Wow!

I can't believe it's mid-February, and I haven't posted since January. My apologies. I'm guessing most of you don't get your hopes up anymore for me to post. Nursing School has control of my life right now :)

But I wanted to write a quick update. Picking up from where I left off...being discharged from the hospital...everything is going well. No more stomach issues. Things seem to be back to normal. I had lost about 10.5 pounds from this hospital stay. I have managed to gain back about 3-4 pounds (depending on the day). I've also switched to Creon Enzymes, due to Ultrase not being manufactured anymore. So I'm also trying to adjust that to where it needs to be. So far so good. For the most part, the lungs are doing well...just a minor cold here and there.

School is good, but extremely stressful. Being out for 2 weeks at the beginning of the semester through me back, especially with having to take an exam the day after I was discharged, and another exam the following week. Needless to say, I didn't do too well on those 2 exams. I had my 2nd Pharmacology Exam today, which I made a B on. While I'm happy, I had my hopes on making a high B or an A, considering I had been studying non-stop for 2 weeks.

In other school news, I had to medically withdraw from my OB class/clinical at the suggestion of the professors. I had missed a couple of labs while in the hospital, and upon meeting with the professor, I was told I couldn't make those labs up. So 2 classes were knocked off my schedule for this semester. I will take the OB lecture and clinical this summer. Thankfully, it won't put me behind, I'll just have those extra 2 classes this summer on top of the other 3 classes. So I'll have 5 classes and 16 hours in about a 10 week period...YIKES!! But again, I would have hated to have to drop back and lose my great friends I've met in nursing school. So I thought this semester would be much lighter, which is still is, compared to what it would be, but it's still extremely busy and stressful! My Psych Clinicals start March 3rd. I have to say, that out of all the Nursing Classes, this is the one that I'm NOT looking forward to!!

Other Miscellaneous news...I had a Birthday on February 4th....26 years old. I feel old. I wish I could go back a few years!! My 7 yr transplant anniversary is coming up on February 25th (next week), which I am extremely thankful for.

I need to start on my stuff for our upcoming CF Great Strides Walk. Our Young Professionals Board is going well. I am Co-Chair of our board this year, which means I will be Chair of the board for 2012. I'm really excited.

I'm trying to keep up with everyone's blogs, but my time is limited. For those of you on facebook, I'm able to keep track more often :) I hope everyone is having a great week. I'm about to go out for the night...get my mind off school. Tomorrow and Friday will be spent doing a Pharmacology Assignment.

Until next time.....

Tuesday Tid-bits

Sorry for the lack of posting this past week. It's been very very busy. So once again, this is sort of a "catch-up" post.

*Tomorrow I have my follow-up transplant clinic appointment from being in the hospital. Hoping to get good results....really have no idea how things are going to turn out since I'm still fighting the pseudomonas.

*School is busy...I had a physiology lab exam last Thursday and an exam in my nutrition and health course today. It was pretty hard, so not sure how I did. I do feel pretty good about my lab exam though, but won't get my grade until this Thursday night.

*I had a great birthday weekend. I can't believe I'm 25 yrs old...yikes ;)
My parents took me out to dinner Friday night.....and I had some really really good food. My mom and I went to get some ice cream afterwards at Coldstone Creamery. Brandi and I ate lunch out on Sunday. We had a good time and she was sweet to treat me to some good Chinese food. Sunday night we did cake and ice cream at home. And the birthday celebration will continue this week as my parents will give me my gifts probably this weekend. So it's been a stretched-out birthday....kinda nice. My brother's birthday is the 19th!

*All of my wall art/hangings are finally up in my new room...yay!! The last thing to do is put up my valences on the windows. The scrapbook room is completely done...now if I can just get some time to actually scrapbook. Here are some pictures of it:

*It is freaking COLD COLD here, especially the last few days...and will continue throughout the week. Maybe some snow flurries this weekend???

*I have been given an opportunity to speak to a group of people about CF/transplant at UAB next week...very excited about that.

*I am hoping to make some progress on my Great Strides Team this weekend...as far as writing my letter, sending emails, etc. The walk will be here before I know it.

*I have been busy babysitting the last 2 weeks....4 jobs in 1.5 weeks...pretty good. Now, if I can just keep that up, i would be good. I'm hoping to get one or two Valentine's jobs this weekend, but I'm not entirely sure if it will happen or not.

*I can't believe Alli from The Batchelor TV Show chose her job over taking a risk and staying for Jake. I don't normally watch this show, but for some reason have been hooked to it this season. I'm rooting for Tinsley now :)

Well, I think that about wraps things up! I will post tomorrow with a clinic report. I hope everyone is having a great week.

