nickymack

Hi everyone, I have an oddly specific situation. I have Invisalign and it hasn’t been too much of an issue so far because I’m at home mostly these days for nursing school (I started Invisalign this past Summer, after the pandemic started). The thing about Invisalign is that you absolutely must brush and floss your teeth before putting them back in after eating. Because you’re basically wearing a lid on your teeth, any food particles will just fester and it’s a recipe for tooth decay. But again, it hasn’t been too much of an issue because I’m home and so I just brush my teeth and floss a lot. I’m starting a new job as a PCT this week and with the 12 hour shifts, I’m going to need to eat more than just once for lunch. I get low blood sugar and get dizzy/lightheaded if I don’t eat at least something every few hours. The last time I tried to power through the light headed-ness, I suddenly became really shaky and sweaty and I fainted at a Target. It was embarrassing and kind of scary and I learned my lesson to not ignore my body when it’s telling me to eat. I wonder if anyone else on here has Invisalign and how they deal with taking out the trays and brushing/flossing at work? I can’t just take them out and not put them back in for the rest of the day because it can really mess with your teeth to do that (they start shifting back). I brushed my teeth in the employee bathroom once during clinicals last year and the next morning I had incredible diarrhea. Perhaps it was a coincidence, but I never brushed my teeth in a hospital sink after that! I’m wondering if anyone has any tips or tricks for safely and quickly cleaning my teeth so I can squeeze in some food on a ten minute break and also after lunch ?

Weird I emailed Jorja but didn’t hear back so I also called and left a message but STILL didn’t hear back!

Congrats! I got my acceptance email today, too :)

The writeplacer wasn’t hard at all. They just give you a topic and you type a basic five paragraph essay and hit submit and it instantly grades it. As long as you understand basic writing conventions, you should be fine!

Hi Fleigh! I think I was at 14 points, which they said was the average last quarter? But if it’s an average, then 13 would probably be enough to get in! I hope we make it :)

I haven't seen a thread for Bellevue College's Fall 2019 applicants, so I thought I would start one. Has anyone applied/heard back yet?

Thank you! I think I just need to wrap my head around it. I know people go through much worse things and persevere. My mom had cancer and my aunt is going through cancer for the third time and when I think of them, I know I shouldn't complain because things could always be worse!

Thank you everyone so much for your input. I've been dealing with a lot of health stuff that came seemingly out of nowhere since right after I posted. It started with this weird pain in my hands. Then my fingers started swelling up, and the pain spread to every one of my little joints in my hands and feet... then my knees and elbows. I had some blood work and my PCP thinks I have rheumatoid arthritis. I'm in a pretty low place right now, waiting to see the rheumatologist for an official diagnosis and just being in excruciating pain all day every day for months. I guess the lesson I've learned is that you can spend all this time and energy figuring out your future, but life is truly unpredictable. I have no idea if I'll get to the point where I'm healthy enough to go into nursing school (right now I can barely hold a toothbrush or even get dressed) and I don't understand how people can work in the medical field if they're on long term immunosuppressants? Maybe it's possible? At this point I think I have to face the fact that I may never have children and may not be able to become a nurse. It's hard to even think straight, I've never been in so much pain in my life. Thanks again for all of your advice and input.

You might be able to get around the issue of having to take the prereq for nutrition. Sometimes it's as easy as getting the instructor to give you permission to take their class. I have a similar situation where I needed to take chemistry but needed to take math first. But since I have my bachelors in something else already and am just going back to do my prereqs before nursing school, I was able to send an email to the chemistry instructor, explaining why I was "qualified" to take the class despite me not technically meeting the prereq for that class (we had to complete math 098 within the last three years - I had taken statistics 10 years ago, but also took the compass test just last month, which placed me in the highest level of math, so I was able to explain that while I had "expired" math credits, I was still competent in math way beyond the minimum requirement). You might be able to take a similar approach and explain that you already have a BS and ask for a permit/add code that you can bring to registration.

I know there's no "ideal" time to have a child, but I'm hoping to get some input from any moms out there who might have some ideas about the timing of having my first baby. I'm going on 32 and really want to have children, but I am just beginning to take my prerequisites to get into nursing school. I would love to hear anyones input/experience when it comes to being an "older" first time mom and new nurse. There's just no way around it, the very minimum time it would take my to finish and become an RN is a bit over 3 years. My husband and I could wait, but I would be 35 years old (really more like 36 because I would have to work for at least a year before thinking about taking maternity leave) trying to have my first baby and I'm thinking that by then maybe I will have missed the boat and not be able to get pregnant (basing this idea off of the fact that I had a miscarriage at 18 and have always doubted my fertility since then). Or I could do my prereq's, take a year off before applying to nursing schools, and have a baby at 33/34 in between prereqs and nursing school. Or I could have a baby during nursing school, but from everything I've heard, that would probably be a nightmare and why would I do that to myself if I can just go ahead and keep my IUD in? On the one hand, I am really excited about getting into nursing as soon as possible, but on the other hand I hear my ovaries ticking and wonder if I could end up missing any chance I had to be a mom by putting off starting a family until it's too late.