Kat's Going Back to School

Spring has sprung and break is over!

2010-03-24T22:40:00.003-05:00

I was ready to get back to school from spring break so that I could slow down : ) LOL! Unfortunately that hasn't happened yet. Classes resumed Monday. Bruce and I had to make a quick trip to Oklahoma City to see his brother on Tuesday. I completed a case study on Metabolic Syndrome for Pathophysiology late last night. I have an Anatomy & Physiology exam to take by Saturday and a lab quiz next Monday. Whew! But the great news is, I'm working on straight A's this semester : )!

Spring Semester Has Begun!

2010-02-07T19:25:00.000-06:00

I’m a first semester A&P tutor now! My A&P instructor, Dr. Allen, recommended me to be an A&P tutor. I thanked her very much and felt very proud, but I told her that I probably could not spare the time. However, after some research and further consideration, I decided to accept the position. I'm now officially part of the El Centro College Professional Support Staff as a peer tutor in the first semester A&P lab. I'm only working in 4 labs for a total of 6 hours per week, but it's a start. I’m tutoring more for the experience, than the little it pays, and because I love to teach! I’m also hoping the experience will look good on my application for the Sonography program.
I’m working with two other students in A&P. We all got A’s on our first lab quiz. We’ve been studying together and working on a study guide for the first lecture exam which is coming up next week.

My Pathophysiology class has gotten off to a slow start, mostly due to technical problems with our eCampus site. It should be a pretty interesting class though. Mr. Walther is really funny. Although I’m not looking forward to some of the pics he’ll be showing us. He really likes to gross out students with graphic images of medical problems. Ugh!

The General Health Professions Management course is proving to be much more interesting than the book titled, “Law & Ethics for Medical Careers” seemed to indicate it would be. There are NO exams! Yeah! But there are lots of assignments. We have to submit a summary of a health related article every week. That’s proved to be very interesting. I try to pick the most unusual subject I can find. So far I’ve read about a Southlake, Texas doctor that rebuilt a 2 year olds face, how the concept of a mid-life crisis has become an outdated myth and about the immortal cells of Henrietta Lacks (this one is really cool). I’ve gotten 100% so far on all my work for this class.

2010-01-08T18:34:00.003-06:00

What I started to write December 3, 2009

Well here it is, more than a month later and I haven’t been able to slow down enough to update my blog since Halloween. I completed two of my classes in November, Basic Health Skills and Health and Wellness. I got A’s in both classes. That gave me a month to focus on completing A&P. Although I was getting A’s on lecture exams, unfortunately, I had a B average on my lab quizzes. I ended up with a B for the course. I may have to repeat it, but am not planning to immediately. I’ll be taking A&P II in Spring 2010.

Wintermester (2009-2010) Update January 8, 2010

I’ve decided to retake several core classes, including Speech. I got a few B’s and one C in some undergraduate work that I transferred. I need to get some or all of those up to A’s, by retaking the classes. I will not be retaking College Algebra! That B is staying!

I finished the Speech class today with an A on the final and an A for the class. Yeah! It wasn’t as easy as I was expecting. I had to learn how to deliver a speech, the instructor’s way, which was not very close to what I’d learned through work experience and Toastmasters. It was quite an experience, one I will refrain from commenting further on. Suffice it to say, I got an 87 on the first speech. I then figured out what the instructor wanted and got a 98 on the second one.

I took the HESI Admission Assessment Exam in December. This exam is required for admission to any of the health occupation programs at El Centro College. In an attempt to get the highest possible scores on all 4 sections, I'm allowed to take the exam up to two times per year for the Sonography program. I want a minimum score of 90% on all sections. Close to 100% on the Reading Comprehension section would be great! I did it! And what a shock it was that my highest score was a 98% on the math section! I’ve expressed my sincere thanks to Felix, my fellow Speech student, for helping me review math. Felix helped me brush up on fractions and ratios, which was obviously a big help! I got 97.87% on the Reading Comprehension, which is a very important score for getting into the Sonography program. It's one of the criteria used to rank students to choose the top 30 who will get an interview. It was also rather surprising that the sections I expected to get the highest scores on, I got the lowest scores on. I got 96% in Vocabulary and 92% in Grammar. I’m sure not complaining. I won’t have to repeat any sections of the exam!

What’s Next?

