Adventures in Vegas

As promised on Friday, pics of the Vegas trip are here!!!
Vegas is certainly an adventure...if you've been you know what I mean!

As I said in this post, Vegas was not relaxing. I did a TON of walking around, looking at all the hotels and things around the hotels. And I got in a bit of mall shopping (or window shopping at least!) which is always fun.

The one thing that we LOVED about Vegas was all the great restaurants. There were SO many to choose from, and the ones that we picked did not disappoint! What was even better was most of our meals were completely free because Jon was there for the conference!

So I will leave you with pictures to tell the rest of our Vegas adventure! Enjoy!

Ohhh, my feet were in paradise here!!! I'm obsessed with shoes...in particular, red bottom ones! If only my budget was as excited as I was : ) Either way, it was fun looking!

World's largest chocolate fountain!!! Amazing!

This was my favorite meal of the entire week!!! At Emeril's Table 10. We started with maple cured bacon (which sounds great, but was even better...INCREDIBLE!!!!) & veal cheeks. We then moved on to lamb chops with brussel sprouts and my personal fav, lobster macaroni and cheese! YUM!We went to see Phantom which was amazing. We got to sit in the 4th row which was quite the experience!I loved walking by the "Eiffel tower" pretty much every night. Next up, walking by the real one!In front of the gondola rides at the Venetian. On second thought, next up Italy : )The beautiful Bellagio fountain!I won it "big" on this bad boy Panda machine! And apparently I bust out into an awkward robot dance when I win money : ) At the Foundation Room on the rooftop of Mandalay Bay. This was Jon's favorite meal of the week (lamb chops)....my favorite wine of the week (Louis Martini Cabernet).So there you have it! Our Adventures in Vegas!

While I thoroughly enjoyed my time off from the craziness of the PICU and grad school, it was nice to come back to the comforts of home. And while the Vegas adventure came to an end, certainly the life of this PICU nurse did not!!

Now begins the adventure of studying for boards and job hunting! There truly is never a dull moment in this PICU nurses life, and I wouldn't want it any other way!

A new era

August is gone...September is here.

The heat and long summer days are winding down, and the fall "chill" is starting to set in with slightly earlier but no less gorgeous sunsets.

And how appropriate is this change when I am ending one season of my life, and entering into another! It's actually very exciting!

Grad school is done. Clinicals are over (Thanks Goodness!!!). The ending of a stressful, crazy, isnane time of my life is here!

And the end of one era always leads to the beginning of a new one.

I love fresh starts. New beginnings. The renewing of your mind, spirit and energy.

To kick off this new era, Jon and I took a trip. Well, Jon's company "told us" to take a trip so he could attend a work conference. And I guessed I HAD to go along : )

Where did we celebrate this entering of a new era???

It began in .... Vegas!!! BTW- definitely NOT the place to go to "renew your mind, spirit, and energy!

But, it is a great place to see lots of lights, hear lots of sounds, try some amazing food, and win a bit of money (to the tune of $150...not too shabby for playing only a few bucks in penny slots!).

My initial plan was to bring these 4 books, and read them all. I planned on relaxing at the pool every day while Jon was gone to the conference.

What really happened was I finished Three Cups of Tea on the flight there (b/c I was amost done with it anyways). Then I started the first 12 pages of Mini Shopaholic (I LOVE this series...such a cute, fun, quick, girly read!). And that's where my relaxed, reading blissed ended.

Maybe it's the PICU nurse in me that is used to being busy. Or my crazy hectic schedule of the last 3 years just hadn't settled out of my system. My mind just didn't know how to turn off in Vegas. With everything going on around me, I found it impossible not to constantly walk around, see things, and do things. So while the pool didn't happen, I still had a good time.

It may not have been the relaxing trip I intended, but it was good to get away. It was the perfect crazy trip to a crazy place to end the crazy era! Now looking back, how appropriate!

I will write a full Adventures in Vegas post on Monday (I have to work this weekend) and leave you with the fun pictures then!

But for now, here's a Happy Friday cheers to the ending of one era, and the beginning of a new one!

That's a Wrap!!

I'm done!

I'm done, I'm done, I'm done!!!

I had my last day of clinicals today, and it was awesome! I got to start a triple lumen central line on a patient in the OR and got it on my first stick!!!

The surgeon working on the other side trying to get another line said "Way to make me look bad!"

But my shaking hands made his rock stable hands look much more impressive, so this nurse certainly didn't make him look bad!!!

My head was calm (hello, I can put in IVs at work and do tons of other procedures!) but my hands had another thought! Ugh, stupid nerves and stupid "Wise" shaky hand genes!

But oh well...I got it and that's what matters!!

And now I'm done!!

