Family and friends...

In my last post I mentioned that I was planning on going back to TN for a visit. Everything worked out and my trip home was a lot of fun. I enjoyed seeing my family at our Easter family reunion. It was so nice to see everyone and also very nice to be able to have some good talks with individual members of my family. It was also nice to have a little time away from work.

Me and my niece Kiersten

Cousin Kim and Me

While in TN, I was able to see some of my friends which was so much fun. It was so good to see all my friends, but most especially Amber which I didn't get to see at Christmas. It's always lots of fun and lots of laughs with my friends. I was able to see some of my former co-workers at St. Thomas where I worked before I moved here. They were some great people to work with. I miss you guys.

Amber and Me

Me and Misty

The 3 of us

Work is going good. It still has it's crazy moments and it's sad times, but I think I'm able to handle it much better. I feel like every day I work my confidence is getting just a little bit stronger. I took a pediatric oncology class a couple of weeks ago. I am hoping that one day I will be able to work with our pediatric patients. I have a heart for kids and have always wanted to work with them.

Well, I guess that is about it for an update. I'm looking forward to my aunt coming for a visit in June. I think it will be a really good time.

So, it's been a while...

I just realized how long it has been since I've updated my blog. A lot has happened in the last couple of months, so I'll try to catch up without making this into a book. Well, I guess the first thing is I did the 1/2 marathon with so people from work this past December. It was awesome. I know I didn't run it, but I'm so proud of myself for doing it and completing it. That, and being able to go home for the Christmas holiday was the highlight of a very challenging month for me.

At the completion of the race

My friend and me while home for Christmas

Work was extremely stressful for me for a couple of months. During the month of December we had quite a few deaths on our floor and several other really sick patients. One patient in particular, one that I had gotten pretty close to, passed away the first part of January. This was really hard for me, as I had never gotten that close to a patient and their family as I had this one, and I have not had one of my patients die while I was taking care of them. I was glad that I was able to be there for my patient and his wife. I truly believe with all my heart that God used me during that time to be a blessing to both of them, even if it was the hardest thing I have experienced as a nurse so far.

In January, I moved out of my sister's house and into my own apartment. I am really enjoying living by myself again, but I do miss my daily hugs from my niece and nephews. I was able to buy some new furniture to go in my place since I didn't end up buying a house. I decided I'd use this opportunity to start replacing my hand me downs, which I'm very thankful for, with new stuff so that when I do finally get a place of my own I'll have nice stuff to put in it.

My Living room

My dining room

I'm trying very hard to get and stay involved in church here. It has been hard to make myself go consistently since I work some Sundays. I can honestly say that I have been so blessed by the people in my Sunday school class, most especially my Sunday school teachers. It never fails that when I feel like I want to stop going for one reason or the other, they choose that precise time to reach out and let me know that they care about me and make me feel like I'm supposed to be in that class. It really has blessed my life. Makes me wish I didn't have to work on Sundays so I don't miss out on what's happening.

Painting pottery with the girls from my Sunday School class

The bowl I painted before it has been fired

So, that's a brief update on the last couple of months. So, what's ahead? Well, I filled out my application to go back to school for my masters. My goal is to get my degree as an Nurse Practitioner and hopefully stay in the oncology field. Now I just have to write an essay about my career goals and get my letters of recommendation in to the school of nursing. I'm planning on going home to TN in a couple of months for a visit which I'm really looking forward to. I'm also looking forward to going on vacation with my family this summer to the beach.

I will try and do better about keeping this updated more often.

Taking One Step at a Time

I think in my last post I hadn't done the Light the Night walk yet. November 1st a group of us from work participated in the Light the Night walk which supports the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. It was such an amazing night. We had several patients show up for the walk along with a ton of other survivors and their family and friends. At the walk, there was a booth set up for people that wanted to get on the bone marrow registry. I didn't know how easy it was to get on the registry. I had always thought that it was some big painful invasive procedure so I never wanted to do it. I found out that all it takes to get on the registry is a simple cheek swab. It was so neat to see how many people were swabbing their cheeks to get on the registry. It was neat for me because I see everyday at work how much this changes people's lives. Here are a couple of pictures from the walk.



After the walk we went to a Halloween party thrown by one of our doctors. Here is a picture from the party.


Mary, Brenda, Me, Sandy "Gang Green"

I've been walking my butt off trying to get ready for this 1/2 marathon that I'm doing on December 14th. I think I may have mentioned that a group of us from work and several patients of ours are going to walk a half marathon in Dallas next month. We are doing the White Rock Marathon. Our team name is the Transplant Trotters. I'm really looking forward to doing this. Planning to do this walk next month has been such a good motivator for me to get up and exercise. I'm finding I have so much more energy on my days off when I walk than when I don't. I'm surprised at how far I'm going and how good I feel afterwards.

Work is going well. I did another stem cell transplant this week which went smoothly. This was only the 2nd one I have done so I was a little nervous at first, but my patient did well and I was feeling more confident by the end of it.

Well, that's it for now. Hope everyone has a blessed Thanksgiving. I'm looking forward to coming to TN for a visit after Christmas. Only one more month.

Progress

So, I have made some progress since the last post. Work has been much better. I have had a better attitude. My change in attitude makes such a huge difference in my outlook on things. Still learning tons at work. Sometimes I don't think my brain can hold anymore information, I know the folder full of stuff I am researching can't hold anymore.

I have been good so far about walking several days a week. Yesterday I walked longer than I have before and I'm feeling it today. Even being sore, I know that I feel better just getting out and exercising. I really think this is the first time I've not just said I want to do something about getting in shape and healthy, but I'm actually putting actions to it.

This Saturday is the Light the Night walk. I think this is going to be such a neat experience. We have some of our patients family members that are walking with us. I will be a time to remember those we've lost to Leukemia and Lymphoma and those that are fighting so hard to beat it.

