Update update. It's a short one.

I have about 2 more weeks until I'm on my own. Kinda freaking out inside. I already extended my time by a week. We'll see if I decide to add more time. In a way I wanna go on my own because I don't want someone hovering anymore...but that hovering person is kind of comforting to me. We shall see.

So we did back out of that gorgeous house. I freaked. So Kee and I are restarting the house hunting process and looking at resells and have found some good deals in Mountain House for roughly the same amount of house that we were originally looking at. We have an appoinment on Monday evening to see 3 houses I think. (Kee's taking the lead this time b/c I've been so stressed lately). I'll keep you all posted.

Ok I think that's about it. Oh yeah, I'm going to start wedding dress shopping in the next couple of weeks! EEK! Super excited to try some dresses on. And I gotta finalize the BM dresses. I keep changing my mind on the dresses...and the BM's. haha We'll see about that one too...

So I get a patient from the OR today. In my report he sounds stable, not even intubated or anything. I receive him screaming. The anesthesiologist tells me to give him 2 of Versed. I get ready to push it and another nurse says "he's looking a little dusky." And then he stops breathing and doesn't have a pulse. We start CPR. My job was to push Epi and Atropine. 15 mins later we have a pulse and he survives.

That was my first code in a nutshell. It was definitely a lot crazier than that!!

Keenan and I may be buying a house this summer. Things are in motion and we're working numbers and contracts right now. I'm super excited but very nervous right now. The house is brand-new, gorgeous, and in Mountain House...a corner lot in front of a nice park. I couldn't ask for more. I'm expecting a call from the mortgage people this week, so I'll keep you updated! Eeeek!!

So today I took a patient from the ER..with a GI bleed.

One word: BLECH.

That was quite the experience.

That's all I have to say about that.

My grandma passed away on May 4. I hadn't seen her in 4 years and the last image I now have of her is laying in a beautiful casket and me touching her cold hand. That's not the way I want to remember her, but the last visit was so long ago that it's hard for me to think of a different way of seeing her.

The wake, the mass, the final resting place...all beautiful. My mom did a good job, but it was all stuff grandma wouldn't have wanted. It was more for my mom and aunt. I feel bad for my mom. She was saying back in February "I hope grandma can make it to August" (that was when we had planned to go see her). But at least I know she didn't suffer when she passed. My cousin Lora said she was fine that morning and then came home to find her on the floor with my grandpa holding her. Lora threw everything out of the way and started doing CPR. But she was already gone.

I wish I was able to see her alive one more time. I wish I didn't let all that time pass without seeing her. She didn't even get to meet the man I am going to marry. But I am glad I was able to head out to New Jersey even despite the circumstances. I was able to see all my family and even the ones from Hawaii.

It makes you step back and think about how precious life is and how you should cherish your time with loved ones. And don't let too much time go by without telling your loved ones how much you love them.

I'm sitting at work in the library on our unit. I'm in this little room staring at the computer screen doing my Essentials of Critical Care Orientation. [ECCO] I've been here for an hour and I am going nuts. TORTURE.

Although it IS good information. I'm reading about cardiovascular stuff right now. It's good to know but I just can't sit here or concentrate. ADD much?? LOL

I almost forgot to mention the most exciting thing about my week! So with my sick heart patient, the Cardiology Attending came by and wanted to cardiovert my pt. I guess they had done it on Sunday, but it was unsuccessful. So they wanted to try it again on Tuesday (yesterday). So we prepared him for cardioversion. Had RT and a beside intubation tray and vent on standby just in case he coded. Had Anesthesia there to give Propofol for sedation. And the Cardiology Attending to deliver shocks. I was on standby with the crash cart (with my preceptor of course b/c at this point I was already freaking out! haha). So first shock delivered with 200 joules. Asystole. Then heart rate comes back at 70-80s, then jumps right back into Afib, rates 140s. Second shock...360 joules. Same thing, except the time in Sinus was a little longer. This happened 2x more at 360 joules and same result. Unsuccessful cardioversion again. The attending thought the amount of IV Amio was too much and pretty much blocking the SA node, so we switched him to PO Amio. That seemed to help because today he was a new man (see previous post).

And that was my week in a nutshell. Although I'm working the weekend, so there may be more stories to tell!

So this week is my 3rd week on the floor. Last week I was at nursing orientation for the 3rd time ever. BUUUUT it will be the last time! :)

This week was pretty busy! Monday I had 3 patients...started with 2, discharged one to the floor, admitted one from the OR. Tuesday I had a guy with CRI, Chronic Afib, and a sick heart. He didn't look that good and was on so many drips. Most of my day was spent titrating his Amio, Dobutamine, Lasix, Insulin, Nipride, and Epi gtts. I also spent the day shooting cardiac outputs and indexes. I had to attend a family meeting with his wife and daughter to discuss the plan of care and what measures they wanted to take if he were to take a turn for the worse. It was very emotional. I come in today and have the same patient and he's only on Dobutamine, alert and talking, and looks like a different man. His family told me that I fixed him. haha He's going to have an ablation done to try and fix his Afib. I'll be at work, but I'll be doing my ECCO class all day. I will make sure to drop by his room and see how he's doing.

My other patient on Tuesday and today was an ETOH withdrawal guy with rhabdomyolysis. He also had compartment syndrome in his left leg and had a fasciotomy done. He also had renal failure and was hypotensive, so I was titrating his vassopressin gtt while he was getting hemodialysis done. I discharged him today to the IICU. I was looking for Kelly (mine & Mary's clinical instructor from Sem 5), but she wasn't there. :(

So now here I am. I'm going to go back to reading about PA catheters and doing PA dialstolic and pulmonary artery wedge pressures now. It'll tie in to my ECCO class tomorrow since I'm doing cardiovascular stuff.

Mary, Caroline...updates please! :)