Purple Affair for the Bear

It's not healthy to be all work and no play, so a while ago I planned to go to a charity event for Bear Necessities which was last week.  It was much different than my usual scene, but I liked getting dressed up and going somewhere nice for a change.  This was an annual event hosted by the auxiliary board members at the River East Art Center.  The venue is great and would make for a glamorous wedding, I could only imagine what that would cost though.  I was surprised by how many of my old co-workers from West Belden were there.  It was great to catch up since I don't see most of them on a regular basis.  I later found out that a first grader from the school was recently diagnosed with eye cancer and that's why there was such a turn out.  It was devastating news, especially since the girls older brother was one of my former students and I know how much he loves and cares for his sister.  My heart goes out to their family.

A group of people from the WB crowd went out for pre-cocktails before the event, but due to my new life plan I had to regrettably forgo the pre-party festivities.  I was working on my clinical assignment all day and 7pm was too ambitious of a goal for me.  I worked all the way up to the time I had to get in the shower and was still a little late to the event.  The event was a blast and raised over $38,000 for pediatric cancer.   Despite my slight overindulgence I willed up the strength to hit the books the next morning and host the weekly study session.  Mary and Nadine were my saviors when they brought snacks.  Mary baked banana nut muffins and Nadine brought prosciutto, blue cheese and gouda.  Acute inflammation, hypersensitivities and auto immunity didn't seem so bad after that :o)   

New Outlook on Hospice

Last week we had the most fabulous lecture on grief and dealing with loss from a hospice nurse.  She was from Japan and I couldn't believe the stories she told us about the nursing practice over there.  They had to tell all their patients that they were going to be okay even if they knew they had a terminal illness and were going to die soon.  Also, they kept the morphine locked up and if a patient complained of pain they would give a placebo pill first and tell them it was a pain medicine.  If the patient complained of having pain still, they knew the patient wasn't lying and would actually give them morphine the second time.  The patient that pushed her over the edge was dying in pain and had bruised the arms of his wife from holding her and begging to be told the truth and confirm the suspicion that he was dying.  The wife was hysterical and kept telling him he was going to be okay.  A few days later he died.  The nurse who spoke to us could not tolerate the horrible practice Japan had so she came to the US to get her PhD with a focus on hospice care.  I myself was flabbergasted that such practice was legal let alone encouraged!

I always had the impression that hospice was one of the most depressing fields of nursing because everyday you work with people who you know are going to die.  Now I realize it is probably one of the most honest and rewarding careers one can have.  There is nothing depressing about helping a patient and their family face the reality of their situation and individualize the grief process... about fulfilling a patients final wishes... about providing presence when family and friends bereave the loss of a loved one.  I don't know if it was because I just took a test or was over tired, but the stories she shared evoked a lot of emotion.  One family asked her to help plan a Christmas since their father wasn't going to make it to December.  They had a big feast with holiday china and all in the middle of spring.  Another patients only goal was to look ready and well by the time her children came home from school so they continued to want to come home even though she was dying.  Another mother made sure she wrote letters to her kids for every birthday leading up to their 18th so she could still be a part of their lives after shes gone.

I am not ignorant to the fact that I have been fortunate enough to not have to deal with a serious loss.  I am thankful to no end for all the special people in my life who love me unconditionally and support me through thick and thin.  I can't even predict how I'd bereave the loss of a loved one.          

Complete 180

It's been a week since my last clinical but I wanted to post about my last patient because she was so memorable.  I had the same patient the first two weeks and she was lovely to talk to so I was a little nervous going into my next clinical having a different patient and not knowing what to expect.  My clinical instructor handed out the assignments to everyone and then gave me a choice: patient A or patient B.  To me it made no difference and I knew nothing about either so my instructor picked for me.  It was a patient no one was assigned to the day before so we both went to look at her chart to see the diagnosis before I dived in and used therapeutic communication while extracting an assessment of home safety (that was the goal for the day).

Patient diagnosis and history:  malignant brain tumor removal (reason she was there), history of seizures, R-breast mastectomy, schizophrenia, depression, hypothyroidism, asthma, high cholesterol, suicide attempt, epilepsy.

The cancer from her breast had traveled to her brain and altered in the process to become more resistant to treatment.  My instructor is an advanced practice nurse whose focus is oncology and while reading her chart she kept saying very interesting, very interesting.  I personally had little to no knowledge of any of my patients diagnoses which made it more intimidating to go initiate a conversation.  She was sitting in the seating area of the floor unit and had just finished eating breakfast.  She was restrained to her chair with a posey vest because of her high fall risk.  She would often try to stand up, but not know where she was going and her gait was not that stable, hence why they had her tied to the chair.  I introduced myself and was welcomed warmly by the patient so I knew it was a go to start my assessment.

