Category: uncategorized (Page 1 of 2)

During my Medsurg II rotation, I took care of a patient who had herpes simplex encephalitis and as a result had sustained significant speech and motor impairments. The patient had already been on the unit for a couple weeks prior to my assignment and had undergone treatment with lactulose for the ammonia build-up in the brain. This patient was a white female in her later sixties to seventies, which was by no means old. At this point in her care, she was completely dependent on the staff to care for all of her needs. She was on a Kangaroo pump for her gastrostomy tube and had daily PT/OT to try to encourage muscle movement. This patient was awaiting placement at a high level care facility as there was little chance her family would be able to care for her many needs. 

I remember walking into the room and assessing. First, I saw the patient. She was lying in bed motionless, unable to turn her head towards the door to see who was entering. She was placed in a low fowler’s position with pillows off setting pressure on her back end. I walked into the room further and could hear her Kangaroo pump working. On the wall across from her bed there were posters filled with pictures of her and her family. When I had first walked into the room, I was ready to assess a stranger. When I saw her pictures, I saw a mom, a wife and a possible grandmother. The pictures were of family vacations and reunions, it appeared she was from a middle-class household. It was obvious that she had a great support system in place. It made me sad to see her in this condition. This was obviously something that had come on suddenly and no one was prepared for it. 

I look back and I now reflect on seeing those pictures and how important it was for me to see them. It allowed me to view this patient in a different light and truly allowed me to see them as a person rather than a patient that I was just going through the motions with. I think the healthcare system needs to do better viewing the patient as a person rather than a job. I think this problem is likely due to the fact that nurses have such a large patient assignment that they truly don’t have the time to get to know their patient on a more personal level. I think in these instances, issues of abuse or life-stressors can get missed by the nurse.

To be honest, I’m not sure how much of a difference I’ve made in a patient’s life thus far this semester. I felt like my ability to properly care for a client remained peripheral as I am not entirely confident in my ability to independently care for a person. My biggest fear is accidentally hurting someone and I’ve been told that that fear will diminish as I become more confident, however, it’s a fear of mine nonetheless. On the other hand, there is something about being the first person that a patient sees when they wake up fresh from the operating room that makes me feel like I’m emotionally touching someone’s life. I can only imagine that waking up from anesthesia is a confusing experience in which someone is at their most vulnerable state. I was fortunate enough to be able to observe a patient that was rolled in straight from the operating room and witness their emotional and physical response to the anesthesia. My clinical instructor had explained that individuals respond differently to the effects of anesthesia and some are more pleasant than others, not that they can necessarily control their reactions to begin with. As my patient was a new mom, I can only assume her plan was to see her baby, and that undergoing emergency surgery that day was not a part of her agenda. Regardless, as she came out of the sedation effects of anesthesia, she was so kind and receptive to us nursing students, even though she had just experienced both a stressful event and likely the happiest event in her life. From this experience, I feel like she touched me more than I could have her. If anything, I was just so happy to be a part of such a profound moment in someone’s life.

I’m very excited to say that he will be returning home on July 8th for a very brief period of time (5 days) to transition to the Naval Academy Preparatory School which will aid as a placeholder for a spot in the Naval Academy’s class of 2024!

With that said, I want to discuss..

Rules and Regulations of the USNA admissions

Eligibility

You are eligible to apply for the United States Naval Academy if you meet the following criteria:

• A United States Citizen
• Ages 17 – 23 (on July 1 of the year of entry)
• Unmarried
• Not pregnant and no dependents (no children)
• Have a valid Social Security Number

This criteria also extends into the sailor’s enrollment at the United States Naval Academy in which all these conditions must be met throughout his/her time at the academy or they will face abrupt expulsion from the academy.

I’ve decided to bring up this particular topic because these rules have the potential to affect me. He will be enrolled in the academy for the next five years. During this time I will:  Get older, graduate from college, apply to grad school and *ahem* GET OLDER. Let’s be real shall we. I know that many women have an idea of how they would like their life to progress in the next 5 to 10 years. At least I do. Is it wrong to be so impatient? 

This was from when I had gone down to South Carolina over spring break to visit Michael. It was only for a weekend, but it was long enough to remind me why I haven’t given up.

A great source that I found when it came to feeling frustrated about how the next couple of years will pan out is JD. She has also experienced these same feelings when it came to supporting someone who was in the military. Her blog is called Semi-Delicate Balance and it really puts into perspective why, despite the hardships, people stay in military relationships.

It Could Always Be Worse

As someone who has a loved one in the military, it is really hard for others to console with you if they haven’t experienced the same hardships. Shortly after he left for bootcamp, I reached out to another girl who had just gone through the same thing but with someone in the Airforce rather than the Navy. She discussed her journey thus far and how she has managed to maintain hope and happiness. Up until I met her, I thought that I was having a difficult time with him being away in South Carolina. This was until she told me that her loved one was in Japan.

It can be a really humbling experience to be able to talk to someone who is going through similar transitions in life. You always think that your situation is bad  until you meet someone who is going through things that you couldn’t even imagine experiencing. I really look up to her, she is making the best of a pretty difficult situation. Talking to her makes me feel like I don’t have the right to be sad for myself since she’s going through worse and is still able to be happy.

I have been able to find solace in talking to others as well as blogging about my journey. Since I’ve started blogging in this class I have become interested in searching for other blogs that pertain to other military relationships. This will hopefully help me in trying to maintain positivity through these next couple of years.