I have 2 papers that are due in the next 2 weeks. BUT- being the type A person that I am, those are done!

I finished one on purpose b/c it was easy. The second one I finished a week early b/c for whatever reason I thought it was due then. I was wrong, but I don't care because...

it's DONE!!

And I'm done!!!! I know you can't tell how excited I am, but being done feels great!

While I still have to study for boards (and pass!) I am going to enjoy staying home 2-3 extra days a week. I can easily get some major studying done, on my patio, in the sun...after I've had a great workout!

So yeah, being done rocks!

I can't even think of a witty way to end this post because I'm just that excited. So all I'll say is, "That's a wrap!" Ohhh YEAH!!!

Save the Best for Last

Today was the end of the end...essentially! A few posts back, I talked about the beginning of the end. And now, here I am!

At the end!! I can't believe it!

Today was my masters capstone presentation. And if I do say so myself (and I do, hey it's my blog!) I rocked it!!

Lately, I've decided that I really like speaking in front of people. I love presenting things that I am passionate about.

I've gotten the opportunity to do a few power point presentations recently at work, and loved it.

My masters capstone was no exception.

For the past week, I have been telling a few of my classmates that I wanted to present first. While I do love presenting, I wanted to "get it over with."

Presenting for a group of willing participants at work is one thing. Presenting in front of the entire masters program with director and professors is another!

So of course, as much as I wanted to go first, guess who was scheduled to go dead last?

Yup, that's this girl!

Oh well! I waited all day for my presentation time to come up, and when it did, it went well. I really enjoyed the project that I chose to work on, so speaking about all the hard work I've put in over the past 8 months was not that difficult.

And of course, those of you who know me, know when I sat down, I for sure thought:
"Well, that went well. Pretty well, in fact! I wonder HOW well I did...I mean in comparison to all the others? Like, would I be best, second best?? I wish we got a ranking!"

WHO thinks that!!!???

So when it came time to leave, we all got our comment cards back. My favorite one was from the director of the program:

I guess I did get my answer : ) They saved the best for last!!!

**For those of you that can't see it (gee, I don't know why with my great phone picture and paper written in pencil!) the last comment by the director was "We saved the best for last!"

So I'm glad (SOOO glad!) that the end is here!! I have just one more day of clinicals tomorrow and I'm actually really excited about it...I love that place!

And then, most of my work in the 2 classes is done...so I'm totally there!!

While I'm not completely done until August 27th, I'm there. And that's what counts!

So for all of you out there who thought being last stunk, think again! Things at the end can be great. The end can be exciting!

And hey, some choose to save the best for last ; )

Gratitude

I am grateful that I have feet that can stroll through sand or feel dewy grass in the morning.

I am grateful that I can feel the burn in my quads after a long, hard run.

I am grateful that my butt gets numb when sitting in the same place for a long time. OK, maybe I'm not grateful that my butt GETS numb...but I am grateful that I can feel the numbness.

I am grateful that I can cradle my favorite mug full of coffee in my hands on a cold winter day feeling the warmth.

I am grateful that my arms can hold and rock a baby.

I am grateful that I have a voice that can be heard, in both the literal and figurative sense.

The patient that I cared for this weekend really got me thinking about the things I so easily forget I'm grateful for.

My patient was a teenager who got into a car accident when she was just 4 years old. I don't know the details of the accident, but what I do know is that it was bad. REALLY bad.

She fractured many of her vertebrae and severely injured her spinal cord.

So bad was the accident, this girl cannot move anything below her neck, needs a machine to breath for her, and gets fed through a tube in her stomach.

She cannot remember what it was like to eat delicious pizza, ice cream or macaroni and cheese.

She's never had the opportunity to taste rich coffee or drink a full bodied wine.

She cannot run, or jump, or hike on trails.

She cannot hold her baby cousin, or hug her mother.

What she can do is extremly limited; She can listen and she can observe.

She has the ability to move her lips, but no voice to be heard.

She has a functioning mind, stuck inside a non-functioning body.

So this left me attempting to lip read for 26 hours over the past 2 days. And let me tell you, it was NOT easy!!!

So many times I found myself getting frustrated, and yet she just kept smiling, knowing that I would eventually get it. Or, that I wouldn't, and she would decide it wasn't important enough so she would lip "Never mind."

It took me 3 minutes to realize that her side hurt and she wanted to change positions. It took me 6 minutes to figure out that she wanted to watch a different movie. It took me 25 minutes to learn she wanted the water taken out of the cuff in her trach. And there were so many things that after 15, 25, 30 minutes I never even figured out!

I can't imagine what this girl has gone through for most of her life. And quite frankly, I don't want to!

But this girl doesn't have that luxury. Whether she wants to feel it, to imagine it, or not, she has to. This is her reality.