I don't like to drill my patients with questions, but rather extract information from conversation which I've learned to navigate and focus quite well.  Plus, with this patient I had no idea where her cognitive level was.  I started by talking about her breakfast and how the food has been at the hospital.  My intention was to assess home meals and preparation.  When I asked what she usually eats for breakfast at home she repeated everything she had today and pointed to it on her plate.  I knew I had a challenge ahead of me and the concept of "open-ended questions" was out the window.  I was able find out that my 57 yo patient has always lived at home with her parents who are now in their 80's.  Mom pretty much does everything which was concerning considering her age.  I know the brain tumor had seriously impaired my patient's mental capacity, but there had been a self-care deficit far before the cancer.  She would use medical terms like hematoma (bruise) correctly but shut down if I asked what that meant or how she got it.  I had a feeling she was just regurgitating words versus have a working knowledge of the vocabulary.  Just like when she told me, "My brother is younger, but I have schizophrenia."  I asked what that meant to her and she shut down again.

I went with my patient to therapy where the focus was simply working on and remembering ADLs (Activities of Daily Life) which included washing up, getting dressed, opening the blinds, etc.  I knew I had a connection with my patient already because as she tried to wash up at the sink she kept looking at me through the mirror and smiling.  We played catch for a little bit and then it was off to speech therapy where she had a breakdown and the session was ended quickly.  I was still trying to gauge her cognitive ability and wasn't sure if her zoning out was just defense to not do something she didn't wanted to do.  I imagine that her cocktail of pills also had something to do with it, but her timing on when she'd zone out was interesting to me.  She would later tell the OT that I thought she was faking being tired which caught me off guard.  How did she access that situation?!

Everyone in my clinical group kept saying they felt so bad for me having the patient I did.  I on the other hand was thankful for that opportunity to challenge my skills.  I learned a lot about communicating with a whole new type of patient than my last.  Also, at the end of the day my patient told me that she really liked me and spending time together.  I was glad to be able to make her stay at the hospital a little warmer.  My heart goes out to her and her supportive family.          

Almost Famous

Every Thursday I volunteer at the hospital down the block from me.  It's not completely selfless, I do have an underlying motive to network and have experience to put on my resume.  Every other week I help in the OR.  Usually I'm in the PACU answering phones, getting stickers from patients charts and sometimes just socializing with the doctors and nurses.  The nurse secretary loves me because I always clean and organize their drawers.  Today I came in and she was like girl I have to show you something, were famous.  About a month ago the hospital did this initiative for employees to encourage an "advocate experience" and enhance patient satisfaction yada... yada... yada...  All I knew was they were giving away cupcakes and I was there.  We got cupcakes for the entire unit and were asked to take pictures with "captain advocate."  Super cheesy I know!

We can't leave the OR without wearing a coat over our scrubs for sanitary reasons so I borrowed one of the nurses from the unit.  I kinda felt like an impostor when they insisted on taking pictures of us.  I don't even work there.  Well turns out they liked our picture the best because it was one of the few used in the monthly newsletter that goes to all staff at the hospital.  And that is why I'm famous... at least in the Advocate network... well maybe just at Illinois Masonic... eh probably just with the PACU crew... or maybe not at all.  I just hope it helps me get a job down the road.  It's about time I get paid for doing what I do there for free.

A New Tradition

This week was the first of many "family dinners" with the roommates.  All three of us are super busy and everyone operates on a different schedule that we never get to eat together.  Often one will start cooking or order something not knowing if the others are coming home and then they do and we can't eat together.  So we have designated Tuesday as "family dinner" night and everyone is expected to be home at a decent hour to eat dinner together.

Tyler started it off and texted me while I was studying,"How does native food sound?"  I had no idea what that was but responded sounds good!  The whole el ride home this is what went through my head:  Is native Indian food?  Did he mean native as in indigenous?  Why didn't he just say American?  I had no idea what meal I was going to go home to.  Unbeknownst to me, I came home to nothing.  Our first dinner taking turns cooking and Tyler didn't cook any dinner.  Instead he decided to take us out to a restaurant down the street called Native Foods.  It was an all natural local vegan place.  I was excited to try it, Tyler already loved it (he actually had it for lunch that day too) and Matt couldn't curse out the hippies under his breath enough.  We're all very different, but in some bizarre way we work.

The food was great.  I couldn't believe how much the non-chicken looked, tasted and had the texture of real chicken.  They also had a great lavender lemonade.  We sat and chit chatted for a while but then it was time to hit the books again.  I had my first Core Concepts test in the morning and Ill be damned if I was going to do as poorly as I did in patho the week before.  Just got my test results back and I got a B.  Not ecstatic about it but Ill take it for test one.  I anticipate the grade will only go up from there.  

Party of One Please

Nothing goes better with typing out patho objectives than some wine and a music montage filled Bilile Holiday, Frank Sinatra and Tony Bennett.  These are only a few of the greats I enjoy.  Call me an old lady, but I love studying and listening to these legends.  I have created a "study station" on Pandora and it gets better and better each week.  Don't worry about me working too hard, I'm hoping to cut myself off at 10 pm, but I need to make up for my lack of studying on Saturday.  Plus, I'm having a gay ol' time.  I must dominate the concepts of acute inflammation before my next lecture on Tuesday.  That't the bottom line... and I want another glass of Cabernet or maybe I'll have some Malbec.  I don't know,  the possibilities are endless :o) Sometimes I feel like I reside in a liquor store....

So much to do... so little time...