I have a break from school for over a week! Yeah! I’m tired. Hopefully, this will give me a chance to get rested and caught up on some things, starting with this blog update. I start the Spring 2010 semester on January 20th. I’m taking Anatomy & Physiology II, Pathophysiology (the study of disease) and General Health Professions Management. That’s a total of 8 credit hours, which is what I completed in my first semester, last Fall. These are all pre-requisites that must be completed prior to applying for the Digital Imaging Sonography program. The A&P instructor has recommended that we get a head start, before the semester starts, working on the digestive system. Another student and I are planning to work on that next week.

On the fashion front, I colored my hair a really bright, vibrant, glowing red! It’s way cool and lots of fun! I've posted a new pic.

Out of the Mouths of Babes!

For those of you I didn’t share this with. I was visiting my friend Laura yesterday. Her daughters are Ashley, 4 and Taylor, 8. Here's a little conversation I had with the Ashley, the 4 year old.
I was telling the girls about something I had done when I was young. Ashley asked me, with an openly surprised expression, "You're not young now"?! I was flattered, momentarily, until she followed immediately by exclaiming, "You're younger than God"! : ) Oh, how Laura and I laughed!

About Mom

She is still in kidney failure and is undergoing dialysis three times a week. That process has its challenges. Overall though, she seems to be feeling well and is maintaining a positive attitude. She is still being given some hope that her kidney function is and will continue to return to where it was a few months ago. Thanks to all for your thoughts, prayers and support!

About Bruce

There’s great news for Bruce. He quit Harley-Davidson in November. The Greater Dallas Council on Alcohol and Drug Abuse recruited him back to work for them, something they wanted to do a year ago, but they had to fill the position internally at that time. Now the job is his! Although he isn't the demonstrative type, I know he's just jumping for joy! He's got a few days off before starting his new position. He had two 4-day weekends in December. He hasn’t had so much time off in 3 ½ years.

My Pain in the Foot : )

Well many of you know I’ve had a chronic pain in my right foot for coming up on a year now. They did an x-ray last June, an MRI in July and a second MRI in December. The results on all have been negative. There is no arthritis. There is some tendonitis, but I have no pain where it was indicated. I’ve seen an Orthopedic Foot Specialist and a Podiatrist. It seems that they have tried everything. I’ve tried different shoes with better arch support, orthotics, orthopedic shoes, physical therapy and an NSAIDs pain patch. They’ve tried injecting alcohol to stop possible nerve pain. They’ve also injected steroid into two different places. I’ve worn a cast for about two months. I tried crutches for all of one afternoon. They’re very hard to use and I gave them up. The Podiatrist has told me that he does not know what else to do. I’m considering seeing the Orthopedic Foot Specialist again, just to confirm that he has nothing else to recommend. If they don’t know what else to do, I sure don’t know either. : (

In the News!

Check this out, if you haven’t seen them already. Mom and I were both on the Channel 8 news on the same evening in two totally unrelated segments. Here are the links.

Aging in America: Emergency response systems

http://www.wfaa.com/news/consumer/Aging-in-America-Emergency-response-systems.html

Downtown Dallas wind farm could power El Centro College (You’ll have to watch closely for the shot of Dr. Allen’s class. I’m in the first seat on the front row).

http://www.wfaa.com/home/El-Centro-looking-to-create-wind-farm-in-downtown-Dallas--69687682.html

Happy Halloween!!! This next week looks pretty scary!

2009-10-31T00:26:00.004-05:00

I passed the check offs for my skills in sterile technique for wound dressing change and catheterization!!! I’m sooooooo thrilled! Fortunately, the skills are learned and demonstrated on a dummy and he doesn’t complain! I don’t plan on being a nurse and I don’t expect to ever have to do these things on a human being. I’m still tired, bordering on exhaustion. I have another very, very long week ahead. I have exams in every class, including a lab quiz and four medical terminology quizzes (yes, it would help if I didn’t procrastinate on taking these, but I can’t seem to help myself. Sigh). All of these exams are scheduled for Wed. and Thurs. of next week! I have made plans to study with others all day Saturday; all day Sunday; before and after class on Mon.; and all day Tues. I will be taking the skills class exam Wed. and the A&P lecture exam on Thurs. I’m planning to take a break on Fri. and Sat. if at all possible.

Other great news, Bruce has given notice to quit Harley-Davidson! That is soooooooo great too! No more working every Sat. for 11 plus hours! He is returning to work for the Greater Dallas Council on Alcohol and Drug Abuse. That was who he worked for before the internship at the judicial treatment facility. He enjoyed working for GDCADA and doing outreach work for HIV prevention. They love him there and hadn’t wanted him to quit in the first place and they’ve asked him to come back! I’m very proud and really happy for him.

