My semianual update

So it seems that I only have time to do semi-annual updates on this thing. I'm sure that nobody is really sad about this since I'm sure only 4 people read this blog. Much has happened since my last post so I'll try to do a quick update.

My first semester is done and I managed to finish with decent grades. Two A's and a B, not the best, but it's acceptable. I hope I can do better this semester. I'm now in my second semester and it's going to be CRAZY. I really like my lab classes. It's funny because they were the classes that I dreaded the most. They are 5 hours long... I know, right? BUT... we wear our scrubs, operating gown, gloves, masks, lead aprons (for the x-ray fluoroscopy stuff) and it's super awesome! I finally feel like I'm doing stuff in school that really matters. Wearing the equipment and learning stuff in the lab makes me feel professional and like I'm finally getting near the end of school. It's weird to think that by this time next year I will be doing my internship and out in the real world. It scares the CRAP out of me but it's extremely exciting at the same time. I really like the rest of my classes too. They are really hard and it's going to take a lot of work but I'm really interested in what I'm learning so it helps me to know that I'm truly doing something that I WANT to do, even though it's scary.

Yesterday my lab teachers and my director were telling us the worst things they ever experienced in the Cath lab. It was terrible to hear. One story involved making a mistake on a newborn baby and the baby almost died. The others involved a patient who had an arterial disease that's impossible to diagnose until it's too late. Basically the Aorta (the huge artery that pumps blood out of the heart to the rest of the body) had calcified or become really hard and rigid, and the tech injected dye so that they could see the catheter under x-ray and the Aorta shattered like glass under the extra pressure and person died within a minute. The worst part was that there was nothing they could do about it so they just had to sit and watch it all happen.

It really makes me stop and think if I can handle this position, but I can't walk away from this career just because I'm afraid. So I really have to face my fear and be strong and composed so that I can perform at my best. I don't know how I've stumbled onto this path, but I can't help but think that it was destiny. I couldn't have done this program in Utah or Oregon so I have to think that it was fate that brought me to this crap hole I call Minnesota.

Kayleigh is getting sooooo big. She started crawling and I just have a hard time keeping up with her. She also has 4 teeth coming in on the top so she has been just a ray of sunshine. (Catch my sarcasm) Just kidding, she is super cute and I'm sad that I miss daytime with her because I'm school, but I'm glad I get all afternoon/evening with her because Shaun let me quit my job which helps out TONS! I know I wasn't working a lot to begin with but it's nice to just not have to worry about it anymore. It's one less thing on my plate.

Well, that's about it so far, so here's to the New Year, and I hope that it is much less eventful than last year!