Exciting weeks since last post!

     Praise God!  I passed the NCLEX-RN (state boards) with flying colors!  I'm now officially a registered nurse!  I have never been so scared of a test in all my life!  The computer cut off on the minimum number of questions which can mean either I failed it royally or I passed it really well!  It was the 3rd most agonizing 24 hours of my life.  The 1st and 2nd both being times Nickie was so very sick in an ICU that we didn't know if she would survive. I had 2 interviews within the five days after passing the state boards and again I praise God for two job offers!

     Bob and I spent hours going over the pros and cons of both offers and I'm happy to announce I accepted a job in dialysis.  I begin soon with five weeks of dialysis training in Roanoke.   I'm excited about today and the future!

9 weeks

Even as I type that I'm in complete shock, 9 weeks till graduation.  These last 2/12 years have truly flown by.  There is so much to do to prepare.  So much work still to do.  So many tests, exams and NCLEX.  I've been applying everywhere and my head is spinning trying to figure out where to go and sort through what offers there are.  It's happening so very quickly.  Tick, tock, tick, tock.  For right now, its spring break and I am going to try to relax and enjoy.  Until next time!

Whew!

Now that Christmas is behind me I can begin to breathe! We had a wonderful Christmas with family and friends! Though the build up to Christmas was hectic and crazy with finals, shopping, baking, and such, it has been one of the most enjoyable and peaceful years that I can recall.

I made it through the first semester of RN school! I've been blessed with the best instructors. I have a great bunch of classmates and I had the best clinical group I could have ever asked for. I've made some wonderful friends that I hope will be in my life for a very long time. Thanks to the recommendations of my instructors I will be working in the new year in a part time position working as a nursing assistant at a local hospital. This will provide me with a TON of experience. I am very excited about this new job. It will mean of course that it will be that much more difficult next semester to keep up with my studying but I am very determined and I know I can do it!

I hope each and everyone of you had a blessed Christmas! I'm looking forward to the new year and ending this year by forgiving all those that in my past I felt had wronged me in some way. I also ask that anyone that feels I may have wronged them would also forgive me. I am wiping the slate clean from this point forward! God bless you all and may 2009 bring us all peace, good health and prosperity!

I MADE IT!

It's official! I've been accepted to the RN program at my community college! The next 2 years will be tough! I won't have much time for blogging, eh, I know I haven't blogged much anyway, I won't have much time for much else. I can use your well wishes and prayers. I'll try to post when I can. I'm off to enjoy the few weeks of free time I have between the end of summer classes and the start of the most rigorous time of my life! I'm off to the Lake!

Silver Star Families Organization

Some months ago I was asked to help my friend Trish in contacting our Governor Tim Kaine to sign a proclamation to make May 1st Silver Star day in VA. I believed in what the organization was standing behind and felt compelled to help out. I was more than a little excited when I received the signed proclamation in the mail from Gov. Kaine's office. You can find a copy of the proclamation here. I have to admit I was very pleased with myself for having accomplished the goal. I promptly made a copy of the proclamation for myself and along with a beautiful thank you card I received from Trish and one from the Silver Star families I have set them aside to properly have them displayed. I was reminded last night when I received an email from Trish asking me to join the Silver Star Families organization. It seems they still need a representative for Virginia. I'm in the process of reading the rep requirements and by laws. I would love to be involved with this! I'll let ya know what happens.

in an email from Trish today!

I had sent my dear friend Trish a Christmas card a few days ago and today in my email I got the below... See this is the way it is supposed to be... those of you that read my "inner circle" posts know just what I'm talking about.


I recently got this note in a Christmas card:

All I did was forward a wonderful e-mail sent to me in hopes of finding that one special family to receive this wonderful gift!! Click on the link below, and see the photos - It IS amazing - and what a joy to know this family is getting this done for them - they have a son who is autistic, and as you all know, my Lucas (grandson - age 5), is also autistic - so, this 'really' has a lot of meaning to me!! God bless this family and THANK YOU, Lillie!! Love you!!

Check this out!


Speaking of the show, rumor has it that Ty Pennington was kicked out of our Farmville Mulligans for drunken behavior and there is also a rumor that he got a DUI that night as well. I've heard this on the radio as well as from many of the locals. I've also heard conflicting info from those that were able to meet him in person. Some say he was a heck of a nice guy, while others said he was a complete jerk. I don't know what the truth is but I'll continue to believe that he is a nice guy until he proves me wrong. I'm sure rumors will continue to abound around here for years to come. It isn't often something that exciting happens in a small town like ours.

Till next time!

update part 2

OK so sorry to have taken so long as Naomi pointed out to me in comments.
First and most importantly, Tia, has gotten a clean bill of health from the oncologist. So thank you all for the prayers and support!

Nickie is back to school! She isn't having any hip/leg pain and is so happy to be back! She has been asked out on a date by her classmate, Brian. He too is a special needs kid. He's so adorable and so sweet. He asked me to pick him up and take him and Nickie out on a date. I suggested a movie. So I have to contact his parents to see if they will let him go on a chaperoned date with Nickie and I. I will most certainly be blogging and taking many pics if and when this happens.