Since I didn't have clinical this Friday, I headed to my mom's for the weekend.  I was glad I could make it home in the morning before the snow really hit.  It was the first weekend that actually felt like it was winter in Chicago. I think we got around 8 inches of snow that day.  I primarily focused on homework while my mom cleaned through the house and then we all sat and watched Annie.  Well at least half of Annie and then I zonked out, which worked out well because I didn't have to help shovel the driveway.  It was nice to be in the burbs with my car in a garage instead of in the city covered in snow.  I probably should have gotten more school stuff done that day, but what can you do.

Saturday was full of errands, nine to be exact:  post office... bank... mall...  Office Depot... Steinmart... drop of sausage... Micheal's....  Old Navy...  Ulta Beauty...  Then we ended the running around with a stop at Nani and Papa's for some homemade pizza.  News on that side of the family travels fast and when one finds out someone is heading over there, then they want to stop by too.  It was fun checking blood pressure on everyone there and I think I'm starting to get the knack for it.  Well except for older adults which are the most difficult... couldn't find it on Nani unfortunately.  I had all intentions of getting some patho objectives done, but if you know my family, you know that is near impossible when everyone is together.

oldie but a goodie from our girls
trip to Puerto Vallarta in 2008

That night my mom and I headed to Angela's mom's for some delicious cake to celebrate all her family's January birthdays.  Her mom is  planning on opening a little bakery/cafe and I have no problem being a tester!  The cannoli cake and carrot cake were out of this world and an added bonus to the good company.  Happy birthday Angela, I cant believe we've been friends for 18 years.  Even though you can be a B!*% I wouldn't trade your honest and blunt friendship for any other.

Sunday I was able to have a lovely breakfast with my sister, dad and grandparents at Egg'lectic Cafe in Wheaton.  I have yet to be disappointed with their breakfast and Im glad everyone enjoyed their meals just as much as I did.  It was a busy weekend and I probably should have put more stress on school, but I was happy to make the rounds and see all my family when I was home.  Then I headed back to the city to host the weekly study group.  Thank you Mary for the wonderful cookies.  You don't have to bring something to every study group, but I can't wait to see what the special Superbowl Sunday study sesh will bring!  We don't have a patho test until next week so the studying was more low key, but we want to stay on top of the overwhelming amount of information with hopes that our next test scores go up so the weekly study sessions will ensue for the rest of the quarter.    

What's One More Thing on my Plate

So in addition to school, work, and volunteering I have taken on another job.  I have maintained my profile on Care.com for babysitting and tutoring, but nothing had really come of it until now.  I was contacted by the creator of Rising Scholars who thought I would be a perfect match for one of his new clients. It just fell into my lap and I didn't really have to do anything so I took the job.  I'm a little honored that they want me to work for them because they seem like a pretty legit company.  It's husband and wife owned, both of whom came from the education field, and has been expanding exponentially the past few years.

So last night was my first session with this girl and it went very well.  She is a junior at DePaul and trying to become a elementary school teacher, but isn't doing so hot on the Basic Skills test.  She had a DePaul tutor before, but it wasn't helping so her dad reached out to this private tutoring company and here we are.  She's a very sweet girl but a product of America's flawed education system.  The material we go over is pretty easy so it required no prep on my part which is nice.  In our sessions there are a lot of encouraging words and she says I'm the best tutor she's had.  I just hope she can pass this test on her third try...  I also like that we have our sessions at the DePaul library which is just a mile away from my house and then I end up staying and studying my own work in a nice and quiet environment afterwards.

Best Decision in my Life

I am fully emerged in my nursing program and kinda have my weekly routine down.  Monday is my short day at Rush, 9-12 for nursing theory.  Then I usually have to be at work at 4 but it's been so slow that I've had a couple mondays off, which I'm not complaining about.  Tuesday is Pathophysiology from 10-2 and then I have the afternoon off to study.  I always say Im going to go to the gym, but never quite make it there, I admit it's a habit I I need to change, but I get so caught up in school and that is where my head is at.  Wednesday is the longest from 9-4 and then I go straight to work from there.  Wednesday afternoon is when I have lab where we learn and practice techniques before doing them in clinical.  Nothing exciting yet, one day was just on personal protective equipment and hand hygiene aka how to put on a mask and wash your hands.  I wonder how much I had to pay Rush to teach me how to wash my hands?  So that is my class schedule this semester

Thursday is my "day off" which I purposefully put in quotes because it really isn't a day off.  I volunteer at the Illinois Masonic hospital in the morning and love it.  It is a really great opportunity and Im hoping this networking will open some doors in the near future.  Every other week Im in the PACU (post-anesthesia care unit) doing simple tasks at the nursing station or Im in the OR stocking fluids and other things.  I admit stocking shelves is mindless work, but I get to see into the OR rooms while the doctors are performing surgery.  Last week the head medical assistant gave me her email and told me to contact her if I wanted to sit in on a surgery.  Ummm, yes please!  On the opposite week Im around the hospital helping people find their way and being a smiling face so patient satisfaction ratings go up.  Yesterday, as I was escorting this old Russian woman to the waiting room she told me her story that she was going to get kicked out of her apartment (because she's a hoarder) unless she goes and sees a psychiatrist.  And then she asks me if I think that's fair?  Needless to say, I meet some interesting folk while volunteering and they're always giving me TMI but I enjoy hearing their life stories.  People just fascinate me.

