Family crises and NS

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Nothing like a crises to take your mind off the acceptance/denial letter wait. My sweet boy (he's 22 but will always be my baby!) broke his back last week. Fortunately, after a life flight heli ride, a week in neuro ICU and a surgery he is now in a regular room and WALKED today! It has been so, so hard, but I am so relieved that in the scheme of things he will be ok. I have missed my o chem classes and have a test tomorrow. We are down to the last 5-6 weeks. Ugh. I know I will likely miss more classes, especially when he first gets out of the hospital. And it is impossible to concentrate, even if I am just at the hospital watching him sleep, I can't focus on my school work.

Here is my quandary - I am on my last prereq class for a fall BSN program I might not even get into. I have to complete the o chem with a C or better by the end of spring, so I cannot take an "incomplete." I am not sure if I can pull this off by self teaching, and on the other hand I have to be there for my son. It is only going got get harder (for me) with the recovery. I called my instructor and he told me not to give up, I have an A now, so can probably get a C even if I fail everything from here on out. I am more concerned about the stress. I hate to give up a second of my family time if I am not even going to get in. If I only knew, I could either withdrawal (or take an incomplete and finish later) or push myself and do my best and get through this. If I get a C or less but don't get in, it louses up my GPA and I really won't have any hope for next year. I don't know what to do. I would so like to just forget the whole thing and just take care of my kids. My little ones are having as hard of a time as my big boy. :cry:

I just wish I knew one way or the other. Supposedly, no word for another 2-6 weeks.

What I have learned is I do NOT want to be a trauma nurse, I do not want to be a flight nurse, and I do NOT want to be an ICU nurse. I have not yet ruled out med surg or ortho/transitional rehab (we haven't gotten to the latter yet) Its really been a real life education and it is causes me to rethink things!

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I am sorry to hear about your son. I am also glad to hear that he is doing good. It is a blessing that he is walking. You know God put life tryles in your life as a test. I know you are probably say you don't need a test like the one that you are experiencing. If you don't do well on the test and the grade that you get is a C thats not so bad and you can always explain to the school that you are applying to the sudden change of your grade.

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I hope his recovery is fast. I would try to finish out, you could retake if necessary. Good luck

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I agree, you should try to finish. I know your GPA will suffer however it is always good to remember that C's=degrees and I am sure you are able to get in with your grades regardless of that C. Also, O-Chem is a hard one so I am sure it will still be ok, a C is still passing! I am sorry about your son but it is wonderful that he is walking! He will be in immense pain for some time, back pain is unlike any other pain! But God is great and He is watching over your entire family! Take care. :redbeathe

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Specializes in ER/Ortho.

I am sorry to hear about your son.

The weekend before the end of Christmas break my 12 year old son was playing at a friends house. He climbed a tree to get a frisbe, and the branch broke. He broke his back in 4 places. I heard his screaming, and when I saw him I went straight into what I had learned. I held his head steady with my knees, calmed him down, and called 911 with my free hand. We spent a week in Childrens medical center.

When they told me he had broken his back I thought that meant he would never walk again. Then when they told me it was four different places I was in shock. I thought he was going to be a quadraplegic, and I was going to quit nursing school to take care of him full time. In my mind my dream of being a nurse was over, and all of my dreams for his future were over.

A week later my son walked out of Childrens medical center Dallas. He has been on homebound since then. It was a week prior to the start of my classes or I hurried and switched everything to online. His school drops of work every week, and I teach him, and do my work. He has been wearing a full back brace, and we had to make a few changes. Toilet extender, shower chair, bars in the shower, grabber thing for him to reach stuff, no more bunk beds cause he couldn't climb the ladder, and many other things. It has now been about 4 months and he spends most of the day without the brace. He can do everything he did before, and has no pain. The Dr feels he will heal completely with no lasting pain or problems at all. The Dr will release him back to school at his next upcoming visit, and he plans to play soccer in the fall. As for me I am awaiting my acceptance letter (it better be an acceptance letter) in 10 days.

While we were in childrens I met so many families. I was feeling really awful about being the mom of 12 year old broken back until I met 3 year old leukemia, and 4 year old heart transplants mom and dad. My son told me when I become a nurse I should work there. He was laying all flat on a board with his neck in a brace, and he looked at me and said, I think God wants you to be here mom. I think he is right. He is so cute he plans on donating a wing when he is a famous palientologist.

Anyway, my advice is be there for your son, but go forward with what you are doing. He will heal and you will be nurse. You do not have to be supermom, and you do not have to be a perfect student just do your best at both. Count your blessings. I have heard that when god closes a door he opens a window, and I believe that is true. I know what happened to your son was horrible, but who what windows are now open if you both keep your eyes open.

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Hotflashn- So sorry to hear about your son. I know you must be going through an awful lot. A lot of times, personal health issues, or those of a loved one bring people to nursing. I have heard from many different people that they decided on nursing after seeing nurses in action. It is a vitally important job and, for many, a calling. I hope you do push through and finish that O-chem class. You have worked so hard to get to this point. From "talking" to you on allnurses I know you would make a wonderful nurse, and I think you have a better than most chance of being accepted. And once you are in a "cohort" you get a whole new level of support from fellow nursing students. Take care and know that I am thinking about you and praying for your son's speedy recovery.

Coolpeach-what a harrowing experience. Thank goodness you reacted in just the right way. I am so glad you chose to go on and pursue nursing. Thank you for sharing your story and I hope your son fully recovers.

Best regards,

Jean

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The weekend before the end of Christmas break my 12 year old son was playing at a friends house. He climbed a tree to get a frisbe, and the branch broke. He broke his back in 4 places. I heard his screaming, and when I saw him I went straight into what I had learned. I held his head steady with my knees, calmed him down, and called 911 with my free hand. We spent a week in Childrens medical center.