Many of you know that I’ve been experiencing pain in my right foot since at least last spring. I’ve seen an orthopedic foot specialist and a podiatrist. My foot has been x-rayed and I’ve had an MRI done on it too. They seem to have tried everything i.e. trying shoes with better arch support, a post-surgical boot for a month, a steroid injection, an injection of alcohol (not sure about the logic in that one), orthopedic shoes and physical therapy. All of this seems to have been done to no avail. I’ve also determined that it doesn’t get better or worse by not walking on it. It hurts not matter how much I stay off of it or how much I walk around. I’m now in an air cast. It’s a heavier boot than the one I had before and it inflates around the ankle, to provide greater support. I can also take it off as needed! Isn’t modern medicine great? Now if they could just get my foot to stop hurting. I’m also using a topical pain patch with an NSAID (non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug). It’s improved, but has not entirely stopped hurting, but I’m hopeful that we’re at least making some progress now.

Thanks to everyone for your encouragement and support! It makes a lot of difference to have friends and family behind me!

I’m Making Lots of Great Progress!

2009-10-22T20:46:00.001-05:00

Things are still as busy as ever, but the effort is paying off. I made a 95 on my second A&P lecture exam!!! Woohoo! I made 19/20 points on the written portion (I filled up 1 ¾ pages, where on the first one, I couldn’t even fill 1 page)! And all of the written information was accurate. My study partners and I worked really hard to get an A on this exam, and the work paid off for most of us. The tutored study sessions I’ve been attending have been worth the time. When my lowest exam and lab grades are dropped, my average for A&P is 88.6%. I’m going to continue pushing to get that up to an A.

My health courses are going even better! I still have a 100% average in my Health & Wellness class. In my Basic Health Profession Skills class, I completed four lab quizzes between last week and this one making 100% on one and getting 19/20 points on three others. Yeah, I’m sure it would help if I could spread those out a bit. I took the second exam for the Skills course week and got 92.2%. My course average is 92.48%!! I attended a four hour lab today for the Skills class to learn sterile technique for catheterization and changing wound dressing. Since I won’t be a nurse, I don’t have to worry about ever doing those things on a human. The dummies were very cooperative and didn’t complain and it wasn’t too gross!

I’ve attended information sessions in the past few weeks for the Magnetic Resonance Imaging, Radiography Technician and the Digital Imaging Sonography programs. Although I still need to discuss all of my options with Bruce, I’m starting to lean more strongly toward applying for the Digital Imaging Sonography program. I’ve sifted through the details of the requirements for admission to each program and I’m starting to feel more confident about getting accepted into the Sonography program. Sonography is probably the most competitive health program to get into, but I’m starting to believe that I can do it!

Study, Study, Study!

2009-10-10T21:12:00.000-05:00

I'm beginning to think that there will be no end to studying. I don't think it will end until the semester is over and probably not even then. During winter break, I plan to take the prep course for an entrance exam I will be taking in January. I will be studying over the break for that exam. I studied very hard for my last A&P lab quiz. I made an A! I raised my average grade for the course a couple of points, to 84.54%. The next A&P lecture exam is this coming Wed. I'm studying with a few other students, in addition to attending tutored study sessions. I'm working to make an A on this exam. Things are going very well in my other classes too. I have a 92.09% average in the Basic Health Professions Skills class and a 100% in the Health and Wellness class.

More success and good news!

2009-10-03T19:54:00.000-05:00

Here's the good news first. My thyroid biopsy was benign. That was a great relief!

School is going great! I made an 86 on my first A&P Lecture Exam. I have an overall average for A&P of 83.33%. I'd really like to get that up to an A. I'm studying very hard to get there. In addition to my own studies, I'm working with a couple other students as study partners. I studied with Cameron this morning and yesterday morning. Tracy, Cameron and I will all be meeting tomorrow as well. We have an A&P lab quiz next Wed. and the next lecture exam is the following Monday.

Last night I finished my first exam for the Health & Wellness class. I made 100%!! Including the assignments we've completed to date, I have a 100% average for the class. I'm psyched!!!

Success!

