4 way stops!

I never thought that I could be so excited to pull up to a 4 way stop but today I was. I pulled up and each person took there turn appropriately at a 4 way stop, here in Portland. In NJ where I live there is a 4 way stop and it doesn't matter, there is never any order to it. People just go when they feel like it, some don't even stop.

Though, being nearly run off the road by some old guy who simply just waved at me when I honked made me laugh. He just waved at me like I was honking to say hi. Mind you, I was trying to prevent myself from being run off the freeway as I had no where to go. Gotta love driving.

Playing the part of Good Samaritan

I seem to have a knack for finding crazy situations. Yesterday I flew out of Newark airport at 7am. I had only gotten a mere restless 4 hours of sleep the night before. I was looking forward to getting on the plane and falling asleep. Within a few minutes I was out like a light only to be awaken a short time later by the stewardesses announcing they were bringing breakfast around and the prices of all the menu items. As I was waiting for them to come I notice the stewardesses were running around and seemed like something was up. When I stood to see what they were doing I could see they were focused on one guy. I decided to go up and see if they needed any help and as soon as I said I am an EMT and nursing student they said “here please take over, we will get you whatever you need.”

The man was vomiting and did not look good. When I looked at his pupils I realized he was not in good shape. He kept going in and out of consciousness and was not arousing to verbal stimulus. At that point I took his Blood pressure and saw that he was 70/30 and barely could find a pulse. I laid him down in the shock position.

At this point the stewardess said “They want to know if you want him to divert the plane? What do you think?” What do I think??? Well, I just assumed they would divert the plane and did not expect them to rely on my “expertise”. Haha, did they here nursing student? I think they missed that part. Initially we decided to divert but with being laid down, and some other things his BP went up. At that point I offered to monitor the guy for the remaining 4 hours and as long as he stayed stable we could continue on. They guy was 82 and he kept saying it must have been that bagel I ate this morning. Sorry my friend I don’t think a bagel would cause your blood pressure and pulse to do that. As I talked to him more, I realized he takes a beta blocker medicine for his Glaucoma (pressure in the eye increases causing damage to the vision). A beta blocker is most often used for the heart and it drops the blood pressure and pulse. It turns out he was not using it properly, in order to prevent the eye drops from going into the blood stream by putting pressure on your inner corner of your eye for 2 min. This is a common side effect. I can’t say this is what was causing it but it made sense.

Once things had calmed and it seemed the man was going to be stable for the remainder of the flight, the stewardesses were giving me free food, asking me if I needed anything. I felt like I was in first class. At one point a stewardess mentioned that I would probably get a free ticket from Delta, or at the minimum she was going to send me a buddy pass. I told them it is what I do and that they don’t have to do anything. At that point she said, you just saved Delta a lot of money and hassle as we would have had to find ways to get all of the people on this flight another way to get to their destinations. I never thought of that.

Well, my second leg out of Salt Lake City was much less dramatic, and I am now in Portland. I came down to Albany and had Red Robyn with my best friend Robyn from college. Now I am sitting on the couch with her daughter cuddled up to me. Oh can I stay here forever. This is one of the things I miss most about being in NJ. I miss coming and hanging out with my good friends Rob and Robyn and their fun kids. We are on a mission to find a way to get Robyn to NJ. Soon it will happen but not soon enough ☺

A relaxing weekend!

This weekend I enjoyed every second of it, without homework! Yeah. On Friday after the final my friend Laurie from school and I went and hung out. I had never had a pedicure so we decided it would be a fun treat following a stressful week. Man I might be hooked. Having your feet and calves massaged and someone do your toe nails. It was so relaxing. Afterward we went and hung out with another friend for dinner and spent the evening watching medical mystery shows. We are such nerds! Saturday I had dinner with my roommate and then went and had drinks and a movie with my friend Laurie again.

Now a day with the family and then tomorrow is a nice day of NOTHING!!!! I have the week off to recover before our 3rd and final semester and glad for that. Tuesday I will be flying home to portland for a short visit.

God is good and I am glad to have the weight off of my shoulders of this past semester. Well, off to enjoy some freedom. :-)

I can finally say it....Save the Date!!!

