Andy Warhol, one of the most famous artists of the 20^th century is also very well known for his prophecy that everyone is entitled to 15 minutes of fame.

Well, thanks to Stenberg, my fifteen minutes has arrived – along with 5 other Special Education Assistant classmates.  Of course, you are all now frantically reading my blog, dying for the next line, waiting to find out what we crazy SEA’s have been up to this week, that will bring us great fame and fortune (??) (okay maybe not fortune – lol).

We were asked to be models for the print media that is going to be used for the new Early Childhood program that is going to be offered at Stenberg College in the near future.  Then the icing on the cake … those of us who had children between the ages of 3 and 5 could also bring them in for their 15 minutes of fame.  How much better could life be!!

Saturday morning arrived, my day of impending celebrity status!!  I jumped out of bed eager for the limo to arrive, and then to be able to sit for hours with hair and make-up professionals pampering me, and making me into the glamorous model  I always knew I could be. Ding dong, ding dong – was that the doorbell – my limo driver?  Aggghh, no, it was my alarm clock waking me up at 6am to rain.  I needed to iron the clothes I had chosen for the photo shoot (regular school clothes), wash and dry my own hair and do my make-up… where was Kevin Aucoin , the make-up guru extraordinaire from my dreams?? 

The Limo, or I guess in all reality, the Toyota Corolla was filled with gas and ready to go.  Off I zoomed, picking up my fellow divas along the way and soon we were off to the studio for our day of glory.  Upon arriving at the Community Church, we hopped across the puddles (the red carpet evidently hadn’t made it in the rush) trying to avoid the expected paparazzi, rumour has it though that they were told we were at the Baptist church around the corner.

We soon discovered that the shoot would consist of the five of us taking turns, or together, sitting on the floor playing Lego and dollies with the children.  We also had our pictures and video taken doing crafts, snack time and circle time!!  I was aghast – I thought we were doing a Toddlers and Tiara’s type shoot, not a Kate plus Eight remake!

Well there was my 15 minutes of fame – it was actually a lot of fun, and if you ever get the chance to be a “model” for Stenberg I recommend doing it, because who knows, maybe Kevin Aucoin might show up to do your make-up!!

Hey everyone, can you imagine? It’s the last 2 weeks of school already! That means we’re all heading to practicum again soon! These last 2 weeks are packed with projects, presentations, exams, case scenario testing, etc, and I understand it’s giving us a whole lot of stress. However, I am really glad to see that even with all the stress, everyone is still being supportive of each other and trying to encourage each other. Especially our instructors, they have been giving us words of encouragement all along. They make sure we stay focussed and keep doing our best. It really makes a big difference at this time of the year to have a supportive class and instructors like the ones we have at Stenberg College, thank you!

By the way, as I mentioned, I know everyone is probably under a great deal of stress right now, but don’t forget to take some time off on the weekend to relax. This weekend is our Stenberg Friends and Family Movie Night, which will take place at the Hollywood 3 Cinema in Surrey. We can have a free movie for ourselves and three guests, plus we can get free popcorn and pop each! There are two movies to choose from – Grown Ups or the Karate Kid. I am really grateful that Stenberg provides us with this special event to take some time off the books and enjoy the time with our loved ones. Hopefully I will see you all there!

This semester is going by fast – it’s already mid-July and that means we’re on our way for more exams and projects! How I wish there are more than 24 hours a day! Sometimes I’m amazed how much information our brain can hold – so treat your brain nicely! Eat healthy, exercise regularly, and get enough sleep to prepare yourself physically and mentally for exams! I remember those times that I did poorly on exams were the times that I didn’t eat properly and didn’t have enough sleep. So instead of focusing on answering the questions correctly…my focus was on my growling stomach and fatigued body! Not such a good idea, eh?

So aside from exams and projects, has anyone been enjoying our nice hot weather here in Vancouver? If you’re out of other ideas except going outdoors for a barbecue, a hike, a run, or lunch at a patio and want to do something different…here is a suggestion: How about going to the Richmond Night Market? The Richmond Night Market is one of the hottest summer activities – with its assortment of chinese home-style snacks, cooked-to-order small dishes, discount merchandise, it surely captures the interest of many people. You will also find accessories, clothing, home decorations, household items, designer-brand inspired accessories, music and videos, toys, most at a bargain price. So if you’re one of those people that love Chinese cuisine and want to spend some time with friends on the weekend, you may want to consider this summer event. The hours for this event are: Saturday (7 pm – 1 am) & Sunday (7 pm – 12 am) and it is located at 12631 Vulcan Way, Richmond, B.C.

Well, my little guy is sick this week and to be honest I have had little time to sit here and think of my blog for this week. So, I thought I would share one of my favourite nursing funny’s!

These are actual notes found written in patient’s charts!

1. The patient refused an autopsy.

2. The patient has no previous history of suicides.

3. Patient has left white blood cells at another hospital.

4. She has no rigors or shaking chills, but her husband states she was very hot in bed last night.

5. Patient has chest pain if she lies on her left side for over a year.

6. On the second day, the knee was better, and on the third day it disappeared.

7. The patient is tearful and crying constantly. She also appears to be depressed.

8. The patient has been depressed since she began seeing me in 1993.

9. Discharge status: Alive but without permission.

10. Healthy appearing decrepit 69-year old male, mentally alert but forgetful.

11. Patient had waffles for breakfast and anorexia for lunch.

12. She is numb from her toes down.

13. While in ER, she was examined, x-rated, and sent home.

14. The skin was moist and dry.

15. Occasional, constant infrequent headaches.

16. Patient was alert and unresponsive.

17. Rectal examination revealed a normal size thyroid.

18. She stated that she had been constipated for most of her life, until she got a divorce.

19. I saw your patient today, who is still under our car for physical therapy.

20. Both breasts are equal and reactive to light and accommodation.

21. Examination of genitalia reveals that he is circus sized.

22. The lab test indicated abnormal lover function.

23. Skin: somewhat pale but present.

24. The pelvis exam will be done later on the floor.

25. Patient has two teenage children, but no other abnormalities

I love this. For all you nursing students and unit clerks, I am sure you will come across some interesting things along the way!