I have sent him many packages since he left for basic in August. It was good for me, and it gave him something to look forward to and I always loved decorating the boxes. I have made him a care package for every holiday that we celebrate. So far I have sent him a box for Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Years, Valentines Day, Easter and his birthday. Every once in a while, when we go through our dry spell of holidays in the summer, I will occasionally send a small gift of goodies just to remind him that I’m thinking about him. I got some of my ideas for his care packages from Pinterest or just simply looking up blogs like Hero Care Packages by Jack Wray, a retired Navy Sailor. It’s best to get the advice from someone who’s been deployed because they know how it feels to receive a care package from family and I would imagine that it’s something that they look forward to.

 Most often, I would send some of his favorite snacks and treats that he otherwise wouldn’t have access to while on base. I also send some personalized things like photos or notes, just to remind him a little bit of home but not too much to make him feel sad. I’ always love doing his care packages and often times I will start decorating weeks in advance. Once finished, I will send it through the United Postal Service and it’ll normally take 3 to 4 days to get to him. It makes me feel better knowing that even from hundreds of miles away I can still make him smile.

I recently began to take up scrapbooking as a form of therapy and to get my creative juices flowing. Since his departure in August, I’ve struggled to come to terms with this new way of life and having to comply with it if I want to maintain a relationship with him. My mom actually suggested scrapbooking and instead of dreading what the future holds, I find myself reminiscing in the past and being proud of all the things he’s accomplished in the times when I was probably sad about them. I find myself sad in these moments because it’s all becoming real.

This is the actual scrapbook that I’ve been using to document memories with him, both in and out of the military. I haven’t had much time to add to it lately so I’m hoping I can really get into it this summer. Michael’s Craft Store has an entire military section so I’ve been getting a lot of my scrapbooking supplies from there.

Fellow blogger and military significant other Dani, also documents military milestones through scrapbooking and believes it is a great way to remember the good things in an exceptionally difficult lifestyle. On her blog, Scrapbooking Military Memories, she describes her scrapbooking process and talks about the benefits of scrapbooking. “Whether your service member is in the military for a few years or up until retirement, recording the milestones of his or her military career and your family life during that time is an important part of preserving your photos, memories and heritage”.

According to the Centers for Disease Control, 48 percent of couples who marry before 18 are likely to divorce within 10 years. Only 24 percent of those who marry after age 25 will divorce within 10 years. These statistics refer to relationships where neither spouse is in the military.

So it is not surprising that there is predicted to be a higher rate of divorce in the military population, especially among young couples where one, or both are enlisted in a branch of the military.

WAIT, this prediction is false.

The Man With A Plan… Just Kidding

I tend to think about what my next step in life will be. I’m a person who likes having a plan, I want to know what I’ll be doing next and without a plan, I find myself lost.

If I have learned anything from having someone I love in the Navy, it is that nothing is ever certain. Military time is not the same as my time and I’ve struggled to come to terms with this. As a child, I would always think about what my future would be like; how many children will I have, what will my wedding be like, who will I marry. At this point in my life, I’m almost 22, I want a family and a career, I want my own home and someone to go home to. I know this is unrealistic and that I’m thinking too far into the future, but is it so wrong to be excited for what my life might be like? I worry that being attached to someone in the military may mean that I can’t have these things. I know I talk a lot about his life and what this means to me, but what about my life. How do I find a balance between being excited for my future but not having a plan for it.

Coming Home

Each month, a Navy service member is eligible to earn 2.5 days of leave. After being in the Navy since August, he had received 10 days of leave when it came around to December and was able to come home to celebrate Christmas.

I had my concerns, I thought he would be different or perhaps seeing him for the first time in so long would cause an  awkward encounter between us. I worried that the feelings we had for eachother before he left would no longer be there now. I had also settled into a new routine since he left and the way I did things now were different than before he left. I grew accustomed to not being with him all the time.

Phew

Fortunately, I was able to settle into my old ways for the 10 days that he was home. Unfortunately, having to say goodbye again broke my heart and it’s like I had to recover all over again. It was similar to a case of “deja vu”.  I had remembered all these memories with him, but it had felt like they were getting recorded back to me in reverse. Not to say that I didn’t enjoy him being home, because I did. I just didn’t realize how painful it would be to let him go all over again.

I Always Thought..

I always thought that I was an independent person, that I didn’t need anyone else to make me happy or to feel wanted but after he left, I realized that this simply wasn’t the case. I had been with him for three years prior to him enlisting into the military and had spent most of my time with him. We met at a baseball game and from that point on we became a packaged deal, for the most part. We had accompanied each other throughout milestones in each others life, graduation, prom, college. We knew what we wanted and would always strive for happiness together. I thought I knew what I was getting myself into when he told me his life plan, I never wanted to get in the way of his future goals so I agreed to run with him. I just wish I had prepared myself more, not that I knew what I was preparing for and I’m not sure anyone in my position does. 

Happiness came so easily for me, then it became so difficult.

I found happiness in writing to him. The days I got letters back from him were great days and the days I didn’t get anything were bad. By now the letters he wrote have been read at least 10 times over and each time I find something new in them.

Changing My Ways

I am learning to live without his physical presence each and everyday. I speak to him often, FaceTime frequently and send him packages every now and again. By now I have learned that I’ve always been independent, even before he came around. What happened is called change and apparently I don’ t handle that well.