The Lake House

Next year, 6 of us will be living in this house:

It's 10 minutes closer to campus than I am now! This is the living room, unfortunately the fire place doesn't work.

Here's the kitchen:

This is the hallway off the living room that leads down to three bedrooms and a bathroom. My bedroom is the door straight ahead, just slightly to the left.

It's pretty tiny, and I'm going to try to pull the carpet up and see if I can't store it downstairs, then put it back before we move out. It's really gross. But hey, it's my own room, right?

Here's the sunroom and the deck:

We will have access to the tennis court, "beach" area, and lake!

Here's the backyard and lake, just over the fence:

There are lots of gnats outside. I guess we'll need a couple of those blue light zapper thingys.

Here't the basement where we'll put the TV and games. This is where we'll all hang out.

And the laundry room/storage room:

That's it! It's pretty spacious, and I think it will look a little more "alive" once we all start to decorate it. It's hard to believe this will be the last place I stay in Lynchburg. I'll graduate from here!

My House, Part II

Welcome! I'd like to show you around more of my house! I pulled up to my house today, and it was such a nice day out after having a few days of rain and clouds....
This is the main enterance which heads in to the kitchen. This is not the door to the outside that I will mention later in the post. That door is around the house to the left. See the enterance down to the left? That's the boy's enterance.

It's really starting to look and feel like Spring! Which makes me think of Willy Wonka, when he's on that bike in the Inventing Room, singing about Spring time... I always have movies on my mind. All the windows on this side of the house look into the rooms we will be touring today! Starting from the back of the house, it's the master bedroom windows, the guest room windows, the living room windows, and the kitchen (which are the windows that stick out in a circle).


"Spring time, the only pretty ring time, birds sing-a-ding"

So if you'll remember: from the doorway to my room, looking out, you can go next-door to the left and go into my roommates room. The door you can see to the left in this picture is the door to my bathroom.


EUREKA!

No, I haven't gone all this time without toilet paper. But as you can see now, I have plenty. If you walk straight out of my room, you'll see my roommates bathroom there on the right, or you can walk straight forward into the master bedroom. But we'll pass that by, because it's locked. The hallway moves to the right....

... and you come to an area full of options.

You get to choose from 5 doors. The first on on the right will take you outside, which means you are going to get the mail, which means you are about to walk a really long way. No thanks. The double doors straight ahead will take you into the craft room, formerly known as the music room, until all the instrumets were taken out. This room will also connect you to the kitchen, but we'll get into that later.

As you keep turning to the left, there is a doorway that takes you to the living room. (See the other door through the craft room? Go through it and immediately on your left is another doorway to the living room. Immediately to your right is a bathroom. Straight ahead is the kitchen.)

Still moving to the left, there is a door to the guest room, then finally, a door to the downstairs (not pictured here). This door leads to the apartment downstairs which houses 3 other people. They're boys. We don't go down there. And they don't come up here! Except to do laundry. They have thir own kitchen, door to the outside, etc.



Ok. First, we'll see the guest room. This is where Matt and Ian stayed and giggled all night long.

Now here's walking into the living room. The door there on the right is the kitchen.

Walking further (farther? further?) into the room, you can see the doorway on the right is the one I mentioned before. If you walk through it and turn right, you'll head into the craft room. Walk through it and go straight, the bathroom. Turn left? The kitchen! (Are you completely confused?) And there's the kitchen to the left.

Here's another view: We just came from over there on the right.

Now I'm standing in the kitchen, looking towards the guest room and the downstairs door.

Closer up:

The first door on the right? Guest room.

Second door on the right? Downstairs.

Hallway to the right? Heading back to my room.

Door straight ahead is a closet, and the open door goes to the outside.

Do you feel dizzy? Hope I didn't confuse you.

Until next time!

It's Been A Long, Long Wait

But I have finally heard from, what Matt and I lovingly call, the Number One Hospital In The World.

That's right, Johns Hopkins!

I interviewed way back and forever ago on Tuesday March 10th. Actually, that wasn't too long ago, was it? It sure feels like it was. Anyway, yesterday afternoon I got a call from a 410 number... a 410-955 number, which I know to be the first 3 digits and area code of Hopkins, my heart be still. So I took a second to gather myself before answering "hello?", in as much of a mature, professional manner as one could express through a phone.

"Hello, is this April?"
"Yes it is"... (kinda like, "Oh hello, who is this?" Except I KNOW!)

It was the guy that interviewed me, a nurse manager in the NICU.

"First of all, thank you for the thank you card you sent, that was nice."
"You're welcome! I had a great time visiting the floor." (Major bonus points to my Career Coach for making sure I sent that letter out! Props, bro.)

"We would like to hire you, if you are still interested."
"Oh, yes I am, thank you."
"Ok, great. And how many hours would you like to work? Were you thinking full time? Or part time?"
"Full time, if that would work for you."