I have decided that I'm not going to get a house yet. After talking to someone over the NP program I want to do, I realized that trying to pay a mortgage and go to school is not the wisest decision I could make. I probably won't be able to work full time the last year or so due to the number of clinical hours I have to complete.

Well, I guess that's it for now. Not much new in TX.

Challenges and Growing

So, I have been learning quite a bit in the last few weeks. I know that learning and growing is a good thing, I just don't always like the methods that God uses to teach us. Something that God has been teaching me for a while now is that I put too much stock in peoples opinions of me. If you've known me for a while you would know how long I have been working on this area in my life. You would think I would have gotten it by now. The last few weeks at work have shown me that I even though I haven't made a lot of progress in this area, I have made at least some. I have let the way others view me or the things they have said about me change my outlook on my job. I have to start by saying that I love my job. I love what I do. I love the area of nursing where God has allowed me to work. I truly believe that this is where I am supposed to be. Anyway, with what has been going on at work the last few week, I started to dread getting up and going to work everyday. Well, during my two days off the other day, I decided that I was no longer going to let the things being said decide how I was going to view my job. I worked so hard to get to where I am and I was not going to let anyone push me out of a job that I love. So anyway, that is one of the things I have been learning over the past few weeks.

As far as updates, I have decided to go back to school in the fall. I am looking forward to it and also nervous at the same time. Sometimes I think I haven't been a nurse long enough yet, but I know that if I put it off any longer I won't go back. So, the next step is to fill out my application and get my letters of recommendation.

I just finished reading the best books. I read the Twilight series by Stephanie Myers. I can't wait for the movie to come out next month.

I celebrated my 31st birthday a few weeks ago. It was a very nice day. I didn't have to work the whole day, just had to go in for a meeting. My sister made me dinner and a cake which was so good. It was the first birthday I have spent with my sister in who know how long.

I have started walking. I know it doesn't sound like much, but for me it's a big step in the right direction. I really am trying to get in shape and loose some of this weight that I have put on in the last several years. I have found a doctor who has given me some practical ways to accomplish this goal. I am planning on walking with my fellow co-workers in the Light the Night Leukemia and Lymphoma walk. Some of our patients and their families are going to be walking with us. I am also planning to walk a half marathon December 14th with some of my co-workers, doctors and former patients. We are walking in the White Rock Marathon. I am looking forward to both of these. I'll keep you updated on the progress of these two walks.

Lastly, I am looking forward to going home at the end of December for about a week. The plan is to fly home the day after Christmas until the 30th or 31st. I am looking forward to spending time with my family and seeing my friends back in TN.

Life and Learning

So, I haven't been very good about keeping this thing updated, but I will try and do that now. I have learned in the last month that my plans do not always work out the way that I would like. I had planned that when I moved here I would be getting a house. Little did I know that is turned out to be much harder than I thought. After many weeks of looking at houses, and putting an offer on a few that didn't go through, I realized that maybe it just wasn't the right timing. Maybe God has a reason it didn't work out. Anyway, I am still staying with my sister and her family. Even though this was not what I planned, it has turned out to be a blessing. I hope that I am able to be a blessing while I am here. I am really enjoying the time with my sister and her family.

Work has been good. I have learned so much in the few months that I have been here. I have finally gotten my chemo certification. To get my certification, I had to go to a class for 2 day to learn about chemo, the side effect, complications and much more, then take a test. This is a national certification which will be good anywhere. I have given chemo the last several days that I have worked. It makes me nervous which I guess it a good thing, it makes you a little more cautious. I also did my first stem cell transplant the other day. Every day that I work I find that I am gaining more confidence in my knowledge and skills. I find that I am not as stressed out when I work as I was even a few months ago. I am blessed to be working with a great group of nurses and doctors.

I have been going to a church the last month or so, First Baptist McKinney. I like the church and the Sunday School class that I am attending. Last weekend we went to a hot air balloon festival. It was a lot of fun. Anyway, that is a brief update of the last month or so. Included are a few picture from various event in the last month or so.

A day out when my parents came to visit

My fellow nurses, Dr. Bhushan and I at Dr Berryman's Labor Day Party

My 2 favorite balloons at the festival, the black, pink and yellow one is called "Flight for a Cure"

House Hunting

So, I have spent the last few weeks looking at houses when I'm not working. I had found a few that I liked and one that I put an offer on, but as luck would have it, all of them went under contract. A little discouraging, but I have told myself that there is the right house out there somewhere and when it's time to find it, I will. Other than that, I'll catch you up on what has been happening here in Texas.
First, I'm off orientation at work. It's has been a little stressful since I feel like I'm having to relearn everything, but I work with a great group a nurses that have been very helpful. They don't seem to mind all my questions yet. I'm starting to feel a little more comfortable with my job which is nice. I'm finding out that the doctors here are great. Really, for them most part we only deal with three and only one of them for a month at a time. I have learned quite a bit from them since we as nurses round with the doctors as they see our patients.
My sister has moved into her new house and they have gotten settled in there. Thankfully, they haven't booted me yet. Hopefully, I'll find something soon.

My parents came down the other day and will be here for the week. It's been fun. We have done some sight seeing stuff and the other day we took them to a rodeo. It was a lot of fun and everyone enjoyed it. I'll post some pictures later. My parents have lucked out too since we are having unbelievably cool weather this week. I think the hottest day this week is only supposed to be in the low 90's. I'm not sure it made it into the 80's today. It has rained off and on all day today which ruined our original plans for the day, so we ended up going to the mall and going ice skating. Everyone seemed to be having fun.

So, I'm going house hunting again this weekend, maybe I'll find something. Anyway, hope you are doing good.