RN2B...er RN!

I've been thinking about getting a tattoo for years! Especially since going with a friend when she got hers done.
I want something that represents Strength, Courage, Perseverance. Looked into it and found out that the Koi fish is the very think that does. Especially if done in a Yin and Yang form.
Found this pic online.. exactly what I am looking for and I think that this one is cute, feminine and simple.
I just have to figure out where to put it...

I got my results and I passed my OSCEs, my written final and clinical rotations! YIPPEE!

I am on Christmas Break from Nursing school for the next 5 weeks! YAY!
Happy Holidays to all!

O bjective
S tructured
C linical
E examination







This semesters are based on psychiatry and geriatrics and emergency procedures (life saving/CPR).

I am in finals week... 3 exams total, doesn't sound like much, considering I only have 2 classes, though nursing is 23 hrs a week (that's with 16 hrs of clinical), and I have a 3 hr sociology of health class.

Nursing final (written) is Tuesday and it covers 17 lectures worth 40%.. AHHHH!
Nursing practical (OSCE) are Thursday and frankly I have no idea what they will throw at us!
Sociology is a take home, an essay 2-3 pages long, sounds ok right? WRONG! This class is badly taught and we have to write the essay based on articles read for class. Problem is, we have NO IDEA what the heck he is talking about 3/4 of the time and he gives us HIS opinion and if you disagree he fails your paper...! ARGH!
I plan on writing it Tuesday afternoon AFTER the nsg written final.

Memories from 1996... I was there with my friend Irene. 15 days of Olympic fun!

OK, so yeah, I am tooting my own horn. I don't do it often, so that makes it ok!
I won a scholarship from school, from the nursing department. It was a fun night, though after an 8 hr shift and being up since 5AM I was a little tired. I got my second (or third) wind and made it through the ceremony. My two best nursing school friends came with me and I saw the other nursing students and friends/family. We made up the largest group, as our dept has the most awards/scholarships to give out.
The awards I won is called the Gail Hodson Award.

Check out this link and vote for my fur-babies! I've entered a few pics...

I went to the grocery store and saw this cute pineapple plant... I had to get one!

I worked Open House for my school again this year. It was fun, even better now that I am in 3rd yr. Feels like we are more important somehow. We are treated more like equals with staff at times, and the 1st yrs look up to us... more like they can't quite figure out HOW we got there as it all seems so impossible now! LOL... Ah, first year.. when doing AM Care felt hard, hahaha.

This cracks me up! Too CUTE!

This is a video taken by someone visiting the David Sheldrick Trust in Kenya. They took a video of the baby elephant that I have been fostering for 2 years now, her name is Makena and she is a real cutie!

Your Personality is Somewhat Rare (ISFP)

Your personality type is caring, peaceful, artistic, and calm. Only about 7% of all people have your personality, including 8% of all women and 6% of all men You are Introverted, Sensing, Feeling, and Perceiving.

I had to do an AT HOME sleep study... picked up the equipment at the hospital, they showed me how to strap in and back home I went to "sleep". Ya, right! How does one sleep while having a small black box starpped to your chest along with 2 other small things strapped to my chest and around my stomach, nasal prongs to record my breathing and an O2 sat monitor on my finger!

Firts off, I had a heck of a time trying to fall asleep, then woke up 4-5 times throughout the night. Ok, so I don't always sleep well and never feel rested even when I do (the whole point of the sleep study), but seriously, I think one actually needs to be able to sleep for this test to tell you something! I got about 3-4 hrs of sleep TOTAL between 10Pm and 5AM when I had to get up for clinical. Needelss to state I was tired and cranky Thursday, more so than usual.

Let's hope this reveals something and that I do NOT have to do it over... I think I would have had better luck sleeping at the hospital's sleep lab, but the waiting list is 5 months long...

(no comment on the Happy Bunny pj's.. they make ME happy!)

One year ago, a sick and deranged man came to my school and shot students.. he killed one girl,Anastasia DeSousa and later himself after police had shot him. 22 injured.. and our feelings of safety at school were destroyed.

Don't get me wrong, I know this stuff happens, but you never figure it to be YOUR school. Dawson is HUGE, many doors and ways in/out. SInce the shooting there is increased security on campus, PA system in the rooms and locks on all the doors, more than there were anyway... A friend told me there are dead bolts now, I have not looked to see yet.

They cancelled my clinical rotation today, I don't think I would have made it through 8 hrs anyway.. I am doing my psych rotation, so fitting in some way huh?

I am taking it easy today, getting together with a few good friends, attempting to get some studying done.

Let's hope that this never happens again at Dawson or anywheer else for that matter.

Ok, my leg brace broke.. for the 3rd time since mid-April... um, not good and not normal! I didn't do anything to it, didn't do anything out of the ordinary either.

The last 2 times something broke, it was just a screw/nail that broke off, this time the metal rod that goes down the side broke in half along with a screw/nail on the other side! I was walking at the time, and thank goodness I was at home. Had I been out I am not sure what I would've done. I am getting it fixed tomorrow, I think it's time they made a brand new one as this one seems to be jinxed.

Had to post this.. too cute!

I had a wonderful long weekend in Seattle/Auburn, Washington. 4 planes in 4 days.. 6 hrs+ of travel time there and 6 hrs back. A 3 hr time change too!

I went there for the UBPN Camp. It is a Camp for people/families of children who have a Brachial Plexus Injury, either from birth (birth accident) or Trauma (car accident/skiing..). It is a great place to meet people who are facing the same challenges that you are, a place for parents to meet and talk and see older kids/adults with this and realize that their kids will/can grow up to do just about anything they want!

Some kids are more affected than others, they may have a global injury where C5-6-7-8 and T1 are injured, others it's just C5-6.. and so on. But overall we face the same challenges just to different degrees.





