So here it is the last week of this term and I feel as if I have completed absolutely nothing. I have been so sick this term that it seems as if everything I learned has flown out the window.
The advice I have for someone just entering a college level english class would be to give themselves plenty of time to work on their assignments. I didn't have a lot of spare time this term and it caused me to be behind on a lot of work. I would also tell them to take advantage of any help the professor is offering to them and if a writing center is available to take use of it and ask plenty of questions. And remind them that the only stupid questions are the ones that are never asked.
Leaving this term I feel as if I am always going to struggle with english. Honestly it is my least favorite subject and really wish it was not a necessary class needed to graduate.
Professor you have been absolutely wonderful working with me these last 10 weeks and I want to thank you for all your help and support. To my classmates, I wish you all the best of luck in your upcoming classes. Hope to meet you all at graduation.
Wednesday, February 17, 2010
Thursday, February 4, 2010
Number Nine, number nine, number nine (Beatle's reference there)
So here it is the ninth unit of this term and I still feel as if I haven't accomplished much of anything this term. My rough draft for my english paper is still only half done due to my medical issues. As I have stated before I had lithotripsy and stent placement on my right kidney on Jan. 21. I faired very well through this procedure until about a week later when I started having pain on my right side. Follow up x-ray and doctor visit showed an immense amount of stone particles just sitting in my right ureter and my urologist informed me that they were not only what was causing my pain but that those particles were most likely going to remain there until he could remove the stent. I was OK with that at first because I figured I'd be admitted this week to have the stent removed, I was wrong. My urologist can't get me into the hospital to remove the stent and stone particles until Feb. 18th. Oh, yeah, I forgot to mention that on Feb. 18th not only is he going to remove the stent and stone particles, I also have to have round 2 of lithotripsy on my right kidney because I had a large amount of stones in that kidney to begin with that he could not safely blast all of them at one time. This means that I will be left to deal with the pain and discomfort for the next two weeks, trust me this is not fun to go through. I wouldn't wish this on anyone. It's been two weeks since the lithotripsy was done and although I drink close to a gallon of water a day I still haven't passed any stone particles. Although I am on pain medication and antibiotics there have been 2 occasions in which the pain medication did absolutely nothing which only leads me to call my urologist only to be told to go to the local ER for IV medications and CT scans to make sure the stone particles aren't obstructing anything.
Between the discomfort and the medications (even the antibiotic, Cipro, tends to make me sleepy nevermind what happens when I take the pain meds) it is really hard to focus on my schoolwork.
I'm lucky I have a fantastic english teacher. She has worked with me every step of the way, she understands what I am going through and has allowed me to take an incomplete which would allow me two extra weeks to complete my rough draft and final paper. If it wasn't for her working with me I could almost guarantee that I would have to repeat english again next term and I certainly don't want to do that.
Between the discomfort and the medications (even the antibiotic, Cipro, tends to make me sleepy nevermind what happens when I take the pain meds) it is really hard to focus on my schoolwork.
I'm lucky I have a fantastic english teacher. She has worked with me every step of the way, she understands what I am going through and has allowed me to take an incomplete which would allow me two extra weeks to complete my rough draft and final paper. If it wasn't for her working with me I could almost guarantee that I would have to repeat english again next term and I certainly don't want to do that.
Thursday, January 28, 2010
Walking into spider webs
So here we are in the 8th week of this term. Hard to believe that it is almost over. I really don't feel as if I have accomplished anything this term. Maybe that's because I am still behind with assignments. Classwork I am all caught up on, research papers, no where near it. The main reason I am behind is because of my medical problems, the lesser reason is that because of medication I am taking I can't seem to focus as much and an even lesser reason is that fact that I am lazy and honestly don't want to do the work at times. It's not even the work itself that I don't want to do, it's the research and the citation. Ask me to write a paper without having to use APA format and references and I'm good but since we have to document everything I just get impatient and want to get it overwith already.
Yeah I know I sound like a whinny little brat and part of that is true. I am spoiled to a certain extent.
As far as continuing to blog when this class is over, I doubt very much that it is something that I will continue to do. Blogging just doesn't seem to interest me and even after all these weeks in class I still can't figure out why blogging was mandatory in this class. I can understand it is an english class and papers have to be written as part of the classwork but what does blogging have to do with the english class?
I am so ready for this term to be over. Maybe it's because I find the classes boring (no offense Professor Pal, english is just not my cup of tea), maybe it's because I am inpatient and just want to get to the transcription part and elective parts of my degree plan, I'm really not sure.
Although I doubt I will continue to blog I wouldn't rule it out completely. I have found that it is a good way to vent and Lord knows there are many times when I just need to let it out.
