Wordless Wednesday: Missouri Hollyhock

I'm back & this is a sad post.

Before I write about my trip to Missouri, I must write about my heavy heart.

This week has been a rough week for many people in my hometown.  7 years ago, when I was a freshman, there was a guy named Will was killed in a car accident.  He was a twin.  I didn't know them personally, but I know several people that knew him or were related to him. 

His twin Adam was in a horrible accident on Friday and was taken off life support today and passed on.  I cannot imagine the pain of losing a child, let alone TWINS 7 year apart.  I'm speechless...and I don't even know them.

Then this morning we got a phone call at 7am from my uncle in Maryland.  My cousin Andrew was in a horrible motorcycle accident this morning.  He was the passenger and was wearing a helmet.  The driver, however, wasn't and was killed. 

My cousin is okay.  No life-threatening injurys.  He just broke 3 bones in his foot and tore up his knee really bad.  My uncle says he looks like he was beaten because he is so black and blue. 

My uncle and cousin were supposed to come to SC this weekend for the 4th of July.....and I haven't seen my cousin in 2 years because has been in the Air Force. 

I'm just thankful that it's not my family planning a funeral.   I feel so selfish saying that. 

Hold the people you love close by and cherish every moment as if it were your last.

Hiatus

Life has thrown several curveballs this past week.  Good and bad.  I have had no urge to blog about them...and will not have the time to blog about them until next week.

I leave for Missouri for my friends wedding this evening.

I'm stressing to the max! I'm not fond of flying. It's not the up in the air part....it's the anxiety about losing baggage, making the flight and pulmonary embolism risks ( it's the RN in me).  Oh...and that the plane might fall out of the sky (knock on wood).

AND.....this trip is the FIRST time I've ever flown solo.  AND I have a connecting flight in Memphis.  Crap.  I'm SO nervous that I'm going to be a ditz and miss my connecting flight. 

So....pray that I get to where I'm supposed to go !  And that I don't get a deep vein thrombosis, and that I don't lose my baggage.  And that the person I sit next to isn't stinky or creepy.  Ok. I'm done.

 

Bad news

This week was a fairly good week.  I freaked out (as anyone would) about the NCLEX.  I took the NCLEX. I passed the NCLEX.  Yay. 

However the tail end of my week has sucked horribly.

Little Opie had to have surgery on his ears.  He had blood blisters (aural hematoma in medical terms) in the floppy part of his ears.  He got them from shaking his soft goose (that I bought for him) too hard.  It caused capillaries to bust in his ears and they were unable to clot off...so it bled between the skin and the cartilage. He had several large bloodfilled nodules on both ears.  Poor puppy.  He had his surgery on Thursday.  The vet mentioned that they'd be placing buttons on his ears to keep the stitches from pulling through.  I automatically assumed that there is some veterinary instrument called a button.  Wrong.  They literally meant buttons.  Like the buttons on a blouse or pillow. He has about 11 buttons in his right ear and 10 in his left.  AND he has a lampshade (That he has to keep on for 2 weeks).  I seriously wanted to laugh and cry when I saw him.  He is pitiful. 

Opie is sad dog # 1

My dog Max is sad dog # 2.

My mom was outside telling my aunt goodbye and both Max and Molly ( our blonde lab mixes) were outside with her.  Max was down the hill by the creek....maybe 100 yards from my mom.  All of a sudden Mom saw him limping up the hill with his left front paw help up ( Max has arthritis in his back right knee...so he was really limping).  My dad carried Max inside and laid him on the floor so I could do my RN assessment ( or my interpretation of a dog assessment...really, I had no idea what I was looking for).  

We saw one drop of blood above his paw.  Nothing else was wrong.   He looked fine...maybe he just stepped on a rock wrong.   So....I left to go to dinner with my friend, and my mom and dad went outside to work in the yard.  I got a phone call from my parents about an hour later saying that they came back inside and saw that Max's leg was very swollen and that blood was oozing from 2 spots about an inch apart from each other. 

It could only be 1 thing.

A copperhead snake bite.

I met my parents in Charlotte at an afterhours Animal Emergency Hospital. 

We were right...it was a definite copperhead snake bite.  Max was put on a morphine drip and they monitored him for 4 hours.  There is really nothing they can really do but medicate.  Antivenom is $5000 a vial.  Luckily, copperhead bites aren't usually fatal.  They just HURT LIKE HELL.  The Vet said that people describe the pain as a gunshot wound that got lit on fire. 

Max is going to be ok.  They let us take him home.  However, he's going to be in some bad pain over the next week or two.  They said that after the swelling goes down ( after 5-7 days) the skin will slough off  (which is from the dead cells from the venom).  His regular vet can treat the wound once it begins sloughing. 

