Is this what it feels like to grow up?

Well folks, I am happy to report that I am indeed growing up. I've spent five years in college so far, I'm on my second degree, and I haven't lived with my parents for any long period of time for those five years. So why do I still feel like a kid? Perhaps it is because up to this point, all I have been is a "college kid," with no forseeable future. Even when I started nursing school, it was still school and I'm paying it, not the other way around.

But all of this has begun to change! I am VERY excited to announce that I received two calls this past Friday for externship interviews at hospitals close to me. It may be silly, but I feel like this is a turning point in my life. I've never had to dress up for anything nicer than church, except the occasional wedding or two...but I am now the proud owner of 1.5 suits, fresh from the ATL (Anne Taylor Loft...not Atlanta. I'm not that gansta.) I will wear said suit when I go next Monday and bring my gameface to that interview.

I will be bringing my gameface to this interview, because I am now fully realizing that this is going to be a real job. One that will hopefully get my foot into the door for when I graduate, and want a REAL job. This externship is the third to last milestone in my journey to be a nurse; after this, all I have are graduation and passing the NCLEX. Holy heck, I'm getting close! And that snappy suit I have hanging on my doorframe reminds me of this everyday!

The human body...and ass branches

Simply put, the human body is amazing. It is incredible that something this complex, with this many parts, can work together so well. Most of the time, it works so well that we don't even notice it. But when it goes wrong, it can go ridiculously wrong.

What got me thinking about this was first the visit I paid to a group of students working on this semesters cadaver, and then later the episode of Trauma: Life in the ER that I was watching. Let me expound.

Last year, I participated in an independent study class where we dissected a cadaver. Some schools have big fancy cadaver labs, and pretty blue gowns to wear, and nice spotlights to shine on hard-to-see body parts. Not so with my school. We bought Netter's Atlas, were given a body, and went to town. Looking back, it's almost criminal the amount of fun we had with this body, whom we named Ernie. Ernie provided us with endless hours of learning, holy s**t moments, and nasty funk smell that never came out of our hair. I got to see firsthand the human body in all it's glory, up close and dirty like the pictures in textbooks can never tell you. And it was amazing. I gained an understanding of just how intricate we are, which I will never forget.

So with that in mind, I stopped by the cadaver group this semester to see how things were going, and I am happy to see that the current crop of students are having as much fun and learning as much as I did.

The second event today that got me marveling at the human body was the episode of Trauma. In it, some guy fell off a ten foot ladder and impaled himself on a rather large tree branch. It was about 3 inches thick, and just about a foot of it was sticking out of his rectum (damn near killed 'em! - that's for you, artillerywifeCQ). When he was opened up, the other three feet of the branch went all the way through his abdomen, into his chest cavity. Amazingly, the only things damaged were his rectum and bladder. It's just so crazy to me that his body just molded around this branch, and very little damage was really done. Our bodies are amazing, really.

So here I am, thinking deep thoughts and marveling at how well put-together we are. I'm thankful that all my body parts are working like they should, and I'm thankful that I believe in a God who created me, intricate as I am. I'm also thankful I don't have a four foot branch sticking out of my ass. But that's just me.

wtf, mate?

Okay, let's all celebrate. This blog as taken a very wonderful step in it's life. I had my first porn hit the other day! This handy dandy tracker thingy kindly informed me that someone had found my blog by google searching the phrase "free perineum pictures." Woo! I had no idea perineums were that sexy, and worth searching for!

I feel like a proud parent, because my blog is taking baby steps. What's next? "Free fundal chop demonstration?"

On a side note, this spring break has been excellent. I'm refreshed, and ready to get back for the second half of the semester. I am still excited for nursing, and you should all go over and check out DisappearingJohn's post on why he loves nursing even though everyone loves to vent about it.

I'm also excited because I realized that I'm exactly halfway through school now, and it's all downhill from here! Graduation in T-9 months!

If I wasn't so sick of school...

I'd go to flight training tomorrow!

I had my OAP today, and while I can't remember what the A stands for, I did have a wonderful time. Except for the minor little thing of not actually seeing a patient transport. Boo for that. I did, however, get to go on two flights: one was an IPC (Instrument Proficiency Certification), and the other was a medevac call that got cancelled. So, I got to fly twice and it was fantastic. I'm hooked!

