Almost August

In my last post, I hoped I would remember to update before school started in the fall. Looks like I made it with a month to spare.

First up: Little Miss Minion had her MRI in June. She did so well! We both changed into hospital clothes and they got her bundled into the machine. They have a screen with Disney + on it, so she picked Bluey for her show during the scan. Bluey episodes are about 10 minutes long and they were finished before she finished the episode, which annoyed her. Haha.

We went upstairs to her neurosurgeon’s office to get the results. Comparing this one to her last one shows a slight increase in fluid levels, but he said the levels can fluctuate a little bit naturally. She wasn’t having any symptoms of a malfunction, so he wasn’t concerned. Six weeks later (today), she’s still good, so I suspect it was just a normal fluctuation.

I did ask him about some long term things we’ve noticed that we suspect are due to those pesky areas of brain damage from when she had the meningitis. It’s a doozy of a vocabulary phrase: periventricular leukomalacia. PVL, a much easier abbreviation, has been hovering on the sidelines ever since they found it. At first, they suspected it would impact her ability to walk. She did need AFOs (ankle-foot orthotics) when she was learning to walk, so maybe it did affect her gross motor skills. Since starting school, writing and holding pencils for extended periods is hard for her. Maybe it affected her fine motor skills as well. Brains are weird.

During this visit, we specifically asked about her short term memory. Short term memory problems are a known complication of endoscopic third ventriculostomy (ETV) surgery, which she had way back in 2015. She will hear something at school and acknowledge it, then ask about it 2 minutes later as if the previous explanation didn’t happen. She can read almost at grade level, but if you ask her about what she just read, she can’t tell you. Her neurosurgeon said that it’s hard to answer definitively (again, brains are weird), but he agrees that it’s likely a result of that ETV surgery, since the frontal lobe is the area that they access to get to the ventricles in this case. Memory issues will likely be part of her baseline.

Thankfully, repetition and habit are pushing things into her long term memory just fine. Once she knows something, it stays there forever. She will ask me about the most random things from two or three years ago (when she was 5-6), and she will be 100% accurate. She asked me the other day where a certain dress of hers went—it had a hole in the hem a couple months ago and I forgot to fix it for her. But ask her to read a new story and then tell you about it—she struggles.

Luckily, she has an amazing team of teachers at school. Since she has a 504 plan, we are able to enact workarounds to help her succeed. These include things like sitting near the teacher/teaching space, extra time on assignments, shortened assignments, going to the resource room during free work periods in class, and getting extra help with reading and math. Once the kids start having to write longer answers for homework, she will be able to use a keyboard to type her answers. She will still be expected to do some writing by hand, but when the assignment is content based, it makes no sense for her to struggle with physically writing when she’s mentally got the answer.

Besides that, she had a great time at summer school, working on that reading comprehension. She’s been doing the school summer care program after summer school got out, and they do crafts, activities, field trips, and have special events periodically. Next week, they are going to see a movie at the movie theater!

That’s about all the excitement around here. Happy summer!

Almost Summer!

You would think that after almost 8 years of writing on this blog, I would remember to do it more often.

Updates on the Minion family:

• Mr Minion started a new job! He works from home, which is great.
• Little Miss Minion is finishing her first year of PSR and had her First Communion a couple of weeks ago.
• I was confirmed into the Catholic Church at the Easter Vigil after being in RCIA classes since last September
• Mr Minion is drawing up plans to screen in our patio cover.
• I finished another round of classes, so I am one semester closer to getting that BSN. I think right now I will graduate in August of 2024, depending on my course load. I might change it up in the fall, I haven’t decided yet.
• I am also enrolled in a program at work that focuses on professional development and clinical development. You earn points for completing certain tasks or earning certifications, and then there are different thresholds of extra compensation. The levels start at a 1, the lowest level, and go to Level 4. The points are in different categories, like education, professional development, clinical skills, etc. I think I’ll be able to get a Level 3, and I might be able to get a Level 4. I get credit for my bachelor’s in English (bachelor in any field), I get credit for my BSN nursing classes, plus the two workgroups I belong to. The program lasts for a year, then you start getting your new pay rate for the next year.
• LMM has her annual neurosurgeon visit coming up in June. She is also due for an MRI this time, which will be interesting. I think that the last time she had an MRI was in 2017 or 2018, after her last surgery. She won’t remember that one, but this one in June will be the first one she will remember. We’re going to start prepping her for it so she isn’t nervous. I think Baby Yoda might need an MRI for something…lol…I can make the MRI machine out of a carboard box or something and we can play MRI sounds on our phone while Baby Yoda gets his scan.
• I also finally got registered as a volunteer for LMM’s school, which means I can chaperone field trips and events at school. I went with her on a field trip to a local wildlife/restoration area in the spring and chaperoned a class dance party a couple of weeks later. Working night shift is nice because I am available during the day, as long as I don’t work that night. For the field trip, I worked the night before so I was awake for like 24 hours. I did not work that night, which is why I was able to sign up, but it was so much fun to get to see her with all her friends.

