Mid-week update

This week I have been attending uni a lot more because my workshops and labs have started. In workshops we review and discuss what we've learned in lectures and work through problems in small groups. In labs we practice clinical skills. Here's what I did this week:

Monday - Medications workshop (3 hours)

Tuesday - no labs or workshops so stayed home to do online lectures and reading. As soon as I started the first lecture the power went out! It stayed out for at least 3 hours and this was the first time that's ever happened in this house from what I can remember. So I was going to do some reading but unfortunately I fell asleep within 15 minutes because I was doing the reading in bed (bad idea). I ended up napping for about 3 hours and consequently felt a bit sluggish when I woke up. I did not really get anything done on this day and had trouble concentrating. However that night there were two very interesting documentaries on SBS. The first was called "Blood & Guts: The History of Surgery" and this was part 1 in a series. This episode was about brain surgery. Gruesome stuff. The second show showed open heart surgery in real time with commentary. The patient's mitral valve was damaged and needed repairing. The mitral valve is supposed to be one-way. If it is damaged by trauma or wear and tear due to high blood pressure the person fitness is greatly reduced and they cough up blood constantly. So even though I didn't do any uni work on Tuesday I still learned a lot from these two programs.

Wednesday - 4 hours of labs and one lecture at uni. In the labs we practised taking vital signs (blood pressure, respiration, pulse, temperature, pain assessment), interviewing the patient on admission to hospital, pre-operative checklist and questionaire, and setting up an IV. I was told I have a very good bedside manner :-D

Lectures this week so far:
• Promoting Normal Kidney & Bladder Function in a Post-operative patient (catheterisation)
• Nutrition Before & After GI Surgery
• Loss & Grief –(not only death but patients dealing with their diagnoses such as losing a limb, a breast, cancer, or an STD)
• Respiratory Assessment
• Endocrine system & metabolic assessment (glucose monitoring & thyroid examination)
• Performing an ECG (Electrocardiogram)

Fitness Challenge Update - On Saturday I had a complete day off from both studying and exercising. I'm not going to lie and say I completed the 7 day challenge because that would be . . . lying. But, it doesn't matter because the point of it was to fit regular exercise back into my schedule which is what I did. I did Bikram yoga on Sunday as usual and last night I did one hour of cardio at the gym while I watched SYTYCD. I love watching these amazing athletes while I work out because it inspires me to be fitter, faster, stronger! (and more flexible)