First off, I find that I really need to apologize for the change in format every time you look at the site. I'm really indecisive when it comes to the look of this blog, so please bear with me! Opinions welcomed. I'm liking the simpleness of this new one, the others were feeling a little cluttered.
Secondly, my class this morning! It was a couple weeks ago now that we were first introduced to blood pressure cuffs and and stethoscopes. We went over where all the major arteries lay and how to get a pulse in each of them. Then we had to practice on each other, and that wasn't so successful. The first week we found out at the very end of class that everyone had been doing it completely wrong, and the second week I knew what I was doing a little better but was still unable to ace the technique. That, along with my failure to feel an apical pulse on even myself, was getting a little frustrating. Today, in contrast, was a day of successes!
The class is 3 hours long, and we spend the first hour practicing skills. I was paired with a classmate named Vanessa and we each took a turn taking each other's blood pressure with a cuff and our fingers. Today was the first time I actually did it! It was so exciting, even though in the grand scheme of things this really wasn't that great a feat. Her blood pressure was quite low, about 115.
Then, I finally felt my apical pulse, another victory. The apical pulse is the most important pulse in the body because it is directly on the heart and thus tells us the most about how the heart is doing. It's where your doctor typically listens to your heart with that uncomfortably cold stethoscope. You know what I mean? Haha. Well, I've tried and tried in past weeks to feel it on myself. There is a really specific place to find on the chest and the directions to get there are really complicated: Find the midclavicular notch, from there slide your fingers down into the 2nd intercostal space, and over to the sternum. Then slide over again to the 3rd intercostal space and feel your way down to the 5th space. Then follow that 5th intercostal space over a bit and YOU'VE DONE IT. It's easier said that done though, especially on women because their breasts make it incredibly hard to find the spaces between the ribs (intercostal spaces). I don't even have a very large chest size, and it's still difficult... our textbook reads, "If the patient has large breasts, carefully move the left breast to one side." I guess you can't be shy in Nursing! Anyways, today I finally felt it for the first time and I was so proud of myself. We were all joking about what someone would think if they accidentally walked into our class and saw all of us with our hands down our shirts! I love this program.
To top off my day, I finally got back my paper on what health means to me that I wrote a couple weeks ago, and got 90%! I was really nervous about what my mark would be since the teacher is tough, but other than a few minor criticisms, he seemed to approve.
Other than all that... I think I'm doing pretty good. This weekend I was bitterly complaining about how much homework I had and my dad said, "Are you unhappy?" That got me thinking, and I've decided that I am most definitely happy. I LOVE this program, I LOVE my classes, I LOVE the people I get to spend my days with, I LOVE what I'm learning, I LOVE what I'm becoming... I'm just incredibly stressed out ALL the time. To me, stressed is different that unhappy.
The only other bummer right now is how tired I am. Like, I'm completely exhausted. Too much homework, too little time. This morning my alarm went off and I got up, turned it off, and... fell back asleep in bed without being conscious of it. I got woken up at 7:30 and had to run around in a panic to be ready in time. Don't worry, I made it.
Hope Thanksgiving treated you all well,
Until next time!
