Feeling Great

Well it has been one month and a day since my surgery and I feel wonderful. That is a blessing for sure! It took a week and half before I did not regret the surgery due to the massive pain I was having, but all is good now ... Thank you GOD!

We have started painting the house. We have lived here for two years and we have only done minor work on it due to me being in school. I felt so good this past weekend that I had to start working on it, and so far it is looking great! I didn't even answer the phone in fear that I would stop painting.

We spent Saturday night at a friend's house playing Rockband (one of the coolest games on the planet if you like music). We ordered out for pizza and sat around talking and catching up, and then I took turns singing and playing the guitar while Stanley did not feel very musically inclined, so he just watched and listened to us. We had a great time! I think we are going to buy Rockband and Guitar Hero World Tour Band so we can jam at home :)

School started back yesterday and so far I think 203 is going to be awesome! Our professors are a hoot let me tell you. I also liked my Medical Micro professor and think this semester is going to be one of the best so far.

Now we just got to plan out devotionals for our family and get closer to God and all things will be great in the Stevenson household!

More Of This & That

Well school is out for Christmas break. I made it to the third semester of nursing ... YAY me! I had my hysterectomy and right side salpingo-oophorectomy (tube and ovary) removed on the 12th. I have had severe pain and swelling, which (hopefully and prayerfully) is going away.

My belly-button is really swollen and I still cannot stand for anything to touch my belly. This has been the worst surgery so far. I had sinus surgery and went to school the next day and had zero pain. I have had three C-Sections where I was up walking like nothing had happened the very next day. But this surgery, this one was very different. I woke up in recovery in horrible pain, and after enough medicine to sedate a horse, I still complained and hit the side rails in agony. Yes, it was that bad.

After crying for a few days in severe pain, the doctor basically put me in a drug induced coma (very strong pain pills), that allowed me to rest. Today I have not taken any of those pills, and only took one of my darvocets for some moderate pain this afternoon. I hate taking pills and will try to prevent from taking them if at all possible. I feel a lot better today ... Thank you GOD!

Then to top all of that off, I overhear something being said to my daughter that is not true. My daughter has been telling me things for a while that someone is saying to her. It struck a nerve when I overheard it myself, and so I made sure that the person saying it knew that it was not true. It really makes me want to get out of the situation we are in because we are doing this out of the kindness of our hearts, and we have gotten nothing but grief for it from day one.

I am trying to keep my anger from controlling how I handle this situation, but it seems like every time I turn around they are doing something to cause me more grief. I may have to call S.S. and tell them I am done. I am trying real hard not to do that, but they are leaving me no other choice if this keeps up.

It's Almost Over ...

I've been studying NCLEX review questions since Friday to prepare for my final exam in nursing on Wednesday. So far I have answered over 500 study questions. The Hesi is only 110 questions, so hopefully by the time I am finished, I will have covered the majority of questions that could be on this exam. I will continue to study until late this afternoon, and then I am just going to relax and get myself mentally prepared.

Today I have to stop by the church and pick up a letter that says I work in TeamKid on Wednesday night, so that next semester the school doesn't put me in a Thursday clinical. If I have Thursday clinical, I can't attend church on Wednesday's because of the amount of paperwork patient care requires. Then I have to take it to the school, and then go to WBH for my pre-op stuff.

Wednesday is my HESI final and then church. I will be glad to be finished for the semester ... my brain cannot handle any new information right now. Its processor is fairly slow these days and I am worried the system will crash :)

Thursday is my surgery! I am not looking forward to the surgery itself, but I am looking forward to a pain-free life afterward (after I heal of course). I have to stay overnight :( ... but I look at it as a vacation from the 5 kids in the house. I love them all with all of my heart, but I will not miss the noise! Have you tried to study in a house with three teenage boys and two pre-teen girls? It isn't easy let me tell you!

I am looking forward to being a couch potato for the rest of the week, I haven't watched anything but ER in a long time.

Well please pray that I do well on my nursing final, and please pray that I have a quick recovery from my surgery! Thank you so much, and have a great, glorious, and blessed day & rest of the week!

SOS - Someone Help Me

I have a bit of a dilemma, and so I am seeking all of your advice. Yesterday I had my interview for nurse extern. They asked me where I wanted to be, I told them ICU. They were thrilled, they needed a student with a year to go to be in ICU because of the heavy training it requires. The catch is that I would need to get some things accomplished this month before school starts in January. Dec. 16th I would have to have an all day phlebotomy class where I would have to get 50 visible sticks, I would have to have several orientations and EKG training, and I would need to work every other Wed. on a midnight shift to get my packet (a check off on all my skills) finished before January. My surgery is on Dec. 11th., and we have tried every way we can to see if I could get all of this done, and I would not be able to because Dr. Hodges will not release me to do all of these things before January.

So I am just sick. I really wanted to be in ICU, and after being in there a year, I would have the training to stay there, and would get so much experience just as a student. She said if I applied for it in May, I might could get in ICU, but she couldn't guarantee that I would stay in ICU after graduation. But she could guarantee that I would get a med-surg floor.

