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Alot has happened since I last blogged. I started nursing school which has taken up every second of free time lately. The diet is absolutely kaput right now (who knew the freshmen fifteen applied to grown up students as well?) My husband has uveitis in the right eye and it's spreading to the left as well. The fear of him going blind has permeated every waking thought I have, which has caused yet more trips for junk food and fast food. Nerd Mom hasn't slimmed down any yet but when you have the Yorkie Bully by your side anything is possible!
SO YOU'RE NOT A NURSE, HUH? LET'S CUT YOUR PAY!
The decision to go back to college was very much prompted by a change at my company. All ancillary staff had their shift differential cut to a flat rate. For those for us that have been there forever this meant a huge pay cut. I work nightshift, have been on it for eighteen years. The decision to ignore my sleep patterns and become a creature of the night was the 15% shift differential I received for the sacrifice of sleep and sanity. With my Hubby being a stay at home Dad, this all worked out well. Starting in january,my pay was cut by $2.19 an hour. For someone who's worked for the company for years this was a huge blow. Then I saw two new grad nurses fist bumping and cheering because they had just received a huge pay raise. Their flat rate is two dollars higher than mine.
Panic set in. My family barely makes ends meet now. How could I afford this? The answer was simple. I couldn't. No amount of budgeting was going to make these numbers change. So after many hysterical confabs on the phone with the bestie, I decided to go back to nursing school. She's doing the LPN to RN bridge program. I made a few calls and decided on a two year program. I'll be a year behind her, then we'll both start our BSN training and then on to Nurse Practitioner school. It's going to be a long road, but will be worth it in the end. I think I'm going to go the Family Practice route with the NP program. Everyone gets shuffled around anymore by specialists and no primary doctor sees you for more than five minutes. I found a wonderful nurse practitioner who is managing my youngest son now. She inspired me to go back to school and take care of people in a different setting. So bad thing becomes a new adventure. Pretty cool, huh? Nerds Rule!
WE DON'T KNOW WHY THIS WON'T WORK
My husband's eye problems were another big push to return to college. I have spent eighteen years taking care of other people, yet when my own Husband is ill, nothing is working. No answers.
Last fall he starting seeing flashes of light in his right eye. He woke up one day and his right eye was bulging out of the socket. We rushed him to the eye doctor, who started him on steroid drops. Months followed with it weekly visits, sometimes two or three times a week. An injection into his eyelid and oral steroids did nothing. Then the retina detached and he has lost his central vision in the eye. We were referred out to a retinologist which has been a joke. They finally ordered blood testing, took him off the steroids and other than nothing. No meds, nothing. Wait and see. Come back and see us. Now the flashes have started in his left eye. Eye exam. No meds. Nothing. More tests. He's terrified he's going blind and no one is stopping it. We still don't know why this happened. So we go back to these quacks again this week then that's it. We're finding new doctors before he loses his sight completely. This has been a scary when will it be over type of thing. Every move we make seems to lead to a dead end. Well I'm tired of watching him suffer and it's got to stop. So, new doctors coming up.
TRY TO HANG ON
So between school, work and the doctor's office no free time is out there right now. The kiddos are doing great, prom is next weekend and the Yorkie Bully still insists that if everyone played throw the cow more often all of this stress would melt away.