Among all this hustle and bustle, I do manage to have some fun.  Last Saturday I went out to dinner at the Prasino's in Wicker Park for my roommate Matt's birthday.  It was nice and relaxing evening with good company and despite the crappy service the food way great.  Tyler and I split the lobster stuffed avocado and a honey and goat cheese flatbread.  That was my splurge for the week.  His friend Jessica made a fabulous two tiered cake with one layer being chocolate with a caramel cream filling and the other was vanilla with a cherry filling.  The table only ate half of it and then they gave to the staff to eat.  I kinda wanted to be like oh no, Ill take that home for Matt, but I didn't want to get labeled the fat kid.  So instead I let a tear fall down my cheek as I watched the delicious cake go to the kitchen.  Everyone else in the group headed out to the bars and a late night club and I headed home to do some homework.

Yes, at midnight on a Saturday I was looking forward to some homework.  Plus a hang over wouldn't have boded well with my early afternoon study group (although one nursing friend didn't have that same insight on Saturday night, we dont need to say any names, you know who you are ;o).  That is how I know I made the right choice in careers.  Nursing school takes up about 95% of my life and I don't mind it one bit!  I actually love it and can't wait to learn more and gain more responsibilities in the hospital setting.  The body is such a magnificent thing and every day I am flabbergasted by it's complexity and all it does to keep us alive.

ICAM Conference

Saturday morning I joined 2 fellow nursing friends, Nadine and Molly, at the 2012 Integrate Chicago Conference at Loyola's Med School.  It was an interesting conference that explored the modalities of integrative, complimentary and alternative medicines.  It was something I went to because I thought it was interesting and it would look good in my nursing portfolio when it comes to getting placed for immersion at the end of the program and looking for a job.

Examples would be yoga, meditation, massage therapy, acupuncture, sensory imagery, stress management, mindfulness etc.  I admit that I was even skeptical that ICAM would have any affect on the healing process.  I mean how can yoga help heal a patient with cancer?!  Yet contrary to my belief, the research was staggering and patients who included at least one of these ICAM methods in addition to traditional treatment had far more promising results than those patients who used traditional treatment alone.

It makes sense if you think about it.  The mind is very much a part of the body, so why wouldn't you treat that too?  One presenter talked about how she has patients hold a thermometer in their hand and talk about a stressful situation for just a few minutes.  That activity alone made the temperature in the hand drop a few degrees.  Another interesting fact, if you use stressful breathing (breathing from the chest vs. the diaphragm) for just 3 minutes, it decreases the amount of oxygen going to the heart and brain by 30%.  Moral of the story.... 

RELAX

Don't dwell on the past 

or fret about the future

Put yourself first more often 

Be mindful of your body 

Put yourself in a happy place  

Slow it down for a bit

  

Flight attendants always tell you to put your oxygen mask on first before assisting others because if you're not well, you're no help to anyone else.  The same goes for life so take care of yourself: mind, body and soul.  I too am trying to be more mindful while going through school.  So many people are freaking out about this patho test coming up on Tuesday.  I'm going in with the mindset that I prepared myself as much as I could and what will be will be.  It's not worth compromising my immune system over and my lack of anxiety alone will put me ahead of the game or at least that's the hope.  Then again I very well could be rereading this post later in the week because I'll be freaking out that I performed below my standard, but Ill cross that bridge when/if I get to it...  Needless to say, the conference was fabulous and mind-boggling.  Each presenter I saw always stressed looking at the patient with the illness vs. the illness the patient has as a key factor in the healing process.  This mindset completely parallels with my nursing philosophy and is why I chose nursing specifically in the realm of medical professions.

The New Typical Friday

I just had what I think is going to be my typical Friday for the next 8 weeks.  I have to be at Rush at 6:45 am so I can catch the briefing during the shift change from the night nurse to the day nurse.  Despite the earliness, I like traveling on an uncrowded el and I like knowing how my patient did the night before before going in their room so the glass is more than half full on the early clinical time.  I have clinical until 2ish each week and this is what I fill those 7 hours with:  a lot of time with my patient, practice reading blood pressures, conference with my clinical instructor, listen to guest speaker, group discussion and brief on the day.  The time flies!

This Friday was particularly great because I got my first assignment back and my instructor had many great things to say about it.  I was confident with my work when I turned it in, but you always question a little bit on how you did.  When I first sat down she said, "Well I can tell you were a teacher."  Interestingly enough, I have found that skills I've developed from my short career as a teacher have become assets being back in school and in the nursing field.  I was one of the few who didn't have to redo their assignment over the weekend.  Then at the end of the day I received a lovely compliment from one of the guys in my clinical group.  He said thank you for being a leader today since I kinda kept us on track with our ageism discussion and volunteered to do the write up.  Sometimes I don't even realize Im "leading" but it's nice when someone expresses their appreciation.  I had my same patient from last week, she was suppose to go home, but her walking is not nearly where it should be for a safe transition.  Her new tentative date of discharge is Monday so I definitely will have a new patient for my next clinical.

