mutterings of an addled brain

Two papers due on friday with apa citations required and the mother of all dosage calculations tests and an abreviations test. Yet, no motivation, no concerns. Whatever this is, I should bottle it and sell it.

Tomorrow I get to poke old people at a nursing home in Coupeville. I can't wait, is that wrong of me?????

Dayshift at Whidbey General. Going to have to get up at 4:00 am to get there on time....

I am going to throw my pharmacology book into the nearest bonfire and dance around said fire naked while chanting obscenities in a sing-song voice.

So John went with the older boys to scout camp and the younger two went to auntie Heather's which left me at home with the dogs, the cat and the tons of goldfish. No problem. This morning I came home from work to find Lilah in the front yard and my window screen in my bedroom broken and laying on the ground. Dog in much trouble! One canine ass chewing later, she's back in the house and I'm at the neighbors checking on the welfare of their cats as Lilah thinks they are squeaky toys. All is well there so I am glad, still looking for my cat but I am guessing that he is hiding under the house since he's been known to do that and while he is not the most intelligent creature there is, self preservation seems to be in his genetic make up. The funny part of the whole thing is seeing Dixie's head sticking out of the window barking at Lilah as if to say "you are in deep shit when mom gets home".

Nursing program at skagit, I start fall quarter. :)

Let me start off by saying that I once again have cheated death. While I'm not quite sure why that is, I have a long history of doing so and for that I am thankful. A couple of weeks ago I got a zit on the inside edge of my nose. While I am aware of just how glamorous that is, it was the beginning of an unpleasant journey. The second day in, this stupid thing was red and the third day my upper lip was a little swollen. Yay, that was fun. Saturday morning, which was day four, the entire right side of my face was swollen and I was in serious pain. I went to the ER and saw a doc at about 7:00 am. He diagnosed me with an infection which was most likely MRSA and sent me on my way with a prescription of bactrim and some topical bactroban. Ok, so at this point I was thinking that things would take care of themselves if I was a good monkey and took my medicine. Boy, was I wrong. The next day, my face was swollen even worse than the previous day and I had to call in sick to work which I have never done at this job. That's when my coworkers knew it was serious. Monday morning I called my doctor's office and made an appointment that day with the PA Peggy Bainbridge. Wonderful woman...When I came in to see her, told her what I was taking and that things had gotten worse, she told me to hold on, she had to go make a phone call. I decided that that couldn't be good and sat quietly. When she came back, Peggy told me that she had had to decide whether to admit me or have me go on an outpatient basis to the hospital for IV antibiotics. Lucky for me, she chose the latter. My instructions were to take my happy butt to the hospital immediately for my first IV infusion of vancomycin. I did just that. The first infusion was a regular IV, but for infusion number two and thereafter I was to have a picc line placed for easier access as I was to go twice a day for ten days. That first run was when I found out that I am allergic to vancomycin. There's this thing called red man syndrome which only normally happens if you get vanco infused in less time than an hour. Due to my dumb luck, and some really out there allergies i get red man syndrome anyway and my whole damn head itches. After that, I had to take benedryl just to get my antibiotics. Nothing like sleeping half of your life away. Watching the picc line get put in was the most fun I had through this whole ordeal, it's a really nifty process if you have the stomach to watch such things. So every day I went to the hospital at 9:00 am and 9:00 pm. At the end of the second day, they took my blood to test my antibiotic levels (forgot to mention that I still had to take the bactrim this whole time). The morning of the third day, they told me my vanco levels were too low and they had to do the blood draw again. No problem. That one came back too low too. It seems that I happen to have kidneys of steel and they were filtering out all of this medicine I was getting. That afternoon one of the doctors from my regular office called and told me they were taking me off of the vanco since it wasn't working and I was getting a new oral antibiotic called rifampin. Before this all began, I already knew that I was allergic to doxycyclene, zithromax and cipro. I had added vancomycin to that list too. But, I react to rifampin too. It makes my head want to explode and that's the first headache that I've had in 25 years. So, I was taking the benadryl, bactrim, rifampin and vicodin. That is more druggage than I have had in ten years ingested in one day. My follow up appointment with Peggy brought new fun too. I told her that I had a hard spot on my cheek, just below my sinus cavity. That made her disappear too. She came back and told me that I was to go see Dr. Brown, an ENT specialist and no, I shouldn't stop and get lunch first. I did what I was told and ended up not eating lunch at all. That hard spot was an abcess which had to be drained so the good savage doctor shot me up with local anesthetic. What he didn't tell me is that local has little to no effect on infected pus filled areas. I wish he had warned me. He then proceeded to cut into the inside of my cheek and scrape an ounce of nasty out which was then followed by the insertion of a drain tube and stitches. I found out something interesting that day. I can yell goddammit with my mouth held open and tons of sharp things in there and it actually sounds like goddammit. I traumatized some little children in the waiting room I'm sure. They finally cultured that day and to no one's surprise it was indeed MRSA. I went back three days later to have the drain tube removed but I had already removed it that morning when it had fallen out of it's hole and was dangling by it's thread in my mouth. The thought of accidentally biting down on that thing and tearing out the stitches was strangely unappealing. Go figure. But, things were finally looking good. The following Tuesday I saw the doctor one last time and he cleared me to return to work. I had missed 7 days worth and hadn't set foot in the building for ten days. I lost about 7 pounds through all of this which isn't too bad, but I'm already pretty thin so it wasn't really good for me either. I'm still taking bactrim and while I'm not allergic to it, it's these huge horse pills which I can't swallow so I end up chewing them and they taste terrible. My director of nursing told me that my MRSA was the fastest spread she has ever seen and that I'm lucky I didn't die. I already knew that but I know what she means. I feel better, look better and am back to work 6 days a week. Almost everything's back to normal.

