At first I was afraid, I was petrified...

It has been a very busy week.

Let me put this into perspective.

I turned my TV on today for the first time in 4 days....AND it's shark week here people.

That is pure craziness. 

So Tuesday: 

I still amaze myself with my procrastination skills. By the time I got up, went for a walk, ate lunch, and showered, it was already 5 something in the afternoon. I got about 2 hours of studying in. I was pooped and had to be up at the crack of dawn for clinical the next day.

attack of the skickies

"studying"

Wednesday

Same old same old.

Up early.

Tired.

BUT

I got to move around all day.

I had my first experience down in the basement....with the hyperbaric chamber.

This would be the same thing they use for decompression sickness (for you scuba divers).

Would you believe that they use this for therapy? 

It's pretty cool...I mean, I was very excited.

I love scuba diving and I love fish. There were marine pictures on all the walls, the nurses were wearing fish scrubs, and there was a fish tank.

I was at home.

I like the pace (slow) and the teamwork that goes on down there. I found it all exciting and interesting. 

One of the nurses explained to me some of the research she had been doing with a doctor the last 5 years. Patients that had osteonecrosis of the jaw from taking bisphosphonates were randomly put in the control group or experimental group. The experimental group would receive 40 hyperbaric treatments and the control group would receive none. They would follow up with them all over 2 years. The results came out inconclusive, but I found it interesting...which is rare...I usually hate research.

the outside of the chamber

pic from Duke's website

The Center for Hyperbaric Medicine and Environmental Physiology has been part of Duke University Medical Center for over 40 years. It is the largest academic based hyperbaric/hypobaric facility in the world. There are 7 chambers with the largest being 20 feet in diameter. In 1981 a World record was set for the deepest hyperbaric dive. Three men went to the equivalent depth of 2250 feet. The total dive time was 42 days. 

There are several approved indications for needing hyperbaric therapy including carbon monoxide poisoning, air embolism, soft tissue and osteoradionecrosis, skin graft prep, failing muscle flaps and skin grafts. 

It works by increasing the atmospheric pressure on oxygen molecules, which makes the space between each molecule become smaller. So, by breathing 100% oxygen you can greatly increase the number of molecules of oxygen in the arterial blood....by about 10-12 times the normal amount. 

...can you tell I'm interested...I'm VERY interested.

Something to think about in the future.

I also got to witness a PET scan being performed. 

It was a great day of learning.

After clinical, I went over to Stesha's to study Adult Health. I was so tired that I barely got anything done.

I came home and crashed.

I did receive 3 of my textbooks for next semester.

babies and kiddos!

...that's cool...I guess

Thursday

This day was a beating. We had 3 ATI exams to complete...all back-to-back. The first was 95 questions, the second was 65, and the third was 65. My brain was so so so done.

I had to be back at school at 3:30 to give a little presentation in Health Promotion. Each of us had to relate our family assessments to a certain topic. I HATE public speaking. I will never get used to or like it...EVER! I would have rather taken 3 more exams.

After my heart jumped back into my chest and wasn't beating so fast...I was ok. I was done and got it over with. NO MORE OF THAT CLASS! yipee!

I drove over to Stesha's and had another study session. This one went way better and included Chipotle.

The only problem that night was trying to sleep. I had had a coffee at 3 pm and it kept me up all night. I tossed and turned.

Friday (today) (the day of doom) (not really)

I woke up an hour early and headed to school. I reviewed a bit with some peers and headed on in to class. We were in a different room because they had some tech thing going on in our normal class room. We are a big class and we were crammed into this classroom...almost as bad as the disaster 2 weeks ago.

The professor started the morning off with a live webcam of puppies playing and then recited a Chinese poem. I think the main point was all that matters is right now and be in the present and you know what you know and need to know...I'm not good with poetry. It calmed me either way. I started my test and before I knew it, it was over. I survived another one.

This evening I went with Stesha and Erica to Southpoint Mall and we had dinner at California Pizza Kitchen. I've never been, and sadly I wasn't hungry.

Southpoint

Southpoint

 I picked a random salad and it was ok. 

We decided to walk around afterwards and browse.

I ended up buying a butt load of bath and body works stuff.

Their fall stuff was in: this is bad news.

When I returned home, I wanted to burn my new candles.

BUT before I could do that, I had to clean my place from top to bottom. That's just how my mind works. The only way to enjoy a new candle is to have a clean place to enjoy it in.

I am now in Fall heaven and cannot wait for the heat to go away.

PS: I really want the Ally McBeal Christmas album, but I'm trying to hold off until November. 

I must wait!

A new way to share media has launched and I feel like I need to talk about it. I've already blogged about it as a guest on my boyfriend's blog....so I'll just share with you my first GLMPS:




if you click on the lower right side you can view the video that leads up to the picture