Updates....on just about everything.

So much to say... so little time to type. I'll try to squeeze it all in.

Bryan's dad...

...is home from the hospital. He spent a week in for confusion that was a result of his sodium levels being completely out of whack. He is very weak but at least coherent and able to care for himself. What made that happen? Well, he basically had a depletion of his electrolytes from a combination of all the meds he's been on for the GI bleeding episode a month ago. That on top of the fact that he battles a bad heart condition.
There was talk of bringing him over here, b/c the three kids were all running across the state to be supportive of Mom and Grandmother. But they decided to stay over there. This whole thing will be repeated over and over, I'm sure, b/c his health is not well and he never can catch up with his illnesses.

But still, we are glad he is home.

School (for me)...

... is getting harder by the week. The material is very detailed, as it should be, but I can see that I am getting lost in the math. The anesthetist needs to be able to calculate the EXACT amounts and percentages of meds (and gas) given to any given patient. (sounds simple, right?)
But, if you realize that we (as students) need to learn (and calculate)the amount of gas mixed into oxygen and that a simple math mistake of .01% could mean that someone wakes up during surgery... you get how important it is to learn (and multiply) correctly and be about to do it at the head of an OR table in an emergency.

How about the calculation of figuring out how much TIME is left on a cylinder of oxygen in the event of a power failure during an open heart case? If the machine isn't working, it will be my responsibility to keep the patient (with an open chest) asleep and pain free during the power failure. I need to be able to look at the cylinder, measure the pressure left, multiply it by how much the patient is using and know how long the patient has before I need someone to get another cylinder.

This is just ONE basic step... not to mention knowing about how the patient's own medical history and medications affect the way that the gas and meds work. Crazy, huh?

There is a reason that the school is 2.5 years long. I think I'll need that long to figure out how to do this.

Wade's Birthday...

...is this upcoming week. He will be four. We are having a small party for him tomorrow. (Linda - if you are not working, you are most welcome to stop by between 11 and 3p.) It'll be just us and the neighborhood kids but he is very excited. He has not ever had a special party - we usually just have cake on his actual birthday, so having people over on Sunday is big for him.

Our pool is literally overflowing. The rain has brought the level up to the rim and cooled the water considerably. Hopefully the weather will hold up tomorrow.

Olivia is having a playdate today. This is a new friend for her that she met in class this year. Seems nice enough and we had the parents and her over here the other night so they could meet us and see our home before the playdate.

Turns out the husband is a plumber - which is good b/c we are planning on gutting the guest bathroom and the plumbing will need to be redone. My fingers are crossed that Bryan can finish this in a few weeks, but I'm just hoping that it is done by Thanksgiving.

My husband isn't the best at finishing projects. A quick look around our house will tell anyone that.