Summer plans include summer school, a weeklong summer camp program at school, a Girl Scout daycamp, and a Girl Scout camping trip with Mr Minion and another with me. She will also be doing the summer “daycare” program since Mr Minion works and I have to sleep during the days if I work that night. The program has themed weeks with crafts and activities, plus access to the school’s amenities and the playgrounds, so I think she will enjoy it. She will also be riding a school bus between the summer school and the daycare program, since they are held at different locations. She is very excited, because she has only been on a school bus a couple of times for field trips.

Another item of note is happening this weekend: LMM turns 8! She is having a birthday party with friends (her first one), and she is so excited. I think everyone will have a great time.

Hopefully I remember to update this again before school starts in the fall! 🙂

Hello, 2023!

Can’t believe another year has gone by so quickly! This time last year, I was getting ready for my final semester of nursing school. Two years ago, we were getting ready to send Little Miss Minion to in-person kindergarten. Time flies.

LMM has lost her two front teeth (they came out in time for Christmas, haha), and her adult teeth are coming in slowly. She’s been very excited about this. I know her friends have been losing teeth for months so she’s probably glad to be catching up with them.

I volunteered to be part of the palliative care team at work. We sometimes get patients who are on hospice so we are trying to make our processes better for these patients and their families. I actually had my first patient death a while back, and it was a privilege to be with this patient in their last moments. The palliative care team will focus on what we can do to make these patients comfortable, help their families and/or caregivers to be involved (if the situation permits), and to improve the process for our nurses.

LMM requested that we play “Baby Yoda in the hospital” the other day–she has a giant stuffed baby Yoda that we take care of with all of my nursing school practice stuff, like wound dressings, IVs, NG tubes, etc. It has been a while since we played that game, so I’ll have to take her up on it soon. She said she wants to be a nurse like me, and we will “work together as a team and take care of the babies.”

Here’s to a great 2023! Cheers!

December!

I can’t believe another year is almost in the books. This year has flown by.

Little Miss Minion has another loose tooth. This time, it’s one of her upper front ones. She’s very excited because she can wiggle it with her tongue now.

She and I made Christmas houses for the tree. I found some cheap little wooden houses and Mr Minion drilled some holes into them to look like lights coming out. LMM and I painted them and then hooked them onto lights on the tree. They look pretty cool.

We also went to a school event that was about celebrations around the world. There were several booths hosted by families who were sharing their heritage and culture. A family from India dressed in their bright saris and talked about their traditional holidays. There was a booth for Mexico, with coconut candies and a fried dessert. The Kenyan booth was amazing. They served a fried doughnut type thing and also had samosas. They were DELICIOUS and I’m trying to find a recipe so I can make them at home. Santa also made an appearance.

The second term of my BSN program is almost over, and I need to decide if I want to speed up my progress or not. Right now, I’m doing one class every eight weeks. I could do two classes every eight weeks, but I don’t know if I want to do that to myself. I might consider it, depending on how much time it will cut off my program. I also have a math class coming up, and I think I should do that one by itself. Ugh.

I hope everyone has a great December and a lovely Advent.

Time flies again…

Every time I plan on regularly updating this blog, something happens and I end up not touching it for weeks. In this case, it was just life.

Updates from my last post:

• Little Miss Minion’s teeth: she has now lost two total and one of her front teeth is loose now as well.
• I still love my job! I’m actually updating this at work, since all of my patients are sleeping. I get to play with them for about two hours while I do my shift assessment, pass medications, and get them ready for bed. If the night is smooth, I have time to work on my BSN work in between meds and assessments. Night shift is awesome.
• Girl Scout camping was definitely an experience. It was hot, fun, and I think I am good on camping. I’m more of an indoor girl anyway.

New things since July:

• We went on a Disney trip in September. We did several days at Disney World and then did a three-night Disney cruise on the new ship, the Wish. It was a great trip and LMM had a lot of fun.
• We expanded our patio under the new cover that Mr Minion and the neighbors built over the spring/summer. I have never handled concrete before and it was interesting. My legs are completely bruised up from kneeling and crawling around on the gravel and the ground. The day we poured the concrete was 80 degrees. The next day it was like 40. Perfect timing.
• We finally got LMM baptized. This has been a journey–we didn’t want to do it while she was in the NICU because it felt like we were giving up on her. We couldn’t do it after that because of preemie isolation. Then we moved and didn’t want to get her baptized without having a “home church.” Then Covid hit, and we didn’t want to test her lungs on that virus. So now, we finally did it.
• My BSN program is going well. My first class was almost entirely just writing papers, which was pretty simple. This class is on pharmacology and is more in-depth, but most of the material was covered in my ADN program so its kind of a review, which is nice.
• I signed up to help with my nursing program’s disaster day program. This is done during the last semester of the program as a way to practice all of the skills that have been covered. I will have been working the night before, so it should be fun.

