My Christmas Party!

Every year endo decides to have a christmas party for the staff, even though there is an annual Christmas Gala for the whole hospital. Our department decided to have our own party and this year it was at Crystal's who is one of the RN's. Last year I guess it was at Dr. Ward's house and it was a ball. But this year was fantastic. Crystal's house is gorgeous, very modern and sleek all in a grey color scheme it was simply beautiful. It was cute because her little daughter was there too she was carrying around her baby doll and her purse (it was sooo cute).

About 20 people went and it was potluck. The types of food that was brought ranged from homemade antipasto, homemade perogies, cheese dips, turkey stuffing, pretty much anything that you could think of to bring to a potluck you did.

We also had a chinese auction as well. We all got were told to bring a present and when it was your turn you could either open a new present or steal a present that was previously opened. I was number 17 so I got my fair share of the pick. I got a $25 bath and body works gift card which is perfect for holiday shopping in lethbridge when I go down. But the other presents that were there were christmas decorations, various wines but I was very happy with my gift.

But it was fun there was lots of laughter lots and lots of food and just a great time!

One Eleven with the crew!

Tonight Alyssa came back into town and she texted me saying her and Lise were going to go to One eleven for dinner. I thought at first that Alyssa was texting the wrong person because it was only like a week ago that she had left. But she really did text me to go have dinner with her and lise. Nancy came eventually too as well as Jesse. 

Jesse and I have never gone there before so it was interesting first off to see their prices, and this restaurant is not cheap. It is however, worth the money. Jesse got this Yorkshire philly, I just got their burger and sweet potato fries. Lise got salt n' pepper wings and some clam chowder. Alyssa got their chicken special and Nancy got the same as Jesse. It was all very good, very flavourful and most importantly very filling. They also gave very good portions, they gave you a lot of food but not so much that you cannot finish it. 

Lastly, for dessert Jesse and I shared a toffee pudding and the other girls shared this 7 layer chocolate cake, that was ok just not sweet enough. 

But it was fun to have seen Alyssa and laugh about things at work, let her know whats going on, etc. I just really enjoyed my time tonight and I am grateful to be in Red Deer to go out with friends and enjoy myself like I do. 

Mom came to visit!

Over the past week, last week my mom came into town to come visit me. It kind of was an inconvenient time though since I caught the works viral cold. It was horrible, you coughed non-stop, had a fever that could hardly be controlled and just felt miserable. The monday I even called in sick even though I really hate to do that, and I was planning on cleaning up my house before my mom came but that monday I could hardly move from my bed. But that night she came at about 10 o'clock at night on the greyhound so we made her some food.

The next day she helped me clean my house a bit since I was so miserably sick. We then ordered pizza from Dino's here in red deer since they do not have on in lethbridge. We had the chef's special, which pretty much had everything on it and we had the donair pizza (so good, it had real lettuce and tzaziki on it). That day we just pretty much chilled at home. 

The next day I attempted to go to work but ended up going home early. I was coughing too hard and even with medicine I could not contain my fever. 

The following day though I felt much better and mom and I went to Cora's for breakfast, since no one would go to Cora's with her since apparently it is too expensive..which it is not...but it is hard to get a place unless you go super early in the morning. When we went I got a fruit bowl to share some hot water and lemon and lastly a chocolate brioche french toast. Mom got this massive nutella banana filled crepe. It was literally the size of my arm. After that we went shopping at Walmart, I bought some long johns so the walk from my car to the hospital will be more enjoyable during the winter, a winter jacket, a warm sweater (so that I won't take Jesse's as much anymore) and some hobo gloves. After that we went to get our hair done at first choice haircutters our girl's name was Caitlin and let me tell you...she was good..but she was slow. Normally I have a window for how long I allow people to touch me, including Jesse and she worked on my hair for about 45 minutes, normally I only like when people work on my hair for about 20 minutes then I am good. But she took forever, she did a great job and its as short as I wanted it to be but it took forever. 

Then over the next few days after that we just sat at home and watched Gilmore girls since that is one of the shows that my mom loved and I loved as a child to watch. 

Then the last day we went to the Red Deer Museum and we checked it out and what its all about. It is a really nice museum just kind of confusing to know where it is. 

It was just great having my mom come to visit me, she is such a special lady in my life and I enjoyed spoiling her while she was here and although our visit wasn't all butterflies because of my illness. I enjoyed every moment of it and I realize I take my mother for granted more than I realize. I truly am grateful to have the lady for my mother, to have been raised by such an excellent example of a hard working, respectful and inspiring woman. I am the luckiest daughter to have such a great mother. 

That was our visit!

Mom comes to town: Day 1

So my mom came down for Remembrance day because I was feeling homesick. Anyways on our first day it wasn't very eventful because I am very sick at the moment. I caught this viral bug that I guess is going around Red Deer so pretty much the first thing that we did was go to the doctor. The next thing was she helped us clean our house a little bit since that was the plan to do all weekend, but due to getting sick with this nasty bug I just pretty much laid in bed and slept for 2 days straight. 

And following that night we ordered pizza from Dino's we got the Chef's special and the donair pizza. Oddly enough though the donair pizza actually tasted like one. But it is so great to have my mom, I am grateful that I do not live too far from her so she can come and visit me every-so-often. I am so grateful for that. 

My yoga class!

So it has been awhile since I even did since Yoga Class but I can still tell you about it anyways. 

So this yoga class was a free class that I went to with Lise and Danielle. They just opened the day before and was having a demo class. The class that we went to was yin yoga by candlelight, the studio was dimly lit and had little candles all around the room.

It was the only class that I was able to focus fully on what I was doing instead of wondering what someone else beside me was doing. It was very relaxing and made my body feel wonderful for a good 5 days after that! 

My weekend…last weekend

So last weekend I completely forgot to write a post about! Funny thing too is that this weekend is when I did the most stuff too!

To start off with I had sushi with my coworkers daughter Danielle, it was nice because she loves sushi. We went to sushimaru and it was equally as good as it was the first time. I had a crunch roll, a beef terri roll and a california roll since I love them so much. We had a good talk though her baby was gone in Ontario with her boyfriend for a friends wedding so she had some time to focus on being on a grant jury. It is interesting hearing about her job though since she studied anthropology in school, so it is interesting to get to know about different culture etc. 

Then later on that day we went to the movie Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, it was seriously so good. I watched the turtles as a child and it reminded me so much of watching that show, and stealing vhs tapes from my guy friend back then (Lockie). It was good too because it explained how they became mutated and such. It had very good comedy too. 

Thennnn the following day…we had our bonfire at Nancy's house. Lise was not able to go since she was sick, which was ironic because she was the one that invited herself over to Nancy's in the first place. It was just Ghis, AJ, Nancy and I. We had sooo much chocolate, we made banana boats (mine was burnt), hot dogs (mine was burnt as was Ghis's) had some McCann's moisture chocolate heaven in a pan…not the real name but you get the point…and some chips. AJ specifically chose the chocolate too since she knows chocolate. She brought Reese peanut butter cup (one of my favs) and some cadbury chocolate bars. I brought the bananas and the marshmallows even though Nancy had some already. Also let me tell you Nancy's property is beautiful. She lives on a few acres of land, she had an old fashioned pillar farm house and has the kitchen of my dreams. It is big, and has a big island in the middle of it, white cupboards and a grey/black granite that looked beautiful with hard wood floors…insert drool moment….To say the least it would be the kitchen of my dreams, her place was gorgeous and it honestly didn't surprise me with how glamorous she can be at times. 

