"My First 2 Weeks of Nursing School" by Elena Goodrow

I have officially completed my first two weeks of nursing school!

When I first saw the schedule for these first couple of weeks I thought I would never get all of the reading done. After weekends full of studying from sunrise until late at night, not only was I able to get everything done but I started to find my flow. I read 31 chapters across 3 different textbooks, completed 12 online learning modules, 15 quizzes, 5 interactive activities, passed my skills check off, and passed my first test. I did it all with my four-legged study buddy at my side…

I would be lying if I said I didn’t cry one or two or many times… this is the first time I have experienced this kind of academic workload. What I didn’t expect was how fulfilling it would feel. It’s not like taking that one math class in my senior year of high school that proved to be pointless for my career goals. Every single chapter and assignment is aiding me towards reaching my end goal of being a registered nurse. Every thing I do has meaning behind it. In some ways, that makes the stress a little bit easier to manage. But it doesn’t make talking to a mannequin any less awkward.

The beginning of my nursing school journey has certainly felt rewarding, and I’ve already gotten to make wonderful connections with my classmates. But alas, we all know that life has ups AND downs.

This week I had a quick stop into the emergency room because my foot had been numb for days and pain started traveling up my leg. My brain was quick to jump to, “Oh no I have a blood clot!” but thankfully that was not it. I have an inflamed tendon that seems to be pressing on my nerves, hence the numb feeling. After ice and Advil, it’s already feeling better.

Earlier in the week I had a scheduled hydrogen breath test to see if SIBO (small intestinal bacterial overgrowth) is the cause of my ongoing abdominal issues. It is looking like that test was negative which means we are back to the drawing board… yay. The positive of that test, besides ruling out another potential issue, was I got to sit in the doctor’s office for 3 hours and it was fantastic study time with a view!

Even with the stress, curveballs, and inflamed tendon, I’m so excited to keep progressing on this journey. It has only just begun!