Yeah I know I sound like a whinny little brat and part of that is true. I am spoiled to a certain extent.
As far as continuing to blog when this class is over, I doubt very much that it is something that I will continue to do. Blogging just doesn't seem to interest me and even after all these weeks in class I still can't figure out why blogging was mandatory in this class. I can understand it is an english class and papers have to be written as part of the classwork but what does blogging have to do with the english class?
I am so ready for this term to be over. Maybe it's because I find the classes boring (no offense Professor Pal, english is just not my cup of tea), maybe it's because I am inpatient and just want to get to the transcription part and elective parts of my degree plan, I'm really not sure.
Although I doubt I will continue to blog I wouldn't rule it out completely. I have found that it is a good way to vent and Lord knows there are many times when I just need to let it out.
Monday, January 25, 2010
feeling so behind.
Well we are now in the 7th unit of this term and I am behind. I am usually not behind but my recent kidney problems are giving me no choice. Two weeks later and I was finally able to submit my unit 5 seminar option 2. I still haven't gotten around to getting my rough draft for english in any sort of order. I have notes galore but nothing that makes sense and it's no where near readable right now. I have my outline for my A&P class a quarter done and I still have to do my discussion posts for both classes and take 2 tests for my A&P class.
I underwent another cystoscopy last Thursday that also included lithotripsy and stent placement on my right kidney. I'm not sure what they did while I was under anesthesia all I know is when I woke up in recovery my calves felt as if I had climbed Mt. Everest, they were so sore. Somehow I managed to drag myself to my A&P class that same night but due to the anesthesia and pain meds I don't remember much of that class. Friday I was supposed to be on bedrest. I was only allowed to take my daughters to and from school then be off my feet for the day. Well thanks to my inpatient father in law that didn't happen. My father in law is also my landlord and he picked Friday to decided to rip the vanity and medicine cabinet out and replace them along with replacing the kitchen sink. He knew I was going for the procedure on Thursday and was told by both my husband and myself that I was to be on bedrest Friday but it fell on deaf ears. So rather than take my kids to school, come home and relax I spent a good 5-6 hrs grabbing things (tools, molding, pipes, etc.) that my father in law needed to use in the bathroom. The funny thing is he hired his friends son to help him but that guy turned out to be useless because he was drunk. My husband had to work so he couldn't help. When my father in law decided he was done for the day he basically left trash all over the place. He over took my kitchen counter and dining room table with tools, just left them there because he wasn't finished with them yet. He left empty boxes all over my patio and just left the old kitchen sink sitting on the grass right outside my door. I could have left the boxes and sink just laying there but the community we live in is very strict about home improvement debris laying around and I didn't want to risk getting a $100 fine so I managed to drag all the garbage to the curb. All this running around didn't sit too well with my kidneys and I started to urinate a lot of blood. My urologist was called and I was put on strict bedrest for 48 hrs. Not fun. It was either go on bedrest or be put back in the hospital. That was a no brainer, I chose bedrest.
As it is I am most likely going to have to take an incomplete for this term which will give me something like 10-14 days after the term ends to submit the assignments that I am missing. This is not sitting well with me. As I have said many times before, grades are a big deal with me. To me it is extremely important to maintain my CPGA (currently a 3.88) and bring it up if possible. I have no idea how I am going to be able to do this.
I underwent another cystoscopy last Thursday that also included lithotripsy and stent placement on my right kidney. I'm not sure what they did while I was under anesthesia all I know is when I woke up in recovery my calves felt as if I had climbed Mt. Everest, they were so sore. Somehow I managed to drag myself to my A&P class that same night but due to the anesthesia and pain meds I don't remember much of that class. Friday I was supposed to be on bedrest. I was only allowed to take my daughters to and from school then be off my feet for the day. Well thanks to my inpatient father in law that didn't happen. My father in law is also my landlord and he picked Friday to decided to rip the vanity and medicine cabinet out and replace them along with replacing the kitchen sink. He knew I was going for the procedure on Thursday and was told by both my husband and myself that I was to be on bedrest Friday but it fell on deaf ears. So rather than take my kids to school, come home and relax I spent a good 5-6 hrs grabbing things (tools, molding, pipes, etc.) that my father in law needed to use in the bathroom. The funny thing is he hired his friends son to help him but that guy turned out to be useless because he was drunk. My husband had to work so he couldn't help. When my father in law decided he was done for the day he basically left trash all over the place. He over took my kitchen counter and dining room table with tools, just left them there because he wasn't finished with them yet. He left empty boxes all over my patio and just left the old kitchen sink sitting on the grass right outside my door. I could have left the boxes and sink just laying there but the community we live in is very strict about home improvement debris laying around and I didn't want to risk getting a $100 fine so I managed to drag all the garbage to the curb. All this running around didn't sit too well with my kidneys and I started to urinate a lot of blood. My urologist was called and I was put on strict bedrest for 48 hrs. Not fun. It was either go on bedrest or be put back in the hospital. That was a no brainer, I chose bedrest.