I remember when I first started charting. I tried to sound all smart, and that I knew what I was saying. When, really, I am sure some of the things sounded like this haha.

Hope this made you smile. I will have to come up with something insightful next week

Have you ever played online Hidden Object games? I went on a binge the other day, trying to find as many hidden object games as I could. I played my way through them, only to be disappointed that I couldn’t win many levels unless I downloaded the whole game. I wasted a couple of hours on those silly things when I could’ve been working on this blog, or doing housework, or having my teeth pulled, or something as equally rewarding.

Now while I try to write, my husband keeps coming into the computer room every five minutes to tell me how patriotic Canadians are feeling right now because of the Games. “Please get out” I sweetly reply. “Chocolate medallion cookies?” he asks. “If you wish,” I reply coolly, meaning that if he wants to bring me cookies and a glass of milk, he is welcome to do so. My patriotism will have to wait until later.

After practicum today, I walked out into the rain. Three figures approached me and it turned out to be three out of the six Residential Care Aide students from my class who were on practicum in the next building. As we gathered together under my umbrella to chat it was amazing how good it felt to see them again. We shared quick updates on how our practicum was going. Those few moments of reconnection were gold.

Did you find the hidden words and put them together? “Canadians win six gold medal(s) in Games”. Don’t tell me I’m not patriotic!

Well, we started off SOT’s (Surgical order transcription) today – we haven’t really got into the nitty gritty of it yet and tonight the homework is not that bad. After a weekend off, today was a breeze.  I love it when we have a changeover from one module to another.  There is no set homework (though there is always the need to revise med term or pharmacology, this time I did NOT submit to the urge to pickup the books) – I spent this last weekend with my hubby and my dog – it’s been a while since we’ve actually just spent some old fashioned ‘quality’ time together – we went on a couple of small hikes and I feel reinvigorated.  It’s so important to take these precious ‘free’ days and allow you to take some down time, it’s worth it. We all need to recoup and take a break. Do something you haven’t done for a long time, see someone you haven’t seen for a long time because of the pressures of school. Not only will you benefit but the relationships with your family and friends will benefit too – we all had a great time and with my dog, it was like she remembered “Hey – yes this is what we do!”… Car ride+Tim Horton’s+ trees+hills = JOY (which manifests itself as one snoring dog on the couch once we get home).  I realized just how much I have missed us doing this – we used to be off every weekend to some location or other, dog in tow- exploring, but school has been the priority since August and time for doing this has been limited since then. (I don’t count the Christmas break as a holiday – when you have fourteen people for Christmas dinner; it’s not considered a holiday in my book). I know that by Wednesday this week, the homework will be back full swing and the pressure will be building toward the next inevitable exam – but that’s in the future – today I’m just basking in the reflection on what was simply a great weekend away from school – reality will be back soon enough.

Attached is a photo of some of our slippers from the Pajama Day – we had great participation, lots of fun  and people literally let their hair down – it was a great idea, the only thing missing was the hot chocolate – our class was almost falling asleep by ten o’clock!  

We didn’t win the pizza party – but congrats to the winners!!

One last thing, please don’t forget that we have the fund raising raffle for Haiti going on at the moment. There are no comparisons at all to the suffering and grief that is happening right now, so if you can please stop by reception and buy some tickets to help support this cause – every little helps a lot – thanks..

Another refreshing activity done today in class creating a mural. Instead of painting, we were asked to draw and write anything that describes our class and the Special Education Assistant program in general. Most of my classmates went quickly in front to inscribe what best depicts us as students and our experiences. As for me, I took a moment to reflect on our task. Exciting, desire to succeed, friendly, supportive, great teamwork and various positive adjectives were boldly and colorfully printed on the large paper.  Undoubtedly, those are the same expressions I had in mind. Since the paper was almost filled, I didn’t really feel the need to further contribute.  So, I remained seated when a distinctive thought struck me – full of possibilities.  I began to ponder on these three words and arrived at the fact that this is exactly our current state. We have inherent capacity to do anything. 

When we took up this program, each of us had a specific goal. Realistically, our aim falls towards the financial aspect- i.e. to increase our chances of being employed. Somehow during the process of our studies, our perspectives changed.  This is because we didn’t just gain knowledge academically but we learned significant new things about ourselves.  One thing for sure is that we realized we could excel at this work. Some of us may pursue higher education after this program. We discovered certain skills that we never thought we possessed. Or more likely, we acquired skills that would equip us to be better in this field.  In addition, our parenting skills and even our relationship with others was gradually enhanced by applying what we learn in class to our personal lives.  And who would think that after a decade or so, we still find going back to school exciting and actually enjoy it?  The worries that we might not sustain our commitment to finish this course are dimming. Look where we are now – we are past halfway of our program. Being a part of our class has definitely ignited unknown possibilities. It is like a new world has opened for us.  And this could be attributed to our sense of embracing changes and uncertainties. 

Full of possibilities does sums up what I believe is an agreeable description of what we are as students.  With less space left, I didn’t hesitate including my account on the mural. After all, it deserved to be expressed and shared to others.