2009-09-24T22:54:00.007-05:00

I've accomplished everything I'd hoped to this week! By 7:30pm, Wed., I had completed everything needed to catch up in my Basic Health Professions Skills class. I'm very proud of myself, as I was very close to dropping the class last week. I got feedback from a school counselor, the instructor, my A&P lab instructor (who used to teach medical terminology) and another instructor before deciding to give it another week and see if I could meet the coming week’s deadlines. I took the remaining medical terminology quizzes that had a deadline of Wed., 8pm. I made 100% on 4 out of 6 of them! I also completed the first exam for that class; getting 91.6% correct (109/119). I have an overall average of 92% for the class. I was amazed, exhausted and very happy! I also forgot to mention that I passed my first lab check off (on the first try) for that class, having successfully demonstrated my ability to check vital signs! They give you up to 3 attempts to pass a check off. If you fail any one of them, you automatically fail the entire class. No pressure there! My A&P lab quiz suffered a little from my being stretched so thin this week, but I passed. I hope to have the score back for the A&P lecture exam on Monday. In addition, my Health & Wellness instructor postponed our first exam until next Fri., gave us an extra 1/2 hour to take it and made it an open book exam that we could take at home. How cool is that?

I had my thyroid biopsy done this morning. It could have been worse. The good news is, there were no knives involved. I was told to expect the results back by Monday! I appreciate your thoughts and prayers! I took a break and did nothing school related today. More news when I get the results.

I will be attending some tutored study sessions tomorrow for my A&P class. Then it's back to more studying. I really intend to keep up these 3 courses, no matter what it takes. I'm just hoping to get a little more balance on a daily basis and not spend long, grueling days studying like it did this past week. And at least I'm really enjoying learning the stuff I'm studying. It's really cool to learn so much about how our bodies work!

The busiest week ever!

2009-09-21T21:40:00.003-05:00

This is the busiest week I've had!

I took my first Anatomy & Physiology lecture exam today. It covered 3 chapters. I think I made a B, but probably not the A I was shooting for. I have 2 more exams and a lab quiz on Wed. In addition, I must confess, that I have a few medical terminology quizzes to catch up on by Wed. I also have to complete lab #5 by the end of class on Wed.! My friend Vicki said that she couldn't believe the volume of work I had to do! I can't believe it either! I enrolled for 8 credit hours and I feel as if I'm taking 16. I've created an Excel spreadsheet with my major tasks, assignments, quizzes and exams listed by deadline date (and time). My friend Lee, who is working on her PhD. (go Lee!) suggested the approach to help me prioritize my study time. I think its helping! I guess I'll know for sure by Wed. how effective it is. I've been taking a quiz this evening that I'm allowed to take until I get 100%. I'm afraid I didn't make much progress. I took the quiz without having even looked at the material and I got 81% correct. I got 86% correct after reviewing everything. So much for progress. I'm probably going to keep trying, but it's getting tedious.

On a side note, some of you know that I am having a biopsy on a nodule in my thyroid this Thur. I had a biopsy done in '94 on a nodule on the right hand side of the thyroid. It was benign. Now there's a nodule on the left hand side that has gotten larger, so the doctor wants to make sure it's benign. Having been through this before, I don't agree with the doctor that the biopsy is "no big deal". It may be no big deal to him, because he's going to be on the other end of that needle that looks like it's a foot long! Fortunately, it's not a long procedure. For those of you who are sensitive to such things, I'll spare you the details. But, I'll keep y'all posted on the results.

More after I've survived this week!

I made an A on my first quiz!!!

2009-09-14T22:23:00.000-05:00

Well I made an A on my first lab quiz for Anatomy and Physiology! Yeah! Tracy and I studied very hard together. We both felt that the quiz was easy and we both made As. I have stopped being so hard on myself for missing one question. One that I know the answer to, but just didn't read the question carefully enough. Well live and learn.

I have a busy week ahead that is steering me into next week when I have 4 exams between Monday and Wednesday. Watch out!!!

I started school!

2009-09-05T20:03:00.001-05:00

I started back to school on August 24, 2009. I'm going to El Centro College, which is part of the Dallas County Community College District. I'm commuting downtown via DART's rail and bus system. The college provides free bus passes to students. I'm taking 8 credit hours, 4 hours in Anatomy & Physiology (A&P); 2 hours in a class called Basic Health Professions Skills and 2 hours in a class for Wellness & Health Promotion. I thought eight hours was part time, but it sure seems like full time work to me. Possibly because it's been over 25 years since I've attended college and I wasn't very studious back then either. That is changing. I'm working very hard.

Many of you know that because of my being off work on a medical disability, I'm getting assistance from the Department of Assistive and Rehabilitative Services (DARS), with the costs of my re-education. They're picking up the tuition and book costs, in addition to the medical supplies needed. I've feel very fortunate and blessed to be getting this assistance. I couldn't be doing this otherwise.

