Wednesday, March 24, 2010
Spring has sprung and break is over!
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 : )!
Sunday, February 7, 2010
Spring Semester Has Begun!
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about a Southlake, Texas doctor that rebuilt a 2 year olds face, how the concept of a mid-life crisis has become an outdated myth and about the immortal cells of Henrietta Lacks (this one is really cool).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.
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.
Friday, January 8, 2010
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
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
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