Many many tales

Sorry readers, again, for another long absence. So much has happened since my last post that has prevented me from updating. I will try to catch everyone up as quickly as possible!

Most unimportantly, our stupid internet has been down again, so I am writing this from one of the library computers. The studpid comcast guy should be coming on Friday, so after that, I should be able to return to a regular posting schedule.

The most important recent development was my mom's surgery. She went in on Friday AM to get some large nodules removed from her thyroid. They had done a previous biopsy which had returned "inconclusive." So they wanted to removed them and test them to see if they were benign. And thankfully, gratefully, and with much hoping and praying, they were indeed benign. I was so concerned about the outcome that it was too much for me to process. I couldn't even think about it. Just physcially, emotionally, mentally could not. And what was worse, I had to be stuck here, taking yet another exam and sitting through hours of lecture, and could not be with my mom. It was frustrating beyond belief. But she did amazing through the surgery and has now recovered beautifully. I went up Saturday and spent the night to keep an eye on her and help make her supper and stuff. She is now doing very well, getting her energy back. She even made zucchini bread this morning.

This was immediately followed by the MOST EVIL of FINAL EXAMs ever. This one stupid test was worth 45% of our grade, and literally could make or break our nursing careers. Taking it was horrible, and the teacher tortured us by not posting our grades until very late the next day. I did very well (89%) and apparently everyone else did as well, as we thankfully did not lose anyone from the program. We all let out a collective sigh of relief.

Then of course, came Harry Potter.
NO SPOILERS, but I do talk about what I thought of the book. If you don't even want to read about that...skip to next paragraph!
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Naturally I have finished the book by now and would LOVE to talk with anyone who has also read it. I absolutely loved the book beyond belief. It was more than satisfying, and lived up to my expectations. And part of me is so sad that it is over. I cried more over this book than any other...tears of joy, tears of despair, anger, sadness. You name it. I cried. (At one point I was actually sobbing. physically sobbing. Jane looked at me in disbelief of my overwhelming reaction to the book. So yes, if you are a potter fan and would love to process the story, give me a call!

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And now we are back in lab. This time it is Med-Surg Lab. Which means a lot of IVs. Setting up IVs, giving meds through IVs, setting up piggy-back IVs. We also learned how to do nasal suctioning. We also learned that it is "safe practice" to suction someone's mouth AFTER you have suctioned through their nose! EWWW! we all said, including the teacher. So, even though it is gross....it is safe for your patient. weird.

Today we played with Chester, the chest. Basically a torso stuck on a board with a variety of central catheters placed in him. We learned how to flush them (Wipe before you Flush!), how to give meds through them, and even draw blood. It was pretty cool. We also learned how to install an intermittent bladder catheter. That was kinda scary. To demonstrate, our teacher pulled, as one student described it, "a giant vagina" out of a trunk. Apparently that is not one of the models/dummies they leave on the shelves when not in use. They had also shut all the shades in the room so that the many prospective student tour groups wouldn't be horrified. Actually the parents of the students would probably be horrified. And then we all had another laugh becuase the little packet of lubricant that you apply on the tubing:
Surgi-lube.

And I think I will leave you with that:)