kapachino

Category: me

  • Zzzzz

    I’ve had a problem for as long as I can remember with falling asleep when I shouldn’t. It happens basically anytime I’m not actively engaged in an activity. For example: in class, at work, while driving. It’s not that I stay up late or don’t get enough sleep. I get at least 6-7 hours of sleep a night, and I start getting very tired around 8:30 or 9 p.m. In fact, I am pretty much starting to shut down right now. This drives Boyfriend David crazy because he is a night person.

    Obviously the falling asleep while driving thing is dangerous, and I’ve gotten better at handling that by calling someone or pulling over when it starts to happen. Falling asleep in class isn’t the end of the world to me. It’s not good when it happens at work, though, and I really hope no one catches me.

    But today my clinical group of 8, plus my instructor, met for pre-conference. A man from APS came and showed us a video and then talked to us about the services they provide. We were in a small room with only ten people present, and I was sitting right next to the guy. I wasn’t bored – he was interesting – but the sleep came over me and although I fought it with all of my willpower I could not overcome it.

    I thought that I was concealing it, but after the presentation was over and the man left, my instructor pulled me aside. “Are you getting enough rest?” she asked me. In a very polite and concerned manner she proceeded to tell me that she has noticed me sleeping on multiple occasions and at different times of day. She said that it was embarrassing when I was sleeping during the presentation. She told me that I should talk to a doctor about this issue because people will perceive me to be rude or lazy when that’s not the case.

    I was so embarrassed. I seriously doubt that I have any kind of medical issue that makes me especially tired because I don’t have any other symptoms. David says I just do too much and that I need to take in more caffeine if I want to continue my current lifestyle.

    Do any of you struggle with something similar? I don’t understand why I’m tired all the time. It is extremely frustrating.

  • Super Tuesday?

    In the weeks leading up to “Super Tuesday”, whenever I heard the day spoken of in such a way I would smile to myself because the day happened also to be my birthday. I liked to think that that was the real reason it was super.

    As I mentioned before, I’ve decided to give up sweets for Lent, which starts today. That made Super Tuesday Fat Tuesday as well. My plan was to basically wallow in chocolate the entire day. I figured that would be a good way to celebrate.

    Unfortunately I needed to take advantage of the opportunity to work a clinical shift yesterday, so instead I spent the day in the ICU sucking out churned-up stomach contents through a tube and then putting it back into the patient.

    I also had a headache the entire day that I was barely keeping at bay by gobbling ibuprofen, but when I got home it came at me in full force. Boyfriend David had done so many sweet things for me that I couldn’t even appreciate fully because I was just so out of it. What made me the most sad was that he had bought me a piece of chocolate cake and ice cream, and I couldn’t even eat it.

  • Thirteen Things

    1. My day in the ICU yesterday was kind of boring. Both of my patients had brain aneurysms. They were awake, alert, mobile, and for the most part independent. That means there wasn’t a whole lot for us to do for them.

    2. One of the patients was a woman from Baton Rouge, a really sweet lady, and I loved her Cajun accent. She hugged me when I said goodbye to her.

    3. The other was a nice man who would have talked to me all day long if I’d let him. Once he found out that I majored in Christian ministry for my first degree, he told me his whole life story. It was very interesting, but for the sake of time I will just say that he was the founder of this ministry.

    4. There was a job fair at my school today, where I talked to four different hospitals. I was then inspired and went ahead and applied for the graduate nursing program at all four places. The application for the one I really want, though, is a little more extensive than the others and thus I am not finished with it.

    5. Luckily I know a woman who worked at that hospital for most of her life who agreed to write me a letter of recommendation.

    6. I have decided that I am mostly interested in working in the areas of critical care and oncology.

    7. I am really proud of my indoor soccer team, because we had an awesome come-from-behind win tonight.

    8. However, I do not appreciate the fact that there were no female subs, meaning I had to play the whole game, and thus I am utterly exhausted. (It is a coed team and three girls are required to play at all times – six players on the field total.)

