Alumni = fabulous

Who knew the class of '59 was so much fun? It was really great to hang out with a bunch of classmates that are still close even after 50 years. I think the secret, which one of them told me, is that they get together every year and have done so since graduation. It's awesome! Some of the women that came even ditched nursing after 10 or 15 years and do something totally different now. They all looked at us like we were crazy for getting our degrees in a year, though. (Rightfully so - we are a little nuts). But overall, it was an awesome experience to have while I have been freaking out about finding a job/choosing a specialty and generally having no idea where I really want to work.

After a series of really bad, not very fun runs, I finally had a rewarding one today(!). I calibrated my sensor earlier last week and discovered, much to my horror, that it was .22 miles off. Not cool! I went through the five stages of grief (with denial being the shortest since it was in front of my face) which probably fueled the bad runs along. But no more! I decided to do a time workout today and get my mind off the miles. Granted, I'm not going very far, but I have the race on Saturday to get pumped for a I want to do my best. There must have been a crew race today because the park I ran through was full of people. That was nice, especially since I decided to pick a different route than I usually go. My irrational fear of being ambushed on the trail was quelled for at least a little bit because of the crowd. It was also my first day running in the legitimate cold. I think I did okay, but the rumor is that it's supposed to snow this week and I'm not sure if I'm ready for that. The cold will be my biggest obstacle on Saturday morning, that's for sure. I'm going to try to go a little faster the rest of the week since I've been taking it easy post-horrendous cold. The only way to go is up at this point!

Woohoo!

So on my last day of OB I pretty much did everything possible there is to do on that service and then left for home. I saw another vaginal birth, put in a foley and saw another c section. It was pretttty neat. I liked lactation a lot and used some of the stuff I learned from them with the new moms that were trying to breastfeed. I felt helpful!

I had my first full day in peds today. It was really nerve wracking at the beginning since I wasn't sure what I would see. I had a fabulous little girl, though, with Down syndrome that had just had open heart surgery a week ago. It was great to go with her and her mom to see her echo and then have her be able to go home without any tubes! She was a total sweetie :) We had met a cute little guy the day before during our short orientation on the unit who was 8 and on continuous seizure monitoring so he was alert and chatty. He totally made my day! We played with him, gave him stickers and he showed us all his gift cards he had collected. This kid made me LOVE peds. I think my favorite age will be school age since they're chatty and want to show you everything that they can do. It was probably a good experience for him too because most of us had finished up with our own patients and had time to play with him in the afternoon. Given the chance, I'm sure he would've had us stay all day to play!

Alumni weekend starts tomorrow so I'm going to try to go to the lecture they're having on global health, and I've also volunteered to go to a dinner at the Roc science center Saturday night. It gives me a chance to dress up, have snacks and maybe make some connections. I am still freaked out since I have no idea where I want to work and what floor I want to be on (but peds seems pretty good) so maybe they could give me a couple pointers. We will see!

Woohoo!

At 3 pm on Thursday, I am done with OB! Yippie!!! I'm much more excited for peds, even if the thought of angry/confused/scared/over protective parents isn't totally appealing. Babies are cool, but they're not prone to do much (but I do appreciate their tiny diapers). Even more exciting, I will be going home after clinical is over! We have Monday off and it will be more than fantastic to go home and not have to cook for a couple days. Sometimes you just have to get out of where you are.

I think that since I am naturally a wanderer/explorer, it's hard to stay in one place and develop a routine for me. I feel like the monotony is getting to me and it's 5 weeks in... trouble ahead for sure. This could be because of the insanely repetitive nature of OB. It's awesome, really, but just slow. And quiet. And the exact opposite of me. I think that if I took a job here all would be fine (probably because I'd finally live alone), but I'm itching for a new place to explore at the moment. I didn't do my run today since I went to Brugger's with Cassie and Mary after class and then had to take my last exam and now it's pitch dark out (plus wind and rain), so that might be it. I don't know, though. Since I can't figure out where I actually want to explore at the moment, I'll try to practice my patience and let it come to me. Cue yoga breathing...

I've been a bad blogger...

This week was more than challenging, academically and otherwise. I thought I had learned that pesky value of patience, but now I'm not so sure. I became/still am a little frustrated with classes and with other people that I must interact with while in Rochester. Most of the time, I'm able to get past this stuff through Hulu, Grey's Anatomy and some BFF chat time with Cas. Those didn't do the trick this week and I have no explanation as to why. Needless to say, I have spent as much time as possible sleeping. I do enjoy, though, a rousing round of karaoke. Thankfully, there's a pocket of people that can cuddle with me and pull me out of any sort of funk that I've had here so far. Also, I think actually getting out of sweats helped moved things along, but I will give them credit where credit is due.

I tried a new trail this week and I like it a lot since it's flat and not asphalt. At the beginning of this running excursion, I wouldn't have expected to incorporate exploring into my runs (I'm a little paranoid), but I'm very happy I did. I'll probably try to tackle the trail to campus again sometime this week since last time it left me with something to be desired. It's those hills that are killer for that one and they're not even that big! I think it's more of the spacing of them on the trail, or the fact that I was so focused on having to go 4 miles that nothing could be enjoyable. We shall see!

