IcE StoRm!!

"One of the worst storms Oklahoma City has seen". Well, I think that's because of the snow, they're not so used to that. They freak out more about the snow than they do the two-inch thick layer of ice that covers EVERYTHING!! Power-lines, trees, cars, mailboxes, roads, signs. If its outside, It got it. I had a patient that fell on the ice her ankle was broken very obviously deformed

and then 3 that had gotten into car accidents. They were okay. They were more scared than anything. Rear-ended into the corner of a liquor store. That hadn't even boughten the liquor yet!! Can't imagine what they would be like if they were inebriated. 

    
   All you can really do is chip at it after your car has been running for at least a half hour. and then it breaks off in sheets. It completely shields your car, so good luck even being able to get inside to turn the ignition on.

The first time i had legitimately seen power lines look like jump ropes swinging! It was insane! 

And for those who didn't know. This is my new vehicle! It is a Jeep Grand Cherokee Laredo series. And it be NICE!! I LOVE IT!! And, it has handled like a dream on these bowling ally slick roads. 

It feels like you are always walking on top of a frozen pond. Its kinda weird. 

Oklahoma City!

Where to Begin?

Living with a super awesome married couple in a nice house right outside the City. They have two dogs and are expecting a little baby  in August. So, unfortunately we won’t be here. I say we because Brittany and I are living here. Brittany was paramedic of the year in our class! She is an amazing medic! She is here and showing me up all the time! J Which is good. It has been super fun being with her though. It definitely would be a completely different experience without her here. We have done a ton on the days that we aren’t working. Which are not many that we get to have together. The only day we get together now is Sunday.  So, we go to the Singles Ward! It has been fun. We are in the choir and tonight the relief society is going to go see the movie Leap Year together and go get ice cream afterwards! So I’m super excited! Anyway. Things Brit and I have done . . .

• ·      Went and saw Avatar.
• ·      NBA Basketball Game OKC Thunder vs. Pacers (had some super awesome kids sitting behind us!) the tickets were $4 each! It was awesome!
• ·      Fish tank store J almost bought a Beta, I think I will do that today.
• ·      Got caught in an Ice storm! Craziness! Everything gets a layer of ice on it . . . EVERYTHING!! The side walks, the roads, your windows, the tires, its insane.
•       Ate at Panda Express, of Course! They have 10 here! Britts super happy bout that! The closest one from Rexburg is in Logan, and believe you I, she has made that drive to go get it. :) 
• ·      Got caught in a lightning and Hail storm
• ·      They have an ice cream shop called Braums that is super super good!! Been twice.
• ·      Baked cookies
• ·      Cooked meals
• ·      Gone shopping . . . just Wal*Mart, nothing to fancy.
• ·      Went to Johnny Carrino’s . . . Best Italian cream sodas ever! (blackberry’s a favorite)
• ·      We stay up and chat till super late almost every night. 

Work schedule wise, we don’t get to see each other very often.

I work Mon-Thur 10:15-22:15

Brit works Wed – Sat 10:45-22:45

So, we only really get to see each other on Sundays.

I have made it through my second week of my internship! I have had 8 shifts and 39 patients; half of which that have actually been in an emergency type situation. The others basically just use us as a glorified taxi service for sympathy and a direct ‘in’ to the hospital. But, they chose the wrong medic to get sympathy from. My preceptor does not tolerate fakers or drug seekers or drug abusers very well. It is quite entertaining.  The Patients I have had:

• ·      Emaciated old man with a stoma (hole in his throat to breathe out of) He was skin and bone and could hardly breath. He hadn’t been able to get up to do anything and he had been lying in a forgotten bed for 4 weeks without food. The only reason he was found was on a final sweep through before the apartment complex he was at was going to spray for bugs. Sad deal.
• ·      3 asthma attack patients
• ·      3 chest pain patients
• ·      Narcotic overdose that wasn’t breathing when we got there. I gave him some Narcan (naloxolone . . . does wonders) and he was talking to us about 30 seconds later.
• ·      Man with Brain tumors that was unresponsive his pupils were unreactive and the right one was three times the size of the left . . . no bueno.
• ·      3 seizure patients . . . 2 fakers with eye fluttering just to get out of something that they didn’t want to be in. But, no worries, they got treated.
• o      If someone is unresponsive in Oklahoma, protocol states that you must put an airway tube into there nose to keep there tongue from falling into the back of there throat, so if they are faking and fake being unresponsive, they get a lovely surprise. And so do we, when they reach up, yank the tube out and start yelling and then go unresponsive again. It is quite entertaining. But very beneficial for the ones that actually do need it. And, even for the ones that don’t. J

• ·      Face to a ladder from twenty feet up . . .yikes! His nose was split completely in half
•          Massive bleed out from a dialysis port from an arm. Fire men were doing CPR when we got there. She had lost more than half of her blood volume. My preceptor said that there was more blood from her than the gunshot wounds and stabbing patients that she has had. So, that was a very interesting call!  
• ·      A 4 month old baby burnt her hand in sweet potatoes.
• ·      3 toddlers that had seizures.
• ·      Lots of old people falls. One with a pretty obvious deformity to her right hip.
• ·      An insomniac twitcher in his 40’s; couldn’t figure out why his eyes were burning and his body was shaking, but he hasn’t had sleep for the past month and is going to school and working full time. . . . hmmm . . .
• ·      A few drunks . . . they’re always quite entertaining. One that got super combative and we had to tie down to the cot.
• ·      Diabetic with low blood sugar.
• ·      And some various other random calls.

