Bear with Me…

The marketing class I'm in the summer has been tying me down this past month and isn't going to be any easier in the last week. I have a 12 page paper due August 3 and am planning on spending every waking moment I get to complete it. After that I get a month break before fall semester begins. During that month I plan on writing many blog posts, sitting in the sun, staring at the television screen and reading for pleasure (not for school).

So, I ask you to bear with me until then. Thanks for being patient. By the way, I received a letter of acceptance to Metro State University for spring semester 2013. More about that in the next post.

Jenni

A Trip to the ER

Last Thursday as I was getting turned in bed my left shoulder dislocated. Despite having limited feeling it hurt a lot. I knew right away something had happened, but I went ahead and got up in my wheelchair. By the time I sat down, it had popped back in. Then, Friday when I was turning it happened again. I thought it would go in when I got up like it did the day before but it didn't. I ended up going into the emergency room at Methodist hospital.

When I got there, they took me into a room right away. The doctor came and tried to gradually ease it into place but it wouldn't go and was extremely painful. They decided to give me a narcotic so I would feel it as much. Once those kicked in and she was able to try again; it took a while but eventually she got it. They took an x-ray afterwards to be sure.

 

However, I wasn't done in the ER yet. Because of the narcotic they gave me my blood pressure dropped extremely low. They decided to start an IV and get some fluids in me but had trouble finding a good vein but eventually after four tries they finally ended up getting it. (I have the bruises to show for it!) Even though the fluids were going my blood pressure still wouldn't rise and there were about four times where I became unresponsive. Not to mention I was a little out of it due to the drug.

After a couple of hours, I was finally in the safe zone to go home. It was a long day in the ER. My shoulder was very sore over the weekend but it's feeling a lot better today. I'm not quite sure how it came out of the socket. What's interesting was no one had their hand on my shoulder at the time. I think as I rolled onto my right shoulder, my left arm fell forward a little bit. It was just enough each day for it to dislocate.

Because of my injury and the inability to move, it's common for my muscle mass to start wearing down over time. I'm finding that my neck and shoulders are really tight and tense. I'm working in physical therapy to get my muscles relaxed and my arms and legs moving. Although, stress can easily cause tight muscles in anyone and that could be part of it. For now, I am focused on safe transfers and lifting; crossing my fingers for no injuries.

Jenni

Hot and Humid

I finished my first online summer class, Cultural Anthropology last Friday. I ended up with a B in the class which is pretty good considering how much work and how hard it was. Summer classes at Normandale are only five weeks long compared to 16 weeks in a regular semester. On Monday I started my Principles of Marketing class for the second summer session. This one's only five weeks as well, and is proving to be just as difficult. I'll definitely be busy the rest of the summer. I can tell I've been spending more days inside than last summer because I'm not as tan as I was at this point.

On Wednesday, July 4 my boyfriend, Blake, came over to hang out. We were going to go see fireworks but it was way too hot outside. It reached 100°F and has been around that temperature the last few days. Instead we stayed in the air-conditioning and watched a movie. It isn't supposed to be that hot tomorrow, so maybe we'll go out somewhere. Since he lives at least 45 min. away we only see each other about once a week (usually Saturdays); bonus this week though because he came over for the fourth! August 1 he's going to be moving to an apartment in St. Paul which is only about 25 min. away. That's a big difference on gas usage, especially when he'll be able to take the bus or Metro Mobility if need be. He usually comes over for about 8 to 10 hours at a time because of the drive, which is great since it's hard when we're apart.

Now it's time for me to go back to studying for my quiz. Good luck to me!

Jenni