If I weigh the pros and cons, I should go ahead with my surgery, reapply in May, and just pray that I get ICU after graduation. I told mom I was going to have to pray about it, but that I needed my answer by today so that I can call them back and let them know I want the position. God does not work that fast, usually. She said if I go by the Bible, I already have my answer because we are to take care of the temple (our bodies). I could wait for a year for my surgery, but I would have to suffer in order to do that. I really-really want this position, but I also really-really want this surgery so that I can have a normal life again.

What do you think? I haven't had time to do much thinking, I have two tests today. Any words of wisdom to help me not regret either decision?

Let The Stress Begin

This is what my next couple of weeks look like ...

• Dec 1st. 9:05-12:35 Lecture - 1:00 PM Physical Therapy Lab - 3:00 PM Survey @ WBH - 3:30 PM Interview @ WBH
• Dec. 2nd 8:00-12:00 Lecture - 12:30 Proctored Medical Terminology Test
• Dec. 3rd 9:05-12:35 Lecture - 6:30 PM Church
• Dec. 4th Off for study
• Dec. 5th 8:30 AM Court - 10:15 AM Last Chapter Exam (Nursing)
• Dec. 9th 12:15 Lab Work for Surgery & Final Exam (Medical Terminology) May have this changed to Dec. 2nd after other exam.
• Dec. 10th 10:30 AM Final Exam (Nursing)
• Dec. 11th 9:30 AM Surgery
• Dec. 12th Get out of Hospital sometime that morning. - 6:00 PM Husband's Company Christmas Dinner (If I am up to it ... doubtful being 1st day post-op)

Now tell me that these next two weeks are not going to make me crazy, cause I think they will, but I really want to be wrong!!!

Thank God I have 5 days of holiday break (the rest of this week and weekend), to study and relax to prepare me for what is to come. Please pray for me that I accomplish all of my goals with God's help and direction.

Thank you, and have a great Thanksgiving holiday!

Feeling Rushed/Bad

I need to be studying, my daughter and best friend's daughter are having a joint early Halloween/birthday party that I am not even close to being ready for, and I feel ill, I think I am coming down with something.

I need prayer. I need to be able to study, study, study, and I don't need to get sick right now. My grades ARE NOT where they need to be and I really need help to get all of this content into my brain so I can do well on the next 4 tests.

I Need A Boost

I am seriously overloaded. I feel like all I do is read and sit through lectures. I think my brain is going to explode! You might even hear about it on the news ... "Breaking news, a nursing student's brain exploded from information overload today, full story at 10."

Then I hear about all of this election BULL, and get all the nasty emails and people telling me if I am a Christian I must vote for McCain, which just makes me want to vomit. I cannot vote for another 8 years of this mess, REALLY! I want Bill back!!!!

I agree with my BIL (brother-in-law). I think Obama will do more to help the abortion issue than McCain will. At least he voted for programs that gave teens education and contraceptives to reduce teen pregnancies. I mean really, lets think about this for a second--You can't fix the abortion issue if you don't offer alternatives. Abstinence is a great message, but it is not a message everyone will buy into.

The truth is that the world has a stronger hold on our teenagers than God does, and so we have to offer alternatives that fit into their way of thinking, we can't push our beliefs onto other people all the time. It isn't realistic. It's great that we try, but it doesn't resolve the situation!

I am exhausted and I have another sinus infection. I am thinking of buying the Netty Pot, I have been hearing about it for a few years now, and I think it will do me some good. The medicine I need to take for my allergies is about $200 a month ... not including allergy shots. Then they make me tired or agitated, so it isn't worth it to me. I'd rather be stuffy and have a few headaches then be tired all of the time and ticked off.

I really need to sit down and have a long converstation with God today. I have got to forgive some things and work on some things.

Have a great, glorious, and blessed day!

The Irony - Studying = Student & Dying Put Together

Seems like studying is all that I do. Today is no different, I have a test tomorrow and so I will be out of pocket most of the day to STUDY-STUDY-STUDY, then I will DIE from serious brain overload!

I hope YOU have a stress free day!

STRESS

I have a HUGE test on Monday. It is EIGHT (8) CHAPTERS LONG!!! I am studying a little everyday, but today I am really studying, and will study all the rest of the week and weekend. I just had to take a break long enough to eat and clear my brain. GEESH! I just keep telling myself "ONE MORE YEAR!"

Clinicals - Day 3

Yesterday I was in the ER for clinicals, it was really interesting. I performed a quick cath for a sterile urine sample, and I removed 2 IV's and discontinued the IV line from an IID. I could have put in an IV, but I was nervous about the veins of the person being so small, and the RN I was with all day missed twice and that shot my confidence down. I need to just jump in there and not worry about it I suppose, but I don't want to hurt anyone if I can keep from it :)

My Day

Today I got to give a TB skin test, change the dressing on a central line, and give another sub-q injection. I was going to do an IV push through an IID (Intermittent Infusion Device - or IV with no tubes attached to it) but the AdminRx had problems with it so I wasn't able to give it, but I did flush the IID with saline.

I have studied for my IV competency test that is tomorrow at 1:15 PM. I will have a little more time to study before the comp. I have been working on organizing and printing things I need to study for my next exam. It is sure hard to study in a house with 4 kids ... I'm thinking the library needs to stay open 24/7 just so I can study in quiet. I don't see that happening though.

I talked to 3 of my friends in text messages today. I don't know what I would do without my friends, besides my husband, they are my biggest support and source of encouragement!

I hope you have a great, glorious, and blessed week!