YES! 40 hours a week of feeding, burping, and caring for neonates! I'll get to do "cares" on them, which is taking their vital signs and listening to their heart, lungs, and belly, suction them when they spit up, change their diapers, take them to get procedures done, and go see some C-Sections and high-risk deliveries! I'll also re-stock supplies, prepare beds for admissions, and re-stock the bag/kit that the delivery team takes with them to every high-risk case; it's full of medications and anything that would be needed for any situation that could possibly happen. My heart is beating faster just thinking about it.

And get this, 30 minutes after this phone call, I get a text from my friend informing me that we had been accepted to rent a house! And the house is right on a lake! For a while, these two situations were in the "I have no idea what is going to happen, but they both will shape my future plans" category, but giving things like that over to God and trusting in Him to take care of them makes it all so peaceful, and handle-able (if that's a even a word). And they were both handed to me in one small moment. God cares about the little things, and I'm so glad He does!

I've also been seriously thinking about getting "My House, Part II" up. I know you just can't wait to see my bathroom. I may just throw in the hallway too. I'll also be sure to take my camera to the Lake House when we sign the lease.

Go Low, Go Slow, Go Like You Know!

Today, my clinical group learned how to start an IV!

Types of IV's:
1) Peripheral: the ones that go in your hand, arm, elbow... these can stay in for only 3 days.
2) PICC (Peripherally Inserted Central Catheter): these go on your arm as well, but the catheter travels all the way up to the heart. Like what Aunt Pam, Dad, and Matt had for Lyme.
3) Central Line: the one that goes in the jugular (IJ) or on the chest (subclavicular). These go straight to the heart too. Lines that go to the heart can stay in for up to a month or so.
4) Port a caths: these are surgically implanted under the skin in the chest and are accessed by a 90 degree (looks like an up-side down L)needle when the patient needs medicine or treatment. These can stay in for a year or longer.

There are so many rules to dealing with different IV lines; what you can give through them, what you can't. How you can administer the medicine, how you can't. How often you need to change the bandage, etc.

This guy has all the types of IV's, and we use him to practice IV dressing changes on. And see that box? Those are the needles we used to practice with!

An Angiocath is the basic IV line. It has the flixible catheter with a needle inside, after inserting the needle, you pull it out, leaving the catheter in the vein. The newer models of needles have a small white button that pulls the needle into itself when pushed after you have placed the IV. It's a safety feature: with this, there won't be an open needle on your field when you pull the needle out of the catheter. Here's how it works, watch for the uptake of the needle, it's fast!



Before we stuck eachother, we practiced our critical thinking skills with patient scenarios. We were each a "patient", and we went around the room figuring out what size needle was best to use (gauge 14,16,18,20, or 22?) for each condition, and where to put it (hand, forearm, or antecubital/elbow?).

This is Melissa! She's one girl in my clinical group. She's playing a 15 year old athlete, who, based on her age and physicality, should have good veins. Because of this, you can think of using a larger size needle (the lower the gauge number, the bigger the needle/larger diameter needle). But, the patient is going to the OR, so you need to put at least a size 18. We chose a size 18 gauge on the right hand, this way the anesthesiologist can be on the one side while the OR surgeons, etc. are on the left side dealing with the leg.

Here was my scenario:

EEK! Sickle Cell is painful! So first, you need to ask where the patient is having pain, because that is where the sickle cell crisis is, and what if they are having their crisis in their arm?? You would definitely want to avoid putting a needle where someone is having a crisis! Plus, she is getting PRBC (Packed Red Blood Cells) which means you would need a big lumen so the Red Blood Cells can pass through without being broken up.

Other scenarios also included a diabetic with dizziness and fainting (Her veins would be less-than-ideal because of the diabetes, but... what's the worse case scenario? Dizziness in a diabetic is from low blood sugar, and if it gets low enough she would need to be given Dextrose, which is really thick. So she needs a big lumen, 'round a 16 or 18). Also, a 50 year old with chest pain and nausea (heart attack! This requires TWO IV lines because he could code.) It was fun!

Next, we watched our teacher place an IV line so we could see how it's done.

Here's the whole process, in three parts (you can pause the music above so you can hear what the teacher is saying):

Don't you just wanna grab a 22 gauge, find a forearm, and go nuts?!

Well if you do, here's what you'll need:

A tourniquet, alcohol preps, a needle (pink is size 20, a smaller needle), tegaderm (a clear "plastic bandage" that will cover the IV site, keep it stable, but still let you assess it every 2 hours without having to take the bandage off), some tape, some gauze, and a saline flush (the outside tube with a blue end, where the saline flushes or medicine is pushed into). Don't forget the gloves! All the needles are color-coded depending on their size. We usually see blue (22), pink (20), and green (18).

Here's a vein we can practice on first. You can see if you go straight through the vein with this device, and it helps you visualize what is happening under the skin.

In this picture, the pliable catheter is in the vein, and the needle is coming out.

Now we can move onto the practice arms. These are pretty realistic. They actually BLEED!! And there are many veins to choose from, so whichever one you stick, be sure to go low, go slow, and go like you know ;)

Here's Maya.

Here's a hand you can practice on too. Looks like Thing from the Adam's Family. This is my site that I put in. Look at all the blood (but that's not all from me, just the fresh-looking drip on the white board). See the blue tip? That's the "saline flush". You can hook up IV tubing and syringes there. Without it, the blood would just backflow out of the IV line and the patient would bleed all over the place. This would be terrible if the blue tip came off of a central line because it would be like the heart was spilling out on the floor.