But that was my weekend…last weekend…it came a week late but at least I still remembered it! It was so much fun, and I love everyone that I have here. I am so glad that I moved to Red Deer, I have met honestly the best people and they feel like my little family. I just feel love from everyone here and I hope I reciprocate those feelings! 

Sushi time! - SushiMaru Edition!

Tonight I went for sushi with Jesse, Lise, Alyssa (AJ) and Nancy. Basically all the people that I really enjoy at work. But anyways we went for sushi, and it was sooo good! 

Jesse got hot wings, fries with gravy and some Calimari (which was really good ). 

Nancy got some Calimari as well with some fries.

 Lise got the philadelphia roll, the beef teri roll and the crazy sexy lady roll (it had this blueberry sauce on it and it looked like when heinz made their purple ketchup, but it was different more of a sweet roll). 

Alyssa got the scary eye roll (reallllly good as well), the love me tender roll (reallllly good), some smoked salmon and some spring rolls. 

Lastly, I got the avocado roll, the crunch roll (sooo good, doesn't look appetizing but it was soooo good), the volcano roll (good as well) and a normal california roll. I thought it was all zoo good. Our waitress did not really know english that well so she got someone that did know english better and he was great, he was really funny, gave us great service, explained some of the different kinds of sushi to us. 

So we had a great night of laughing, talking about work, eating sushi and literally sharing everything. Everything was so good and I would suggest this sushi restaurant literally best sushi place I have been too wayy better than lethbridge and their presentation was beautiful. Everything tasted good, the prices were unbeatable too. 

link is down below 

http://www.yelp.ca/biz/sushimaru-red-deer

Hanging out and the lobster summer party!

Today I hung out with Danielle (Lise's daughter). I have to say that it was really nice to be out of the house and hang out with other people. We just mainly talked all day, we were supposed to crochet but that didn't happen. It at least gave me the motivation to continue working on a blanket that I was redoing forever. But it was nice to just hang out with Danielle, her son Alex, who is so cute. He is such a flirt but he is so shy, when I walked in he just ran away, and was he clingy when he was over. Danielle says he is never so clingy, but all he wanted to do was be cuddly with Danielle. But it was so much fun to hang out with them all.

Then later that night we had a lobster bake. It was sooooo good. Dr. Jenkins provided all the lobster and the booze. The last time that Jesse and I even had lobster was in lethbridge at the keg when he chased me with the shell because I think that they are creepy looking. They look like things that should be off alien vs. predator. But it was cool, I got to learn how to take a lobster apart and get a work out even trying to get at the meat. There was also a potluck and all the food that they brought was really good. All the nurses came, some surgical processors, some Dr's and our managers came. It was cute because Dr. Ryan brought his two little daughters and they are just sweet as sweet could be. They look exactly like him. But it was fun, I got to try some different kinds of wine. I liked this cupcake one and a few red wines I like, also I tried some different beers too like Alexander Keith's india pale ale. We went with Lise, her husband and Alyssa (she just got back into her full time position, she took a leave of absence). 

And after the lobster bake, we just talked at Lise's house for about an hour afterward about funny stuff that happened at work. It was fun to have a good laugh and relax, Jesse laughed too it was good to see him laugh after he hadn't laughed that hard in a long time. 

But I am so grateful for my department and I love them so much I had such a great time and I am proud to be part of the endo team! 

A social life..at last

This week has been a great development in the "code operation: begin socializing" movement that I have been trying to force myself to do. Since being in Red Deer, we mainly have been worried about, living here, money and living here…let alone trying to have a social life. Finally our lives seem to be calming down after the storm that raged through our lives, so I thought it is finally time to socialize. 

I asked Lise and Ghislaine at work if they wanted to go out for dinner one night and while I was talking about East Side Marios some of the ladies were like..well why not go there? Especially since they had not gone to East Side Marios in a long time. Anyways since I knew that it would be super busy, I decided to make a reservation..normally you would have to wait 20 minutes otherwise. We were all saying how it feels like an expensive nightclub where you need to be "exclusive" to get in and everyone else looks at you like "you b*tch" because you got in first without waiting at all. But we all laughed, we indulged, laughed and indulged some more. It was so much fun. 

The next day we invited Lise's daughter Danielle and her boyfriend over. We were initially planning on going to a movie but it just didn't work out. So we changed it to a movie in at our place. It was so nice doing it that way first though because we never got to the movie but we got to get to know them first. It is interesting because Matt is a chef and went to culinary school so he told us about some of the food how to make a good stock stuff like that. Its nice since he said he could give me some tips like how to make better pasta sauces and such. Danielle also has a degree in Anthropology so its cool because she told me about different cultures and the respects/disrespects of a few. It was a very enlightening conversation that I enjoyed with both of them. They both are super smart, super down to earth people and both Jesse and I enjoyed their company very much.

Then last night Jesse went to Guardians of the Galaxy, and that movie was very well made. Very funny and I would recommend this movie to anybody. 

But that has been just the last three days. For not socializing a lot since arriving in Red Deer, We sure made progress and I am happy about it! 

Moving..scams..and mom coming to visit

So our perfect little house in Red Deer turned into a real nightmare. On July 12th or something like that Jesse told me that the guy we were renting from..who we thought owned the house really actually was only renting. Not only was he renting, but his landlord has NO idea that we were staying there. He told us if we were to stay there we had to rip up our lease agreement and agree to stay there as "just friends". So I started to panic..any normal person would and we finally agreed that we had to move. The following monday I told myself that I needed two things. 1. Meet the original landlord, and 2. get a new agreement, Rob could not deliver either so we decided to move. Luckily we found another place a lot sooner, in a good neighbourhood and basically now we love it here. Took a lot to get here but now we are here. 

But when we moved in mom decided to come down to help us unpack. It was so much fun when she came down, she motivated us to pack and we got to spoil her. And man did we..we took her to East Side Marios and let me tell you..best food ever…and did we ever hoard food into our bellies for that. We had to wait 20 minutes to get in but we got our food right away, it was amazing. 

Then we took mom to the Collicut centre which was fun, we did the steam room, hot tub, mom went down the water slide a few times (I think she really liked that) and just swam. It was sooo much fun. 

But I am so glad I got to spend some quality time with my momma even due to the circumstances. I am truly grateful for my mom and everything she does for us. She truly is the best mom ever and I wish I could do more. 

But that has been my life for awhile, we love our new place, we have an awesome kitchen, huugge living room, huge bedroom, walk in closet and the best shower ever with an adjustable shower head. It truly is great and I feel like this truly is where we are supposed to be, even through the hardship. 

The Collicut Centre

Jesse and I decided to finally do something in Red Deer. Like legit it was the first time we left the house…NOT for groceries…pretty sad. But anyways we decided to go since both of our bodies were screaming after this week of work.