It has been for many, many years. And it will continue to be for many, many, many years.

Even though I don't want to imagine her reality, I do want to make sure it leaves a lasting impression on me.

What I do want is to continue to be grateful for the things that are so easy to take for granted.

I want to cheer, rather than complain, when my muscles ache after a great (maybe too hard!?) workout.

I want to taste, and savor the bites that I, myself, can place in my mouth.

I want to experience all of the things that my body can do. The limits that I can take it to. Whether that be running a marathon, or feeling the adrenaline of sky diving, or completing my first triathalon, I want to do it.

I want to continue to speak and have my voice heard. To hear my laughter with a group of friends, or my voice educating a group of students at work, and really appreciate it.

But most of all I want to keep the face of the one who taught me this gratitude in my memory's photo box. To have her ingrained in my mind, so that one day when I complain about a back-ache after standing on my feet all day, or a burger not tasting perfect, I will see her patient, smiling face reminding me to be grateful and instead enjoy that I can experience those moments.

Be grateful for the strong legs that allowed me to stand all day. Be grateful for the ability to feed myself, and truly taste.

This is why I love being a nurse. Why I cherish the shifts where I can make a small impact in the health of a child, while they make a large impact on me.

Truly there is nothing greater. No greater occupation, or calling to be had. And for this, I am grateful.

From Sangre to Sangria

Just as I thought, this clinical rotation is great. No, it's awesome!!

I have gotten to do more hands on stuff in just today than I have in ALL my clinicals combined! And maybe it's because this is the first clinical that I've actually been precepted by a nurse practitioner rather than a resident or attending....go figure!!

Now that's a concept for all grad nursing schools to grasp: masters nursing students should be taught by masters prepared nurse practitioners! My past preceptors have been great, but if you're a nurse, you just don't do things the same way. You don't understand the role. You can't teach me HOW to be a nurse practitioner b/c you aren't one yourself!!

So back to current clinicals!! Like I said before, I am with the heart surgery team and it's great.

Today I got to pull my first (and second, and third!) chest tube ever!! It's definitely one of those things that I've seen done a billion times in the PICU, but until you're on the "pulling" end, you have no idea!!

The things are the size of garden hoses, coming out of little babies the size of my head!

And just to put it into perspective, my preceptor told me if I don't pull it "as fast and as hard as you are starting a lawnmotor" I wasn't doing it right!!

Now that you're all imitating pulling the lawn mower to start it up, you can see what force that takes!!

But it was fun...and I didn't give anyone a pneumo (which is the thing you most worry about!)

In the process, I definitely got blood splattered all over my (white!) lab coat. And even better, on my preceptors lab coat!!

*This picture doesn't do the blood justice...I realized after I had taken it off and scrubbed it with hydrogen peroxide (which by the way is AMAZING at taking out blood stains!!!) I should take a pic!

But she didn't care...she said it wasn't a good pull unless blood was splattered across the room : ) *She was just kidding!

So I went home from a great day at clinicals (splattered with "SANGRE") and got to enjoy some delicious, cold, sangria with my man! Now that's a great day!!

From sangre to sangria...something I'm sure only a nurse would love and appreciate! And boy do I!!!

The beginning of the end!!

The end is in sight!!!

I think that's why I've been completely M.I.A from the blog world for the past month...I'm SPRINTING to that finish line as fast as I can leaving behind most everything else!

I have just 4 weeks of clinicals and 6 weeks of class left...seriously, SO close!

My time with Pediatric Surgery came and went faster than I thought. The past 2 weeks were a bit crazy- between work, clinicals, an orientation day at the new hospital, and a 4 hour exam, I had 10 days in a row of non-stop craziness.

So now that those are over, I can breath again. And Jon is SO glad that they're over too!! I've never heard him say "I'm so glad your done with school soon!" so many times...and I can't blame him!

I wish I had some interesting or funny stories from Peds Surg, but really, I've got nothing. Just a bunch of kids having their appendix out, lots of Hirschsprungs disease, and more rectal irrigations than I even want to remember.

Yes, rectal irrigations are as bad as they seem!

All I can say, is after only 1 day with the CV Surgery (heart) team at a completely new hospital, I love it already. Instead of 12 hour shifts, it's 10....instead of starting at 5 am, it's 7 am (talk about sleeping in!)....instead of driving 2 hours home, it's only 1!! Oh yeah, there's so many great things about this rotation.

So I'm glad that the light at the end of the tunnel is visible...that the finish line is OH so close! And where this entire grad school journey will ultimately take me, I have no idea (yet)!!

I look forward to finishing...and I look forward to the new beginnings that it will bring. But for right now, I'm just excited that I'm at the beginning of the end!