Here I am having a go at the practice arm.

And finally, a real victim! I got it on the first try, no problems! It was an awesome feeling, I wasn't nervous or shaky while I was doing it.... but the second I was done inserting the line, my hands started to shake! I was so excited I had just done that!

Here's the whole clinical group! We've been together since day one of Junior year.

Don't worry about our arms, this was our "funny picture", so it's all fake blood.

We're nuts.

(Congratulations on getting to the end of the post! It was a doozie.)

Tuesday

We have ants invading the kitchen. I sprayed them with Clorox. The ants are now 99.9% germ free.

I still don't have toilet paper. I drove past Wal-Mart today.

It's dark outside. My room is dark because it is dark outside.

I bought a book today. It will tell me what to expect when I'm expecting. The book is "What to Expect When You're Expecting". I'm expecting to get extra credit in OB class for reading it. There was a cute boy behind me when I bought it. I expect he thinks I'm expecting. Oh well.

I take over 46 pills and supplements, three times a day. I swallow most of them with one gulp. Mandy thinks that makes me a superhero. I want to know why she didn't think I was a superhero before she saw me take the pills.

I wish there were more hours between when I go to bed and when I have to wake up. Of course, I could make this happen by going to bed earlier, but that's not what I mean.

I am learning how to start an IV line this Friday. I plan to have my camera to document.

The Dark-en-ess

All my lights are burning out. My overhead light in my room is blown, and you can just forget about this 5'3'' girl trying to fix that thing. It's like, all the way up there on the ceiling, and, there's this, thingy, that is under the bulb so I can't get to the bulb to unscrew it. I feel like Aunt Becki; "The doo-hicky under the thingy is too far up and I don't have a thingamagigg to fix it."

How many nursing students does it take to change a light bulb?

Where's Dad and his superman belt? I think he has a step-ladder on that thing.

2 of the 3 light bulbs in my bathroom are out, too. But I figure I can just deal with the less-than-ideal lighting because I actually looked for replacement light bulbs, but you can't replace one bulb with another that is a different wattage, can you? The whole house would blow up if I did that!

I realize that may not be entirely accurate.

I am also out of toilet paper, and I am wondering how I forgot to snag a roll or two while I was at home. I was only reminded of my need about five times a day as I used the bathroom (how many times are you supposed to go to the bathroom in a day? Should I know that? I know it's 30 cc's per hour... I wonder if this will be on my next test...).

But my pantry and fridge are stocked with yummy organic food :) And my room is slowly getting darker and darker as the sun goes down.

Study Break

I was reading a chapter of "A Long Obedience in the Same Direction" the other night on how Psalm 124 is a magnification of the items of life that are thought to be unpleasant. Peterson was using an example of a friend of his who took magnifed pictures of ordinary, every day things. The results were "artful", giving a new perspective on the things that you would normally view as insignificant, such as a Brillo pad.

""God's strong name is our help, the same God who made heaven and earth,"... It takes the majesty of the One who pulled a universe into order and beauty, and finds this same God involved in the local troubles of a quite ordinary person.""

So I decided to play around, have some fun, and see what I could come up with. Can you tell what the following images are?

Here they are together:

My roommate guessed "sunglasses".... wrong!

The other roommate just said "Hmmmm....".... wrong again!

These are everyday, ordinary,.... utensils. A fork, knife, and spoon.

So tell me your thoughts:

Did the cutlery become "artful"?

Will you ever stab, cut, and scoop your food the same way again?

I need to go do some nursing stuff, for crying out loud! Next test is tomorrow on geriatrics and orthopedics.

My House, Part I

Here's my room! My roommate from last semester graduated in December, so I am all alone! I really enjoy it, and it's nice because I came back this semester with lots of pills and jars for germinating and sprouting nuts. It would have been "fun" to explain all the crazy stuff I need to do sometimes to someone I didn't know.

Here's walking through the door, then moving around to the left:

My clinical schedules: the top is Med/Surg clinicals: I'm on the Oncology floor now. The bottom is for OB class: I have a Baby Massage class coming up on Wednesday, and my Mother/Baby clinicals in April.

On my dresser, I keep my printer and my class books. Those are ALL nursing books, plus 2 that you can't see in the picture :) I use them when I write my weekly profiles for clinical.

What desk would be complete without a Dwight Schrute Bobblehead??

My window. All my medicines are in the drawers.

These are over-the-door hooks that I put on the walls using "Command Strips" as curtain holders. I still need one more for the other side.

The view from the window this morning: SNOW! 8 inches last night.

This was my roommate's dresser, but now I use it to put make-up on, because it has a mirror.

I get to see these girls every morning!

And these girls too! Elizabeth, Mandy, and Laura

These are two pictures of Kek-Chi kids from Guatemala. The "frame" is actually a shoe box lid.

My closets:

My reminder for clinical: If you are missing your med cards or profile, you go home. Scarry!

Coming up: the bathroom :)