Anyways they have a salt pool, a big hot tub, a few little slide, a wave pool and the monster of all saunas (it would not stop blowing steam until you stopped it). But it was a fun day… Sorry for the short post but literally that is all we have done thus far in Red Deer, and it was very relaxing.

Going home

This weekend Jesse and I decided to go back home. Jesse got a cheque in the mail and I was getting really homesick so we decided it was just the best decision. When we started going down to lethbridge the car began to overheat really bad, when we left Red Deer it was like 35+ so it was understandable why it was overheating. We had to pull off at least twice to let the car cool down a bit, but we were not the only ones that were doing this. We saw many other vehicles pulling off to the side of the road to let their engines cool down. However, it did put a damper on how fast we got home. We had to only go 100 km/h compared to the 120/30 that we normally go when driving. I can't lie, I am pretty sure we pissed off almost everyone on the road especially when the speed limit was 110 and we were going under the speed limit. But going through Calgary wasn't that bad, everyone else was going slower than normal so it was fine. But we got to mom's around 5. When we were there we bought Jesse a 5" grinder since its hard on his body using the 7"grinder that he had at work. But after that we went to my mom's. 

 But man I am telling you to see the house without all of our stuff and just mom's stuff is so surreal. She really did a great job on decorating her place, it looks empty there but I know that is how she likes her house to look. 

When we were there she gave us some leftover chinese food that she had at Juanita's. I guess that they had a lunch or something like that. Juanita also made some homemade cheesecake…and let me tell you…best effing cheesecake on the planet. Mom says that she just used condensed milk, cream cheese and some lemon juice. But I can tell that she made it more on the heavier side for the lemon juice, which I LOVE in cheesecake. 

I also got to see Charly too, he really has turned into a grumpy old man cat. We managed to clip at least one of his paws (I think mom should just take him to pet land to get his nails clipped). But he was not happy to see Jesse at all, he had this look like he was so confused. Well we left, mom went to Calgary for a week to go see Aunt Val and while she was there Grandma took care of him. But he cuddled up to me later which was nice. It was good to see my baby boy. 

Later on we went to Grandma's and she has new teeth! I couldn't believe it, I knew that she was getting new teeth but I thought they would be the same as her other ones since she loved them so much. But her smile looks totally different, you can tell she likes that you can see her teeth more. Its just weird seeing her with a different set of teeth. 

Even later on that evening, we went to go see Transformers: Age of Extinction and we all loved that movie. Except it is a long, lonnng movie. But we all liked it so that was good. 

We didn't stay very long but we got lots of stuff done and got to enjoy our weekend for once so it was nice. 

Moving

Jesse and I have moved to Red Deer! After what seemed like having the hardest time to find a place, worry about how much money that I would have for this move, worrying about gosh knows what else about moving and we have finally just did it! 

I cannot lie the beginning of our move was just frustrating. We had booked a u-haul two weeks PRIOR to our move date. We went to go get the trailer and what do you know…it was not there. How great knowing that I had to start a job the following Monday. But luckily they had a trailer in Taber, so we got 50 dollars off our u-haul since we had to drive all the way to Taber to grab our trailer let alone move all of our junk into this trailer. I swear next move we have I hope to have our own cargo trailer because the amount of bullshit that we were put through is just inexcusable. I guess that they gave our trailer to someone that did not want to wait for one, when there was a huge line-up to begin with (eye roll). 

Even though we got the trailer later than expected…we moved pretty fast. We had originally planned on moving in the following day leaving at like 3 in the morning to make it to Red Deer for 8 am. But Jesse decided to just move that following night since it really did not take long to move all of our stuff. So we drove all the way to Red Deer the following night. We were surprised because when we got there our landlord was home when he said he had to work so it was nice to finally meet him. 

But when I initially saw our place I was freaking out because I thought it was so tiny at first, so I was worried that everything wouldn't fit but we figured it out. I am so grateful for my mom though she really motivated me to unpack things and get our house sort of set up. We at least had our kitchen, living room, bedroom and bathroom set up by the time I started my job on Monday. 

But we took advice from our landlord and we tried this breakfast diner called Glenn's one day. They have a breakfast buffet which was so yummy. It was cute because they were all tea cup crazed out at this diner, they even had a little gift shop. It was at a good location too since it was on gasoline alley. 

Then I started work the following day and that is whole other story in itself. 

Working in the Garden of Eden...

DAY 1

While I am finished working at Shoppers and Jesse is just waiting for us to move to Red Deer. We have decided to do some day to day work. Jesse worked yesterday for this lady and I began to help out today. We were called to do some landscaping for her, guess that she is going to put her garden into a home and garden show at the end of the summer. She would normally do the work herself except that she had surgery that is not allowing her to do heavy lifting.  

To begin our day we were shovelling mulch into a wheel barrel to use in the pathway around the boxes of her garden. The mulch would then make the pathway through the garden..to be honest..I felt like the mulch didn't look that pretty in the garden I think a stone walking path would be better but if that works for her its great. Then I pulled up some garlic for her to make way for the mulch. I helped her weed her garden beds too, she told me that some weeds are actually better for you than some vegetables especially dandelion. 

But when I say this woman had plants everywhere..she literally did. She had the gardens in the boxes, she had them around the edge of her yard, in front of her gazebo, the front of her house. She had a greenhouse filled with probably hundreds of different flowers, even her house was filled with plants. She actually made an indoor garden that she can tend to all year around full with a waterfall and everything. I thought going to this job you are helping with a garden or so..I wasn't expecting that we would be tending to the 10 gardens that normal people have. She also had lots of animals too, she told us there was at least 4 skunks in her yard a few snakes and she had this parrot on the inside. Man did the parrot have sass too, it kept on looking on the owner throwing out its food then it said hello and then it went to the top of the cage and was screaming at the top of its lungs. It truly was deafening to the ears.

Greenhouse

DAY 2

Today we woke up at 5:30 am to go work at her place, because the way we saw it if we can beat the afternoon heat it would be better because it was just so hot the last day. But today we mostly weeded a portion of her garden, she didn't want anything to grow there and things did. Then we took out most of the dead stuff that was in the gardens around the fence and I put mulch back into the garden instead of the grass. But it was a struggle because I was in so much pain from the cramping in my back from shovelling the mulch from yesterday into the wheel barrel.

At the end of the day she invited us inside so she could pay us and I guess the parrot screaming meant that it just wanted to say hello. So she took him out for us and he got to say hello, she tried to get Jesse to hold him but the bird was too shy. Instead the bird just let him pet his head and when we were leaving the bird said bye bye as well. I thought it was a very cool parrot, loud, but cool.

DAY 3

We finished weeding the corner of the garden and we mulched the whole thing. We also began to clear the dead stuff out of the other beds as well. But one surprise that we got today, was we got to meet some of the critters that lived in her garden. For example, her SKUNKS and SNAKES. Was just enough to give Jesse and I a heart attack both. But I have to admit baby skunks are cute..even though deadly. 

Uncle Chris and Date at the Brick

Today Uncle chris came to visit. He was bringing down a computer for grandma. I guess he programmed it so that she would only need to touch a few buttons to get to where she needs to. He also helped to make sure that her tv only had one remote for the tv and for the on demand, which she needed. Later on we went for dinner at Ricki's, Jesse and I both had beef dip, but his was a philly and mine was made into a swiss. I really like the thought of having two different kinds as well. But I have to admit the bill was quite cheap, we were pleasantly surprised by that. 

Earlier that day though Jesse and I had a little date. We went to The Brick and we were window shopping for furniture. We didn't really see too much that we liked except for the massage chairs, the ones that have full on deep tissue massages. It was very nice having the massage especially since we were doing gardening all that morning as well. 

But thats what we did today! 

The trouble with Red Deer...

So these past few weeks has been a rollercoaster that was going to plunge straight into hell! It has been horrible! First off the prices in Red Deer are outrageous. You are paying 1000 dollars for a 1 bedroom apartment, which does not even include internet or electricity! Crazy right? or just plainly spoiled here in lethbridge? But anyways that is where our trouble began. 

The first trip to red deer we went to a place downtown and we just stood outside the place for a few minutes before saying no. For 775 dollars per month it got you a shotty looking place downtown Red Deer beside not even one but TWO strip joints, a bar and crack heads down the street. You might as well just see the needles in the storm drains it was so bad. I tried to convince myself that I could maybe stay there and live there. But even Jesse said no we couldn't, we didn't even see the place and we just said no.

The second time we went to Red Deer when we got there to see a place they already gave it away and still had the audacity to still show the place. It is kind of like saying "yeah so we gave it away...but we are going to dangle it infront of your faces anyways." Yeah. No Thanks. Then the other place we saw that day we viewed it, put in the application and never heard from the B*** again. So that was just great. 

Did I also mention more than half of the places were very specific in their listings! For example, no couples, only single person, full time working individual only. Like holy it is harder to find a place than work there, the application process is worse than a job! Never in my life would I think it would be this hard to find a place, especially since everything was in place except for finding an actual place. 

But finally when I was at work this past Saturday, Jesse and mom went to go view this basement suite and although it is 1000 dollars a month he says that everything in included in that price which works for me. I never got to see the place so it will be a surprise when we see it, but both Jesse and mom say that the guy is nice. All he really asks is for quiet and clean tenants which Jesse and I can be. But after all that strife we finally have a place and now I cannot wait for my life to begin in Red Deer. 

Working in endoscopy and living in my basement suite with Jesse!

Uncle Chris and Aunt Linda came to visit

Today my Aunt Linda and Uncle Chris came down to visit us to buy a car from grandma's friend Jane. They really needed another car since awhile back their van got written off from an accident, and their other cars windshield got busted when something fell on it in their garage. They currently only had a little sunfire beater and needed another vehicle...because especially I know how hard it can be to share only one car..let alone in Lethbridge but it probably would be even worse in Calgary! 

We really had a good visit for them too, they told us how the girls were doing and how the boys were doing too. She told us more about Lindsey and Ross and how they are doing in their new place. They congradulated me on getting a job in red deer (endoscopy unit) and for getting my drivers ed. It was nice knowing how much they support me in what we do. While they were there we had lunch at grandmas, she made spaghetti with homemade sauce. It tasted the same as it did when she used to make it for us as kids, it was bringing back memories for me. I always loved my grandmas cooking, whatever she makes its normally good if not better. We also had some salad, then later we went to a candy store for some Ice cream. 

The candy store that we went to is called Sweet Ideas and they live behind grandmas apartment building. It is cute because they have the old fashioned candy store ambiance about it and sort of a 50's dinner feel. They had like a raised Sundae bar, we had some ice cream there. I had pinacolada cheesecake, Jesse had bubblegum tutti frutti, mom had chocolate cherry, grandma had butter pecan and uncle Chris and aunt Linda had pistachio (Theirs was my favorite) 

Later on Uncle Chris gave both mom and I blessings. It was nice because Uncle Chris explained to Jesse about what a blessing is in the proper way, because I kept on trying to explain to him the purpose of them and why I wanted one. I hope he understood after he explained what it was to him though. But the blessing was exactly what I needed, it gave me clarity and made me feel comfort. 

 

But that was our visit. I truly love my Uncle and Aunt and am so glad that I am going to living somewhat close to them so that I can go visit them. 

Mothers Day

Mother's day this year was also Grandma's Birthday. We took her down to the river bottom and we had a nice picnic. She actually enjoyed it more than if we took her out for her birthday. We had homemade Hawaiian Haystacks, which consist of cream of chicken soup, rice, tomato, green onion, chow mein noodles, and cheese. Mom bought some chips and some pop as well and we had butter tarts for dessert since they were grandmas favorite.

But we had a good time. I gave her a Viola and a book on Joesph Smith. Mom gave her a music box that both Jesse and I helped her with making.It was just a nice day in general.

Graduation Day!

Today was the day that I had my convocation for graduating my Central Sterile Processing Certificate. It was horrible because I really thought that I was going to be late this morning because I was going to get Jesse up at 9 to get there for 9:30 when we should have left the house at 8:45 to get there to get my bib, get lined up and have my card for the announcer to say. It was frustrating because I first went to the wrong building it was like 9:22 when this happened, I had no idea where to go because there were so many students everywhere in their gowns. I even started crying I got so frustrated but luckily I went to someone to figure out where to go I got my bib I got into the lineup and then right after they marched us out. 

When they marched us out they had a person with bagpipes and there were so many people standing up to congratulate us when walking into the gym. My program was first so we got to sit in the front row. They had a few speakers say things, had a award for an honorary degree and then they took us out again to be lined up for the announcing of the graduates. I was second to graduate from the college for the year. There were only three of us in our program so our program went by fast. The harder part was waiting for everyone else. Another girl in my program had the same idea that I did, we get our crap from the teacher and go but we had to wait for everyone else. 

The largest groups of graduates that there were was the nursing program and criminal justice (policing). There was probably 100 or more policing students. So those two groups were the most painful to go through since they are the most popular programs. After all the graduates were announced they officially announced us as the class of 2014. Then they led us out of the gym and then we followed a huge line of family, friends, and staff that clapped for us as we walked out. It was very emotional I felt like crying because having so many people clap for the accomplishment that you did was very fulfilling. 

It was nice too because Jesse was there, grandma was there and mom was there. Mom volunteered to in the morning to make sure she saw me graduate. She was actually the last person I saw before I sat down after they handed me my folder to put my certificate in. But on the way out I at least found Jesse and I made him hold my hand and walk with me because he deserves it as much as I do for putting up with me throughout my school and supporting me through it. 

After we found Grandma and we took pictures after. We tried to get pictures by the fountain because of my favorite photos of grandma and me is infront of the fountain for my high school graduation but it was too busy so we just took them over near the trees. Grandma got me flowers as well, she always gets the most interesting arrangements and she got me a "birds of paradise" flower. They come from Hawaii I guess, but she chose them because she knows that I like orange. 

Then afterwards we went for lunch with Grandma and Jesse to Tony Romas. Mom couldn't because she had to go back to work. But it was nice going for lunch with just Grandma. Jesse got to know her better and she got to know Jesse better too which was nice.

But that was my graduation, it was hectic and emotional but I am glad that I decided to go.

Drivers Ed : Class time

Last night I started Drivers Ed. I did not want to go to drivers ed since I just wanted to get my license as soon as possible and most of the classes revolve around kids class schedules instead of just getting the classes done and get my drivers license quick.

