Block 2 Wrap-Up

Rereading my last post made me laugh a little.  In a oh-it-only-gets-worse maniacal kind of laugh.  These first couple of blocks have been a lot more trying than I anticipated.  Blocks being kind of like quarters/half semesters.  They are 5-8ish weeks of classes at a time.  

So the vehicle situation only got worse.  I decided to trade the large green paperweight in for a van.  I had been wanting to go back to a van (three kids and all).  I paid an outrageous amount for it given the year and mileage but all vehicles were extremely expensive at the time so…. Whatever.  Fast forward a couple weeks and the motor just seems to be idling rough- a point that I TOLD THE SALESPERSON DURING THE TEST DRIVE.  But the man that looked like a twelve year old boy assured me that it had been thoroughly checked over.

Luckily I took out an extended warranty because I took it back to the dealership and….. The engine was screwed in that vehicle too.  It took nearly TWO MONTHS to get it back.  And it’s been.. Not quite right ever since.  I definitely got a lemon- but at least I have the extended warranty.

As far as school goes- it’s just been awful.  And it’s not the school, or the material itself- I love the support I have from the university, and my classmates are a group of amazing, caring, intelligent people, and the material is engaging and interesting.  But there’s SO MUCH INFORMATION. And it doesn’t let up.  And with three young kids who lovingly swapped respiratory viruses over the last couple months with each other and myself, and losing 10+ hours a week on commuting, it’s been an absolute struggle to stay on top.  There are a vast amount of resources for understanding the material and studying and just figuring out what works best for me and for the topic I’m currently trying to learn has been a journey also.

Given all of that, I did not pass my first exam for Block 1.  And that shattered my confidence.  I was five points away from passing.

I started working closely with an academic advisor and came up with a plan for block 2.  

Then, halfway through block 2, a few weeks before Thanksgiving, I woke up with what I thought was pink eye.  I immediately made an appointment with a provider via telehealth and got a script filled for antibiotic drops.  The next day, both eyes were red, and I had significant pain in one of my eyes.  Off to my provider I went, who gave me a shrug and a “maybe just wait a couple days for the drops to work.”  Mind you, I am so sensitive to light at this point I can’t drive, which means I’m not going to school or even opening my laptop.  It took me a good ten minutes to email my professors because I could barely handle my phone screen brightness.  Next day- still a crazy amount of pain, just in the one eye.  Went to an opthamologist, who wasn’t sure why I was in so much pain, but said that there was “considerable conjuctiva involvement” in the painful eye.  Switched the drops.  Next day- relief finally!  We’re at the weekend at this point.  I basically lost the whole school week.  

Fast forward a couple days to Sunday night I started having severe abdominal and back pain with vomiting.  I went to the emergency department and was told my gallbladder was inflamed.  Oh, and my IUD has found it’s way into the deeper tissue of my uterus.  Awesome.  So I went home.  The next day I sustained on jello and crackers and felt fine so when dinner rolled around I thought I’d be safe to have something a little bulkier.  Wrong.  Absolutely wrong.  About an hour later the pain came back full force.  I went back to the emergency department.  Repeat CT.  Gallbladder definitely needed to come out.  That night I experienced the worst pain of my life.  I know now what writhing in pain really is.  I didn’t sleep at all that night save for a few minutes here and there from exhaustion.  Gallbladder came out via a surgeon who is super well liked in the community and happens to be an alum from my medical school!  Unfortunately, I had to be transferred to have a scope done (ERCP) because our hospital does not do them.  So I spent five days in the hospital which puts me at missing TWO WEEKS of school.  

The school was absolutely phenomenal at working with me.  I actually got kind of lucky in that this block butted up against Winter break.  I was granted an extension and basically made up those two weeks I missed over break by studying my backend off and took the final exam the first week of January, on what happened to be the first day of Block three.  

No rest for the wicked.  But I passed.  Now onto Block three: The musculoskeletal system