my fist IV insertion

I had IV insertion training this morning.

It was fun and exciting...and also very nerve racking.

I know it is going to be a lot harder on a real patient someday. 

I had a little over an hour break between IV insertion training and a hearing voices lab.

We were put in the shoes of a patient who is hearing voices and asked to do several tasks and talk with a "psychiatrist". I had a difficult time concentrating on what I was being asked to remember. It was very frustrating, but that was the point. There were times when I wanted to yell back and say "I'm not stupid".

I made my way home and headed out the door for a long walk in the hot hot sun.

As soon as I locked the door from the inside and shut it (with me on the outside), I realized I didn't have my key.

Crap.

I was locked out.

I decided I would not call the maintenance guy until I had about 30 minutes left on my walk.

I headed out down the road and 10 minutes later I saw the maintenance guy driving towards my place. I turned around and caught him. He let me in and I grabbed my key and tied it to my shoelace.

I normally do this right before I go out, but I had worn my running shoes to school....so I missed a step (putting the key on my laces).

I brought my camelback.

It has been really hot lately and I usually carry a water bottle, but it ends up warm by the time I drink it.

My hand also gets tired of holding it.

It was a long walk.

I sweated my face off.

I had some time to relax a little and then I headed to an AA meeting. It is part of our Mental Health requirements. I met a lot of interesting people.

I have tomorrow off and I have a lot I need to get done.

I have a pharmacology quiz that needs to be done with a lot of reading.

Memorial Day Weekend

Friday morning had rolled around and I was just hours away from seeing Lance.

I sat through 7 and half hours of lecture...just waiting. Some strong storms rolled in midday and I started watching the live doppler radar for the area. The last thing I wanted was a flood or my flight being canceled. Luckily, I made it safely to the airport and boarded my plane.

A little over 2 hours later, I was in Houston!

Lance picked me up and was sweet enough to bring me flowers =)

We made our way downtown and went to the grocery store to buy some foodies and snacks for the weekend.

We had dinner and relaxed at his place before going out for the night.

The night was spent at a piano bar that was highly entertaining.

Saturday was the day of the wedding. The wedding was outside of Houston in Pearland. We had previously decided on staying in a hotel to be on the safe side. The hotel was less than a mile away from the wedding reception.

just got done getting ready

The wedding was beautiful.

The groom is one of Lance's buddies from college.

at the reception

cutting the cake

no such luck catching the bouquet 

At one point, Lance busted out his moves:

This is just one of the reasons why I love him.

Could he be any cuter?

this has to be one of my favorite pics of the night

We were pretty hungry and started craving Mexican food. Lucky for us, there was a place on the same parking lot as the hotel.

Back in March, Lance mentioned a place that does bottomless mimosas on Saturdays and Sundays. He suggested it on Sunday morning...I was all in!

Thus began a 13 hour day of a constant buzz.

I seriously felt as if I was on a vacation out in the caribbean. Palm trees, chips and salsa, upbeat music, and then...pool time!

That evening we went to Buffalo Wild Wings for dinner. We played a game of darts and it came down to whoever hit the bullseye first. After several rounds we realized that it was never going to happen and called it a tie.

This morning we got to sleep in. 

We were up about 3 hours before I had to leave.

=(

It's always a sad day.

I hate leaving!

I almost missed my flight by a second.

Too bad I didn't. haha

Back to reality.

boo

computers and food...what's new?

What could be more fun than CareDoc training at 8 in the morning?

What is CareDoc you may ask?

It is the documentation system Duke Hospital uses.

I was bored out of my mind.

Thank goodness it was only 4 hours long.

I have really been wanting to try a mongolian place around here and I found one!

It is called Bali Hai.

It was a little different than what I am used to back home, but it ended up being DELICIOUS! 

Before you go pick out your veggies and meat, you have to decide which sauce you want...and the extras.

Extras include noodles and meats other than beef, pork, and turkey

I'm used to mixing my own sauces....but they did a great job with whatever they did.

I needed a walk out in the sun. It was very hot and humid...I was drenched by the end.

I spent the rest of the afternoon and evening doing a butt load of reading.

I am now down to only having one more chapter to read in adult health before Friday!

get it done

My time spent during my mental health clinical, on Sunday and Monday, was very eye opening and even relaxing.