It has been very busy and awesome! My preceptor has been a medic for 12 years in the same place. So, she knows what she is doing, and she is making sure that I do to before she will hand things over to me. so, that’s a little frustrating. But, I’m sure by at least the 4^th week she will trust me enough and see enough of what I can do to actually step back and let me run the calls and things.  But, I have 8 more weeks to get that down. So, it should go well.

Well, I love you all! Just know that I am safe and having a great learning experience. Sorry its so long. And has been so long since I blogged! If you have made it to this point of my entry, congratulations on getting through it! Can’t wait to see you guys! Much love!

Pics from the game! We got our face painted with the OKC symbol! We went ALL OUT!! Really the only thing I have taken pictures of.

Me And Britt! SUPER FUN TIME!!

So before the game, we found this parking lot that if you made a free throw, they would give you your five bucks back! well, Little did they know that I played for the Girls Thunder Basketball Team at BYU, Idaho.

Needless to Say. . .  I got a certificate and 5 bucks back!! Go Team!

I knew I had joined that team for a higher calling in life!

The Best Christmas of my Life!!

Christmas Rocked! We had our pinning ceremony for the Paramedic Program on Dec 16. That was amazing! I got my pin. And now, I don't need to go back to that paramedic classroom for secular knowledge anymore, now, it will all come from the streets! (Which I am in Oklahoma right now awaiting Monday when I meet my preceptor and start riding on the ambulance with her) I will keep you posted. Back to Christmas though . . . 

The best part . . . 

HAWAII with the FaMiLy!!! So Awesome!!! 

We did so much in the 10 days that we were there! We met up with my cousins over there to! Which was So AwEsOmE!! . . . Much love to you Garners and Wallaces! 

So, we stayed in a super nice house on the shore of Waimanallo. so nice, Go to the beach as much as you want and be able to wash the sand off right outside before you went in the house. We played in the sand a ton! We also got some surfing kayaks that we took out to where the good sized waves were and rode the waves for a few hundred feet and then turned back around paddled right into the next ones, and then took the next big one. One problem, which was super funny. Dad was in his own kayak and my mom and I were in the other. We all caught the same wave and we were heading straight for each other. Well, Dad Won! He ran over my leg with the kayak turned us parallel with the wave, kept going and made mom and I flip right over! It was crazy! We were laughing pretty hard when we surfaced, and then we had to hurry and flip the kayak back over before the last waves buddy got to us. well, i got back in the kayak, kneeled down, and then mom hopped in, knees are not very stable. I fell out three more times after that. But, we took some snorkel gear and snorkeled on some beautiful coral. It was well worth the 30 minute paddle excursion out to where we were. 

More things, 

Hunama Bay . . . Beautiful! we snorkeled one of the islands protected coves. a huge variety of tropical fish. And even Tate and Yazzi loved to play in the water because their weren't any big waves to knock them over. It was perfect! I even saw a good friend there from back home. We see her everywhere! . . Moab, Hawaii, Temple Square. Awesome! 

Polynesian Cultural Center  . . . Luau and Show! It was amazing! Tate was captivated by the show the entire time . . .  hard to do!  I definitely would love to be polynesian! They are such a happy and inviting people! So family oriented and ready to welcome any. We went to church while we there and were so welcomed. They gave us each a croquetted lei and invited us to the front of the podium to accept it and sing aloha oye to us! It was amazing! And they all played with Yazzi and Tate. which helped them get through church as well. The sunday school teacher was so passionate about teaching on family: a proclamation to the world. And she made you feel like mistakes are made, but Heavenly Father knows you and he knows what is best and he will help you through anything! She was seriously an amazing lady! And she was super funny! 

Boogie boarding!

We climbed to the top of a mountain that looked out over the entire island and you could see the next island over. it was pretty amazing! And, dad made it to the top! I believe it was a good 3 hour endeavor. 

We had excellent food every day! Ham, Turkey, Pot Roast, Burgers, Halibut, Luau, Steak and Shrimp. YUM!! 

Went and watched the surfers on the North Shore Christmas day. 40 foot tall pipelines!! The waves were insane! 

Of course, being at the beach! . . . Sand castles, holes, "tubs" (holes with water), spooking Amber out about the 'sharks', watching the waves, sun, warmth, walking down the beach catching crabs, watched a school of fish once . . . neat. Digging for sea shells, Body surfing!, Sun, boogie boarding with mom, getting eaten by waves, Yazzi and I sculpted 5 sand turtles. Did I mention it was warm and sunny? Yum! Anyway, I loved it!