After clinical I went straight to Starbucks, scrubs and all,  to study with my friend Mary, whom I've known since undergrad at U of I.  I'm so fortunate to have familiar faces in my program.  People thought I was crazy to go study after a long day of clinical, but I know myself and if I went home I probably wouldn't have hit the books at all.  I need to go, go, go and then rest when it's done.  Of course we couldn't end the night just studying, I mean it was a Friday after all.  So we wen't out for dinner and a drink at a bar down the street and I literally mean a drink so I made sure it was a good one, Leinenkugal's Fireside Nut Brown.  Then it was home and straight to bed where I put myself to sleep with my kindle a little after 10pm because it was going to be another early morning.  Yes, on a Saturday nonetheless....
PS my kindle cover with the light attached is the greatest thing I ever bought.  If you have a kindle I highly suggest it.  Thanks Aunt Gam for the recommendation!

Fatty Liver

So I had a study tips session before class with one of my pathophys teachers and she suggested that you should know each bulletpoint well enough to teach someone that concept.  Last night I studied at home and was able to tackle 5 more objectives out of the list of 20 for just one class.  Here is a snipit of what it's like for me to study at home....

Me:  Matt, do you want to learn about the different ways you can develop fatty liver
Matt:  Sue
Me:  A little more enthusiasm please!
Matt:  Well Im pretty sure I already have it since everything else on my body is fat
Me: Au contraire, actually starvation is one of the causes (and then I explain it)
Matt:  Wait so if I get fatty liver the rest of me will be skinny?

A couple hours later
Tyler: Do you want the last fried pickle?
Matt:  That's probably not good for me right?
Me:  Well it wont give you fatty liver.
Tyler: But it will give you fatty matty!
Matt:  I'll be fat all day for this pickle!

And that's what it's like to live at my house folks....

Not So Manic Monday

Since my semester started last Tuesday, today was the first day in my Nursing Theory class.  Those three chapters I was aiming to read before class, well they didn't all get read.  It was just so god awful boring.  I'm sure the articles will be more exciting, but the text was too dry and uninteresting.  I'm actually thinking about leaving it by my bed since it can easily put me to sleep at night.  The first day was pretty low key, but for the rest of the quarter my group with have to present a 30-35 minute presentation/discussion on nursing theories each week.  My group seems to have a similar outlook on the class as me, in that we want to do well, but aren't going to go overboard or approach things like a Nazi.  I don't foresee any issues, plus the cute Aussie guy with a thick down under accent was conveniently placed in my group which Im not going to complain about.  Is it too early to suggest study groups at my place?

After class I went to an info session for a Schweitzer fellowship.  The program allows you to design an outreach program that addresses health issues for a underrepresented population.  With this you get at least a $2000 stipend that you can spend as you wish whether it's on the program you create or paying for rent and a few drinks to unwind.  Im not 100% sure I have the time to commit to it, but it seemed like a good opportunity and I at least wanted to get information on it.

After that I went to the library with two other friends for a small group tutitorial on how to use the online resources.  I know paper time is coming and thanks to proactive Elizabeth, she set up an appointment so were not panicking with research down the line.  Then I met with my rush mentor.  At orientation, each new GEM students was set up with another GEM students further in the program.  My mentor is exactly a year ahead of me.  It was great to get some insight on teachers, classes and what's yet to come.  It was suppose to be a quick meet and greet, but we ended up talking for over an hour.  I have a feeling she will be an asset at to me at various points in the program.  After that I have a short study session in the cafeteria.  We only got through 4 of the 20 objectives from last weeks lecture, but I know them like the back of my hand.  Think glass half full.  Guess what Ill be doing this weekend though.  First test is next week already...

Wow! I was thinking this was a pretty easy peasy day, but as I'm writing it down I sure did a lot.  Hopefully I can maintain this stamina for the next two years.        

Medicinal Moonshine

You may be wondering how my weekends have changed since starting school.  So far the answer to that is, not much.  I headed to my mom's on Friday evening to hang out.  I used my sister and her as guinea pigs for checking blood pressure since I'm so bad a hearing a pulse.  That was pretty much the extent of my studying for that day.  My teachers said it is something that will come with a lot of practice and I have a feeling Im going to be frustrated with that for a while.  According to me every one of my practice patients is dead because I hear nada.

Saturday, I spent the morning and afternoon doing homework and reading.  Then it was off to my cousin's for Abigail's 4th birthday.  It was a small family gathering, but sometimes those are the best.  It wasn't long before the kids were sent to bed and the adults increased their consumption of alcoholic beverages.  By then my plans for going out with friends in Naperville were out the window so I just looked like I got a little overdressed for a 4 year old's party.  That night my cousin Bobby introduced me to moonshine.  It was top of the line (which sounds like an oxymoron to me) and in a giant mason jar.  The smell was horrific but I was assured that "it goes down smooth" so I gave it a try.  Well, the taste pretty much paralleled the smell and I wouldn't pay two dollars for that bottle, let alone 200!  However, that taste didn't stop me from joining in on  the toast for round two.  It was nice to forget about the stress of my hectic schedule, enjoy good company and get a little toasty.  Bobby and I ended up talking til 4am which is not conducive to my plan of catching up on sleep during the weekend, but we hardly see each other and I love catching up and spending quality time with him.  It was a great and well needed shindig Bobby and Beth, thanks!