Regarding my proposed field of study, I am considering the Radiology Technician program, although I have a preference to get into the Digital Imaging Sonography program. Sonography pays more and I think it might be more interesting to me. I must confess, however, that I am a little intimidated by the fact that only 10 students a year are admitted to the Sonography program, whereas, 25 students a year are placed in the Radiology program. The Sonography program also has more prerequisites than the Radiology program. Oh, and I should mention that they are accepting the following classes from my BBA at UTA for transfer credit: English, College Algebra, Speech, Psychology, and one class for a Humanities Elective.

The A&P class is challenging, and except for the pictures of cadavers illustrating body parts, I'm enjoying the material. It's just A LOT of material. There are 4 classes a week I attend for A&P, 2 lecture sessions and 2 lab sessions. The lecture professor is good, I like the way she illustrates the material with analogies and stories, oft times amusing. She's easy to understand and that helps a lot. The lab instructor is also helpful and has made some useful suggestions. In addition, we have the opportunity to attend tutored study sessions in the college Learning Center. I am also trying to get a student study group started. It also helps to have my brother Jim, a text or email message away to answer a question.

Let me also tell you about my A&P "study buddy", Tracy. Tracy speaks English as a Second Language (ESL). I admire her greatly for choosing to study in the medical field with this challenge, in addition to her working part time and caring for an elderly mother and a three year old son! Tracy and I are helping each other. We study together, as an example, answering the weekly lab questions that can be answered outside of lab. This allows us to focus during lab time on the material that can only be answered in the lab. It helps me learn the material when I get the opportunity to explain something to Tracy that she doesn't quite understand. If I can't explain it, I know I need to learn the topic more thoroughly. I also get to explain expressions to her, as in, what are "love handles" (used to refer to a body section) or a "tightrope walker" (used as an example of what homeostatis is). Wish me luck! We have our first lab quiz this coming Wed. I'm studying and making flash cards to reinforce my understanding of all the material, which amongst other things includes the terminology for more body parts than I knew we had; every region, cavity and organ system in the body and what organs are part of it. As I said, lots of material!

The Basic Health Professions Skills class is an internet based course, but in this case, it just means that the material is on the college's web site. I attended my first lab this past week to learn how to check vital signs. Taking a temperature is a no brainer, except for remembering to tell the patient "not to bite down", well duh! I now know how to check blood pressure using a stethoscope and blood pressure cuff. I'm a bit awkward at it, but will be practicing a lot on friends and family! A knowledgeable student also taught me how to notice that I'm taking too long letting out air from the cuff, by noticing that I'd cut off the blood supply to her arm and her palm was turning red! I've also learned about 8 pressure points on the body. We have to demonstrate the ability to check the radial pulse (on the wrist) and the apical pulse, by listening to the patient's chest. I also learned how to check respiration by watching someone breathe. Health care providers are taught to do this without telling the patient (we pretend to be checking your pulse) in order to keep the patient from changing their breathing as a result of being watched. Washing hands is a must, before and after touching a patient. Failure to do either during the demonstration of the skill we've learned will result in an automatic failure of the "check off". Fortunately, you get three tries to get it right, although I plan to study hard to get it right the first time! Failure of any of the check offs (within the 3 tries) results in failure of the entire course. They take their medical training very seriously around here! Oh, and let me not forget to mention that there is a Medical Terminology book that must be studied and memorized for this class too! I'm also trying to start a student study group for this class too.

That leaves the Health and Wellness Promotion class. I like the instructor and I don't think the course is going to be very difficult, thank goodness! I'm also hoping to gain some knowledge that might result in motivating me to take action to improve my own health. I'm hoping and praying for the best! Our course project includes choosing something we would like to change for ourselves and keeping a journal of our progress. We also have a presentation to do on a current topic of health. I've asked to do mine of Addiction and Addictive Behaviors. A no brainer for me, right?

I've taken one day off, last Saturday, from studying. That was a mistake (and a lesson learned). I am working very hard this weekend to reach the point where I feel "ahead of the 8 ball". And even though it's a holiday Monday, we're expected to study and complete work as if we'd been in class that day. I'd have preferred not to take the "day off"! My family is meeting at Mom's on Sunday. I had hoped to take a pass on studying any that day, but I don't see that happening. : (

Well I am off to a good start, but as always, there's room for improvement. Hopefully, I'm getting there!

Stay tuned for more, next time.