Your result for The Social Persona Test (What kind of man/woman are you?)...

The Renaissance Faire Wench (QLAF)

Quirky Liberal Alpha Female

Take The Social Persona Test (What kind of man/woman are you?) at HelloQuizzy

Well, I don't date anymore thank god, but I DO love the word wench.

Your Body is 31 Years Old

Your body is younger than it should be. Congratulations! You're taking good care of yourself, and it's definitely paying off. Whether it's by accident or by choice, you're living a very healthy lifestyle. Keep it up, and you're likely to live a long, vibrant life.

The old bag's not doing too bad! 'Course it might have something to do with my line of work.

And someday I'd like to come up for air. But for the moment and a bit of fun, here's Lex in his concert tux.

This is a heads up that I shall have no life come November. Class requires that I be present during the (gasp) daylight hours on Saturdays and seeing as my days off are Friday and Saturday, I shall be spending my time attempting to cram sleep in around the schedule madness. If you were hoping to see my bright shining face during these times, let me apologize right now. As for contacting me, email, livejournal and myspace only please! Every time the stinking phone rings, I wake up and I absolutely cannot guarantee that I shall be in any state of friendliness.

THIS BEING MY NAME AND ALL....

i JUST FOUND THIS ARTICLE AND THOUGHT I SHOULD SHARE, IT'S FUNNY HOW LIFE WORKS OUT.

By Associated Press

Ancient ships found under Oslo mud
The largest collection of antique shipwrecks ever found in Norway has been discovered under mud at the building site for a new highway tunnel in Oslo, the project's lead archaeologist said Friday.

Jostein Gundersen said at least nine wooden boats, the largest being 17 meters (56 feet) long, were found well preserved nearly 400 years after they sank at Bjoervika, an Oslo inlet near the new national opera house.

"For us, this is a sensation," he told The Associated Press. "There has never been a find of so many boats and in such good condition at one site in Norway."

The wrecks were remarkably well preserved because they had been covered in mud and fresh water, where river waters run into the sea, he said.

"We have a fantastic opportunity to learn more about old shipbuilding techniques and the old harbors," said Gundersen of the Norwegian Maritime Museum in Oslo.

He said the wrecks are believed to have sunk sometime after a massive fire swept the wooden buildings of old Oslo in 1624. After that disaster, Danish-Norwegian King Kristian IV ordered the city center moved before reconstruction started.

The discovered boats were moored at the old port, which became a remote area after the city was moved. He said the boats may have been 30 or 40 years old when they sank.

"There is nothing to indicate that the ships were deliberately scuttled," said Gundersen. "They could have sunk one by one, because of sloppy mooring or poor maintenance, or maybe sank in a storm."

He said the wreckage will be charted and removed as quickly as possible, so construction of the undersea tunnel can continue. It will then take years, he said, to examine all the ship's remnants back at the museum.

Gundersen said the find will help fill gaps in knowledge between Norwegian Viking ships of roughly 1,000 years ago and more modern vessels.

I have to admit this one is cute.

Anatomy and physiology--97% A
Medical dosage calculations--95% A
hot damn, I did it!
now, I am off for the next 5 days returning to work on wednesday night. call me if you want to do something.

This summer has become truly insane. The school to work schedule leaves me homeless, or so it seems. I think I spend more time in my vehicle than home. It's almost over and for that, I'm thankful. I am also thankful for a wonderful husband and group of children that can hold down the fort in my absence (albeit a very messy fort). Alexi has been gone for what seems to be ages and we get him back momentarily tomorrow but he will be swooped away to grandma's house for a week of beach bumming that I feel he deserves. I am officially released to my new duties as a medication assistant and I enjoy the challenge. There are nights, though, that I feel like the good Dr. Feelgood. Moments when it seems like I am handing out lorazepam like it's candy. But truly, if I have come to that point, I know that I have already done everything feasibly possible to calm someone down and that i have no other alternative. Not only did my friend's mother die this summer, but another friend of ours did as well. One of John's coworkers had a heart attack and is still in the hospital and another friend very nearly lost her beautiful daughter. There has been good mixed in with the bad. I have gotten to spend time with some of my friends and my long suffering husband, though there are a few people that I still desperately want to see. I have managed to ensure that my children are still happy and well adjusted, taken to their summertime activities and given my attention whenever possible. I have fund raised for a non-profit group and drank till my speech was slurred. I spent a couple of fun filled nights at karaoke with some friends down here and the executive director of my facility. I have danced and sang and thoroughly enjoyed myself. Very soon, I will take time off from work and what has not yet been accomplished will be done then.