How cute is this?

Last weekend my brother's family was down. One of my nieces always calls the sofa as her bed. Well, I was walking through the living room to take something to the laundry room and this is what I saw:
How cute is that? Izzy & Abby cuddled right up together. I tell ya- those kids make me smile at times.

I'm sorry I haven't been posting anything really. And when I tell you my excuse you'll just roll your eyes. You know I'm in my last semester (hopefully) of nursing school. It sucks. Plain and simple. There is light at the end of the tunnel- but I am completely unmotivated & that's difficult because the majority of our lectures & everything are things we have to do on our own time. NOT happy. But, there's no use crying over something which is not going to be changed.

Quinlynne has said some pretty cute things lately. Yesterday morning I was trying to sleep in, and I was in the recliner in the living room. Q had the TV on the Disney channel I get so tired of that being on constantly & Q knows this. She said "You don't want it on the Disney channel, Momma? No problem!" And she turned it to Nickelodeon. Oh yes- what a huge difference. Then today Mom and I were walking through the living room and Q was watching TV. We all commented on something that was cute. (I wish I could remember what it was. Apparently I've got early onset Alzheimer's.) Mom & I were in the kitchen and we heard Quinlynne say "You know that, Grandi!" (Instead of 'you know it'!)

A post

I really don't like posting things very well unless there is a picture involved. I like to post pictures because 1) I think my kid is so darned cute & think others should thinks she is too, 2) I like to look at other people's pictures & assume they like to look at mine, and 3) it's my blog & I'll run it how I want. (Which, if the blog was the United States, would not work well because of the system of checks & balances in place within our government. NO...I'm not taking Political Science this summer because I didn't do so hot in it the first time I took it in 1994....)

I was going through my pictures so I'd have something to post about. I found this one.....

This is what happens a large majority of the time when I am up late trying to study. You see, being a mom in Nursing School, one does not start actually REALLY studying, reading, working on care plans and what-not until AFTER the child is in bed. If you're really lucky like I am, you have a child that slept better as an infant & toddler than she does as a preschooler. So, several times after she has been put to bed & gone off to sleep, I get a curly-headed mop of hair rubbing her eyes walking into the living room to tell me something, or ask me to put her back to bed, or get a drink of water, or lie down with her, or turn on her music, or to ask what she's going to wear tomorrow.....the list goes on and on. Eventually, I just give up. I let her sleep in the other recliner. Am I not terrible? And you know what's even worse than that? When I finally give up & put myself to bed....I leave her in the recliner. Yes, Mother of the Year right here. I try to wake her to get her to walk back to bed, but she won't do it. So, I just leave her. But, in the picture, she's sleeping. Doesn't she look put-out with the situation, though? I'll be so glad when I work & don't have to study sooooo much.

Hospice rotation

I told you I was not looking forward to Hospice, right? Well, I have done two days this week...and I have to admit, it's not bad. Today we went to see a lady who was actively dying. She was a resident in a nursing home. When we first arrived, she was really struggling to breathe & it was such work for her, although she was unresponsive. We did assessments on her, contacted the doctor and did some paperwork. We then went on to visit three more patients. After we were done with the other patients we went back to check in on struggling patient #1. I looked in her room and her chest was not moving. The RN I was shadowing & I walked in to her room. We couldn't find a radial pulse, but she was having a shallow respiration every now & then with long stretches of not breathing. Long story short- we watched this lady take her last breath. I am ok, I was not heavy-hearted. (Although, I think I maight have felt differently had any of her family been there at the time.) This lady had been on this earth for nearly a century, and I was glad that the RN and I were able to be by her side when she took her last breath. So- in this semester, I have seen a child take its first breath, and I have seen a very elderly woman take her last breath. That's a lot to see in a few short months!

Been totally busy

As you can imagine, and I'm sure are tired of hearing....Nursing School has had me totally busy. Between papers & care plans, and class, and homework, and trying to sleep, it's been kinda rough. This week I did clinical rotations at an outpatient Oncology Clinic. Some people hear that and just crumble emotionally. Thankfully, I do not. (Ask me that question again this coming week when I have to do hospice rotations.)