Wrap-Up Wednesday

Ok...so my promise of blogging more obviously didn't happen last week nor this week. It has been SO SO crazy, I just haven't had time to blog. In addition, my computer got a virus the end of last week. So I had to take it to get it removed and just got it back and set up in my new room yesterday. So today, Wednesday, I'm going to do another "catch-up" post. BEWARE: LONG POST (but I do hope you will read it)

I have officially moved downstairs...YAY! I really love having my own space. I was going to post some pics of my scrapbooking area, but my computer is not cooperating right now. So I promise I will post those later this week, hopefully sooner than later. Sorry! I finally have all (or most) of my scrapbooking stuff organized. Now I can finally start scrapbooking (I'm so far behind).

My bedroom is complete, with the exception of my wall art, decorations, etc. I had to buy a new desk because the one that I had in my "old room" was too long. In addition, it was really heavy and bulky, and we were not sure we could get it out of the hall and down the stairs without disassembling it. So my Mom is going to use that desk. I also bought some cute valances for my windows, and are hoping to put those up this weekend as well (I didn't have curtains in my old room). The valences are "suede/velvet-like" which exactly matches my comforter. The colors are exact too...and even more exciting was that they were on clearance at Target!!

Ok...so a few more things just to catch you up on.......

Thank you to those who left comments on my blog regarding Emily Mulkey's passing. It's been tough...but ok. For those of you who would like to write a response to Emily's Memorial Service, a letter to Faith, Jason or another family member, or simply express how Emily's life has affected you, changed you, encouraged you, or inspired you (whether you knew her or not), you are welcome to comment on her blog (specifically by clicking here). These will be printed and bound for the family.

Ok...onto another subject. I had a visit with my ENT last week....only to find out my sinuses looked really good. I was a little confused, as my transplant team as well as myself thought my sinuses were the culprit of this last admission with pneumonia. It may very well have been, but no one knows for sure. My ENT did a culture just to make sure everything was ok. And about 1 week later, the nurse called me to say that my culture grew out moderate pseudomonas. So I am back on Cipro oral antibiotic for 3 weeks...yay! My body is tired of antibiotics...needs a break. But I could tell I was very junky...so I'm glad he did a culture. I started doing an occasional Xopenex inhaled neb treatment to help get the junk out. I also start my inhaled TOBI this weekend. I'm trying to stay well and OUT of the hospital.

School is going ok....I bombed my 1st physiology lecture exam this week...yikes. I knew I wasn't 100% prepared. It's been hard coming in 3 weeks into the semester...still have some catching up to do. I'm praying I can bring my grade up. I have my 1st physiology lab exam tomorrow (Thursday). I also have a nutrition class exam next week as well as a project due.

Tomorrow (Thursday) is going to be a very busy day. It is my 25th BIRTHDAY. I have my 3 usual classes, including my physio lab exam. I also have a nursing school application session where I will be informed of everything I need to apply to nursing school. I'm excited about that!

One more thing...I have been experiencing some severe lower back/hip-area pain. It is really bothersome and really painful. Please pray that this resolves quickly, as it is interfering with going to classes, driving, sleeping, etc. I am attending physical therapy like I have been, and doing some other things to try and relieve the pain. Thanks!

I think that about wraps everything up! Sorry for the long post....I'm going to do my best to update and blog more frequently!

B'day Pics

Saturday night I celebrated with my parents my birthday. My birthday was actually this past Wednesday, but it was such a busy day and the rest of the week was filled with stuff, so we opted to wait until the weekend...which was great with me! My stomach had actually recovered from the intestinal abx, and felt up to eating out. We ate at Logan's Roadhouse for dinner, then went to Ben & Jerry's for ice cream! I love steak...so that's what I got at Logan's! And by some miracle, my stomach tolerated the steak and the ice cream...which was great! After dinner and ice cream, we came home and my parents gave me my gifts, which I am very grateful for. Here a few pics of my opening my gifts and a few pics of me with my parents!

A new pair of (nice) scrapbooking scissors! I'm a huge scrapbooker, and my scissors tend to get "dull and sticky" or they wonder to other parts of the house!

I think my Dad was trying to kiss me...not sure!

This is my new UAB sweatshirt...which I'm already loving it! I put it on to show my Dad and wear it for the pictures. My Mom had taken me to the school bookstore earlier in the day to picks one out!

My Mom was determined to get an action shot...so this is what she got :)

My B'day!!!

Yep...today, February 4th is my birthday! I'm not going to do a long post, as I don't have much time and energy..but wanted to quickly let you know of this special day! I was born February 4th, 1985 in Macon Georgia. Words cannot even describe how blessed I feel to be alive today, celebrating another year on this Earth. I never knew I would be where I am today! The plan is to celebrate this weekend, as my family and I have a busy week. Which I'm kind of glad...because that gives my stomach a few days to recover...in hopes of it being able to eat cake and ice cream :) I am having lunch tomorrow with a friend of mine at my internship! It will be a nice surprise this weekend, and right now the plans are up in the air! I feel so blessed, and are so eager to see what God has in store for me this year! Here are a couple of pictures of me 24 (wow...24 seems so old)...years ago in 1985!

I loved my Daddy!!

My Dad is a vet...so I've always been surrounded by dogs and cats! I think I was a little more comfortable with the idea of pets then than I am today :)