Wow! Simple things amaze me. In a good way. I heard from an old friend today and another friend offered me a great opportunity. I may explain later about the opportunity.
I am excited because my support group is meeting on Thursday night. Each meeting provides a unique experience. It is hard for me to explain. Each person there has a unique story about their stroke. Each of us are in different places of recovery and acceptance. It really helps me to come face to face with my circumstances. Right after my stroke, I never took time to "process" what happened. My support group helps me to continue to process it.
I have realized how lucky I am. I essential "got off lucky". It becomes very emotional for me. I hate to miss the meetings which I have done when necessary.
After starting class yesterday and closing last night, I am exhausted. I think I need some rest before I work again tonight. Wish me luck, clinicals tomorrow :)
Tuesday, January 8, 2013
Monday, January 7, 2013
Back to School I go
I am starting back at school today. I graduate this year. I am in nursing school. I started nursing school a month after my stroke. Crazy diffidently describes my actions in this. At that point, I had already pushed school back once (I was pregnant) and the month after my stroke I was on a "high". It was all still sinking in and I just wanted to go back to "normal". I am glad I went back to school when I did. If I can recover from a stroke DURING nursing school then I know I can handle the job, well to a degree.
I get so tired. I know part of that is my heart healing and trying to gain strength and part of it is me doing way too much. I go to school during the day and each day varies. Some days I have to be at the hospital at 6:45am and stay til 3pm. Other days I sit in a classroom from 9am to 12:30 or as late as 3pm. Then most days I go to work at 5pm until 9, 10, 11pm. Saturdays I work and Sundays I study or I try to. By Sunday I am so tired I end up falling asleep studying. This does not work well for my grades.
Other students tell me they stay up until 1, 2, 3am studying for tests. I get dizzy just thinking about staying up that late. To me a late night is 11pm and only because I am working. There are days I think I am crazy for even trying to finish. Other days, I wonder why I didn't do this sooner. Here starts/continues another class. It ends in February so not much longer. Then I take Leardership and I graduate in May. This summer I have to retake one class. Then I am a professional.
Today is one of those days......what on earth am I doing in school for nursing? I have no idea what I am doing!
I get so tired. I know part of that is my heart healing and trying to gain strength and part of it is me doing way too much. I go to school during the day and each day varies. Some days I have to be at the hospital at 6:45am and stay til 3pm. Other days I sit in a classroom from 9am to 12:30 or as late as 3pm. Then most days I go to work at 5pm until 9, 10, 11pm. Saturdays I work and Sundays I study or I try to. By Sunday I am so tired I end up falling asleep studying. This does not work well for my grades.
Other students tell me they stay up until 1, 2, 3am studying for tests. I get dizzy just thinking about staying up that late. To me a late night is 11pm and only because I am working. There are days I think I am crazy for even trying to finish. Other days, I wonder why I didn't do this sooner. Here starts/continues another class. It ends in February so not much longer. Then I take Leardership and I graduate in May. This summer I have to retake one class. Then I am a professional.
Today is one of those days......what on earth am I doing in school for nursing? I have no idea what I am doing!
Wednesday, January 2, 2013
Having a Cold Has a Whole New Meaning
Since I had my stroke, I have started several medications. I take a blood thinner which interacts with EVERYTHING. You think I am kidding. Pull out pretty much any bottle of over-the-counter medication from your medicine cabinet. Under the advisory section, it will say if you take Warfarin please consult your doctor before taking this medication. All cough medicine, relievers, allergy medicine, and anything else. It makes having a backache and pain in the butt.
I recently had a cold and went to the pharmacy to ask what I could take. They suggest some medicine which worked great. When I finished off the medicine, my husband wanted me to go to the doctor since I had been sick for 3 weeks. Turned out I had bronchitis. I was prescribed an antibiotic and narcotic cough medicine. Of course, both of these interact with my medicine so I had to go today to get my protime done.
Protime- clotting time of blood. Determined by have blood drawn. This is specific to warfarin and must be done on a regular basis. Goal is to go once a month but may be done more often if the level is not where the doctor wants it to be.
I went 2 weeks ago and it was fine. I went today and I am waiting for my results. I am pretty sure they are going to say I need to up my medicine. I say this because my arm didn't bleed today which is not good. I get so sick of getting poked and prodded. I never realized how much I took for granted going to the store to relieve my problems.
It is overwhelming sometimes dealing with all of the doctor appointments and keeping straight which doctor for what. Trying to remember to take medicine at certain times of the day. Trying to remember which foods I need to avoid or eat more of to go with my medicine. I never thought I would be told to NOT eat spinach or broccoli but they interact with my medicine.
Boy am I tired today. Being sick and working extra hours really knocks me out. Goodnight!
I recently had a cold and went to the pharmacy to ask what I could take. They suggest some medicine which worked great. When I finished off the medicine, my husband wanted me to go to the doctor since I had been sick for 3 weeks. Turned out I had bronchitis. I was prescribed an antibiotic and narcotic cough medicine. Of course, both of these interact with my medicine so I had to go today to get my protime done.
Protime- clotting time of blood. Determined by have blood drawn. This is specific to warfarin and must be done on a regular basis. Goal is to go once a month but may be done more often if the level is not where the doctor wants it to be.
I went 2 weeks ago and it was fine. I went today and I am waiting for my results. I am pretty sure they are going to say I need to up my medicine. I say this because my arm didn't bleed today which is not good. I get so sick of getting poked and prodded. I never realized how much I took for granted going to the store to relieve my problems.
It is overwhelming sometimes dealing with all of the doctor appointments and keeping straight which doctor for what. Trying to remember to take medicine at certain times of the day. Trying to remember which foods I need to avoid or eat more of to go with my medicine. I never thought I would be told to NOT eat spinach or broccoli but they interact with my medicine.
Boy am I tired today. Being sick and working extra hours really knocks me out. Goodnight!
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