My instructor for the class section is Adrian Brown he is a teacher in a little town around Lethbrid. ge and he is awkwardly funny. He tries to make jokes but they are not always the best but he makes driving seem interesting. While listening to the lesson I realized that I was glad to take the class rather than just being like I don't want to be there. I am glad that I took the course because it is making me more aware of things that I wouldn't have known. 

In the class particularly he taught the proper position of the wheel which is supposed to be at 9 and 3 o'clock so then you can turn the wheel 180 degrees instead of struggling and he tried to teach hand over hand method but when he made us practice in the air I couldn't get it right he joked and said I was getting into some major collision because of that. But I really feel like the first class is to scare the crap out of you by showing car accidents and such. But I am glad I am taking the course I am glad I am getting to learn how to drive the proper way.

Missionaries over for dinner!

Tonight we had the missionaries over for dinner. We had sister jones that is from logan utah and a new sister named Sister Butler who comes from Happy Valley Utah. It always is fun having them over for dinner though because they are always nice, we have good conversation and they always are so appreciative of having them over for dinner. 

Tonight we had lasagna from Sobeys,  chapman's ice cream and fruit cocktail. It is interesting though because I found out that they do not have perogies in the states or chapman's frozen yogurt. I don't think I could live in the states simply for that reason. 

But tonight I got to learn about Sister Butler and she was serving in Medicine Hat for awhile, and since I knew a little bit about Med. Hat it was nice to talk to her about the aggressive drivers, the strange streets and the construction that never ends on the highway bridge. Then we talked about the flood that happened in the summer, the snow storm in December and about how sketchy it is to live on the north side. But it was a very good conversation and I always love having our sister missionaries over for dinner!

Another girl day!

Ashley and I had yet another girl day this week. We went to the mall and we went to the body shop, david's tea, michael's, jysk, la senza, and chapters. 

At the body shop I bought a vitamin c microdermabrasion exfoliant, a tea tree blemish stick and a vitamin E intense moisturizer and I got a sample for the eye cream from the vitamin E line. The only problem with going there was that the sales ladies were always on my ass the whole time. They were hovering over me and began to pressure me into buying things so I got very irritated by the end. But I love all the things that I bought and should be good for like a year. 

In david's tea I bought a tumbler that had a tea basket in it and got two white chocolate frost, alpine punch, choconut, and coconut oolong. I got a better price for everything because Ashley let me use up the rest of her gift card which was very nice. 

In la senze I bought another leopard print shirt except that this one was a black leopard print. 

Then in jysk and Michael's we just looked around. I was surprised at how Jysk had so many good and cheap table sets. They have a table set along with the chairs for a 100 dollars or more up to 700 which is not a bad price for tables and chairs. 

Then in chapters we just had some starbucks drinks until then we just went home after that. 

But it was a good fun girls day!

New job and friends!

I am now finished my practicum and I am so lucky that I was able to get a job so soon afterwards. I have a position at shoppers in the home health care department so if someone needs a bathtub chair, a walker, crutches, etc. I am your girl! I already worked one shift but just as a cashier and not in my department yet. They were just training me to get used to the till, but I am happy that I do not have a cashier position there because it can get quite busy at this location. But none the less I have started and I am starting at a decent wage too so I am happy about it. 

Then I have hung out with Ashley quite a bit lately, earlier in the week we went on a girls shopping trip to celebrate me finishing my practicum. We went to La Senza, Davids Tea, and the body shop, and bath and body works. I spent a bit of money in each because its nice to get nice things for yourself once in awhile. Then later that afternoon we went for a buffet at the Dynasty downtown and just relaxed afterwards. Then she came over for a little tea party so she let me try some different teas from davids tea, I got a chocolate orange one that I LOVE, it is so good it reminds me of a Terry's chocolate orange. But it was fun! 

Practicum ~ Week 8 ~ CP

For my last week of my practicum it was a "make up" week. So the weeks that you may have really sucked at you can redeem yourself. 

Day 1 - I was on sites this day. I was with Alex, who is another casual. All you do with sites is you package up things that come from milk river, coalhurst, taber, pincher creek etc. Basically all the areas around lethbridge and you sterilize them, and send them off to them in sealed boxes. Check the lists and make sure everything is on their lists. 

Day 2 ~ 3 - This day I was with Rozina and we were in decontamination. I don't mind decontamination at all now, it was nice because now I knew what came apart, what didn't and if I had any questions I simply asked what came apart if I did not know. It was so much fun though because Rozina likes to blast music and sing along to the songs. So I began to loosen up in decontamination and was singing along with her and kind of dancing. But in the future when I go into decontamination I would love to blast music that I like and sing along with it because it makes it go by faster and it is much more fun too. 

Day 4 ~ 5 - I was with Lesley that day and what is cool is that she was in the Edmonton area before she came to Lethbridge so she was able to give me some insight in what it was like in that area. It is nice because she told me they never write anything down but they scan it into the computer since they get so many different items and they are a 24/7 operation so there is tons of work to do all the time. During these last two days I was doing autoclave and I cannot lie the first night I was horrible. I got too overwhelmed and did not know first what to focus on, so I started to cry a little bit I was horrified! But when you look at a table that is covered in items it is hard to focus on what is priority and what isn't. But luckily Lesley came in to save me and she helped me know what was priority and what wasn't. Another girl told me to watch around the room as well and be aware of what is going on. To think about what everyone else is doing before making a load is important as well because especially sites needs to be done and cooled by the end of the night. But Lesley was awesome, I wish I would have gotten her number so that I could have had some tequila or whiskey with her one night. 

But that is the conclusion of my practicum. It was the hardest thing I had to go through in my life, it changed my work ethic, it changed my perspective of life and it makes me want to work for something in my life. I am so grateful for all of my wonderful teachers and for the hospital for allowing me to do my practicum there. I truly feel like I am ready to embark upon my career and I hope to succeed in my new future. I am glad to be a central processor and am grateful for everything I learned on my practicum

Alumni night out and Birthday!

Tomorrow I turn 21! Yay! It may not be an exciting birthday for me this year, but it is exciting because I at least have goals! I want to be in Edmonton by the end of the summer, get my drivers license, maybe get my passport and lose weight! Who says you cant make "new year" resolutions on your birthday right? I have more motivation than I ever have. 

For my birthday my mom took me out for my birthday with Jesse to Mocha Cabanas, we had nachos, mushroom swiss burger with sweet potato fries and a white chocolate cheesecake for dessert. I also got a shirley temple for my birthday since I would always love them so much as a child. There was also music that night a country singer named Alyssa Mcquid or something but I know for sure her first name was Alyssa. It was so packed that night too, I guess there was a table of 15 and a table of 10 so our food came slowly but it was worth the wait! 

Today I went to grandmas and she gave me my present which was a tupperware container that I really liked and a box that as a kid I would beg her if I could have it when she died. I was a kid so it was all in good time but I was surprised to get that box from her and how much meaning it did have to me.  Mom gave me my birthday present later in the evening and it was a teapot/cup set that had macarons all over them, although I never tried them before I loved the set. 