I was offered the teller job but I decided not to accept it. I feel that I will do much better in school if I can focus on that and not be concerned with a part time job. I thanked them many times for considering me for the job and I even went into the branch to talk to the head teller that interviewed me. We hit it off really well and she said she was sorry that I didn't take the job but completely understood my reasons. She said she thought I was the best person for the job and they had even offered to pay a little more than the usual start up pay and even increase the benefits package. It feels good that they wanted me so badly. I really thought being out of the real work force for 18 years would have hindered me. I see that it did not! I mean I knew it was impossible for them not to want/need me. I'm so darn lovable and all that but of course I may be a little biased.

crazy busy here!

I'm tired just thinking about all the stresses of the last few weeks.

A few weeks ago I found out that my aunt, Tia, received the results from a biopsy that came back malignant. The dreaded cancer had once again found its way back into my family. I didn't really know what to say to her except that I was so sorry to hear about the diagnosis and that I'd be there for her any way I could. I offered to go with her to see the oncologist on 9/13/07. I would have to help her interpret what he had to say. Though she's been in the states longer than my 42 years she still has a lot of difficulty with the language. She and Mom came here from Cuba together but Mom faired much better in learning the language than Tia did. So the plan was for the three of us to go together.

Nickie receives a brand new spiffy power wheelchair.. this is the first time she has ever gotten a new chair that didn't require weeks of getting used to it. She loves this one and so do the rest of us. Its capable of much faster speeds and turns on a dime. Look OUT!

Then we made it home from our vacation and I noticed Nickie was having pain in her left hip/leg. She seemed fine as long as we didn't move her, well except for the fact she was contracting the leg or guarding it. Any position change or toileting caused her to scream in agony. I thought perhaps the storm that caused our quick departure from the beach, the fact that we had to grab her up and literally had to struggle to get her into the wheelchair that was already loaded into the van, perhaps we damaged something. I thought back to our departure and subsequent night stay at the hotel in Nags Head and I realized that Nickie didn't complain at all when I moved her into the bed, positioned her and did the reverse in the morning. So I don't think that is what caused her pain. We arrived home the next day and that is when the screams of pain began. I did everything I could to make her comfortable including giving herTylenol and Motrin but none of those seemed to help. I tried heat and cold and again no relief. So after a couple days I called the orthopedist to arrange for an X-ray. I couldn't get an appointment with her regular pediatric orthopedist in Richmond so I called on a local orthopedist in Farmville.

I should have known better. The minute he saw Nickie I think he panicked. He did take an X-ray but said he could see no problems and referred us back to her pediatric orthopedist. It took a few more days to get an appointment with Dr. Sharps but he decided to also X-ray her spine. He found nothing wrong with either x_ray and decided she should have a CT scan. guess what happens next?

Yeah you got it more days pass before we get notice of the date of the CT scan. We finally get notice that they would like to see her for the CT scan on 9/11/07. Since I already know I have to go to Richmond on the 13th for the oncologist I decide to stay in Richmond at my Mom's for the duration. This means I have to make arrangements with Nickie's nurse Linda to stay with us as well. Linda is a godsend! She agrees to stay with us and this helps me out tremendously!

We go to the CT scan on Tues. We are grateful to find out that she doesn't need to be sedated. (The doctor first suspects we might need to sedate her to keep her calm and still.) Thankfully the techs and nurses decide to try it without sedation first and it was successful. The staff was fantastic and we were in and out of the lab quickly... getting the disc with the results however took much longer than the actual procedure. Finally we get the disc and I have to carry it over to Dr. Sharps for him to read it and tell us what we are to do next.

9/12/07 Nickie's birthday, she's 17 today! We celebrate by going shopping for her birthday gifts. She picks out some Game Boy games and clothing and jewelery. She takes off in her new wheelchair leaving Linda and I in the dust. Linda takes off after her in one direction and I do the same in another trying to cut her off. No such luck we both turn our perspective corners and can't find Nickie anywhere. I pop into a couple stores to see if she darted in to one but no one has seen her. Linda proceeds to go down the mall and ask if anyone has seen her.. no luck. I spot security and ask them to help us to find her. Some 15 minutes later we find Nickie is in a nearby store shopping for video games. After giving her a stern talking to I agree to purchase the game she found. This would not have happened had it not been her birthday.

48 hours and still no word so I call the office to ask when I will hear about the results of the CT scan. I was shocked to hear that I won't get an answer till sometime early next week. I'm sick that Nickie has to deal with her pain that much longer without some answer and possible relief.

9/26/07 I finally here from the orthopedist today. He has some scary news... he is seriously contemplating surgery on Nickie's hip due to the deformity she has there. His nurse Tina explains the various options. There are several different surgery options from a total hip replacement down to removal of the hip with no hardware being installed and finally a wait and see approach. I update Tina on Nickie's condition at present. She is in no real pain at this time though she has been out of school for 6 whole weeks now, which allows her to rest her hip in bed. She decides to give this information to Dr. Sharps and promises to call me with his thoughts on what is best to do.

9/28/07 I hear back from Tina and Dr. Sharps agrees with me on waiting it out. He would prefer not to do any surgery on Nickie unless it is absolutely necessary! Yee Haw! Nickie has had far too many surgeries to date and I had hoped we might avoid having any others. They will be asking the school to provide a place for Nickie to take 2, 20 minute breaks each school day to rest her hip. We hope this will provide her enough of a break from sitting in the wheelchair for hours at a time and prevent the pain from returning.

I'll update soon on my aunt's progress and with any information regarding Nickie.

Until next time.