I tried to climb a rock wall, I went swimming, ate s'mores at campfire, picked berries off the bush, tried out the Biofeedback machine (Myotrac), met people that I have only known via the internet. Participated in round table discussions with parents and kids, with other OBPI adults and teens, sat in on therapist panels and doctor panels, spent tons of time outside in the sun relaxing and talking. It was a beutiful place to be and I wish it was longer. Next time, Camp UBPN will be in Florid in 2009! and I can't wait!!!

I went for my secon round of Botox injectiosn today...

The doctor did my calf muscles again and this time we added the hamstrings too. Yup, it hurt... bad. I am hypersensitive to regular touch so imagine a needle... 8 of them (at least I stopped counting at 8).

As promissed from last time I took pictures, ok well, I didn't take them, my friend Janel did. I was busy trying not to scream... much.






Botox is purified form of the neurotoxin produced by an anaerobic (grows in the absence of oxygen) bacterium called Clostridium botulinum.

Although there are seven serotypes of botulinum neurotoxin, only A and B are currently approved for clinical use in the United States, and A is, by far, the most commonly used.

Botox (any serotype) works by blocking the release of acetylcholine.

To begin, it's important to understand what makes a muscle contract. In short (very, very short), an action potential is carried by axonal activity from the spine, down the nerve and to the linked muscles. At the neuromuscular junction, a measure of a chemical called acetylcholine is released into the very tiny space between the end of the axon and the muscle. Acetylcholine changes the electrical potential of the resting muscle fiber membrane and initiates a process that causes a contraction. (So, think of acetylcholine as working in a very similar manner as gasoline in a combustible engine. Gasoline is released in a small amount; it reacts (explodes), which sets about a chain of events that leads to motion (piston moving down, crankshaft turning... etc.).

Now, within the nerve ending itself are a series of proteins that are necessary to allow the synaptic vesicles to bind with the nerve endings and allow the release of the acetylcholine. One of these proteins is called SNAP-25, which is the one serotype A acts upon. So, basically, the botox cuts out a necessary protein in the chain of events leading up to the release of acetylcholine. The acetylcholine is never released, thus the action command is never communicated to the muscle.

Okay, here’s the cool part. The body recognizes that it is sending a signal to the treated muscle, telling it to react, but nothing is happening. The nerve terminals actually begin to sprout, sending those sprouts toward the muscle to form new synaptic contacts. Terminal nerve sprouting!!!

Scientists used to believe the treated nerve endings were permanently impaired and that the muscle returned to full functionality by receiving its messages from these new contacts. Recent tests are showing that the original contact heals, and once it becomes fully functional again, the sprouts retract.

What is NOT known, and what I find very interesting, is whether or not these sprouts retract on a newly innervating muscle.

My thanks to Mica (BPI Friends board) for writing this to explain how it works!

Well, it's been a slow summer. Haven't done much. Studying the driver's handbook still and doing online practice questions.It's going well, not that hard.

Was waiting for the Harry Potter movie to come out, saw it and LOVED it, though I wish they hadn't cut so many details out...

Was also waiting for the Harry Potter book to come out and have read it through and LOVED it too. Kind of sad that that's the end of them, thoygh saw an interview where J.K. Rowling has said she will write an encyclopedia type book to fill in the story and backgrounds on the characters. That'll be neat!!!

Am going to get Botox again, for my left leg, this time the calf and the hamstrings.. yay, maybe now I'll get some sleep at night with less spasms!

Getting a CT Scan August 20 for my right hip, we'll see what that does/gives.

Going for a sleep study September 17th, again, we'll see what that gives.

If all goes as planned, I will graduate with my RN in May 2008 and be working as of June/July as a GPL (Grad Pending Licence) and so this means that this is my LAST summer off!

I've decided to get my learner's licence. Bought the book to study from, taking the online practice tests and so far doing all right. When I do the driving test, I'll need a med form filled out and a CAR! I have a friend who will let me use hers since we do not have one. And by the time I take the test I'll be working (fingers crossed) and will be able to save up to get a crap car to start with!

Wish me luck!

I LOVE this TV add:

So, had another test today. One I have once a year every year since I was paralyzed... It is the test I HATE THE MOST! I find it embarassing and intrussive, but it needs to be done...

It is a UrodynamicTest. You ask, "what is this?", I'll tell you!
Basically it is a study that assesses how the bladder and urethra are performing their job of storing and releasing urine. In my case it doesn't do either well as I have aneurogenic bladder. Yippee for me! It's common with people who are paraplegic like me, who has an injury in the Thoracic spine and quadraplegics.





My tracings look something like these top two.. all is calm and quiet, then at around 200cc it rises, then calms down again, then at another 50cc it goes up again, eventually it just makes lots of peaks as my bladder is filled and all I want to do is void!

The other pic is of the computer and IV pole with the Sterile water or NS (I'm not sure) they use to fill you up...

This is from 1996 or 1997. Taken in the Eastern Townships on my friend's dock. Neat.

These 2 pics are for my UBPN/BPI Friends. A while back, my friend Amy asked me if I had any pictures from when I had a tendon transfer (I was 14 going on 15) and now that I have a funtional scanner I managed to find a couple taken at my 15th birthday party (this was 10 days post-op) 1990.
I had this tendon transfer to get external rotation as I have a brachial plexus injury due to a traumatic birth. I had the surgery at the Montreal Shriners.

I just bought a new printer-scanner and so have been able to scan some old pics into the cpu, YAY! So I figured I would put in some of my skating pics from before I was paralyzed (Transverse Myelitis in 2004)... so here are some from over the years (1997-2004) from various competitions in Canada and in the USA: