a better chance of waking her up than Brigette). There was definitely some divine help involved. Because I used all the strength I could and barely tapped on the door, but Gretchen said it sounded like I was pounding and yelling. Loud enough that it managed to wake her. Brigette even heard the knocking, and she slept through the Carbon Monoxide scare last month - not just the alarm, but the whole evacuation and everything practically!

I had Gretchen call my mom to ask her what side of my body my appendix is on, because the pain was on my right. Which, incidentally, is the side that your appendix is on! So mom told us to get in to the ER. I grabbed my bag that had my wallet/insurance card in it, Brigette called Jake and we started making our way down to the car.

I made it to the parking lot and then not only was I magically able to throw up, but I couldn't NOT throw up. So I did. On the parking lot (and a little on my pants and flip flops. Although I wasn't about to go back home to change). (Its still there, Gretchen and Brigette informed me. They also asked what I had eaten since they couldn't tell. In case any of you see it in the parking lot and are interested, the white stuff is burrito.) This is about when Jake met up with us.

We got in the car and headed off to the ER. Arrived safely, gave them my information through pain and mumbling (more information on the effects of the mumbling later). And got assigned to get to go straight into a triage room.

I sat in triage for a while crying and moaning in pain. (And throwing up. In the garbage can until they brought me an emesis basin) Finally a guy came in and took my blood pressure and stuff (It was about 122/90 ish I believe... Usually I'm around 100/60). He went to find the doc and talk to him, came back and said he was gonna start an IV.

The only IV's I've had before were the drips. Where they have the saline and then just inject pain meds into there. This time they just put in like a little port, so that they could inject whenever necessary.

But... inserting it was quite an ordeal evidently. There was blood... all over. As in running all up and down my arm, on the chair, my pants a little, pooling on the floor, etc. The guy was evidently quite nervous. Gretchen and BB and Jake were all like "He was really nervous when you started bleeding." Evidently I handled it pretty well even though it was MY blood getting everywhere. They said I just kept telling him "It's okay. It's fine. Don't worry about it. Just get the IV in, this is the least of my pain right now, etc." Although I do remember getting pretty shakey and vaguely wondering if I were having a reaction. LUCKILY, I just finished a class that involved teaching us what to do if someone had a reaction. So I just did that to myself.

So he finally got it in, and drew some blood (with a syringe. which I remember being intrigued watching. I'm guessing he used that because of the set up of the port). He got all the blood into the test tubes and then had to go find the doc again to see if he could give me some pain drugs. Turns out he could!! Yay. I was grateful. So I got the first of my morphine doses.

Pretty soon after that, they got me into a room. The wheelchair came and wheeled me in. Got my own little curtain divided half suite. Jake came with me. I changed into my fun little hospital gown.

There was a lot of blurring of events after this. These are the things I know/remember. Which may or may not be in order.

1) I got morphine/other drugs.

2) They put an oxymeter on. Because narcotics slow your breathing. They want your oxygen levels to stay above 90% just as a general rule... However everytime I finally managed to fall asleep, my breathing (and consequently my oxygen) would drop. Often to 70-75% and the screen would start beeping and wake me up. I would then remember to breathe and would usually have my O2 level back up to 98-100% by the time someone came in to stop the beeping. Then I'd fall asleep and the whole thing would start again.

3) JD came and helped Jake give me a blessing.

4) They told me they suspected kidney stones, and needed to run a CT scan to be sure. So they did. It was... fun I guess. I had to lay with my hands over my head and they ran me back and forth through the machine. The machine talked to me. Told me when to breathe or inhale or hold my breath. Then they gave me some contrast dye for a few more sets of images. That stuff was... interesting. It felt warm all over, gave me a nasty yuck taste in my mouth, and made me feel like I was peeing my panties (I didn't actually have pants on at the time). It also made me feel like I was gonna throw up again. Which... since I'd been doing lots of that for the last 3 or so hours... wasn't necessarily a surprise. Unfortunately, my drugs were wearing off towards the end of the scan... which made it CONSIDERABLY less enjoyable.

5) They finally put me on oxygen so that I could fall asleep without being woken up by the beeping from the oxymeter.

6) They finally let me sip water. They had told me no (which was surprising, since I'd been throwing up and was getting WAY dehydrated).

7) I threw up all of that water.

8) They got my birthday wrong since I was moaning in pain when I reported all that information to them. Instead of 11/7/88, they heard 7/7/88. Which threw the new nurse for a loop when she came in for their shift change. Cuz they always ask you to identify yourself. At least by your name and birthdate. So I had to have Jake vouch for me that my birthday indeed was in November.

9) They asked Jake to sign something for me, but I had to tell them that he couldn't. They thought we were already married. I did let them list him as my emergency contact though..

10) I had to ask for a saline drip for my dehydration. Otherwise, they were gonna send me home just all dry and sad.

11) Due to said dehydration, my tongue was getting dry and puffy and I REALLY was slurring when I tried to talk. (Also possibly affected by the drugs).

12) Jake was a sweetheart and went to get me applesauce and crackers and such and pick up my prescriptions.

13) I basically had to beg Jake to go home and get some sleep.

14) Gretchen came in and sat with me when he left.

15) I finally got to go home and have been taking drugs and sleeping ever since.

So... the end diagnosis?

