School is Back in Session

Well, I have had a few weeks of my new semester, this begins the formal focusing on my new career as a Respiratory Therapist. Not only am I going to school for 16 credit hours (a normal full class load is 12), I am also working a job that is sucking the life out of me. I will not go into specifics other than to say I am looking for a new job and I have only been employed since the middle of July. As for my personal lung issues, I still have not been given an answer, now I am being told that the nodule in my lungs is still there, it is still the same size and is most likely scar tissue, not very comforting.

Well, that's about it for now.

Follow ups

Four Down completely, I ended my 4th semester with 2 B-s and 2 A-s. One of the B-s was bogus, the instructor's final exam covered stuff she never mentioned in class, and I don't under stand how getting A-s on all the quizzes, a very high B on the paper and midterm could equal a B at the end of the semester. On the Job hunt side, I finally heard back and I didn't get the job, but I have been putting in applications all over, so....we'll see.

Well, the Piranhas at the pump are going to continue to eat at my check book, the car I was looking at was far from spectacular and the dealer was not willing to give me what I wanted for my Jeep. So, the hard top came off and the soft and bikini tops went on.

Possibilities haven't heard anything back, so that is more than likely not going to happen.

Motivation...I still need it.

Expanding my horizons Due to our move to a different town I could no longer go to the EMT trainings and meetings in my former small town. I am hoping to possibly start up here, but because I don't know anyone, I doubt it will happen.

Four down more to go.

Well, almost four, I have final exams for my fourth semester next week. I only have three finals to take as I took one this week already and passed (with flying colors I might add). Next week I have my finals for Microbiology, Phlebotomy, and Nutrition. Of the three I am really worried about the first one, this is the class that if I do not get a C or better can screw up my whole plan.

In the mean time I was officially accepted into the Respiratory program at RVC and will be starting the real classes in the fall. I am super excited, but also scared.

The job hunt has had a few possibilities, I interviewed recently but have not yet heard anything back. I have been calling but unfortunately no one is returning my calls. I hope I get the job, I could really use the income.

Piranhas at the pump

Due to the rising cost of gas and the gas mileage of my jeep I may be trading it in. (Cross your fingers) I am looking at a VW Convertible it is considerably less than what I paid for the jeep and my jeep still has about 2 years left on the warranty so I am hoping to get a little extra cash in my pocket as well as a more fuel efficient fun to drive, riding around with my top down car.

ooh the possibilites

A few months ago, I bought a new mouth guard from Protech Dent Mouth Guards
let me just say I will never go back tot he cheap or expensive mouth guards from a sporting goods department or store. With my new mouth guard I can remold it as many times as I need to to get the proper fit, I can speak clearly, and even drink with it in bonus: they are Germ Free. I have found myself even wearing it home from practice because I forgot to take it out of my mouth.

Well, I just signed up to become an affiliate, so I will hopefully have a link on my blog in the near future and start earning money for any sales generated from people who click through from my blog.

Cross your fingers for me.

motivation

I need it. It's hard when so much needs to get done and your the one doing what seems like most of it, or if it seems that your the only one worried about it.

So, if anyone has any motivation lying around somewhere that they don't need...send it my way.

Kthanks!

April 18th 2011

I learned:
I have been accepted into the Respiratory program at my college.
My husband and I will be moving by the end of the month.
My brother and his family will be traveling to Indiana in June.
I really, really dislike my microbiology and nutrition classes.
Other people can see I have lost weight, but I can not.

April 11th, 2011

What I have learned, well, it has been over 2 weeks since my last post. I honestly don't know what I have learned.

I should expect my letter of acceptance or denial for the respiratory program this week.
Jake's family lost Grandma Wagner last week.
We found a decent apartment that we are going to put an application in for, very small so we will probably be having a huge garage sale.
need to start looking for boxes so we can start packing.
I am getting tired of school and can not wait for summer break.
Hope to have at least 1 part time job by the end of the week.

March 28th 2011

What I learned today...

I have raised my microbiology grade a full letter from the last exam we had.
I got a B on my Nutrition Mid-term exam and my nutritional analysis report, both are worth 25% of my grade.

When one part of your life comes together, another falls apart. If it's not your mind going down the drain, it's your body.

One step in my becoming an EMT is attending training classes. Saturday the class was fire rehab. Where we watch the emergency response personnel for signs of stress and fatigue to fight preventable injuries. One of the things the EMTs did was practice taking vitals. Because I have not yet been trained I was used as a guinea pig. The most interesting part was when they could tell me which lung and which part (upper vs lower) of my lung was the affected part. According to what they heard I still have some fluid in there. Hopefully it will sort itself out in the next couple of months.

March 22 2011

Well, spring break is over, I have been to most of my classes again. My first class, first aid and cpr was canceled on Monday. I had mixed feelings about that, one I was happy because I hurt my knee in my roller derby bout on Saturday and I am using crutches to walk since I walk so far at school, but two, I was upset cause I could have slept in later, but oh well, such is life.

What I have learned so far this week:
I passed my phlebotomy mid-term with flying colors, we will not need to draw blood in front of our instructor for the final, and this semester is my instructors last semester teaching.

In Microbiology....well, I got a higher score on my mid-term exam than the first exam. The section I thought I did better on, I didn't. I did however get a much better score on my short answer and essay questions so I am pretty happy about that. I learned that I need to find a better way than flash cards to memorize the 20 microbes assigned to us at the beginning of class.