I set myself a goal to read 100 books this year, and I just hit 75 the other day. I’m behind schedule, since I actually have to work now (LOL), but I think there’s a decent chance that I will catch up and hit the goal.

It’s almost time for my next assessment, so I will do my best to update again soon. Happy Fall!

Summer of Firsts

Happy summer break! It is crazy to think that there is really only a month left of summer vacation. Its been a busy season for the Minion household.

Recap of Firsts

• Little Miss Minion lost her first tooth! I think she is the last one of her friends to lose one, so she’s been looking forward to this for months. She was soooo excited when she was finally able to pull it out. The Tooth Fairy visited and left her some coins in exchange for the tooth.
• Mr Minion quit his job and is staying home with LMM for the summer. Since I am back at work, he gets to spend time with LMM and enjoy himself for once. Its been a long two years since I quit, plus the added stress of the pandemic and LMM starting school.
• I passed the NCLEX! I am now officially a Registered Nurse!
• I started my new job and it is incredible. I’m working at a pediatric hospital for medically complex kiddos so there is a lot for me to see and learn. On day 1, we played hide and seek with the Jack-and-Jill bathroom. My preceptor would hide in the bathroom and then sneak out the other door while the kids tried to open the first door. Then she would pop up from around the corner and surprise them. On my second day, one of the kids chased me around with a toy chainsaw. It was fantastic.
• I switch to night shift this week, and I am so excited. Day shifts feel like they never end, whereas nights never seem as long. Maybe I’m just a night owl. Night owl/vampire.
• This week, LMM and I will be going on a Girl Scout camping trip overnight. I have never been camping before, as I am more of an indoor girl. It is supposed to be 93 with a 50/50 of storms, so this should be interesting. We will be staying in something called a “permanent tent,” which appears to be a canvas sided tent up on a deck-like platform that is about 2 feet off the ground. So no air conditioning, no windows, no electricity…thankfully there are actual toilets though, so I’m counting that as a win.
• Our campout events include swimming, canoeing (which I have never done), hiking, and then some crafting activities. As long we both make it out without heatstroke, I will be thrilled.

I start school online for my (second) Bachelor’s Degree on August 1. The program is set up in 8 week chunks where you take one class at a time, so I will be starting the first session soon. My clinical preceptor from nursing school went through this same program and she liked it, so I am hoping I can keep up with work and school. I’ve been told there are a lot of papers to write, which works out really well for me since I love to write.

Off to pack for this week’s adventure!

Mrs Minion, RN

Commencement!

I finally did it!

Brag time: I graduated from nursing school a couple of weeks ago with:

1. A program GPA of 4.0
2. A cumulative GPA of something like 3.97 for all of the college credits I have taken so far (quite a few).
3. Five consecutive semesters of Dean’s List honors.
4. Nursing Scholar of the Year
5. the highest GPA in my cohort

Since classes ended, I have suddenly found this thing called “free time” where I can do things I have been neglecting for the past 2 years–like reading books and relaxing. It is nice!

Next up on my schedule: I need to register to take the nursing boards and I start my first nursing job in July. I’m so excited to start working at this facility (that I will not name because PRIVACY). And then I start online classes for my BSN in the fall. Glutton for punishment…

Little Miss Minion is finishing up first grade in a few days. Things are slowly going back to normal, pre-Covid times in terms of school functions. They went on their first field trip, masks are optional, and the schools are hosting events again. There was a big carnival a couple weeks ago for the end of the school year and LMM had a blast.

Other highlights:

• She had a great dentist checkup and her Xrays show that her first loose tooth is FINALLY on its way. Please note that she hates bubble gum but will actively request bubble gum flavored things at the dentist because “it tastes good.”
• She has made over a year of reading progress since around October. Her reading is improving so much and she works so hard at it.
• She has informed us that she will be marrying a boy from her class. He is unaware of their impending nuptials but she has determined that she will be wearing a dress made of “meatballs and syrup” and he will be wearing “marrying clothes.”
• Her ballet recital is in a few weeks and should be quite interesting. Her costume is adorable, so that will be a bonus.
• She bridges from Daisy to Brownie at some point over the summer for Girl Scouts, and will also be doing a day camp and two overnight camping trips with myself and Mr Minion taking turns. I have never been camping, so this will definitely be an experience.