Kidney stones. Theres one about 3mm in diameter in my right kidney just about to enter the ureter (tube that goes from kidney to bladder). Thats what was causing all the pain. They said it is small enough that it should be able to pass on its own. So they gave me a little strainer that i have to filter all of my pee with until I find the stone in there. Then I am to save said stone in little sterile sample cup and take it in to the Urologist so he can analyze it. And if it doesn't pass within a week, they may have to look at other solutions.

They said that even though it was just this one that was causing the pain, I have other stones in both of my kidneys. So we're going to try to schedule with the Urologist to see if we can figure out what to do.

Although, I learned an interesting fact of the day. Utah has a higher rate of kidney stones than a lot of other states. Probably due to the very hard water.

So, until said time that the stone passes or they find another solution, I get to take fun drugs, drink lots of water, eat blandish foods (at least unti I stop being pukey), and lay around for the most part.

Yay. The pain is now tolerable thanks to the drugs. So I just get to wait it out.

Thats the story of my day. Yay. Or not yay, I suppose.

A Ray of Sunshine?

There's a possibility that there might be a little ray of sunshine shining through the cumulonimbi of despair and discouragement...

What do you do?

What do you do when the Lord tells you to do something, but then all the ways for you to do it don't work out? If all of your circumstances conspire AGAINST you being able to do it, and the Lord even ADMITS that you can't do it?

Do you just try to pick something else to do? What if He says that nothing else you do is okay? That it has to be that one thing that He admits you can't do?

I propose that this is when you cut off relations to all human beings, drop out of school, and live under a bridge, sleeping under a blanket of cardboard and eating rotting lettuce for dinner.

Its the only possible solution there is.

And you'll be about as unhappy and unsatisfied either way. So oh well.

Hospital Update

Went to the hospital.

None of the people I needed to talk to were there.

They don't do phlebotomy externships. So I need to find another place... I emailed Student Health.

Don't know about job application. Need to email him once I hear from Student Health.

The end.

Phlebotomy

So... I didn't used to like needles... at all. Whenever my mom had to go get her allergy shots, I'd hide my face in the little privacy curtain. Up until I was 18, whenever I had to get a shot, etc, they'd have to call in about two extra nurses to hold me down.

Which makes it even more surprising that I just finished a class to get my phlebotomy certification. For those of you slightly less medically minded folk, "phlebotomy" is basically drawing blood.

If you can get over the squeamish thing (I did, although I had a few doubts at the beginning of the class), its actually pretty cool. Everything now is really vacuum activated. They don't really use syringes too much anymore. So its interesting how all the equipment works.

And, I'm evidently quite decent at it! Which is the fun part!! Of all the sticks I've done so far, I have a 100% success rate on hitting the veins. I'm yet to miss! I've had two loved ones allow me to practice on them (Jake twice, and my mom let me do the butterfly on her arm).

I don't know if part of why I enjoy it is because I feel like I may actually be moving closer towards finally getting into Nursing/health care since its actually related? But I like it. And its exciting to me.

So anyways... I'm done with the actual phlebotomy COURSE. In order to get my certification, I have to complete a 40 hour externship. Which means I need to find some clinic/bloodbank/hospital/etc who will let me practice on their patients for free for 40 hours.

The Utah Valley Regional Medical Center (conveniently located a mere block away from my apartment) currently has a part time opening for a phlebotomist. Its an on call position. Not in the doctor kind of on call where you carry a beeper and they make you come in at 2 AM, but just the kind of on call where they'll call you if someone has a sick day or is going on vacation or something like that. So pretty flexible hours. And it starts at $10.65 an hour!!! Which is tremendous!!! I only make like $7.25 right now working at the Cannon Center. So that would be fantastic money for me. (and for us actually since we'll be married and trying to go to college and oh so very poor).

So anyways... Tomorrow morning I'm going to go to the hospital to talk to them. I submitted an application online. But I need to talk to them because technically I'm not officially certified. So I'm going to see if I can get the job, and if yes if I can just do my externship as fast as I can with them. (I figure if I just do 6-7 hours a day, I can finish it in a week). If I can't get the job... I'll still talk to them about the externship. I know at least one other girl from my class is applying for the position. But I'm hoping maybe the fact that I have my CNA (certified nurse assistant) license may give me an edge over her.

But yes. I'm going in tomorrow. I could really use this job. I'm excited about the chance of getting it. So... wish me luck and send a prayer or two out on my behalf in this endeavor! I'll update when I have something to report!

<3

Slacky McSlackerson

So I'm kind of a slacker. In many things. And I fall desperately behind and one week I'll find myself with four tests and a paper and a million things to do with wedding planning and engagement photos, etc, etc, etc. This is sucky enough... But the really lame part is that in the middle of all of this, when I do get those random urges to be productive... I don't do any of the things that are the REAL priorities to get done. I do things that are important. And worthwhile. But not the most pressing. For instance, I have a Human Development test I need to take tomorrow or Wednesday. I have a bunch of wedding junk I need to email my mom. I need to go to the hospital to talk about the job I applied for and to try to schedule my phlebotomy externship... And guess what I did when I came home from Jake's. None of that stuff! I mopped my kitchen. Which is good. But just not overly helpful.

Also not helpful were all the jackhammers that the construction-y guys were using to tear up our pool. Loud.

So I made this blog...

So... I made this blog. Carsey made one. Which means I have to as well... We'll see how it goes. Just kind of experimenting with it right now... setting up colors and all that.