When they told me he had broken his back I thought that meant he would never walk again. Then when they told me it was four different places I was in shock. I thought he was going to be a quadraplegic, and I was going to quit nursing school to take care of him full time. In my mind my dream of being a nurse was over, and all of my dreams for his future were over.

I am glad your son is doing better, Coolpeach. Its all so scary and challenging. My boy was in a motorcycle accident on the freeway when the vehicle in front of him lost control, he hit them and then another vehicle hit him, plus he took flight. Shivers. My son's back broke in 4 places as well, all lumbar. Some of the breaks were fractures, and some of the little spiney processes were knocked off but the worst was the L4 breaking completely in half, the transverse direction. Then it was pulling in opposite directions putting pressure on his spinal cord... well nerve ends. They were able to fuse it all back together with titanium, but one side will be higher because they couldn't do it exactly without potentially causing more damage. He has a big brace and was up really walking yesterday. He looks like a storm trooper from Star Wars with that brace! Getting out of ICU has really helped everything. We know another kid his age that was paralyzed after breaking his back a couple years ago, so we know how lucky we are.

Because he is older, we have some different concerns - like whether he can keep his job, his line of work, his house, how long his recovery will take. Plus all the social stuff that comes with being 22. He is likely going to have to give up (at least for now, but forever if I have a say!) some of his extreme activities, motorcycle riding, etc. That will be the hard part - he is an adrenaline junkie and typically can't stay still. I worry about depression, plus all the meds. Ugh. But he as really physically fit and strong going into this, so he has that going for him.

Glad your boy is doing so well. It is very encouraging.

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Hotflashn- So sorry to hear about your son. I know you must be going through an awful lot. A lot of times, personal health issues, or those of a loved one bring people to nursing. I have heard from many different people that they decided on nursing after seeing nurses in action. It is a vitally important job and, for many, a calling. I hope you do push through and finish that O-chem class. You have worked so hard to get to this point. From "talking" to you on allnurses I know you would make a wonderful nurse, and I think you have a better than most chance of being accepted. And once you are in a "cohort" you get a whole new level of support from fellow nursing students. Take care and know that I am thinking about you and praying for your son's speedy recovery.

Jean

Thanks, Jean. I wish I knew if I was in or not, it would make things so much easier. The thought of muddling through this last bit of O chem only to not get in is crazy-making. But at least, if I don't get in, it will really be way okay, maybe even relieved. I will just know that it wasn't my time. Then I could just take the fall off and wait for the Spring '09 slot at one of the ADN schools I have a guaranteed entry "number" for. It will all work out. Most importantly, I have my son. Suddenly school seems pretty small and a grade doesn't mean anything. I did try to call the school but they said not only are they not close to finishing the evaluations, but they are actually behind!

Got through an O chem exam yesterday. I know I missed some of it because I missed classes that covered the material, but it was actually not so bad. I have been so stressed about my son that I had no anxiety left over for tests! I was very relaxed. I totally cannot concentrate or focus right now. In a way that is very liberating.

I know we can get through this. If nothing else I am getting pretty intensive first hand experience. Though quite frankly, I am beginning to find the entire institution a bit alarming and frustrating and wonder if I have what it will take. We have had some absolutely wonderful, excellent, inspiring nurses, some who are just "doing their job" getting through their shift and others that perhaps should re-evaluate their commitment to nursing. Yikes. I guess ultimately, people are people, and certainly we are especially sensitive right now.

Thanks again.

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Specializes in ER/Ortho.

Hotflashn,

My son had two T's and two L's, and the nerve damage was very minimal. The whole situation with his job, bills and house has to be scary for everyone. He may have to let it go, and that will be a very difficult time. I have a family member who was in her early 20's who was in a bad car accident, and went through a similar situation where she had to give up everything, and move back home during the couple of years it took for her to fully rehab. She had severe brain injury, and they thought she would never walk again. It took forever, but she is fine now. We have talked about it a lot, and she told me that was the worst time of her life because she felt she has lost everything.

She knew as she got better she could no longer do her line work, and decided to go back to school. She is now an interior designer. During this time she also met my cousin whom she married, and loves to death. They have since had three beautiful little girls, and bought a home together.

She posts her car accident pictures on her networking site, and they are so awful I don't know how she can bare to look at them. She says she does it because she never wants to forget. That time in her life made her realize what was important, and was really a place in her life that changed the direction she would take for the better.

I will pray for you guys, and hope that you find the above is true for your son also.

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Specializes in Emergency Department.

My friend, fancy meeting you here! I'm so thrilled to hear he is out of ICU and on his feet. I've been thinking of you and won't stop. Hang in there. If I can get a B in micro working my butt off you can do this with your brain half asleep :)

Love!

Your buddy from HTM :)

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I am soo sorry to hear about your son...I don't have any children, but I know that no matter how old they are, they'll always be you babies. It's such a blessing that he is walking again! But, like another poster said, God knows what's best for you and he has a plan already laid out. This could be a test and he is simply trying to guide you... Just trust in Him and He will lead you to where you need to be! :redbeathe

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My friend, fancy meeting you here! I'm so thrilled to hear he is out of ICU and on his feet. I've been thinking of you and won't stop. Hang in there. If I can get a B in micro working my butt off you can do this with your brain half asleep :)

Love!

Your buddy from HTM :)

YOU! I have been counting on your good thoughts, Sister! Better not stop! I beg you.

I didn't know you were here either... great minds thinking alike and all that. Now you get double doses of me and all the drama that has swirled around my life this past 18 months. Crazy or what? I feel like I should crack under the strain and pressure, but instead I just keep getting fatter. I am NOT checking my B/P. The sun is shining this morning, so I am just going to keep pushing on. Talk to ya.

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