I must say, I enjoyed my time there. The 1st day I was in the clinic part; where patients come in and see the doctor, talk about their options, treatment, and any problems they may be having. The 2nd day I was in the treatment room; where patients come for chemotherapy, port access, etc.

I love chatting with the patients. You get such an array. One lady was having problems with her recently placed port, and the nurse was going to put in a med that would help dissolve a clot that could be at the end of the catheter. The lady started crying when she was asking what the nurse was giving her. She said "This is just your job, but this is my life. I'm not ready to die yet." Then there was a patient who was joking around with me & telling me a horrific story about how he was his mom's last child, he was born "naturally", and he weighted 15 lbs. 4 oz. He said "They thought I was gonna be twins, obviously. I wasn't. But, I've got twice the looks & twice the brains of most people." That man was crazy, adorable, and I decided I loved him.

My philosophy is this: I want to give people the care I wish my dad would have gotten the last few hours of his life here on Earth, and the type of care he did get when he was outpatient. You're treating the disease; yes, Cancer does suck. But in the midst of that terrible, disgusting disease- there is the person that has it. They want to live, that's why they're fighting it. Treat them like everyone else. They crave normalcy (for the most part). Give them attention, give them power, and make them feel like they're still alive!!!

Also, the picture I'm including has nothing to do with cancer, but I love it. I took it Easter morning. Quinlynne picked this weed...er, flower for me.

Finally Finals are over

That's right, my friends. I took my Theory final yesterday. I finished my skill validation just an hour ago. I have now passed Level 2 of nursing school. I guess nothing's actually final until it's recorded in the gradebook for the college. BUT- I have an "A" in Issues & Perspectives & I got a "B" in my Theory class. I have passed! Woo hoo!

Unfortunately, I know of 3 classmates, thus far, who have not passed. I am very sad. They are all people I like, too! So, two down, two to go! Go Shandolynne, go Shandolynne! I just have to cheer for myself sometimes!

Sorry

I know it's been more than a couple of days since I have posted. But, to tell you the truth- school has kept me hoppin'. The semster is coming to a close, and you know what that entails. Everything kind of starts the downhill trend, speeding up and speeding up! This week was not too bad at clinicals though, even though my patient was one sick guy. I got to go with him to have an EGD & Colonoscopy, and while we were in the PACU, it was great to see a lady from church (who is a nurse) bringing a patient in from the OR. It's always nice to have a friendly face! Soon, my friends, soon I will be able to say (hopefully) "Two down, two to go!" I am close to half done in my quest to become a Registered Nurse. Thank goodness! I just don't know why I didn't do this the first time around in school. It would have been so much easier. But, I didn't think I was smart enough, and I did what was easy for me. Hindsight's 20/20, right?

Since I'm talking about being in the PACU, let me include a picture of my child when she was 11 months old, in the PACU.

This was when she had her adenoids removed. I knew something was wrong when it had been over an hour since they took her back to the OR. Seems as though Quinlynne would not start breathing on her own after they stopped anesthesia. I knew she had scared everyone in all of the ORs, because they kept coming out (after I was with her) to look at her, but trying to look nonchalant. What's that old saying "Can't BS a BSer"? I know how to downplay things so people won't worry. I could feel all this gunk rattling around in my baby's chest, and the ambu bag which had not yet been discarded from surgery lying on her bed. Oh well- she came by the adenoid thing rightfully, I had mine removed 3 times, and Adar has always had problems with his. What a combination. So far, Quinlynne has had hers removed twice. I wonder how many times it'll take? Thank goodness for modern medicine and the people who Heavenly Father had with her in the room that day.

I hope that as a healthcare provider, I will be able to be a person patients and their families will be thankful for. It's my goal!

Been too long

Needless to say, it has been entirely too long since I've posted. I am now in the midst of my med/surg clinical rotations. I'm in Hell.



I have tons of pictures I need to edit & save to my computer. But here's one for you. This is from when Quinlynne's eardrum had ruptured & we were having to put ear drops into her ear. She hated it. I remember having to get eardrops put in when I was her age & how much I detested it. Poor thing. And look at her curled up on her changing pad. Definitely not the 19 inch long baby girl I brought home from the hospital.