Sunday, May 29, 2016

A new day

I've been ok - my IIH has been stable, my headaches have been relatively low - I've only had one in the last week or so that I've had to medicate. This includes pain across my shoulders.

I've been to clinical - that was fun! We had a patient come in with a possible stroke - and I saw before my eyes as her symptoms started to ease up.... so she was declared a TIA.... on telemetry it was showing A-fib - no doubt that's what caused her symptoms. Unfortunately, I couldn't tell her this. We shipped her to a stroke-appropriate hospital for further testing and management.

Then there was a patient who went to walk home from the community club through the woods and fell - breaking their ankle and spent the entire night in the woods crawling out of it to reach someone to get help. Plus it had rained overnight!

There was a couple of other things but suffice it to say, this time was interesting and fun so I really enjoyed myself. Plus I love my preceptor so it makes it even that much more enjoyable.

School is pretty good too - I've gotten my assignment done from last semester and I've been working on the assignments for the new class - with this new class we are all reflective and la ti da - so in touch with our emotions and what not. It's a bunch of BS but I'm pretty good at it so we'll see how I do! The other aspect of this class is pharmacology - this is one area that's a bit trickier because there is a TON of medications ya'all!!!!! I hope I can pass that part with good results, I really want a good mark in this class!

Last week marked EIGHT years that I've been married - WOW! Considering what we've been through I'm surprised that we've made it to this point. Living with his family has NOT been easy, major understatement! If I had known that things would be like this I certainily wouldn't have agreed to this - it's been really difficult on our marriage living here. But if things work out, I graduate in December! Then we're going to Pakistan for my BILs wedding - that should be interesting! After that we plan to move... so lots of changes to come. Now to just get through this class and onto the LAST class of my BSN!!!!

Tuesday, May 17, 2016

Going no where fast

Last friday I had to see my primary care physician - mandated by my Oc health person to have some paper work completed. But it just happened to be that I was in serious amounts of pain and my left arm was going numb and tingly as well. It was a weird sensation.

My neck hurt something fierce, as did my shoulders. It felt like there was fluid there and it was creating a pressure on the tissues. Oh my goodness did it hurt. It hurt to turn my my neck to look over shoulder - if someone would enter a room and you would go to absently look, it would send joltingly amounts of pain to my brain. Wow it is disturbing how painful that was (and still is). This area also limited the range of movement of my left arm in particular (more so) but has been starting to affect my right lately. I can't seem to get better. 

The headache is wicked strong. I've lost days. DAYS. I've stayed in bed pretty much because I can't live overwise. The pain is too extreme. 

I went to the ER on friday. I saw a neurologist. He did a LP - my opening pressure (OP) was 21.5 - his words were "ok, so it's normal".... dude, that's NOT normal..... I'm on TWO meds that are supposed to make that NORMAL..... normal is supposed to be between 5-15!!!!  Now for those who don't know brains..... brains don't like it when pressure is anywhere over 18.... mine is OVER that..... UGHHHHHHHHHHHHH........ 

So I don't know what to do because it's not like we have that many places to go around here. So I just curl up into a tiny little ball in my bed and have waited for 4 days to pass in pure hell in the hopes that my body will go back to normal functioning!

My new semester started today, yay for me -- I'm so fucking screwed!

Friday, May 13, 2016

What am I going to do

Have to see the Dr tomorrow - I've had an increase in the # of headaches I've been having, plus I've been feeling like crap - more fatigue and exhaustion. Also my pain levels have increased - I'm having pain across my shoulders and up my spine.... so I had my VBG (venous blood gas) checked today to see if I can increase my meds or perhaps I need to make a trip to the hospital tomorrow to have a spinal tap (LP) to see what my pressure is.... who knows, maybe my pressure is low. I mean it IS completely possible that it is low but not likely!

My occupational health lady is coming off vacation and is expecting me to go back to work - and so is my husband - hell I really want to go back to work, I would love to be ABLE to go back to work but I don't know if that's possible at this point. Perhaps if we change my area and hours? I don't know. I guess we would have to have a conversation together about this.

I'm in the middle of writing my last paper of my course - it's not flowing like I need it to.  Geeze I wish it would! I can see the end in sight but holy frig I need this paper to be completed! I guess I'm just procrastinating. I'm such a procrastinator! UGH UGH Ugh!!!!!!!! Guess I better get back to the grind because the faster I get that done the faster I can get to starting this next semester that starts MONDAY!!!!! Sweet bloody hell I feel like the rug is being pulled out from under me. I feel like I'm always running after everything, like I'm never on top of everything because of these damn health issues.

The only good thing about this new semester starting is that my clinical site is AWESOME!!!! OMG I can't wait to start there. I get the same preceptor I had when I was at the ER previously and we've been talking and she's just as excited to have me get started as well. YAAAAY!!!! Awwww I love her! Now I just need to get this stupid paper done (it's all about epidemiology and other crappy health stuff that's difficult to write about).

Friday, May 6, 2016

Technically done this semester

Well I finished my exams for my classes - the english one was a bitch! Geeze, you would think that the last one you would try to make a bit easy. Ya not this professor!!! For fucks sakes teach, can ya give me a break?! I  was on the verge of a B+, now I'll be lucky if I don't end up with a B- sheesh! And I'm generally a pretty good bullshitter... ya it was a no-go with that exam. Frig it sucked!

My other exam was difficult, mostly for the fact that the guide that the prof gave us to "prepare" for the exam was a load of SHIT and definately did NO such thing!!! Luckily, I have a great partner in crime and we were prepared for this bullshit shenaneganes and pulled out with an alright  mark (could have DEFINATELY been better but it was my highest exam mark for her course so I'll take it!). For this course I have a major paper oustanding but considering my health issues, I have been granted an "I" and get an extension for the paper. I've told my prof that I'll take 2 mos to complete the paper. I don't think it'll take that long but I figured that if anything happened then I had myself covered at least, perhaps I should give myself six months! I have up to a year but they want me to state a date to expect the paper in by!..... oh I just got told by my husband that I have exactly 9 days to write my paper - FUCK!!!  Holy shit! Ugh I can't wait until school is done!!!!


Tuesday, May 3, 2016

I do exist, I am around, I am still surviving

Just minimally and it depends on which moment you ask me!

I have another email in the works but school work comes before blog

But I figured I would at least update the damn thing since it's been a while and the last one I wrote wasn't exactly all sunshine and lollipops!

I'm still having wicked headaches and a few migraines (like the one I had yesterday that is still persisting a bit even now) - and so I've been struggling.

I think we've dealt with the metabolic acidosis - I still have to have the blood test to confirm but how I feel is normal besides the headaches.

Clinical is done - YAY - I passed - YAY! Now I just have to get through the course work and the exams. UGH exams. Who ever decided on exams should be taken out back and crucified - serious - strung up on a pole and made to suffer slowly - because that's how I feel about getting ready for exams. They are absolute torture!

My plans to have my next and very  last clinical be in Texas has not panned out :( - the ones that have agreements with my uni won't accept a student right now (arseholes!) and the other ones that I've contacted said that they already have contracts with local schools - so my goal to do my last clinical in Texas has failed :(  I'm very sad about this. I was really hoping to have this happen. I want to live in Texas and I think that if I had my last placement be there then possibly I might be offered a job afterwards - at least the liklihood is higher.... plus then they could see my skills and won't immediately discount me just because I'm Canadian and not American!  Alas, I have to go to my tried and true place - this will be my third time going there, I actually get back my same preceptor which is good because we rocked together so I'm hoping we do again and all things will go swimmingly. Now I just need to get through exams. So I suppose I should get back to studying for those damn things!