Happy Summer!

Path of Honor

The final semester has arrived! I’ll update about school stuff another day (everything is good), but I wanted to share something I was able to participate in at clinical.

I was helping with vitals on a patient when my instructor stuck her head in and told me to stop everything, grab any of my classmates that I saw and meet her at the elevator in two minutes. I immediately knew something was up when she jog-walked down the hall. Nurses don’t run unless something big is going down. We all made it to the elevator and she explained to us that we were heading down to witness and be a part of a Path of Honor.

In case you aren’t aware, a Path of Honor occurs when a patient is on life-support and the decision is made to donate their organs. There are some other stipulations, like having no brain activity, but that’s the basic version.

Once the decision of organ donation has been made, the Path notification goes out as the family says goodbye in private.

We made it to the specified area and found the hallway. It was a couple hundred feet long, lined with nurses, doctors, and other hospital staff. My group joined the line and we all waited.

Two nurses led the procession, guiding the front of the bed. Two more nurses pushed the head of the bed, followed by the family and loved ones of the patient. Behind them were the rest of the medical team. The procession would end at the OR (operating room), and the patient would make their final gifts.

It was an honor for me to stand with the rest of the medical staff to show our thanks for this patient’s selfless gift. To show our support for this patient’s spouse and family, who chose to say goodbye to their so that others could live. Countless lives will be saved and improved by the gifts of this patient’s organs. Everyone knows about heart transplants, but patients can donate basically everything—heart, lungs, kidneys, liver, eyes, even skin. Dozens of families will get second chances with their loved one because of one patient.

This has definitely been the most impactful event in my nursing school experience. I will remember the bowed heads of the nurses and doctors who watched the patient pass by. I will remember the family, the pain on their faces and their hands holding each other as they walked behind the bed. I hope they will be comforted by the knowledge of all the good that their loved one’s gifts will do for other families. I’m honored to have been able to take part in this ceremony.

Happy Holidays!

I cannot believe it is almost 2022! And that I’ve only done like 3 posts this year. Lame. Since I’ve missed Christmas already, Merry Belated Christmas! And Happy New Year!

This fall/winter has been a whirlwind (again) with Little Miss Minion starting 1st grade and me being at school in-person for the first time since I started the program.

Little Miss Minion Updates:

• She did swimming over the summer and soccer in the fall. I think she liked soccer until she realized how much running is involved, which is exactly what I did when I played soccer for like 6 weeks in high school.
• She is starting ballet in January and is very excited to be taking “ballerina classes.” Santa brought her ballet clothes and slippers so that should be fun. We found a tutorial on Youtube that taught her three ballet positions and we did that as a family, which was pretty entertaining.
• She has no loose teeth and the dentist says they are “stuck in there pretty good” so I don’t see any Tooth Fairy visits in the near future.
• She got a new booster seat for my car since she is finally too tall for the one she’s been using since she got out of the pumpkin seat. She’s very excited.
• She’s finally getting the hang of reading!

Mrs. Minion Updates:

• Finished the fall semester with another 4.0!
• Learned a TON this semester and had great clinicals experiences on a cardiac floor and OB floor.
• Will be starting to apply for actual nursing jobs soon!
• Is on schedule to graduate this May! NCLEX, here I come!

Mr. Minion Updates:

• Has planned and is building a patio cover for the house. I continue to be impressed by his skills in fixing stuff and building stuff around the house.
• Got our roof replaced, which included far more research than I thought it would. We had a TON of hail damage from recent storms so we wanted to make sure we got something good.
• Builds little crafty projects from the hardware store with Little Miss Minion. She is getting pretty good with a hammer and putting things together.

Hoping everyone reading this has a great rest of the year and a wonderful 2022!

Happy Fall! (Almost)

Summer blew by and now it’s almost fall! When did this happen?

Little Miss Minion has started playing soccer! She won a medal this week for sportsmanship/respect. She said her favorite part of soccer is “everything.” And also the snacks.

School for me has been nonstop since day 1. In lab, we’re learning how to insert IVs, how to do blood transfusions, wound care, blood draws, and tracheostomy care and cleaning. In lecture, we’re going to cover reproduction, antepartum, labor and delivery, postpartum, neonate care, respiratory, cardiac, and blood systems. Plus we have clinicals, which has been awesome so far. I placed a female catheter, attempted an IV, got to watch a cardioversion, and spent a day in the operating room. I watched a hernia repair, a gallbladder removal, and two gynecologic surgeries. I was able to be in the actual OR and walk around to look at whatever I wanted. It was an incredible experience.

I feel like I’m going to blink and it’s going to be Christmas.