Work
We left off last in November when I made cookies in preparation for my brother and his family coming down from Tennessee. I ended up bringing the cookies to work and got to experience the Covid ICU for the first time while beginning training as a cardiac nurse.
With so much going on, I took the last couple of months away from my blog to begin adjusting to life with my new job and other things I had going on. Not every moment had been great, but they provided lessons and grew me as a person.
The unit I work on is considered a universal unit, meaning patients come back from surgery considered ICU, and as their health progresses they are considered telemetry/step-down. These patients don’t move to a new room, they just switch nurses. They still require constant cardiac monitoring, but less frequent checking of things like vital signs and blood sugars.
I did not realize how thankful I would be to train as a telemetry nurse before ICU. I have been an RN on my own now for a couple of weeks and I feel more comfortable every day. I also feel exhausted. I still ask other nurses a lot of questions about things like the right choice to make to advocate for my patients, and who to call when I need things addressed for my patients. I could not imagine coming right out of school to immediately care for post-op patients that just had heart surgery, even with additional weeks of training.
Health
During all of this I made shifts to take on more responsibility from my parents. Being out of school and working full time, it became necessary to move over to my own health insurance, which also meant changing doctors.
I began seeing a new OB/GYN and started talking to her about problems I felt had not been addressed with my previous physician. I had gone nearly a year without a cycle meaning I was not ovulating. I worried about the possibility of having children and began seeing an OB. My last doctor started me on oral birth control allowing me to believe that the cycle every month I would have on it meant I was ovulating. I learned very recently this was not true and I could have actually not ovulated the entire time I was on it. My new doctor shared my concerns over this. She was absolutely amazing. I felt listened to, cried a little, and we began doing testing.
I had bloodwork drawn, an ultrasound of my ovaries done, and a 2 hour glucose test that left me with an awful headache and a hematoma. She determined I did not have PCOS, but I am moderately insulin resistant. Since then I have done pretty well maintaining a low carb diet. There are still days I enjoy what I want to enjoy, but I remain conscious of what I eat for the other meals that day.
This month I will be seeing an endocrinologist to come up with a plan to manage and hopefully reverse this new diagnosis. I am hoping to have more answers. I have fought with my weight my entire life, only maintaining a healthy weight by hours of exercise 6 days a week. That is not sustainable with my lifestyle anymore.
I want to have children eventually, and I know my best best will be by reaching an maintaining a healthier weight.
Life
Since graduation I have been working hard to pay off my loans as quickly as possible. I have also been saving while trying to decide if it would be better to buy a home or build one. I would love to build a home to reflect everything I would love to have, but I also know purchasing one could be better financially. I have been reading and researching and I feel so torn on what the best move would be to make.
If you have any tips please comment or message me on my instagram!
XoXo, Mads