Week ended up on a positive note

Well, for the week of hell, it turned out OK. I think my papers on Preeclampsia and Childhood Obesity were a work of art. Done in APA format, and put in their own lovely folders, I was proud to hand them in. I made an A on both Peds and OB tests, and the oral presentation went smoothly. I knew the answers to all of the post questions, so that is done. The homework got done and the clinicals are finished for the week. I've still got a few things to do for my care plan due on Tuesday, but most of that is done too. I've got to take the ATI tests on Monday, but I'm not worried about that. I'm not doing a damn thing today. We're going to a Texas Hold 'Em party tonight and drinking beer and eating bad food. I already went to the gym and sweated my ass off (still plenty of ass to go around though).

Well, I guess I'm not one more dog or cat away from divorce, because we now have a new dog to hang with the other two. Her name is Ti, and she used to be my son's dog. She is a small terrier mix who is as cute as a button. She has a really bad ear that gets infected a lot. To control it takes a lot of medicine and a lot of care, both at the vet and at home. Son loves her to death, and has had her for two years, but it has come to the point where he can't afford the vet bills and the medicine. He called and though he was crushed, he finally did what was best for her and asked us if we would take her. I asked husband what he thought, and he said to go ahead and get her and bring her home. I got her fixed up at the vet and tidied up at the groomer and she just fits in this house like a glove. The other dogs love her to pieces, and she doesn't bother the cats at all. The sad part is that whenever she has been here, we had Yoda and Sammy. She hasn't been here since they were put to sleep. She ran in the house looking for them, and when she got upstairs, she just stopped and looked at me all confused because she did not know the dogs that were in their crates. She whined for a minute and then went to meet them. It made me cry over my babies again for the first time in months. This has been a pretty good week.

Summer school blows

This week.....two research papers, two tests, oral presentation for clinicals, HUGE homework assignment, 22 hours of clinicals, and our massive case study/plan for a postpartum patient. I still have a B in both OB and Peds and clinicals are going really well. I don't enjoy the pediatric patients because they scream and cry every time I walk in the room, but I really like the moms and babies. Because of a lack of peds patients, I did spend a day in critical care and I really like that too. I've never seen a kinder bunch of nurses. My new mantra...four more weeks, four more weeks, four more weeks. Nope, didn't help. I've still got to hit the books for the OB test tomorrow.

Wild critters

So grossed out. We have two dove that snuggle in our flowerbed. I love getting up in the morning and see them entwined in their corner of the bed. I love listening to the coo. We don't use pesticides or fertilizers because of the birds. We've watched all spring as the Mom took care of her eggs, and watched as her babies grew and finally left the nest. This morning, they were hanging out in the backyard, and one of our dogs grabbed one of them and pulled a bunch of feathers out before my husband could think to yell, "drop it!!" The dogs have been to obediance classes, and she knows the command, so she did drop it, but I think it was too late. Now he/she can't fly. Husband picked her/him up and put it in out of the fence area, but he said it didn't fly. Her/his mate was flying around it. I hope it's ok. I can't find it anywhere, so maybe it was just shocked at what happened, but I don't think so. I only found four feathers, so maybe he/she can stay alive long enough to recover, but since we live in a rural setting, it's more likely that some critter will get it. Poor bird. Friday, at the crack of dawn, I was going out to get the paper. I had clinicals that morning, so I have to get up extra early. One of our dogs isn't crated, so she always goes out with me to get the paper, and pee. After peeing, she took off like a rocket, and I saw that she was nose to nose with a skunk. I quietly (but urgently) said her name over and over, and she ran back across the street to me. The skunk was just lifting it's tail and turning around. When Ti came to me, the skunk started chasing her. We hauled ass in the house, both of us. Boy, did she dodge a bullet. Dummy got sprayed last year so you would think she'd know better. That burnt hair smell hung around for weeks, even though I got to her with tomato juice and bathed her, and got her to the groomer that morning to get the hydrogen peroxide/baking soda treatment. I am so not a wildlife person. I am a city girl and it freaks me out to see all this crap. I told someone that until I moved here, I'd never seen a deer outside a zoo. Now they just dart out in front of my car all the time. Sometimes, this place scares the crap out of me.

Covering my ass

I've deleted a ton of blogs because even though I have been very, very careful to not identify my school or hometown, I'm nervous that someone will be lurking and put two and two together. I also would be crushed if anyone recognized anything about any of my patients. I really believe that everyone has a right to privacy, and I've decided to not say anything about my patients that would possibly identify them. Obviously, school (though not the name of it) is fair game.

I passed my first OB test with an 82. I can't remember the last time I made an 82 on a test. I just felt sick. That's a C!!!! I've really tried to let go of the grade obsession, but a C? Please... I've got to hit the books a lot harder than I have been. Redeemed myself somewhat with a 90 in Peds.

Next...is circumcision the grossest thing or what. I watched a poor baby get the knife without a local. When the doctor was done, that baby looked like he'd been boiled alive, he turned so red from crying. Then the doctor tries to sell us that the sugar water on the pacifier soothes them, and it doesn't bother them a bit. Bullshit. I wanted to call my son and apologize to him for letting someone do that to him. I don't think the nursery is for me. I loved NICU, but the nursery seemed kind of boring. The babies are cute, but not much to do. Most of the time, it was pretty empty since the babies are with their moms. Nope, not for me.

Uh Oh

We had our first test in OB. We took it on Thursday, and the grades were supposed to be posted that afternoon or Friday morning. When they hadn't shown up after clinicals on Friday, I drove to school to find out what the deal is. The program director (who also teaches the class) was just leaving. I asked about the test and she told me that "they aren't pretty." The high was 89 and the low was 50. She was taking them home to make sure something wasn't keyed wrong. I seriously thought I didn't miss that many. Shit. Please don't let mine be the 50! I luckily had to make a quick trip to Nashville yesterday to help my son out with moving, so I didn't obsess then, but of course, I am today. Nice start to the new semester.