Life in the ER

Ahhhhh, remember ER when George Clooney and Juliana Margulis were on it...  I haven't watched that show in YEARS but used to be a devoted fan.

Anyway, my evening in the ER wasn't quite as glamorous but it was a lot of fun!  It was busy and the time flew by.  Compared to how time creeps by on Med/surg it was great!  I got to do stuff to.  This is very very important  in nursing school.  I even STARTED AN I.V.!!!!  How cool is that! The first one I tried I didn't get in the vein.  It rolled away when I tried to get in.  The second one I got in even though it was a small vein on a lady who has had LOTS of I.V.s in her life (She was a kidney transplant patient.  Not sure what was wrong with her last night but I think it was congestive heart failure on some level.)  It was a little nerve wracking to think I was going to subject someone to my inexperience but it has to be done!  I also got to start a Foley catheter.  That was much easier than I thought it would be.  It was on a sweet old lady who was very confused and complaining of fulness in her abdomen.  The doctor thought she was very dehydrated and wanted a foley to see if she had any urine at all.  Within a few seconds of starting the foley we drained about 350ml from her.  No wonder she was uncomfortable.  Poor thing.  I also hung a bunch of I.V.s, hooked them up to the I.V. pumps, gave I.V. push medications and gave a suppository.  Not as yucky as I thought it would be.  Another thing that was cool was seeing various disease processes that we've talked about in class play out in real live patients.  

Overall, it was a huge relief to experience a form of nursing that i found interesting, exciting and challenging because my clinical experiences so far have rarely met those criteria. 

First Goal attained, on to the next 100 miles

Did you see my ticker?????? As of Tuesday I hit my first one hundred miles of 2008. I may just keep that ticker there and just add a new one for the next one hundred miles. It would be terribly sad to finally hit the one hundred mile mark just to reset it back to zero. I like my little guy at the finish line!!!!

Later I will have to add a cool picture to this post. Right now I'm at school and don't want to spend a bunch of time looking for a good picture.

Tonight I get to spend my clinical time in the ER. It has potential to be really interesting or really boring. The hospital I'm at isn't a trauma center so the ER isn't necessarily a hopping place. The hospital also often closes it due to lack of bed. I was in radiology last week and it was completely DEAD! Nothing going on!!!!! Luckily the nurse I was with was a lot of fun. Hopefully I'll have a fun nurse tonight AND a lot of interesting stuff to do. Might I even start and I.V. I will hope yes and then pity the patient who is my first stick!

31:35

I ran my 5K today and finished in 31:35 which I thought was pretty darn good.  It was a lot of fun.  The day was pretty cold for Houston but beautifully clear and no wind!  Yesterday was so windy stuff was blowing all over the place.  The kids had a great time at the event afterwards, bounce houses, a climbing wall and food!   I would definitely do a 5K again and am itching to try a 10K.  That would require a little more training I think!

HAve you seen my running ticker?????  I am seven miles away from my 100 mile goal!  How cool is that???  Saturday I run in a 5K, my first real race since I ran in a half marathon on January 18, 2004.  I'm really excited!  I don't really have a time goal because I'm running with a friend and I just don't know how fast we will be together.  I think if I were by myself I would expect to come in around 30-32 minutes at the fastest but that is just a guestimate.  I'll keep you posted!

The cliche checks in (Or what the world looks like with ten pounds less of me)

I blogged here about how much I disliked being a cliche but I was joining weight watchers in January with all the rest of the cliches.

So now, eight weeks later, the cliche is checking in....

before measurements:

Waist: 31.5

Hips: 41

upper arm: 11

Thigh: 21.5

Ten pounds lighter:

Waist: 29

Hips: 39

upper arm: 10

thigh: 19.5

Looking at it from a perspective of inches all in black and white, I have to say I am impressed with myself.  I tried on some clothes at Kohl's yesterday and size 6 jeans fit very comfortably and a size 6 skirt was WAAAAY too big.  Didn't even think to bring a 4 back with me.  (Just typing "a 4" is a little freaky.)

When you are ten pounds lighter you suddenly run faster.  I just finished 4 miles in about 39 minutes.  That's really fast for me.  When you are ten pounds lighter, clothes that you have avoided suddenly make it into the comfy clothes section of the closet and the comfy clothes look ridiculous.  Being 10 pounds lighter also makes me feel quite a bit sexier.  Hubby has enjoyed that!  

Being ten pounds lighter and really liking that also makes me a little anxious that the weight is just going to magically appear back on me one morning.  I'm going to wake up and realize it was all a dream, I didn't just lose that weight.  It is really an odd feeling to have such an obvious fantasy like that creeping into my conscious.  I am also conscious of my pride about it.  I don't want to be vain but it is nice to look in the mirror and feel good.

I can see a difference in my stomach first and foremost.  It is flatter and wrinklier.  Being plump hides the loss of elasticity in the stretch marks.  But that doesn't bother me at all.  I like my wrinkly belly button.  I can feel a difference in my arms.  The muscles are more defined.  I can tell a difference in the way my bras fit (which is a bummer for hubby but having smaller b*0*0Bs when you started at a full C isn't a bad thing in my book!  Today I think I can tell a difference in my face a little. I think my eyes look bigger.  Is it possible to lose eyelid fat?

I have three more pounds to lose to be at the top of the acceptable range for weight watchers goal weight.  Which is definitely where I will declare my goal to be.  It will be interesting to see how I do at maintenance....

I didn't die and I didn't kill anyone in the hospital

I swear someday I will blog again.  School is a lot busier this semester.  I don;t think it is really harder but there's more written work to do.  Studying, i can take or leave, (most of the time leave!) An assignment that has to be turned in, well, you just have to sit down and do it.

Topics to blog about (hopefully they will actually be transformed from topics to posts)

1.  The cliche checks in (or what the planet looks like with 10 pounds less of me)

2.  What really happens to your baby when it goes to the nursery after birth...

3.  My celebrity soul mate

4.  What's on my ipod (cause I wanna know what's on yours!)

5.  My first real race since the half marathon four years ago (coming March 8)

6.  School updates, what I've learned, what I've done!

That's it for now I think.  Gotta shower.  Just ran 4 miles in 41 minutes.  When there's ten pounds less of you to cart around you actually start to run faster!

I've been tagged!!!

My first tagging!!!  Thanks Kristen!  

The Rules!

Pick up the nearest book of 123 pages or more (no cheating!)

Find page 123.

Find the first five sentences.

Post the next three sentences.

Of course, the only book I have near me is a book for nursing school so I fear this may be a tad dry...

From Gerontological Nursing by Charlotte Eliopolous

"A family leave law is passed.  The local hospital issues a circular informing the community of new services for senior citizens. A nearby church sponsors a caregiver support group."

You're now just dying to take a class on Aging huh!