Earlier in the week we went to a lethbridge college alumni event at the movie mill. You got a free movie and for 5 dollars you got a medium popcorn and drink. We went to the movie About Last Night and it was such a raunchy movie but it was so funny. I thought mom would walk out during the movie but she stayed all throughout it. It got better as it went on and there were some really funny parts in it. I would watch it again, Jesse really loved it too he seemed a bit hesitant to go to the movie since mom told him it was a romance. I was too since I don't really like those sappy movies but it was worth the free - ness of it!

Practicum ~ Week 7 ~ Day Procedures

Day one -This day I worked with a lady named Carrie. She was very nice and welcoming she showed me how to clean cystoscopes - used to view the bladder - and how to pre-clean a cataract set to send downstairs to decontamination. I also met Assunta, she was in the program last year and was lucky enough to get a full time position last June. It was nice because she understood what it was like to be a student and how it is your life at the time, you try so hard to do good because you want to do good. She showed me how to set up a cystoscope and explained to me the sterile fields and what not.

Day two -This day I worked with a lady named Jackie, she showed me how to clean gastroscopes and colonoscopes. I was amazed at how many steps there were to cleaning scopes. The whole day she just showed me how to clean the scopes, I never got to actually clean one but she showed me how to do them. Doing the scopes requires so many steps to keep them clean, and she showed me how to load them into the machines and take them out. But man when you take them out the smell is so strong, it consists of using paracetic acid and isopropyl alcohol. In general they both are very strong scents but mixed together they really burn your nose hairs. I also got to meet Kelly, also a student from last year who has a temporary part time position. Lastly I met Kerri who is the 9 to 5 girl. They all were very nice.

Day three - This day I worked with Kelly, she showed me a different method in cleaning the scopes and I got to clean about 2 scopes that day. But later in the day it got very frustrating because a man came in to fix the machines because of the water crisis last week they were acting all funny this week and kept on failing. Anyways this man kept on demanding me to get things, and I was freaking out because I don't know where anything is. Then they told us to work on only one side instead of using both rooms to clean scopes so it was very busy. And man did he smell! He smelt like he hadn't showered in like a month it was gross by the end of the night I was so nauseous because of how he smelt. It was bad too because having him there just frustrated my perceptors because they still needed to get work done while having this man around ordering us to do things and not very nicely at that. He kept on screaming for more scopes, when there were none coming, but when they did come he would tell them to do them faster. It was just a headache! Another headache was that the steris machines for the cystoscopes were not working as well. They had put two cystoscopes in one machine and in the distal tip the coating would bubble over like it was a blister! And worst of all it happened two times in a row! So they were down two cystoscopes as well. Just another headache.

Day Four - This day I was with Kerri, she is the cutest shortest and nicest girl that I have met. She just let me do a scope right when I started because I hadn't cleaned a lot of them thus far. She let me find my routine in which to clean my scope and I cleaned about 4 or 5 of them. It was a pretty constant day though and she showed me how to do the end of the night clean up and what to do with the machines at the end of the night. It was just a very relaxing day. 

Day five - This day I was with Assunta and we cleaned a few cystoscopes, no cataracts though since they do not do them on fridays. But we took down some minor surgery trays and prepared them to go down to decontamination, and she continued to show me how to set up a sterile field for the cystoscopes. She also showed me how you close down for the day and it was nice because she let me go early at about 4.

Girl day

Today I got to spend time with my mom. Jesse let me take the car out and we went to Mocha Cabanas, we went to look at a craft store and just drive around since I need to begin to practice for my drivers test.

Later on that night sister missionaries came over, they were Sister Matangi, and Sister Jones. Man did Sister Jones talk a lot they were very funny, and had so much energy. They were so excited for the gospel and happy to be on their missions. It was great, I loved having them over and would love to have them over again since it was so much fun. We now have so many personal jokes with them.

Practicum ~ Week 6 ~ Surgical suite part 2

This week I had Jeff and he is such a cool guy. He is quiet at first but he likes to make people feel comfortable when you are in there with him, which is nice. The first night I learned that they pick the first two cases for the next day for all the elective surgeries. Then for the night we just add on cases that are emergency cases. Then we finish anything that is left in decontamination, we put neptunes onto the cleaner for a 50 minute cycle to make sure that they are clean. That is pretty much all you do at nights on surgical suite and order the supplies that are needed in the room by sending a order to storz. 

But last night was hectic. In Lethbridge there is a water crisis, where there is a boiling water order sent out to everyone in the city. This caused a major issue in the OR since if we do not have a clean water supply we cannot carry out with decontamination services downstairs or even autoclave since it just uses tap water to carry out the steam process. At 6 pm, they were ordered to shut off the autoclaves and the washers downstairs and that we had to send out our dirty stuff to Taber since they were still able to carry out processes. But the drs. talked about how if patients crashed that they would not have the proper supply in order to help them without having things that are cleaned and sterilized so they cancelled ALL elective surgeries for both Thursday and Friday. We had to put away the first two cases for tomorrow morning and send them back downstairs and now they only can add cases that are life and death or c sections. I also got to see the removal of an appendix and its amazing how tiny they are.

Last day - This day was pretty much the same as the others. The boil water cease ended and surgeries were resumed. I got to see a fixation of an ankle fracture that night and I got to meet Dr. Anderson and he and his nurses explained the procedure for me about what is going on. I also had to wear a lead since they take pictures throughout the whole procedure of the ankle to make sure that it is in place and that the screws are deep enough etc.

 

Practicum ~ week 5 ~ surgical suite

Day 1 - this day I had Jackie and of all the people I have had this far she is definitely the most excited, energetic, and optimistic person i have met thus far. In surgical suite we have a flash sterilizer and a steris machine that sterilizes as well. In or we have to pull the extra things for the carts such as all the steripeel stuff for surgeries and prepare the carts further for surgery. Then what we also do is get anything that the nurses need for the surgery and it is our job to top off the anesthetic carts. The break room is nicer thoufh since the drs. Nurses and us take our break in the same place. There are couches a tv a Kurieg machine and tons of coffee for people to drink but everybody is very nice so it was a good day. 

Day 2 - This day I had Dani, which Jackie says is like her twin which I could see. She was very nice as well, and its interesting how you see everybody do their tasks on their own turf. Today she let me do a few anesthetic carts by myself and we did the eyes cart, which is always scary since the draws are not very organized. But today we pulled a few carts, and then she showed me how they plan a case and send it downstairs etc. I almost got to see a C section today as well, but there were already nursing students in the room so I didn't get to see it but I was excited that I nearly got to. But today I learnt the stresses of working in the OR when the drs. constantly add new cases and then ask for very specific equipment or they add new and then reschedule them and you work so hard to do all the work to just have them cancelled. Then we had a few ARO cases today too, which is when there is an antibiotic resistant bug such as meningitis, MSAR, etc. What this means is that if a patient had a "superbug" the dr and the nurses inside are not allowed to leave the room until the case is completed. So we have to do the running that the nurses would normally do so it can get stressful. Then today we had lots of add ons as well.

Day 4 - Today I had Dani again, its nice having her because she is very chill, relaxed so its easy to get things done. But the most exciting thing today were two things 1. I got to see a c section, 2 a nurse asked for something and I knew exactly where it was.

