We had such a pleasant weekend. Got plenty of time to study, went to a Christmas party, made cookies, had a friend over for dinner, and watched a hilarious movie.
Friday afternoon, I had a practical in Phys Di and it went well. I forgot to describe the outer lips, mouth, and nose and lost 5 points, but remembered all the other things I was supposed to do. I got the bonus point for looking in the mannequin's ear and noting the finding of a cholesteastoma, so that brought me back to 36 out of 40, which I am very satisfied with. The practical covered the head, neck, ears, eyes, nose and throat and there was a lot to remember. Today is the written exam and I feel pretty good about it. Going to review during my morning break after Tox.
Was able to study quite a bit Friday afternoon after the practical. My cousin Tonya took Lani with her and her two children, Hannah and Gabe, to movie night at her sister Becky's house. All the kids were getting together to watch Christmas movies. "The Polar Express" was one that they were planning to watch and Lani really likes that one. Tonya said the movie reminds her of her sister Cretia who passed away about two years ago because it was the last movie they all went to see together at the IMAX before her death. Cretia and I weren't particularly close, but she was a really warm person and I miss her, too, because she was an anchor of stability & peacefulness in our family. She always hosted Thanksgiving dinner out in Walcott at their farmhouse and it was great because the house was big and could comfortably hold our very large extended family. She suffered a lot in the last three years of her life with recurring bouts of pancreatitis and from Hepatitis C, which she contracted from a patient in the ER at Genesis Hospital, where she was a nurse. Cretia had just completed the interferon treatment for Hep C when she was hospitalized again for something else and she passed away while there, quite suddenly and unexpectedly. It is still very sad to me that we lost someone so young, (40 yrs. old) so kind, so full of life, so giving, so fun. She left behind a wonderful husband, an upstanding son, and two beautiful daughters who all miss her so. She was very close to her sisters and they miss her deeply, too. She was very active in her church (one we, the cousins on my mom's side, all grew up in). Her funeral was one to aspire to: the number of people whose lives she touched was huge. There were so many people who came that they had to extend the visitation hours. She had a life that made a difference.
On Friday night, Dartagnan had a "date" with his girlfriend, Michelle. They went with a group of friends to see a movie, "Fair Game" I think, that none of them ended up liking, so they talked through the whole thing. I told him I hoped they weren't loud and disturbing other moviegoers and he said they weren't. He had fun and spent the night with his friend Trevon, whose mom kindly drove them to and from the theater.
Jon and I went to the Palmer Student Christmas party Friday night and had a great time. Jon was still not feeling so well, but I really wanted to go and he acquiesced. I think he ended up enjoying himself, but he was ready to leave when we did. The band, BBI, hired by Student Services, was excellent and played great covers that spanned the past four decades. They were energetic and their lead singer is fantastic. I've heard them perform before for past Homecoming events here at Palmer and they always do a marvelous job. Jon actually danced with me to two songs! He hasn't danced with me in a very long time...so it was fun to be grooving on the dance floor with my handsome man!
Saturday Jon made waffles (yum!) and we hung out at home. Got quite a bit of studying in; I had a lot of text reading to catch up on for classes; Jon was busy studying for his upcoming NMS II practical. Had fun playing with Lani, got some laundry done up, and got some housecleaning done. Also met with Jeni and Sheila to discuss our Tox project that will be due as soon as we get back from break. We divided up the work and I went and pulled some articles on our subject: Fosamax. Was at the Palmer library for about 3 hours. Had to run to WalMart to get a few things before heading home. Tried to put gas in my car at WalMart, but couldn't get the little door open because it was frozen shut (we had a blizzard warning). Oh well. Got home and cooked a risotto in my rice cooker and stirred in pistachio pesto my mom made with the last of her fresh basil at the end of summer, before serving the risotto for dinner. Was delicious with a glass of Riesling and a salad! My friend Janice, who recently graduated Palmer and is getting ready to open her practice in Rock Island, came for dinner after she got off work and we had a pleasant visit. Was really nice to catch up with her.
