Insulin

It's been a while, yes. If it weren't for having some sort of stomach bug or food poisoning today and not being at internship when I should be, I probably wouldn't be blogging.

I made it through my first rotation! Last week was cardiology. Here I was thinking cardiology was pretty straight forward... Well, not when you're in a brand new place and still on paper charting. I was super lost, my ADIME notes were a mess, and I was just on overload. It got better throughout the week. I got to watch a cardiac cath procedure which I thought was super cool! If I got too close and saw blood on the doctor's hands I'd have to back off a little and try not to get queasy. But x-rays are thankfully in black and white ;)

I survived that and am now on to Diabetes. I do really like it so far but my gaps in knowledge are kind of horrendous. Insulin? Oh yeah, that's the hormone that makes the glucose get absorbed and utilized into the tissues and not stick around in the blood. There are 30 different combinations, actions peak times, and mechanisms of insulin and insulin lowering meds? Balls. Gotta start memorizing I guess. Why does every medication have to have two names? Or three even? I'm not a pharmacist. But it is important to know.

Electronic charting > paper charting. Just saying. I got spoiled with EPIC and now I'm back to using cerner, which after using paper charts, is heaven. I couldn't read anyone's notes for crap. I thought my handwriting was bad. Not to mention page long progress notes and initial assessments had my hand ready to fall off.

Anyways... Life has been hectic. Prior to leaving CA, I thought I had arranged for a way to get student loans while I was in my internship. That crumbled and now I find myself working back at Starbucks and despite starting two new "jobs" at the same time, it is a blessing. My manager is awesome and I don't think I could have hoped for a better job to coincide with the internship. With that said, internship from 8-3, driving straight to work and starting at 3:30-4 until 10pm makes for a very long day. I'm not 19 anymore and my bones start to ache after being on my feet all day. But I will be thankful to at least have some income while I am studying for my exam.

Since moving here in June, I haven't really had a chance to visit home. I miss it like crazy and when the bf comes to visit, it's like he brings a piece of home with him and when he leaves, I feel a very overwhelming sense of homesickness all over again. I would drive home for the weekend, but the majority of my work hours are on weekends since my availability is so limited due to internship. I have contemplated if I ever get a full day off, to do a turn around driving trip. I am that desperate. I keep reminding myself that it's only for a year and that I am away from home for a reason, whatever it may be.

<3