In Nutrition, we didn't get our scores back yet for the mid-term because our instructor was out of town for medical reasons and she still had a few students who needed to take the test. In class we learned all about antioxidants, and how they work.

I also learned that the committee that reviews the applications for the respiratory program has not even met or started the process yet. When I called last month I was told to expect my letter around the end of March, now we are being told to expect them around the second week of April. This is very frustrating. I know I do not have to take any classes this summer, I will have all my pre-requirements done at the end of this semester, but I would like to know what I am going to be doing in the fall.

March 14th 2011

My adventures in expanding my horizons.

Before we left Yuma I had flirted with the idea of taking an EMT course. Shortly after we moved to small town Illinois I went to the local community college and asked about their EMT course, cause in Arizona that's where the EMTs went, to AWC. I was told that they did not offer the course at the college and to approach my local fire department. I went down-village (cause I don't live in a town) and knocked on the fire house door. I must have come at a time when there were only firefighters there because no one there could answer my question about how to become an EMT.

Now it has been a few years and I had kind of given up on the idea and focused on becoming a respiratory therapist. Then I met an amazing woman who very quickly became an amazing friend. She introduced me to her fellow EMTs, she invited me to come along to a training meeting. On March 14th I filled out my application to become a member of the Local Fire Protection Service. If accepted I will be starting out as a driver and running calls. I won't actually work on the patient, but act as the gofer for the EMTs fetching items and helping where I can. Hopefully in the near future a class will be held and I will start the learning process to become a licensed EMT.

Thank you Goldie Rocks, for rocking my world into a direction I have been trying to find for a while.

A project

Well, the only suggestion I have had for my blog is to write about what I learned in school today. Well, today, is Saturday, yesterday I had only one class, first aid and cpr. We practiced our rescue breathing. This past week was dedicated to mid-term exams.

This coming up week is dedicated to spring break. I have 2 assignments due the Monday we come back. One is my lab-report and the other is a report on one week of my food intake, for nutrition class.

So, I will actually have to do homework during my time off.

Gloomy

This winter just seems to drag on forever, every time we get a glimpse of spring, the gray clouds move in to ruin it.

This week is week 8 of my 16 week semester, next week is spring break. I hope the weather got the notice. I hope to find out if I am accepted to the respiratory program this month, I am skating in St Louis in 2 weeks, and I am going to be lifting a weight off my shoulders shortly...I hope.

Ok, gotta get off my butt

Well, it is now the third month of 2011, what have I accomplished? Absolutely nothing. Okay, I take it back. I have gotten into an accident, skated in my first WFTDA sanctioned bout, broken the plate on one of my skates, drawn blood successfully from a live person (not a fake arm) and passed my CPR exam with flying colors.

This year has gotten off to a very busy start. My new roller derby league has been skating in bouts about twice a month, and so I have been skating about twice a month. My endurance has improved, but I am still not up to what I would like.

As for my lung condition, I still do not have an answer. I will be returning to Madison on Tuesday and hopefully I will have some good news, or at least some news.

Well, that's about all I have to say for now, so I will let you all go. I promise I will try and update this blog more often. I need a task so that I can not get out of this blog. If you come up with any ideas shoot them my way and I will see if it is possible.

So, how have you been?

Life is a funny, funny thing.

In October I had a bout of bronchitis and 2 rounds of antibiotics, the sickness went away. In December, the Monday before my birthday it came back, I went to the walk in clinic and was given an x-ray. "It looks surprisingly clear." more antibiotics and away you go....

Thursday December 9th, my birthday. I get a call but my phone didn't ring so while I am out for a few drinks I notice I have a voice mail. My surprisingly clear lungs are not so clear. I have a density in my right upper lobe. CT scans are in order, in the mean time, here, have some more antibiotics.

My CT scan rules out fluid, what ever is in there is definitely a mass of some sort. I need a PET scan. A PET scan will tell the doctors if what ever is in my lungs has a metabolism. And low and behold it glows in the dark along with one of my lymph nodes. Now it's time to have a biopsy.

Well, it has been 3 weeks since my biopsy and so far...it's not cancer, it's not bacterial, the test for a fungal infection takes 28 days to grow. The latest x-rays and CT scan shows that what used to be a denseness about the size of a quarter is now more like a wispy cloud taking up a great deal of space, the doctors are saying it looks like pneumonia now, but it didn't look like it backin December. So now I am on SUPER antibiotics, the ones that kill off all your natural bacteria.

I am set for another CT scan in just over a week and another trip to UW Madison the second week of March. We will see if they have any clue as to what is going on then.

2011

Alright, so this is a couple days late but I don't have internet access every day. 2010 ended with a lot of questions and no answers. A few highs but many lows. I am not going to focus on the lows.

In January I started my first semester of college to become a respiratory therapist. In March I was lucky enough to get a new to me Jeep. In April I received my settlement check from the accident and bought a replacement bike and we paid off quite a few bills. In August I got to fly back to Arizona to meet my nieces for the first time.

Upon my return to Illinois I joined a new roller derby team, I have skated in 2 bouts since and have another one this coming weekend. I turned 35 and for the first time in my life I got all A's in school.

Well 2011, I have high hopes for you, I hope you can live up to them, starting with the answers I need to all those questions 2010 left me with.