~*~Warning~*~
1. This is a long and drawn out session of emotional vomit purely for my benefit
2. I may describe medical procedures that some readers will find disturbing.
3. Read at your own risk

Because I have some suicidal-masochistic tendencies, I decided I was going camping this weekend. Why is this suicidal or masochistic? Because I’m a single mom, AND I’m in nursing school (20 hours in class/clinical and countless hours on studying for tests and writing papers), AND I have a job (10-20 hrs a week with some done at home.

Now, the kids (my 4 +1) were going camping WITH me so they were not a problem at all and I figured I’d study in the free time I had (it’s camping, you’re supposed to sit around all day), and work was going smoothly so the whole idea wasn’t really a problem.

I would finish my much anticipated, one-day ER rotation and, in the hour and a half between school and departure time, I’d pick up my daughter’s friend, hit the store for some snacks, come home, change clothes and meet up with my friend to caravan to the campground...Ok, so maybe that was slightly insane but I was going CAMPING so I’d have plenty of time to relax. Anyway, I digress.

To fully understand the antics of my weekend I do need to explain that I started it on a serious sleep deficit. I only had 3 hours of sleep on Thursday night.

See, there have been some disturbances at work that need to be cleared and I’m involved in that process. The problems are not insurmountable and we will actually have them under control fairly quickly but it needs urgent attention. I’ve been fielding phone calls and exchanging emails since it all started and on Thursday I needed to compile 3 years of records to update a spreadsheet to help clear up the current situation. I got the report out and figured I was clear for the weekend; the powers that be had all the information that I did.

So, Friday morning I was up at 5 AM because school starts when school starts. I hoped that the ER would be more adventurous than my previous rotations but I was really just happy to be there.

It was MUCH more adventurous than I’d hoped for.

It started out much the same as the other times I’ve done it…blood draws, bed pans, medication administration, standard work-ups…then the doc called for an intubation on a patient with breathing difficulty. Like any good little nursing student, I went to observe. Then it went from a respiratory emergency to a full-blown code. I’m talking “open up the crash cart”, “bring me a cut-down tray”, “I need a smaller tube for intubation”, “we need to get a central line started, STAT” code.

At some point one of the nurses said, “Let the nursing students get in there to do chest compressions” then turned to my classmate and I and said, “Do you want to do CPR?” WELL, no one had to ask me twice! I’ve been teaching it for 3 years of COURSE I wanted to do CPR. While the doctors and nurses worked to stabilize this individual my classmate and I switched out to do chest compressions. It was amazing and I’m STILL sore.

The patient’s heartbeat returned and successful intubation was achieved. Then we had to wrestle with a rather large panniculus (a hanging flap of abdominal tissue that consists of skin, fat, and sometimes the content of the internal abdomen) to gain access to place a urinary catheter, a rectal tube, and place a central line catheter in the femoral vein. Previous trauma to the subclavian vein prevented central line placement there. The whole thing was a two hour ordeal and I LOVED it. I was grinning ear to ear to ear all through post conference.

Great way to start a vacation away right? Absolutely!

But then I checked my phone. Remember the work disturbances thing? Yeah, it reared its ugly head and just wreaked havoc on my CPR high. When I was driving around trying to get everything done before we left I was also on the phone with work trying to get THEM to calm down. Not a good experience.

We made it to camp (just after they put the light dinner away), found a good campsite, and built a campfire for s’mores. The kids went to their tents and the grown-ups talked a while. It was good evening.

Saturday morning I woke up at 7:20 to drive my son to work…from camp…over an hour away. See, he has a Saturday job and couldn’t find a sub for his shift. I left Jordan & Laura (her friend) with my friend, Jen and John & Juliana with my boy friend, Jeff. Don’t worry, everyone survived.

While driving, and almost as soon as I was in reach of cell service, the work mess came back to life and LITERALLY didn’t stop until I was walking out the door to pick Jim up again. I was putting things in the car while on the phone and looking up the information that work needed. HOLY COW what a crazy mess. I was so glad camp was a dead zone.

Getting back to camp and relaxation. Yeah, that didn’t happen. I was almost to camp when I got a message that the kids were heading to the beach near the Boardwalk in Santa Cruz. Now, I LOVE the beach, any beach, ALL beaches, except that one. I really can not stand that beach. I got there, let the kids play a little more, got the morning scoop from Jeff and Jen, made the kids dry off, and headed back to camp for that relaxation I was trying to get.

Didn’t happen. After we got there, the kids & Jeff went to shower and I went to check on dinner. Turns out dinner was being served RIGHT THEN. I told the kids to hurry up and come right to dinner which they did. I took some of the wet things back to the camp site and by the time I came back to the mess hall Jim was killing Jeff in chess and the other kids were finishing up their dinner. Then they all ran to play with other kids & we grownups were able to sit and talk for about an hour.

On Saturday night there was a talent show with a skit featuring Jordan, Haley, Ashley, and Laura. They did the King Burger skit (youtube it, it’s hilarious) with Jordan (the original drama queen) playing the part of the sassy cashier. After that it was back to our campfire to do more s’mores, listen to Juliana’s friend’s dad read mythology (did I mention I have a seething dislike for mythology?), and getting to know new friends.

Sunday morning was breakfast, packing up the car, going to sacrament meeting (church) in a beautiful, outdoor chapel sent in a redwood forest, and a drive home. Now, I’m doing laundry and trying to recuperate from my weekend away…before driving to Utah next weekend for my sister’s wedding and another sister’s sealing.

~*~ end of rant ~*~