We watched "Despicable Me" last night and I have to say it was witty and that Jon and I were quoting it to each other after we watched it because it was just so funny. Steve Carrell's Russian/French? accent is hilarious and the way he leaves off words makes it even more funny. I definitely recommend it and we will definitely be buying it soon.
Showing posts with label Snow. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Snow. Show all posts
Monday, December 13, 2010
Monday, December 6, 2010
Wisconsin Dells
So we spent the weekend in the Wisconsin Dells. Thought we'd be doing quite a bit, but we found out when we arrived at the time-share that since we are not members, what was available to us without extra $$ was limited. That is OK, since we really just wanted to lounge and relax anyway.
Dartagnan ended up spending time with his father at another resort. His father also brought along Dartagnan's cousin Thomas and one of their mutual friends, Jacob. The boys had fun on Saturday at the indoor amusement park at their resort. They stayed up until 3 am goofing off and Dartagnan couldn't sleep so he was up again at 5.
It was very kind of Dartagnan's aunt to rent us two cabins with her time-share points for Dartagnan's 15th birthday, which was Saturday. The cabins were really nice, spacious and had a fireplace, flat-screen TV, DVD player, an equipped kitchen and two bedrooms.
Since it snowed while we were there, a beautiful blanket of snow covered everything when we woke up Saturday morning. The tall pines surrounding our cabins and the hilly landscape were so quiet and peaceful. I got Lani bundled up and took her for a walk. She had a blast stomping in the snow and busting up the large snowballs left by the plows. Lani wouldn't keep her gloves on, and kept grabbing the snow in her excitement, then giving me her hand to wipe off, "It's cold! Cold!"
Dartagnan and my mom stayed in the cabin next to us and walked over the next morning. Mom made yummy pancakes (D's and Lani's favorite) for us and then she walked back over to get D's birthday present. On her way back, she fell (it was still icy on the road between the two cabins) and hit her head really hard. That was scary. I'm still not sure if she is really all right, because her left eye has been watering the last two days. When I talked with her this morning, she was at the optometrist and I told her to tell him what happened. I've not heard back from her. When she fell, her glasses fell off her head and we found them later in the snow. Unfortunately, one of her lenses had fallen out, so she will be getting new glasses (hers were over two years old and she needs a new pair).
Got to head to Physical Diagnosis, which is officially my favorite class this term.
Dartagnan ended up spending time with his father at another resort. His father also brought along Dartagnan's cousin Thomas and one of their mutual friends, Jacob. The boys had fun on Saturday at the indoor amusement park at their resort. They stayed up until 3 am goofing off and Dartagnan couldn't sleep so he was up again at 5.
It was very kind of Dartagnan's aunt to rent us two cabins with her time-share points for Dartagnan's 15th birthday, which was Saturday. The cabins were really nice, spacious and had a fireplace, flat-screen TV, DVD player, an equipped kitchen and two bedrooms.
Since it snowed while we were there, a beautiful blanket of snow covered everything when we woke up Saturday morning. The tall pines surrounding our cabins and the hilly landscape were so quiet and peaceful. I got Lani bundled up and took her for a walk. She had a blast stomping in the snow and busting up the large snowballs left by the plows. Lani wouldn't keep her gloves on, and kept grabbing the snow in her excitement, then giving me her hand to wipe off, "It's cold! Cold!"
Dartagnan and my mom stayed in the cabin next to us and walked over the next morning. Mom made yummy pancakes (D's and Lani's favorite) for us and then she walked back over to get D's birthday present. On her way back, she fell (it was still icy on the road between the two cabins) and hit her head really hard. That was scary. I'm still not sure if she is really all right, because her left eye has been watering the last two days. When I talked with her this morning, she was at the optometrist and I told her to tell him what happened. I've not heard back from her. When she fell, her glasses fell off her head and we found them later in the snow. Unfortunately, one of her lenses had fallen out, so she will be getting new glasses (hers were over two years old and she needs a new pair).
Got to head to Physical Diagnosis, which is officially my favorite class this term.