Leaves are finally starting to change colors and it's been the best kind of dreary autumn weather for the last couple of days. It's much more enjoyable now to wear a sweater for a purpose instead as a substitute coat. I'm looking forward to all of the snow in the winter and hopefully the quiet time that will follow it. I'm a fan of summer, don't get me wrong, but I like peaceful things... and this past summer was far from peaceful. I'm excited to drive home Thursday and see some of the leaves at home too. It will be fantastic to get out of here for at least a few days.

Procrastination.

Not really feeling this case study right now (pregnant adolescent... it still weirds me out, honestly, our girl is 14, has had chlamydia and has MULTIPLE partners. :/ ) and luckily Molly sent me the best new website ever. It's called fupenguin.com and I am already in love. As one who likes cute animals but is done reading about the water skiing squirrel in the news, or whatever talent they happen to have now, I was totally taken with the silly commentary following the pictures. Perfect laugh after getting deep into this serious case study.

My mom and baby today were so cute!! They were both really mellow and had no problem with me doing assessments on them. I think if I were to work in OB, it would have to be with mother baby. I felt kind of useful today and like I knew what I was talking about. Plus, my mom was chatty and just really nice all round, so I wasn't uncomfortable at all. I think with each rotation I'll have to learn to ignore my instructor all over again during my skills demonstration. I was so used to my previous instructor watching me that I wasn't afraid to ask her questions during my assessments or anything. Granted, these are shorter rotations so it's harder to get used to an instructor in 10 times, but I think I am almost there. Too bad my last day on mother-baby is tomorrow. Oh well. Clinical is definitely what you make of it, though. My nurse today was super stressed out about some botched orders, so instead of doing my case study in the back room, I wandered with her and found out how you get that kind of issue resolved. I had checked in with my mom before I went on the excursion, and since her husband and other son were coming to visit, I wasn't going to be bugging her anyway. It was interesting. My nurse was definitely more than willing to help, which was fabulous, but it was nice to know that by running her new admission some ice and juice, I was making her day a little easier. :)

I did my run today, got a GIANT blister on my pinky toe (God only knows how since I WRAPPED IT after I saw the little preview blister after clinical) and am looking forward to not doing a run tomorrow. 5 miles on Friday. It's like D-Day... but obviously without a beach landing. Speaking of, who would've thought I'd miss beach days in September? (Kidding. We knew it was coming. It's like I'm not even a Northeasterner anymore. It's pathetic.)

Hm...

So, after I unconvinced myself after convincing myself I had a subinguinal (sp?) hernia, I did my run. Instead of running the full four, I did 3.5, which isn't bad, and I didn't feel horrific either. The ice pack is in the freezer and will probably be ready to do it's job when I'm done writing. I mailed out my entry form for the race on Oct 17. At this moment in time, I could actually care less if anyone does it with me or comes to watch. This is pretty much just for me (oh, I know - selfish much? Whatever. "Running" is an individual "sport". Aside - I'm not sure if running is actually a sport. Right now it's above cheerleading, but still living in the gray area. I am a traditional "sport-ist" that there have to be points to be scored in a game. Granted, that makes curling and shuffle board sports...)


This week I'm in mother baby both days and the plan is to get my assessment down. I've been using my visualization technique (hokey, but kind of effective) now especially since we don't have that many opportunities to practice. I'm getting more comfortable with it, but I am by no means an expert. I don't expect to become one during the rest of my time on the floor, but I think I've experienced a lot of valuable things. Last week I got to teach my mom about SIDS, something that is imperative to know about. It was really neat for me since I had never felt like I had actually taught my patients anything, although some little something must've stuck for someone. This, though, was an opportunity that jumped out and screamed TEACH HER! So I did. :) Obviously in this situation, like most others, the patient will do what they want when they go home, but it seemed like she understood what I was talking about.

We heard some sad stories about still births that happened over the weekend. I really hope that I don't have to see that before I leave since I am really not a super great dealer with death. I would probably want to hug my patient instead of talking it through like we've been learning about. We read a blog written by a mom who had a still born baby and it was totally heart breaking. :( It makes you realize that there are a lot of risks with pregnancy being in this class, and after feeling the cervical dilation models today, I'm not sure if I reeeeally want to give birth. Maybe I just need time to forget all of this scary stuff. Anyway, I won't be taking happy healthy babies for granted anymore.

I did it!

I registered for a 5K in Rochester (ok, technically Greece) on October 17th! My goal is to crack 30 minutes, which I've gotten close to doing in my 3 miler's recently, but I'm hoping to be running a consistent 30-ish minute 5K by race time. I have about a month, which is including long runs, so I know I'll be ready. I'm really excited! I think it's good to have this little race as a goal for me since it's not too far, far enough away that I'll be really confident at race time, and a fun thing to me to do to celebrate my new found ... "joy"?... of running. Besides, I've had this goal since last year of doing a half marathon, and while I'm NOWHERE close to being at that level, this is like my little stepping stone to it. Plus, I have no excuses since I'm supposed to do 5 miles that day. Three miles is getting easier for me every time I do it, even if I have blisters/angry intestines/crazy iTouch issues. Anyway, at the very least it will be a memory of this year and of my first fall on the East Coast in 4 years. Good enough for me!