    9. Tomorrow I have a clinical for my community health class. I make home visits to senior citizens for the Meals on Wheels program. I don’t like it a whole lot, but it’s not too bad.

    10. My birthday is next week. I will be 26 years old. The celebration begins this Saturday and ends a week later.

    11. I am giving up sugar for Lent this year. Lent begins right in the middle of birthday week, so I am going to stuff myself with cookies, cake, ice cream, brownies, and every kind of chocolate I can get my hands on before then.

    12. I need to shower in a bad way. Sometimes showering is such a chore, like when I’m tired and just want to go to sleep. When I was younger I used to skip it if I didn’t feel like it, even if I had played a soccer game that night. I guess sleep has always been my priority.

    13. But I don’t do that anymore!

  • Why I Don’t Like Politics

    So there’s some political stuff going on in the country. You may have noticed. One thing I have come to learn about myself over the past few years is that I don’t like politics. At all. Lately I’ve been wondering why, and this is what I’ve come up with:

    1. I am competitive by nature, and I don’t really like that about myself. I don’t like the way I feel or view others when I get caught up in a competition. I’ve been trying to be better and learn to deal with this, because I want to be able to enjoy games and have healthy discussions with no hard feelings. But in the sphere of politics, there are so many places to disagree, therefore so much room for argument. So I’ve just avoided it.

    2. Because I’ve avoided it for so long, I don’t really know anything about it. I don’t know much about any of the candidates, or really much of what is going on in the country, or even what I think and why. So I find myself disagreeing with everyone simply because I want to keep an open mind.

    3. I don’t like confrontation or fighting of any kind. Especially when I’m involved. I just want everyone to get along!

    Last fall I had a conversation with one of my best friends who is very involved in politics and in fact works for a non-profit organization in that area. I promised her that before the 2008 election I would figure out what I think about the issues and be able to come back to her to have an informed discussion. This is a huge undertaking for me, and one I’m not really looking forward to. But. I don’t want to stay ignorant. So here I go.

  • VIP Baby and Money Woes

    Something kind of cool happened today. I was working in the newborn nursery, and there were a whole lot of babies in there. I didn’t have much to do right away, so I chose a baby that wasn’t getting any direct attention at the moment and I picked her up to calm her down because she was crying a little bit. Eventually the nurse and I began to assess her, and that’s when we realized that she was a VIP baby. She was adorable, and I took care of her all morning.

    (If you haven’t figured it out yet, you need to click the link to see whose baby it was I took care of. I just feel weird about writing the name here. Apparently there was a guy hanging around outside the nursery last night, and when a nurse finally asked him what he was doing there he replied, “I hear you have a VIP here.” She replied, “All of my patients are VIPs.” Some people are creepy.)

    In other news, I am really stressed about money right now, and I don’t like it one bit. Remember how I mentioned that I was trying to make extra money by filling out internet surveys? Well, it doesn’t work. I have tried, and it’s not worth it. This article explains why not. So I’m looking for other ways to earn money, but right now the only solution I can find is to work as much as possible and then just borrow money if I have to.

    My situation is actually to the point where I’m afraid I’m not going to be able to pay my bills next month. Just one month more is all I need to make it, and then I’ll get another loan installment. I’d really like to make it without borrowing money, but things just aren’t lining up right now. I paid the hefty registration fee for our Texas Independence Relay team out of my own money, and I still haven’t been reimbursed from four people for that. I went way over on my cell phone minutes last month (aka the most stressful month of my life) and my bill is three times its normal amount. I checked the mail today to find a notice from a collection agency regarding a movie I rented and never returned, then spent the afternoon on the phone trying to figure that out, and then just kind of broke down. My wonderful boyfriend tells me that I have nothing to worry about as long as he’s working, but I just can’t help but get emotional and stress about it. I don’t mean to whine. It’s just constantly on my mind and I had to get it out.

    Luke 6:20 – “Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God.” Right now I’m hoping Jesus meant this literally.