Where else do you get to paint nails, engage in art projects and get to converse with others? 

It is a completely different vibe in the mental ward.

By Sunday night, I had completed all of my pharmacology work for the week.

During art therapy on Monday I drew a lynx. 

The task was to pick an animal you would be if you were one.

I could have gone with the honey badger, but I'm not that mean.

We got to take a tour of the ECT (electroconvulsive therapy) area. One of the nurses took us to each room in the process. There is a room where they prep the patient by inserting an IV. There is the room where the ECT is performed, and one for after the procedure. I was unaware that they put you to sleep for ECT these days. I have fallen prey to social media in that realm. In The Bell Jar and One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, they portray it differently. It's not to say that is a lie, it just isn't performed in that way anymore.

I planned on taking yesterday afternoon off to regroup, but my brain would not shut off.

I had knocked out a big portion of mental health reading and stopped around midnight.

I took the time to watch a movie on Netflix.

A pastime that has been neglected this past week or so.

I was wrapped up in mental health and decided on The Snake Pit.

It is based on the autobiographical novel by Mary Jane Ward where she chronicles her time in an institution after a meltdown.

I made sure to sleep in as long as possible this morning. This was my only day off and I enjoyed it!

I went for a walk:

Then I enjoyed the outdoors while studying.

Stesha has been craving red velvet cake ever since she left California and one of the faculty at school suggested Nosh.

They only had one red velvet cupcake left, so we split it...and got a slice of chocolate cake.

The inside of Nosh

We decided to eat outside because the place was almost closed for the night.

They had strands of lights outside and the atmosphere in general was nice. It had an old coffee shop feel to it.

Here it is Tuesday night and I have almost marked everything off the first page of my list.

Things are going to get hectic towards the end of the week.

I need to find time to pack for my trip back to Texas this weekend!

Mental Health Clinical Prep

Other than today being a Saturday, it was Mental Health Clinical Prep day.

We were put into different groups (4) and were shuffled around all day long into 1 hour and 15 minute lectures. I was in the blue group...wooh, my favorite color.

The first lecture was about the mental status examination.

We watched a nurse/patient interview and filled one of these bad boys out during the process. 

If you ever go crazy...these are the kinds of things they will be checking you out for...so be prepared!

Moving on to lecture two, we went over some case studies and came up with some interventions.

Nothing too crazy.

Lunch was provided again (yay) from McCallister's. 

After a short 30 minute break, it was time for lecture number 3.

We discussed some of our fears entering into a mental health clinical. The majority of us have the fear of saying the "wrong" thing or "setting off" a patient. 

We then discussed the different phases of the nurse-patient relationship.

The fourth and final lecture was entertaining. We were involved in some role playing. The professor almost made me pee in my pants when she acted out being a touchy-feely patient. We learned some therapeutic communication techniques and also went over non-therapeutic communication. 

The main thing I learned: it's always about the patient, never give advice, and redirecting may happen a lot

Believe it or not, we got out at 2:15

It's really sad that I get excited about being out of class at 2:15 on a Saturday...but hey, I'll take what I can get.

I'm not going to lie, mental health puts me in a crazy excited state. I don't know what it is, but learning about labotomies and electroshock therapy sends me into some kind of whirl. I don't know if it is the fear of having something like that done to me that interests me so much or what. 

The brain is a crazy thing.

I had the chance (time) to video chat with my parents for about an hour and then headed out for a jog/walk.

I finally bought a porch chair right before break and got it out of it's package this afternoon. 

I sat in it for 5 minutes and enjoyed it so much, but then reality sunk in and I knew I needed to do some work.

I read a chapter in my mental health book. I am now caught up with all the reading in that class for this past week (7 chapters). 

I took a break for dinner and then jumped right on into pharmacology. I have 4 chapters to read in there before Thursday and a quiz to complete. I only read one chapter tonight, but it's the longest. The rest are a bit shorter.

I think I have finally filled everything in on my calendar for the summer session. These first 2-3 weeks are pretty hectic. Then I have 2 four day weekends and a three day weekend in there. I think once I hit those breaks, I will feel as if I can breathe again. 

 Here is just a "short" list of what I need to get done before my Thursday and Friday classes this week.

No big deal.

I'll take the challenge.