Too bad I'm afraid to go near the woods or anywhere else in the yard now.

He's a trooper though because during his time in the Animal ER...and last night.  Whenever we'd talk to him he'd wag his tail.  :)  Too cute.

Last night was also hard for another reason.

My 77 year old Pappy has had prostate cancer for about 2 years.  A year ago, he was diagnosed with lung cancer.  He's gone through radiation for the prostate cancer and began chemo after the diagnosis of the lung cancer.  The chemo has weaked his bones...and last week we found out that he has a small tiny fracture in the head of his femur.  He's been using a cane since my graduation... and has had SEVERAL tests and the doctors just said it was arthritis....UNTIL they looked further and saw the fracture.

A few days ago my Pappy had a PET scan to check the growth on his lungs.  The spot has grown.  His oncologist is stopping the chemo.  They didn't give us a prognosis ( which...who can really say how long someone will live).  I. HATE. Cancer.

AND he is getting hip surgery this coming Friday ( which his cancer Dr said to go ahead and have).  My grandpa wants this surgery so bad.  He just wants to be able to enjoy however long he has left without being debilitated. 

He's been married to my grandmother for 53 years. I cannot imagine the thoughts that are running through both of my grandparents minds.  I can hardly believe the news myself. 

Pappy and Mammaw.

P.S I did spell check on here and it messed up the coloring of the background...thats why this post looks funny.

I DID IT!!

I PASSED THE NCLEX!!!!!! 

 I'm a Registered Nurse now!!

I've never been SO relieved in my life.  This day has dragged on and on. Finally, after checking the testing site 89274 times within 2 hours, it finally posted!!  Two words have never sounded sweeter than:

Grade: Pass.

HALLELUJAH!

NCLEX

I took the NCLEX on Tuesday.

I find out if I passed or not TODAY! Holy Moly.

Thats all I have to say about that!

My favorite food of summer....

is

this

Basil and Blue Cheese covered Tomatoes.

The easiest thing to make in a rush if there is surprise company or if you have to take something to a dinner party! ( Well...only if you have ripe tomatoes, blue cheese and basil on hand)

Slice the tomatoes at whatever thickness you desire.

Drizzle with extra virgin olive oil.

Sprinkle with fresh or dry basil.  ( Use fresh basil...but if your in a hurry, dry basil gets the job done too)

Top with blue cheese or gorgonzola crumbles!

These are SO yummy!

Its a serious POP of flavor!

I could eat these all day.

Oh...and I take the NCLEX tomorrow!!!!!!!!!!!

Agh!!!!

                                                             

Because I knew you...

A year ago today...almost a year ago this very hour, I lost a friend.

A year ago, my life changed forever.

A year ago, I felt pain that I've never felt before. 

A year ago, I witnessed a mother mourn for her only child, and a father at a loss for words.

A year ago, I witnessed several grown men weep for their friend.

Today is bitter bittersweet.  Not only does it mark the one year anniversary of John's death, but it is my brother's and boyfriend's sisters' graduation day.   I have no idea how I can fake a smiley face.  I'm so happy for them, but tomorrow I don't know if I can be truly show it. 

My heart hurts so bad for his parents.  I left their house just a few hours ago.  I could see the pain in their eyes. I could hear the pain in their voices. It broke my heart like it did a year ago. 

This song has been in my head since seeing this show on last Saturday....but the words of this couldn't be more true. 

I've heard it said

That people come into our lives for a reason

Bringing something we must learn

And we are led

To those who help us most to grow

If we let them

And we help them in return

Well, I don't know if I believe that's true

But I know I'm who I am today

Because I knew you...

Like a comet pulled from orbit

As it passes a sun

Like a stream that meets a boulder

Halfway through the wood

Who can say if I've been changed for the better?

But because I knew you

I have been changed.... for good.

It well may be

That we will never meet again

In this lifetime

So let me say before we part

So much of me

Is made of what I learned from you

You'll be with me

Like a handprint on my heart

And now whatever way our stories end

I know you have re-written mine

By being my friend...

I love you John Daniel.

It's consuming my life!

My life has been consumed by the NCLEX.  I've been up before 9am almost every morning since I've graduated....to study. 

I've been knee-deep in Pharmacology books, NCLEX study guides and little funny retarded acronyms that really help me remember.

It sucks.  I just want to get this test over with!!!!!!

Then I'll be a real registered nurse and things will be perfect ( except for the no-job no-income status).

Oh man oh man...I better get back to studying!!