1. I was allowed to see the last scheduled c section of the day which was very exciting. It was a lot different than what I thought. I had no idea that they had to cut into so many layers of skin in order to get the uterus, then they place the uterus ontop of their stomach to get to the baby easier, and when they cut into the uterus it was just a huuuuge gush of water that came out. Also they do not make a huge incision either so they still have to pull the baby out a bit more and have some pressure on the mom. But the baby was a girl and she was over 8 lbs so she was a big girl.

2. A nurse came out of the ortho theatre asking for a small frag. screwdriver and my perceptor was so happy that I was able to find it by myself. It made me very happy! So things are coming along, I sort of am getting used to where everything is so thats good.

Day 5 - Today I had a woman named Christina today, she is very cheerful and nice and she truly wants you to have the best education up there and I can tell.  I did very well this day because I picked items for nurses that I confidently knew where they were. They were happy that I was catching onto the work in OR so fast, and sort of remembering where things are once I have some idea where they go. One girl also told me how well I was doing, it was very reassuring to know that I was doing good, I was picking up well since I never got that downstairs before. I also got to sit in on one of the lectures that a nurse was giving to RN students. The lecture was on the procedure called a D & C it stands for dilation and curettage, it is only used for women and you can only imagine what that kind of procedure would be like. But it was interesting because she described the instruments and how their purpose in the order in which they would use them in the surgery. But I completely love it in the OR, it is a great support system up there. 

Practicum ~ Week 4 ~ Sterrad

Day 1 - This day I worked with Jody, she is the daughter of my mom's old visiting teacher when we lived on the north side. But today I was doing Sterrad - a low temp. type of sterilization -. It is not as busy and as complicated as autoclaving can be so its nice to have a slower week. It also is slower because not a lot of items go through sterrad, since it is not as popular as autoclaving. But it uses plasma instead of steam, and with this you have light sensitive integrators, tape, etc. Also it has different steripeeling - might I mention I rocked the steri-peel today- while doing nothing I did all gross lab stuff perfectly as well as the Sterrad stuff - so proud of myself. But this steripeel has more of a paper back, so it more easy to puncture than the regular steripeel that goes in the autoclave. But I just did hysterscopes today and I did an endoscope tele. Other than that it was just basins. Today though the talks between the coworkers were funny, especially since this one girl asked what were some movies that made us cry because I guess she cried about an episode on futurama.

Day 2 - Cake day! Lesley brought in a tradition red velvet cake with real cream cheese frosting on this day. It was sooo good, it had so much moisture and the frosting was so good. But on this day I made a critical mistake. I accidentally did not push the BI down hard enough in the pack coming out of the Sterrad machine, but it was only half pressed down and when this happens possible contamination can occur so thats what sucked but I did a lot of gross lab stuff on this day, and I am a pro at doing basins now. Jody showed me how to do the major basin which uses an square fold instead of an envelope fold, people that have been there for years would not even do it because it was so troublesome but I did it.

Day 3 - This day I had a different person that I was having all week. Today I had Elish who is the first woman I had in decontamination. It was nice having her today because she always had something for me to do. If I wasn't doing sterrad related things than she gave me retractors to do, sets to do, not just basins so it was nice. But today went smoother, I feel like I have sterrad down, I have my own system in there now and am confident in my skills in sterrad.  

Day 4 - Today I had this girl named Lindy, she had only been in the processing department for about 3 years. She was really nice, she is really tall and quiet, but one of the nicest person that I have worked with.  But she just let me do my thing and she specifically asked me if there was anything that I wanted to have more practice in and I told her I wanted to do trays so she tried to have me do as many trays as she could with the workload that was tonight. But there wasn't much tonight on the slate so it was very boring. While we were trying to find something to do Lindy found me a book to read about instruments, but not only the names but what the surgical uses for them were too so it was interesting to find out what some of the instruments are used for in surgeries. We also spent a lot of time in the dryers tonight since it was so friggin cold! It was creepy having the CPR heads in there with us though, it was like a scene from a horror movie.

Day 5 - today I was with a girl named Alex and although we really only did two loads of sterrad today she found me lots to do. First she found gave me sterili peeling certain things like Huck towels and then I wrapped or towels which got very boring but still it was something to do. I also learned today that for each sterrad load that they do it costs the department a thousand dollars so you should consider how much you put in a load. It should be pretty full to avoid wasting money which I think a lot of the other girls would do since there shouldnt have been that many loads if it costs that much. 

Sunday Funday - Cards -

This past Sunday I had a little girly day with Jessie Hein and we made cards. But the thing is she never made cards before, which I was really surprised by. She does practically everything else so I thought she would have made cards too, but by the end of the night I think she got a new hobby simply by how much she would save if she made her own cards. 

I made about 15 cards and she made about 7. The reason why I had so many is because I wanted to make thank you cards for the people that have taught me on my practicum and keep tabs on who has taught me thus far, just simply as a nice gesture.

But it was nice to have a girls night and now I have cards if I ever need them.

Practicum ~ Week 3 ~ Autoclaving

Day 1 - Today was autoclaving. This week already went off to a bad start since I got monday off due to family day. So it was kind of disorderly this morning. I guess the original perceptor that I was supposed to have called in sick, and one girl was late and the other was going to be late because she was called in. So I was just asked to sit in the break room before one of the two showed up and whoever did I would go with them for the day. So today my perceptor was Phaedra. 

But basically to start off the day, on a monday, you would wash out the autoclaves with metashine and then rinse it down to clean it. Then you would do a warm up cycle, a bowie dick test, then a leak test. Then you can put in your loads. The hospital here puts in a BI in every single load so that if one becomes negative you only have to recall that load rather than 3 loads before etc. Autoclaving basically is just a lot of paperwork and then you can work on other things, like I did some steripeel, then some wrapping like how I would have in instruments.

Day 2 - This day was pretty much exactly the same as the day before, except that I had a different person with me. The person that I had was Tami, she has a very vivacious personality and is very anal about certain things which you come to learn some people can have specific ways in how they do things, just depends on the person. But today we hardly had any work at all we did only 1 large cart, and a ton of little carts. So if there is no work to do, you just float around and do things. I just emptied the steris machines and placed them in the proper places that they should go. I did a synthes screw set, and put in new screws for it. Then I just wrapped basins, because everyone does that when it gets boring.

Day 3 - Mistakes! Mistakes! Mistakes! That is all that I had today, I kept on putting the wrong information on the different autoclaves, so if I meant to put the info. on one it would be the wrong slate or autoclave paper work that I needed to do. And to top it all off today was more boring than yesterday, so I was not focusing whatsoever. I even sat at a table reading tray sheets since it was so dead. Nobody had hardly anything to do at all, it was bad. 

Day 4 - Potluck! This day we had a "heritage" potluck, which meant that you would bring a dish based on your heritage. Honestly, hands down it was the best potluck i have ever been to, there was potato soup, hawaiian meatballs, there was pastries from this bakery called Klassy's (best bakery ever), homemade perogies, etc. It was so good, and so much good. Practicum wise though I was with Mike, he pretty much just let me run the show as if I was actually working there. It was nice because I was able to figure out my own flow instead of trying to learn someone else's flow. But it was another slow day again. I did lung biospy trays, core biopsy trays, steripeel, the normal stuff that you do when there is nothing else to do. But it was a good day and less mistakes. I was nervous in the beginnning though since he kind of let me take the reigns but I am glad that he did because I figured out my OWN flow. But it was a good day, my favorite of the week and with the potluck we had some good laughs too with some good food.