As it is I am most likely going to have to take an incomplete for this term which will give me something like 10-14 days after the term ends to submit the assignments that I am missing. This is not sitting well with me. As I have said many times before, grades are a big deal with me. To me it is extremely important to maintain my CPGA (currently a 3.88) and bring it up if possible. I have no idea how I am going to be able to do this.
Monday, January 18, 2010
The past six weeks.
Wow! I can't believe we are now more than half way done with this term.
The last six weeks have been absolutely crazy and unfortunately I am behind in my schoolwork because of all the things that have been going on.
First my 14 yr old daughter had surgery a week before christmas, nothing too major, a tonsillectomy but surgery none the less. Because we are on medicaid I couldn't find a local dr and had to travel 45 minutes one way for her initial visit, pre-op testing, surgery and follow up. She did fine after the surgery but being a typical 14 yr old she was demanding a lot of attention. Then Christmas and New Years rolled around. My sister, who I have not seen in 10 yrs, came down from Indiana and my sister in law came down from NJ. It was nice to see them but hectic at the same time.
Then, first week in January I wound up being admitted to the hospital due to my left kidney being obstructed by a kidney stone. I am no stranger to kidney stones as I have a genetic condition which causes me to form them. I was in the hospital for 4 days and had a procedure done to remove the blocking stones then have stents put in my ureters to keep them from becoming obstructed. I went for my follow up visist with my urologist this past Friday only to find out that my condition is more serious than originally thought. I have massive amounts of stones still sitting in both kidneys. So now I have to have even more procedures done to rectify this problem. This Thursday (Jan. 21) I will be admitted back into the hospital for another cystoscopy, stent removal, stone manipulation, lithotripsy and stent re-insertion on my right kidney. Then in 2 weeks I will be admitted again to have the same thing done on my left kidney. And finally 2 weeks after that once again be admitted to have the stent taken out. This does not even include all the follow up visits to my urologist and nephrologist.
I wish I could say that after all these procedures are done that that is the end of the kidney problems but no such luck. Since my condition is genetic I have already been informed that I will have to take serious medications to prevent stones from forming again which is going to be difficult since my kidneys aren't formed correctly. I am going to have to have routine 24 hr urine collections and bloodwork done. This puts a serious dent into things for me.
As a result of my recent hospitalization I am now behind in my schoolwork. With more procedures and doctor visits looming there's a tremendous possibility that I will fall behind again. One of my professors (Professor Pal), has been absolutely fantastic and is working with me in regards to my schoolwork. My other professor, not so much. She is rushing me to complete late assignments and seems to get annoyed when I email her to let her know I am still working on something. You know it is not easy to do everyday "normal" things (cook, clean, take kids to school, etc) and do schoolwork when you are in quite a bit of pain because you have tubes in your ureters and feel as if you have to use the restroom every 2 seconds.
Some people have no compassion.
The last six weeks have been absolutely crazy and unfortunately I am behind in my schoolwork because of all the things that have been going on.
First my 14 yr old daughter had surgery a week before christmas, nothing too major, a tonsillectomy but surgery none the less. Because we are on medicaid I couldn't find a local dr and had to travel 45 minutes one way for her initial visit, pre-op testing, surgery and follow up. She did fine after the surgery but being a typical 14 yr old she was demanding a lot of attention. Then Christmas and New Years rolled around. My sister, who I have not seen in 10 yrs, came down from Indiana and my sister in law came down from NJ. It was nice to see them but hectic at the same time.
Then, first week in January I wound up being admitted to the hospital due to my left kidney being obstructed by a kidney stone. I am no stranger to kidney stones as I have a genetic condition which causes me to form them. I was in the hospital for 4 days and had a procedure done to remove the blocking stones then have stents put in my ureters to keep them from becoming obstructed. I went for my follow up visist with my urologist this past Friday only to find out that my condition is more serious than originally thought. I have massive amounts of stones still sitting in both kidneys. So now I have to have even more procedures done to rectify this problem. This Thursday (Jan. 21) I will be admitted back into the hospital for another cystoscopy, stent removal, stone manipulation, lithotripsy and stent re-insertion on my right kidney. Then in 2 weeks I will be admitted again to have the same thing done on my left kidney. And finally 2 weeks after that once again be admitted to have the stent taken out. This does not even include all the follow up visits to my urologist and nephrologist.
I wish I could say that after all these procedures are done that that is the end of the kidney problems but no such luck. Since my condition is genetic I have already been informed that I will have to take serious medications to prevent stones from forming again which is going to be difficult since my kidneys aren't formed correctly. I am going to have to have routine 24 hr urine collections and bloodwork done. This puts a serious dent into things for me.
As a result of my recent hospitalization I am now behind in my schoolwork. With more procedures and doctor visits looming there's a tremendous possibility that I will fall behind again. One of my professors (Professor Pal), has been absolutely fantastic and is working with me in regards to my schoolwork. My other professor, not so much. She is rushing me to complete late assignments and seems to get annoyed when I email her to let her know I am still working on something. You know it is not easy to do everyday "normal" things (cook, clean, take kids to school, etc) and do schoolwork when you are in quite a bit of pain because you have tubes in your ureters and feel as if you have to use the restroom every 2 seconds.
Some people have no compassion.
Wednesday, January 13, 2010
This past week
So the new year has begun and I can't say it has started off well. Two weeks into the new year I wound up hospitalized with an obstructed kidney due to the darn medullary sponge kidneys that I have. I was in the hospital for 4 days and underwent a procedure to remove the stones. I have been home from the hospital for less than 24 hours and here I am worrying about my school work.
I feel as if I am soooooo behind when I'm actually not. I was able to contact my professors while I was in the hospital to inform them where I was and ask for an extention of the work that was due by Tuesday. Both of my professors agreed to let me submit the work late but here it is one day home, still in a lot of discomfort and I am worrying about school.
The entire time I was in the hospital there were only 2 things I was worried about. My kids and my schoolwork. Ok so it really wasn't a matter of submitting work ontime. I knew my professors would grant me an extention. It is more a matter of "can I really do this?" as in complete the work for this term. I can't say that I am bored with school because I'm not but I just want to graduate already. Patience has never been one of my strengths. Growing up my mom used to tell me all the time that I had no patience. It doesn't seem to be getting better with age either. My patience level is soooooooo low and I get frustrated very easily. I want to get into the "meat and potatoes" of my schooling already, which would be the actual transcription part. I know that before I get to that point there are other classes that have to happen first but call me lazy or whatever but I don't want to do those other classes to get where I need to go, I just want to go there already. I have found that for some reason, during this term I am not giving school "my all" as I did in my first two terms. Part of that is my whole problem with patience and a bigger part of it is my depression. Sometimes I just get so down in the dumps that I figure why bother then I start to think about my kids and the end result of completing school and I move forward. I mean I definitely have the time to focus 6 hours a day on my schooling but when I sit down in front of this computer and open up the Kaplan website my mind goes off in other directions and before I know it it is almost time to pick my kids up from school and I'm like "what the heck, now I don't have any time to work on my schooling." I feel as if my priorities for school are out of whack and I have absolutely no idea how to go about getting them back on track.
I feel as if I am soooooo behind when I'm actually not. I was able to contact my professors while I was in the hospital to inform them where I was and ask for an extention of the work that was due by Tuesday. Both of my professors agreed to let me submit the work late but here it is one day home, still in a lot of discomfort and I am worrying about school.
The entire time I was in the hospital there were only 2 things I was worried about. My kids and my schoolwork. Ok so it really wasn't a matter of submitting work ontime. I knew my professors would grant me an extention. It is more a matter of "can I really do this?" as in complete the work for this term. I can't say that I am bored with school because I'm not but I just want to graduate already. Patience has never been one of my strengths. Growing up my mom used to tell me all the time that I had no patience. It doesn't seem to be getting better with age either. My patience level is soooooooo low and I get frustrated very easily. I want to get into the "meat and potatoes" of my schooling already, which would be the actual transcription part. I know that before I get to that point there are other classes that have to happen first but call me lazy or whatever but I don't want to do those other classes to get where I need to go, I just want to go there already. I have found that for some reason, during this term I am not giving school "my all" as I did in my first two terms. Part of that is my whole problem with patience and a bigger part of it is my depression. Sometimes I just get so down in the dumps that I figure why bother then I start to think about my kids and the end result of completing school and I move forward. I mean I definitely have the time to focus 6 hours a day on my schooling but when I sit down in front of this computer and open up the Kaplan website my mind goes off in other directions and before I know it it is almost time to pick my kids up from school and I'm like "what the heck, now I don't have any time to work on my schooling." I feel as if my priorities for school are out of whack and I have absolutely no idea how to go about getting them back on track.
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