Sunday, I met Carla for breakfast before heading back to the city.  Exhausted, I decided it was best to rest my eyes for a bit since I probably wouldn't absorb anything if I hit the books right away.  Now rejuvenated, I plan to hammer out three chapters from my Theoretical Basis for Nursing book, but that might be too ambitious of a goal since there really aren't a lot of pictures in it.... I'll keep you posted on the progress. 

My first clinical

My cohort is divided into groups of 8 for clinicals.  My clinical is from 7-2 every friday at Rush where I will spend 4 weeks at the Johnston R. Bowman rehabilitation and 6 weeks in the new tower.  We spent an hour and a half just getting to know eachother and going over prodedual stuff for clinical.  Then we headed over to JRB for a quick tour before meeting our patients.  JRB is an intensive rehabilitation center where attmitted patients ages 19-90+ are required to have 3-5 hours of physical and occupational therapy per day.  The therapy center is one of a kind with a variety of tools to get patients ready for home living.  There is an actual car in there and a mock kitchen with true to weight foods for patients to start practicing real life skills. 
Then we finally got to meet our patients.  The goal of this clinical is to work on therapeutic communication and developing a relationship with patients. 


My patient was a very intersting woman and I met her while she was going through therapy.  Before retiring she was an emloyee of Rush for over 30 years and developed a clinic for epileptic patients.  She recently had back sugury and they removed a tumor that was wrapped around her spine.  She was warm and welcomed any question I asked.  While with her, the doctor came and told her that the test on the tumor came back positive with low grade lymphoma.  I wanted to be sensitive to the patient’s feelings while providing a level of comfort.  However, having only known the patient for 30 minutes I found it difficult to do so while still sounding genuine.   While she reassured me that she was fine and had been preping herself for that news since they found the tumor, I could tell it was a tought pill to swallow.  Who could blame her?!  My patient took it in stide though, she had just found out she had cancer and still wanted to finish her physical therapy.  What a champ. 


After meeting with our patients for a while my clinical group met to have lunch together and reflect on the day.  We each went around talking about our patients, what was difficult and what we learned.  For being a 7 hour day it sure flew by and I cant wait to go back to JRB next week.  I just finished my first nursing assignment which was a process recording about a conversation I had with my patients and analysing the dialogue.  It took about 3 hours to complete but I imagine the next one will go much quicker once I get feedback on my first. 

Aaaaand we're off!

I've had two days of class so far and am thrilled to have tomorrow off (although I have to go to work at night) to start my studying.  The first day was exciting and nerve-racking all at the same time because I didn't know what to expect.  We had to arrive at 9am, an hour before class starts, to go over the syllabus and logistic stuff.  My pathophysiology professors will not waste valuable class time doing these things, hence an early arrival.  I mean, we needed time to go over the insane protocol for test days.  There is literally an entire page in the syllabus on dress code and rules for test days.    

Every class is co-taught by two nurses who are currently practicing nursing or are at the end of their impressive careers and want to teach part-time.  Both my teachers seem to be warm, welcoming and a hoot, especially Kathy who had a few legitimately funny comments.  And yes, despite all the letters after their names, they asked for us to refer to them by their first.  From start to finish I was 100% engaged in lecture.  We go for two hours, break for 1 hour lunch and then have another two hours of lecture.  The professors alternate lecture days and the one that isn't lecturing is listening and helping to answer and discuss questions that arise.  Our first lecture was on cell degeneration and necrosis (cell death).  It was an overwhelming amount of information, but it was explained well and after I read the text, handouts and review my notes I think Ill be alright.

One of the interesting things that stands out from the lecture was an example of metaplasia in smokers lungs.  The cilliated cells that line the lungs and take in a lot of oxygen, transform to a different type of cell, usually found in other parts of the body, that can withstand the toxins of smoke.  This transformed cell however, cannot deliver as much oxygen to the blood and that can lead to a whole slue of problems since oxygen is what drives cell metabolism.  Fortunately the cells can revert back to what they should be if the conditions in the lungs improve by quitting smoking.  Interesting, right?  If not, don't worry, I have no intentions of filling this blog with medical jargon.  I just wanted a soapbox for a few minutes since I despise smoking.

After class, I headed straight to work.  Its only like a 10-15 minute drive from Rush to the sausage plant.  Tuesday was the first day I was cooking solo.  Of course it has to be the busiest day as well.  I think we had the upwards of 14,000 lb of skinless sausage and 6,500 lb of beef.  Not to mention that skinless cook faster so there was little time to multitask while they were smoking.  I worked for 11.5 hours, went home, took a nap more or less and was up to get ready for day two of class at 7am.  Thankfully this is an off week at work and we're cooking Tu/Th instead of the usual M/W which works a lot better with my school schedule since we start later on Tu and I have Th off.

The Day Before My First!

