Life is oh so Precious

I have survived the first exam for the semester and am now gearing up for next week!! It has been a tough week because of exams and with the patient I had at the beginning of the week...made me step back and take a look at life and reminded me to enjoy it more and to also keep myself in better shape. I think it is all kind of hard to understand or realize until you see it face to face. This is the second patient I have had in the short time that I have been in the hospital doing rotations that makes me step back and say WHOA!! This week I had an 81 year old lady who had dementia/alzheimers and was in restraints in that she would not pull out any of her lines. She had a bad decubitus ulcer (big open sore) on her bottom from laying down for so long and had many other decubs starting to form. (On a side note, if you have someone in the nursing home and is bed ridden - PLEASE make sure they are turning the patient!) Anyhooo...she does not talk but a few mumbles every now and then that does not relate to what you are asking her. And she can not feed her self and is incontinent. It would take me at the minimum 45 minutes to feed her and she would just stare into my eyes and I would just wonder what is going on in that brain, what is she thinking, what does she want to say, who was this lady or what was she like before the disease?? These questions are not being asked in a mean way, but with the disease what goes on in these peoples minds. This is only a blurb of what my few days were with her were like...but I learned so much about life itself from this patient who could not really communicate with me. My grandpa had dementia but I was not living in town when he had it so I was not around him when he was diagnosed and lived with this disease - and have come to learn how scary and sad it is. I know the Lord is keeping her here for some reason, but still makes me want to ask God why?
I know this is only a glimpse of what I am to see in my future career as a nurse but I am looking forward to it all because it gives me a new perspective on my health and my life. I just pray the Lord will use me and I will allow Him to use me in whatever way!!

On a happier note...J had a good birthday despite where he was and the fact that he had to work. And I can not believe I forgot about his birthday last year and felt really bad when he reminded me that he was working 14+ hour shifts this time last year. So he got home around 9:30pm and had Sonic for his birthday last year! But he is doing well and keeping busy with work!!

Check out our "old" website for some pics from my school. Click on jandmishi in the upper right corner of this page. I can not get them on our new website, so I just posted them all on the old one until J gets home and can show me for the 100th time how to do it!
Have a wonderful weekend!