"Toto, I've a feeling we're not in Kansas any more."

This week I managed to survive my first tornado warning! It was very dark and stormy outside, and I was diligently studying in my bedroom for my big test the next day. All of the sudden I heard this noise outside like nothing I've ever heard before. I searched "tornado siren" on youtube...and sure enough, it was the same sound! I was probably a little more excited than I should be for a swirling whirlwind of death. Unfortunately the most exciting thing that happened was when the wind ripped the gutter off our apartment.

This week I had the worst thing happen to me that has ever happened in my entire life. Background information: A G-tube is a tube that goes directly into the stomach. At the end of it, outside of the body, the tube forks and there is a big opening and a small opening, both sealed with rubber stoppers. The tube is very useful for giving liquid medication as well as water, if the person is at risk for aspiration. In order to put something in the tube you have to kink it, attach a syringe to the big hole, and simply pour liquids into it. There is definitely a technique to it, and you have to be careful to make sure you are holding on tight to where the syringe and tube connect. In clinicals we always have our professor with us when we are giving medication or doing new procedures. It was time for my resident's G-tube flush. I told my professor that I was ready when she was, and she told me that I could do it by myself since she had watched me do it three times already. I was so excited to be able to do something by myself! I prepared everything I needed and got ready to start. Before you actually put anything in the tube you have to make sure the tube is actually in the stomach. You do this by holding the stethoscope on the stomach, and injecting 10cc of air into it. If you hear the air in the stomach, you are good to go! Well I was all set up. One hand was holding my stethoscope to her stomach, and the other was holding the syringe and tube together. I pushed the air into the syringe with one fluid motion...and the rubber stopper to the second smaller hole in the tube flew open and stomach juice shot into my face with an incredible amount of force. Now I don't know if you've ever seen juices straight from the stomach...but let me just tell you, it is not a pretty picture. Not only does it have the consistency of snot, but it smells awful too! To make things worse, my resident had a big old glass of cranberry juice for breakfast...so I was covered in pink, viscous, foul-smelling slime. It all happened so fast it took me a second to realize what was happening. I was trying to manipulate my hands so I could stop the spurting tube without dropping the whole contraption. I figured I might as well just finish the job before cleaning up...so I managed to pour everything down her tube while I was still a mess. My poor resident was just sitting there looking at me with an amused face the whole time. She didn't say a word, bless her soul. I was so unbelievably close to vomiting all over. Sheli just reminded me yesterday that the Lord never gives us more then we can handle...

After this whole unfortunate incident I wheeled my resident down to mass and proceeded to walk to the break room to grab some lunch. My stomach was still churning. One of my classmates called me to her resident's room and said she had to run and do something quickly. "Can you watch her? She's been on the toilet forever and she'll probably still be there when I get back." So I go into the room, and not two seconds later her sweet little resident, who is deaf and blind in one eye starts hollering that she's finished. I walked into the tiny bathroom and low and behold there was poop all over her hands, all over the toilet, and all over the wall. It wasn't just normal poop either...it was black, tarry, sticky poop. I'm not exactly sure what the poor little lady was doing in there. So I started to clean her up and I was just finishing as my classmate came back into the room. She took one look at me and said "I am so sorry....I owe you big time!" Little did she know what horrors I had previously encountered moments before. By the time I finally got to the break room I was thorougly traumatized and had lost my appetite completely.

So one of the things I'm most nervous about is learning how to do an IV. Yesterday, my friend Kristi and I went to bar/resturaunt and we were sitting at the table drinking beer and talking about nursing. She used to be an EMT so she has already done tons of IVs. She was explaining the whole process to me. I asked her if she could show me what vein she would go for on my hand. So I wrapped my hair tie around my wrist so my veins would pop out and she was holding my hand poking at my veins and explaining what to look for. At that moment, our waitress comes up to us and says in a shocked voice, "Are you proposing??" The funniest part was that she was totally serious! I'm pretty sure same-sex marriage isn't even legal in Nebraska! We burst out laughing and told her that we were in nursing school and we were just looking at veins. She thought that was hilarious.

Nick was supposed to come visit me in May...but last week we deiceded to go to Hawaii instead!! I am SO excited! I get to see my lover and the rest of the Serrones, I get to go to Hawaii, and I get a break from nursing school all wrapped into one! Life couldn't be better. =)