I wish I had gotten some pictures to share, but since I didn't get to do a patient lift, I'm definitely going back again. I'll get the pictures next time. All of the troopers were so wonderful, and they were great about showing me what and where everything was. I was even able to bum a headset and wear it during the flights, so I was able to talk back and forth with them.

In all, I wish I had gotten to see a lift, since that was the whole purpose of the OAP. But in any case, I still had a lot of fun, and I learned that the state police like to use a lot of abbreviations. Today was OSF! (oh, so fun!)

Whew!

I survived hell week! It's now spring break, and I plan on relaxing, relaxing, and relaxing. And oh yeah, I'm getting a massage tomorrow. I can't wait! See you all in a week, after I've recovered enough to put together intelligent posts again!

ugh.

Ugh. I feel so crappy right now, I have a huge test tomorrow morning, and all I want to do is go to bed and sleep for three days.

I've been struggling with allergy issues for a few months now, to the point where I'm always sneezing and can't ever breathe clearly. People don't even say "bless you" to me anymore because they know it's not going to stop. So I really need to make an appointment to see the allergist, but school has kept me so busy that I haven't had the chance. I tried Afrin last night, and it worked wonderfully. Then I looked it up in my pharm book, and apparently I can't take it for more than three days due to rebound congestion. Boo.

Unfortunately, I think it's also screwing with my sinuses, because right now I've got massive pressure right behind my right eyebrow, and next to my nose. I'd almost rather have congestion than sinus pressure. Bleegh.

(edit: just reread that Afrin is supposed to help with sinus pressure. Great. My body must just be rebelling after seven weeks of non-stop stress and congestion)

I've been studying with some friends all day for this adult test tomorrow, and clearly I'm studying hard right now. I've kind of hit that wall of "oh, ef it!" and can't get anymore into my head tonight. It's just so much stuff, and the professor isn't real good on heart stuff anyway. One of the girls I study with is the daughter of a cardiologist, and when we talked to her dad he was like "oh yeah, all those notes you all have are wrong." Great. I'm so glad our professor is making us learn total crap. I'll feel really prepared when I graduate, I'm sure.

And on that note, I'm going to bed. Sorry for all the whining tonight, it will be all over this time tomorrow! Come on, spring break in 12 hours!

It's a bird...

So I'm very excited. I just got in contact with the state police, and have set up a ride along with the local medevac. It's for next week, so updates will follow.

And along these lines, I've been thinking about if I ever want to go back to school. Right now I'm on my second degree, and I'm about sick of school. But on the off-chance that I ever do go back, what will I do? Since I'm a big fan of excitement, I've been pondering flight nursing. It seems like an exciting thing to do, and I suppose next week will tell me a little more about it. So lets all hope for a busy flying day for me!

"Sonnombeech!"

So this weekend has been somewhat off kilter for me.

I've got this humongous care plan due Monday night for my maternity clinical, so being the studious person I am, I started it on Thursday. I work on it Friday evening again, and I wake up Saturday to keep working. But wait! I only have the work from Thursday! I know I saved it, because I save often due to paranoia about losing my hard work. After some searching, it was nowhere to be found. It's lost in the abyss of my crappy computer, with no hope of return.

Sonofabitch. I lost a whole days work. I hate that. So here I am, a whole day behind where I wanted to be. But don't worry, I tell myself, you can wake up Sunday, have time for church, and still get a lot of work done and start studying for your two tests this week (boo).

Sonofabitch! I wake up Sunday and get ready for church, am tooling around the house, and realize I'm an hour behind where I wanted to be. It's daylight savings day! I had no idea! I missed church, and have an hour less to get everything done.

I can't wait for spring break.

p.s. - if you're wondering about the title of this post, read James Michener's "Space." It's the best book EVER.

ICU

I had my ICU rotation the other day, and I really didn't think I was going to like it. I'm not sure why, I just wasn't really excited. But after 8 hours, I'm in love! I don't want to work there forever, but I wouldn't be opposed to spending a year or two there at some point in time.

I just had the greatest time, because it had a little bit of everything. I got to see patients getting better, patients getting worse, minor ailments that only require a few days in the ICU, and patients who have been there for weeks. I saw a patient being transferred because he's doing great, and I saw someone code. I was thanked by a patient for doling out ice chips, and I got cussed at because I didn't turn the TV up loud enough.

It was great. I'm still hoping and praying that I get the ER externship this summer, but if I get the ICU instead, all won't be lost. And I'll actually enjoy being there.

Sometimes clinical is good for something!