I am officially inviting all to save the date for my nursing graduation on August 27th. All are welcome to the party in NJ.

As you can tell, that means I passed the second semester. I passed my final and even pulled my grade up even higher. It is such a relief to be through with the most difficult semester of nursing. The Summer semester is an easier semester so I feel confident I can move through without a question.

Thanks for all your prayers and encouragement.

SaraJane

It is finished!

The long awaited end to the semester has finally arrived! This morning at 9am we had our final exam. The exam went alright, not great! But I don't need great, I just need to pass. Our school motto is C=RN (Registered Nurse). Supposidly we will be emailed our final grades tomorrow morning but we will see how that works out. I am actually pretty relaxed about it and feel I probably did fine. Many were stressed to the gills as they had to pull their grades up.

Tonight I am relaxing with a friend from school. We are going for a run and out to dinner so it should be a great evening. I will keep you posted when I know more. Thanks for all the prayers!

SaraJane

Sigh of relief!!!

I can finally breathe a sigh of relief. After spending countless days in the college library till 11pm, midnight and spending my weekends off in the library, I finally finished my 5th exam. I got a whopping 80%! Whoo hoo! That is above the class average which is my new standard of evaluating my grades. Most programs you are aiming for an A, in our nursing program I don't know if one person has ever gotten an A, and there are very, very few B's on tests.

I still have a very big final on Friday but with this grade I have given myself enough of a cushion that I can take a deep breath. I will still spend the next 3 days with my nose in the books but I am not trying to pull my grade up out of the pit, just keep from going into the pit.

I do have to say, God is good and is quite humorous. I know that people are praying for me and I am so grateful. But one test last semester and this most recent test, I specifically reached out and asked people to pray for me, and more specifically that I would get 80%. Both exams, I got EXACTLY 80%. God is good and does answer prayers. Hmmm maybe I should have told people to pray for 100%. Hahaha.

Have a good week!

Matthew 7:7-8
Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened.

Phillipians 4:6
Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.

A day off!

Today, is a day off since classes are finished. We still have clinicals at the hospital on Thursday and Friday but beyond that it is simply some free time to study. Today is a miserable rainy day so hoping to get some good studying in. However, there is one problem, they still have yet to give us our Final blue print of what the final will cover. It was suppose to have been posted already but still no sign. It is not that I can't study despite it, but with the extraordinary amount we covered this semester it makes for a bit more focused and wiser studying. I can't believe that it is next week that I have my last two exams. The time has come so quickly and still not quick enough. I am grateful that I am in a position that I just have to maintain my grades. More than half of the class was failing and had to pull their grades up with these exams. We may be looking quite a bit smaller following this semester. I for one will be grateful for this semester to be over and to move on. Next semester we will be covering Mother/baby (delivery), pediatrics, and psych. I am looking forward to the change in topics.

Blessings!

Can I please just hide in a hole???

This past 5 days or so has been a time that I wished that I could just find a hole to hibernate in and not have to face the world for a season. Part of it is school and part of it is other things to which I am unable to share. Needless to say, I have been thrown for a loop and I am slowly finding my footing again. God is good and in the midst of it He has provided in absolutely amazing ways. Just when I think, God where are you when life stinks, there He is saying "I'm here and I love you just the same!" I wish I could share it all and in time I am sure I will be able to. In the mean time I appreciate the prayers.

On the more positive note, I am registered to run in the NYC half marathon (13.1 miles) on August 16th. A friend from school, Laurie, and I are going to run it together. Our Final is on Aug 14th, so we are using it as a celebration! She has never ran that far and I am helping her with it, so it is very fun for me to do. I love watching people do something they have never done and find confidence in themselves. Then on Nov 1st is the NYC marathon (26.2 miles) which we have also registered for. It is a lottery so we won't know if we were accepted until June 1st. This is a good side distractor to keep me from being overwhelmed with school. I find that I do soooooo much sitting because of class and studying that I need something to release the stress and to get the blood flowing. This will be my second marathon!

I guess, if I have all this training to do, I can't hide in a hole. Darn it!