Thursday, December 2, 2010
Chest Pain
Two nights ago, I had a little scare. I started bathing Lani, which requires a lot of bending and reaching, in spite of the fact that I'm rather short, and my chest started hurting. I thought it was just the positions I have to contort myself into to reach my squirmy daughter to actually wash her hair and body while she obtinately insists on playing. Lani doesn't like to stop what she's doing to give me her arm or leg or head. She can't be bothered with what I would like for her to do. She still gets shampoo in her eyes because she won't put her head back when I rinse it because she might miss something with her toy boats in front of her. Bath time is fun!
After getting her out and dried off, Jon got her ready for bed. My chest was still hurting. The pain was on my left side, just above the xiphoid of the sternum and was concentrated around the ribs that attach there.
I checked out what I could find on-line, but I really already knew that we should probably head to the Emergency Room to get it checked out. The pain wasn't changing at all and I waited 40 minutes before I told Jon, "I think we better head to the hospital." You are only supposed to wait up to 5 minutes. I know it is possible to have a heart attack at a young age, but you just never think that it may be you.
We got there and they took me right back and ran an EKG right away and gave me baby aspirin in case it was a heart attack. Then they put in a hand catheter. My skin was being lifted 1/2 inch off my hand. It was very painful and I couldn't really believe how badly the nurse did. Once it was in, she did the saline push and that really hurt too. It just sat there. She tried to draw the blood they needed to check everything to make sure I hadn't had a myocardial infarction, but the blood wouldn't flow back through the catheter, so she was unable to use it. Next, got chest x-rays, P-A and lateral. Back to the room and an actual phlebotomist came to draw the blood. She was very good at her job and she minimized how painful it could have been.
Dr. Irving came in to see me intermittently, did heart sounds and lung sounds exam. He eventually came back & told us that all was fine, except for having borderline anemia (which is the norm for me, even before I became a vegetarian), and that my diagnosis was costochondritis, inflammation of the cartilage where the ribs join the sternum.
So, it is just a painful condition and nothing to be too concerned about. That was good news.
Got adjusted last night and almost every rib was out. Glad to have been in to the Clinic because I felt a lot better afterward.
Need to head over to Phys Di, so I'll write more later. By the way, it is snowing. The first snowfall. Big flakes, very delicately swirling in the slight breeze. Almost makes me like it a little. We are headed to the Wisconsin Dells for Dartagnan's 15th birthday this weekend, so a little snow will be fun on the snow tubing hill at the resort. I think he'll have a great time.
After getting her out and dried off, Jon got her ready for bed. My chest was still hurting. The pain was on my left side, just above the xiphoid of the sternum and was concentrated around the ribs that attach there.
I checked out what I could find on-line, but I really already knew that we should probably head to the Emergency Room to get it checked out. The pain wasn't changing at all and I waited 40 minutes before I told Jon, "I think we better head to the hospital." You are only supposed to wait up to 5 minutes. I know it is possible to have a heart attack at a young age, but you just never think that it may be you.
We got there and they took me right back and ran an EKG right away and gave me baby aspirin in case it was a heart attack. Then they put in a hand catheter. My skin was being lifted 1/2 inch off my hand. It was very painful and I couldn't really believe how badly the nurse did. Once it was in, she did the saline push and that really hurt too. It just sat there. She tried to draw the blood they needed to check everything to make sure I hadn't had a myocardial infarction, but the blood wouldn't flow back through the catheter, so she was unable to use it. Next, got chest x-rays, P-A and lateral. Back to the room and an actual phlebotomist came to draw the blood. She was very good at her job and she minimized how painful it could have been.
Dr. Irving came in to see me intermittently, did heart sounds and lung sounds exam. He eventually came back & told us that all was fine, except for having borderline anemia (which is the norm for me, even before I became a vegetarian), and that my diagnosis was costochondritis, inflammation of the cartilage where the ribs join the sternum.
So, it is just a painful condition and nothing to be too concerned about. That was good news.
Got adjusted last night and almost every rib was out. Glad to have been in to the Clinic because I felt a lot better afterward.
Need to head over to Phys Di, so I'll write more later. By the way, it is snowing. The first snowfall. Big flakes, very delicately swirling in the slight breeze. Almost makes me like it a little. We are headed to the Wisconsin Dells for Dartagnan's 15th birthday this weekend, so a little snow will be fun on the snow tubing hill at the resort. I think he'll have a great time.
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