Stay tuned for next week...sterrad..dun..dunn...dunnnn. 

Movies

It was family day weekend and I had monday off of my practicum! We decided to go to a few movies on monday, one with my mom and the other with my boyfriend. Mom and I went to go see Saving Mr. Banks and it was a really great movie, it was really heartfelt. The pace was slow but it was nicer, seeing as I only really watch action films now or comedies but it was very good. 

The other show that I went to was with Jesse and we went to go see Jack Ryan: Shadow recruit. It was ok, the plot was different from every other CIA movie. It involved a public massacre with finances instead of weapons ( well there still was an attack but the finance part made it better). 

It just was irritating going to the movie because the first movie a person kept on kicking my chair while in the other there was a person point a laser at the screen the whole time, it was so irritating. So I think that I will avoid going to the movies for awhile after this.

Practicum ~ Week 2 ~ Instruments

This week I was introduced onto the other side of "the pit"..which is what they like to call the decontamination area. I thought that it was very weird at first that I no longer needed to gown up to be in the area, and to touch things with bare hands FINALLY was mind blowing on its own. I thought that touching things with bare hands would still contaminate the instruments so I was sketched out at first, but after the first 2 hours I began to realize its fine since things were not "sterile" yet.

Then I was introduced to the instruments, some of them including Kelly, Laheys, Mosquitos, hysters, etc. A lot of the instruments in the beginning looked so similar that I thought how the heck can you tell them apart??!?! But after doing so many sets you get used to how they look like, and I can identify Kelly from Laheys now and kochers (the hardest one to get into my mind). 

"Mosquito" forcep which is both straight and curved

"Kelly" forcep

That was pretty much everything that I did the first day. 

Day 2 - I did the same thing as the previous days, but it got extended into some of the items that I knew went onto the "alcohol table" in decontamination, so op laps, long laps, and cataracts. With the specialty equipment you have to take things that were diassembled and reassemble them so that the pieces do not get lost during the sterilization phase. But you just carefully assemble them back into the trays and then wrap them. This day was the first time that I got experience with wrapping, and let me tell you my first op lap, I got so frustrated that I got my perceptor to do it for me because the containers are so big in the first place, then the wrapper is really heavy so that it doesn't rip during the sterilization process. 

Day 3 - This day was different from all the rest. Today we mainly focused more on the specialty equipment, ortho pans, and power equipment for the instrumentation part. In the ortho pans, the only difference is, if a piece is missing like a screw or so, you go to the computer put in the number associated with the item and replace it since the screws cannot be put in and they are considered implants which would then have a BI in red on the tape since it is an implant. 

Stryker Triathlon Total knee tray that I did and wrapped.

Then I got to do some steri-peeling which is when you put a device into a pouch that is consisted of paper and plastic and heat seal it for the sterilization process.  They do items for day procedures, OR, a thing called gross labs - they inspect the specimens that were collected from biopsy -.

My perceptor too this week has been awesome, her name is Chelsey. She has the personality that is very fast paced, nerdy, awkward and sarcastic - but the kind of sarcastic where you cannot tell if they are joking until they say "just kidding". But she was funny, I kept on forgetting my chemical integrators into the packages to signify that they have been through the steam process. But I kept on forgetting them and everytime I did she told me I failed and that I might as well go home now..just kidding of course haha. Then I forgot one at the end of the night, and she just screamed out that I was hopeless and that I was the worst practicum-y ever..only jokingly again haha. But she is very knowledgeable and easy to get along with. I also found her really good at showing me sets and what to do with them.

Day 4 - This day was more of a boring day. I had to wrap basins (are a pain), do so much steripeel (which I struggled with a bit) and had to fold gauze for awhile. Then I was showed around the cart area, which is the area that I am going to work in on friday. So its nice that I got a little bit of a change from what I was doing for the last two days to work in case carts.

Day 5 - Today I did case carts, and it was not busy like it usually is since it is the long weekend and reading week so everyone will be gone. I guess next week only 4 theatres were booked for the whole week, normally it is like 9 theatres. We only had to do 20 carts instead of the normal 40 that they do in a day. All case carts is, is stocking carts for the surgeries and preparing stat carts (emergency carts). Then after we did case carts...first two hours. I did some steri-peel, I did some wrapping of instruments, some day pro trays etc. Just pretty much did anything that I could get my hands on.
And due to the long weekend they sent me home early. I thought Chelsey was kidding though since it is her new years resolution to be more mean haha.

And I got the biggest surprise at the end of the night, Jesse took me out for dinner at Montanas! I was just expecting mcdonalds haha. But it was great, my prayers have been answered in ways and I am grateful for Jesse, I love him so much and I hope to spend many more valentine's days with him. 

Practicum ~ Week 1 ~ Decontamination

I am going to start a new little series that I am going to update every week or so, not every day but at least once a week. This new series is all about my practicum that I am being a part of at the Hospital here in lethbridge and today's episode is....DECONTAMINATION!

The decontamination area is the area in which you clean all the instruments that have gone through the surgeries and you are just getting rid of the leftover debris that may still be on the instruments that can inhibit further cleaning processes. 

The OR or ER send down various carts in which there are planned series (we cross them off with a hot pink marker) and emergency surgeries/added that are marked by a ticket on the wall (unplanned surgeries). We then disassemble all the components of the carts (various forceps/needle holders/retractors they use etc). and soak them to get the blood and tissue off of them. Then if they are of a normal set (not complex) you would put them through the ultrasonic which provides cavitation(shaking rapidly) to get off further debris that was leftover from the initial clean and put them onto the carts to be put into the Steris systems.

Anything that is cannulated (has a hole in it) after it has been initially cleaned/soaked then must be blown through by compressed air on a white cloth to make sure that all the debris is out. Sometimes it takes a few soakings/blowing air to get all the debris out. Then what you do with the carts when they are empty is load it onto a cart wash which cleans the carts to make sure that no other debris is on there etc. 

But the hardest part is when you get ortho pans (orthopedic pans mostly knee/hip replacements). They are heavily soiled, very bloody and bone stuck in the spaces of the drill bit. Today I did my first set completely by myself and it took me about 1 1/2 to 2 hours to do because it is amazing where blood can hide in those sets! But I did it so yeah. But mainly I feel like I am beginning to become more and more comfortable. 

But from the first day it was hard because I did not have my original perceptor I was supposed to be with (she called in sick) and they had got rid of the spray arm which makes the job so much more faster than the method that I am currently used to. But since finding a method that works to have the instruments cleaned and such, it definitely got better and although there have been some things that have made some mornings quite difficult you just power through it. 

But in general that is what the first week of decontamination is like if anyone ever goes through the central processing program. It is hard, lots of moving around and the first day especially, you get pretty sickened by the amount of human debris that is leftover on the instruments(the smell gets you too.)

But that was my week in decontamination, only thing that is leftover in decontamination is to work on the specialty equipment which I am supposed to do tomorrow (if the girl that was asked remembers), and next week will be instruments!