Alright so my blog has finally reached real time and the "catching up" posts are complete.  Tomorrow is the big day, so there is a lot to do today.  Here is my list:

• Get up to speed on this blog
• Go school supply shopping at Target 
• Find a new dentist since mine doesn't participate in DMOs (very upset about this one)
• Write letters for the "Time Capsule"
• Go to Costco
• Clean the apartment, at least just the gross bathroom
• Have dinner with Carla
• Finish Laundry
• Go to the Gym 

Well I got pretty much everything done on my list.  Blog is up to speed and I hope you all are enjoying reading it as much as I am enjoying writing it.  Finding a new dentist was a petrifying experience.  If you know me, then you know how much I cherish my teeth and dont want just anyone touching them.  I spent hours looking at patient reviews and cross checking them with different websites.  It was a stressful task, but alas I have narrowed it down to two.  Their office numbers are written on a post-it because choosing one right now is just too permanent.  I have until the 6th to make my final decision... deep breaths.  

I had the pleasure of crossing a few items off my list with the company of my dear friend Carla.  We went to Costco and Target.  I pretty much went in with the mindset that I was preparing for a natural disaster. Anticipating that I'm going to be tied down with school stuff, I don't want to have to worry about running errands for a while.  After running around we went out for dinner to Sapori Trattoria.  On Mondays they have a four course family style meal special where you pick two apps, a soup and salad, three entrees and a dessert  The service was great, the cuisine was great and the company was supreme!  

All in all, it was a productive day.  My backpack is ready with all my new stuff and I'm finishing up this post while the roommates watch Glee in concert and Bravo.  I swear sometimes they are the epitome of a stereotype....

Catching Up: Last Day of Orentation

After Orientation Day Two I went straight to work at the sausage plant and didn't get home until 1 or 2 in the morning.  I don't remember, but it was late.  Then I had to be up and back at Rush for the last day of orientation at 9am.  My body will even out sleep time, so if I skimp on some nights, Ill make up for it later.  I didn't drag at all which is promising for the future.

Day three was more relaxed, the cohort was split into two sections and mine started with a writing workshop which I secretly loved.  It brought back memories of a lot of things that I use to teach my students.  Also, Rosemary, aka Liza Minnelli, was the cutest thing ever and a fabulous presenter.  I mean she made reading the dictionary feel like something you'd want to do for fun on a Friday night.  I couldn't wait to order my 6th edition APA Manual after her seminar.  No joke, Im a nerd.  Then we had a session with Frank Hicks, the director of the nursing program.  He eased some nerves and encouraged everyone to plan a me day every week.  Personally, he walks his dog and drinks a Manhattan every night.  Then added that most students gain weight in the program from stress and not taking care of themselves!  Duly noted Dr. Hicks.  I will be sure to add a strict workout regiment to my hectic schedule for health and sanity purposes.  We went through sample questions from the NCLEX, never too early I suppose, aaaaand I got 90% of them wrong.  I have my work cut out for me but my greatest obstacle will be to not overthink the the answers with my logic.

After orientation I headed downtown to Shaws Crab House with Nadine and Elizabeth, two friends I made from prereqs, for oyster happy hour where all oysters are 50% off until 6pm. We literally went down the list and ordered them all.   I was more of an east coast oyster gal, the west coast ones were too fishy and salty for my liking.  I also had my first oyster shooter which consists of: a hand shucked oyster, Absolut Peppar, Tabasco Sauce, Cocktail Sauce, Fresh Horseradish and Lemon Juice.  Highly recommended, plus we needed something to cheers to orientation and finally starting our program!

After that I went to a meeting for Bear Necessities, a pediatric cancer foundation that I've been involved with for a few months, which was conveniently just a few blocks away.  I love living in the city!  We started planning the Bear Tie Ball which is their grand event in March.  I think I got home around 9 that night and was feeling good the whole day.  That made me optimistic and Im hoping I can keep doing all I do without burnout.

Catching Up: Day Two Orientation

Feeling much better I headed to Rush for Day Two of orientation.  Every time I see the new hospital, whether it's me driving back to the city or on my way to work, I get a little gitty.  I just can't wait to start clinicals in there with all the latest nursing technology.  The admissions counselor told me to come an hour early since I missed day one.  I did just that only to sit on the steps of the auditorium for an hour because no one was there.

On day two I sat next to Mary, a fellow "sister" from undergrad.  Random story that we are back in school together.  She applied to the program way before me, but lived in New York and kept deferring, and deferring and deferring.  I kept saying I wouldn't believe she accepted until I saw her at orientation... and there she was!

On my first day, I tried to feel out the cohort, knowing I'd be spending a lot of time with these people for the next two years.   There are three ladies that I already know and loved, but the rest were up in the air, and I already despise someone...  She was a little overbearing and introduced herself by saying "Hi Im Vivian! Peace!" making two peace signs for the letter V.  Too much, just too much for me.  I was cordial , but have made note of this character and will keep my distance.  Sorry, first impressions are everlasting.

Overall, orientation was great, but a lot of my fellow newbies started making me nervous that this program was way more intense than I anticipate.  One asked a current student, "Do you do anything besides school?"  Seriously?!  It's nursing school, not a black hole.  I mean I pretty much am a professional student and have been managing school, work and life for years.  How could this be much different?  Only time will tell I suppose...        

Catching Up: Orientation or a Toilet Bowl

I had a lovely afternoon with my roommate Matt and one of his good friends the day before orientation.  We went to Chicago Pizza and Oven Grinders in Lincoln Park and stuffed our faces with a chef's salad, mediterranian bread and a pizza pot pie.  Its a cash only restaurant that him and his friends use to go to and have recently introduced me to.  The first time I went he looked at me crazy when I picked up the menu and said oh no, we will order for you.  Now I know the drill and this is the meal they always order.  The Mediterranean bread is by far my favorite and I could easily make that a meal in itself.   The salad is a giant mound of lettuce and vegetables which is virtually impossible to not spill on the table while serving and the salad comes with delish poppy seed and creamy garlic dressings. Its recommended to put both on the salad.  Agreed!

Then we took our stuffed bodies and waddled our way went to movies to see The Decendants with George Clooney.  Good, heartwarming movie.  Last minute we decided to make it a double feature and snuck into My Weekend with Marilyn as well.  It was risky business, but we devised a plan and made the transition from theater to theater with little suspicion.  It was a great carefree Sunday, but that all was about to change around 10 pm that night....

I started to feel really uncomfortable, super weak and a bit nauseous.  I'll spare you the details, but I was frequently visiting the bathroom for the next six and a half hours.  Crazily, I still had the illusion that I was going to make it to orientation for the majority of that time.  If I can keep it down for a few hours, Ill be good.  Ill just bring a bag on the el just in case.  Well by 4 am I realized that was crazy and I had friends who could fill me in, so I skipped out of day one of orientation, which was the right decision.

Disclaimer:  I dont want to give a bad wrap to oven grinders, I was the only one who got sick so it couldn't have been food poisoning. Im pretty sure it was just a 24 hour bug.

Catching Up: The Acceptance Email... or lack there of!

I anxiously awaited the day I would get my acceptance email.  I think I had a countdown to the hour.  That weekend I was going up to Bass Lake anticipating celebratory shots with the family.  I kept my phone within an arms reach and checked for new emails from Rush obsessively.  No email... No email... No email....  Finally I texted my friend Nadine, who also interviewed with Rush to see if she heard anything.  She informed me that an email went out that students wouldn't be notified for another few days.  Yup, never got that email; a trend that continues for many of us in cohort 8.  Thanks for forwarding it Nadine!

I waited for acceptance day... again and experienced the same nerves as the pseudo one a few days before.  Nadine's forwarded email specifically said to expect the email in the early evening.  Despite this, I still checked it like a crazy person all day long.  By 8ish I started to get nervous; 8pm was not early evening in my book... I called my good ole friend again and the conversation went a little like this.
"Hey Nadine, did you get an email from Rush?"
                                                           "Yeah (long pause) Did you?"
"No.  Did you get in?"
                                                                         "(long pause)Yeah"  
I probably should have notified Rush that I wasn't getting all the emails, but I assumed that they would make a point to be sure to contact those that were accepted into the program.  With that in mind, I thought I was put on the you-didnt-get-in-and-aren't-a-priority-to-contact-right-away list.  While I was dying a little inside, I played it cool and started to prep myself for when I'd get the actual "We regret to inform you..." email.  The only sliver of hope I had was the fact that some other guy that applied didn't get any notification either.  No news is better than bad news. Right?

I emailed like four people at Rush inquiring about the lacking communication and prayed that there was a computer glitch.  Thankfully I got an email from Molly that day and could go about my day with stress relieved. To celebrate, or maybe just by coincidence, I had dinner and drinks with my biology friends out on a beautiful sailboat as she sailed up and down the coast of Lake Michigan.  Not a shabby end to this debacle!

Catching Up: Did I Blow the Interview?!

I start my nursing program in TWO days, but I feel like the beginning of my adventure started a while back.  I probably should have started this blog a few months ago but better late than never. No?  The first few posts will be recaps on how I got here...

I remember checking my email while working as a nanny and the overwhelming excitement when I read that I was given an interview from Rush University.  Rush was my number one choice for a MS nursing program.  Okay, so maybe it was my only choice at the time, since I only applied to one school.  I had my back up, DePaul University, and the application was ready to be submitted if I didn't get into Rush, but I didn't want to pay two admission fees if I didn't have to.

On my interview day, I was lead to a room with four-five other interviewees for a Q and A session with the admissions counselor.  All I really remember was that the admissions counselor seemed like an idiot, there was a guy there so I figured he was a shoe in and there was a girl there who was trying way too hard even in the pre-interview.  I just remember thinking, "Really?  The important question that you had to write down to remember to ask was whether or not Rush was a mac or a pc school?!"  Give me a break.  The other person that was with us must have been lackluster since I fail to remember anything about them.

I was up to interview with Susan B. first.  Her departmental focus was community systems and mental health nursing.  Coming from a short lived career in education, I wasn't sure if having so much in common was going to be an asset or not.  There was never an awkward moment and she hardly looked at the interview questions she was suppose to ask.  We just had a comfortable and natural conversation about Chicago's education system, the future of nursing and what direction I wanted to take this new career.  Then all of a sudden she looked at her watch and said we needed to wrap up.  I'm thinking a longer interview is better than a shorter one so point for me.

Of course I replay the interview in my head and think of a few things I should have said differently or elaborated on and slowly all those points I gave myself during the interview became questionable.  I was really worried that my short lived career teaching 8th grade would come off as a weakness as oppose to being proactive and knowing the direction you want your life to go.  I sent out my thank yous and crossed my fingers that I left a better impression than 40 or the 120 selected to interview.