RN-oneday

Thanks for responding...I think that is what I will do. I am going to see if I can only take 10 mg instead of the 20mg he prescribed to see how I will react. Not sure if he will agree, but it is worth a try. I start school in January, I would hope that would be enought time for my body to figure what is going on. Ahhh, I already get dizzy, not because I am blonde:lol2: , did you get dizzy before taking the Inderal? Do you take the Inderal in the morning or evening? It was prescribed for morning, but if there are side effects that could limit your coherence, I wonder why it is not prescribed for night time? Just a thought? Thanks again for your response.

Thank you Weeziebat for responding. When I have my "issues", I have about the same symptoms you had. Were you always tired, not matter how much sleep you had, before you started taking the Inderal? I feel like I have not slept at all even after 8-9 hours of sleep. I try to eat healthy and take vitamins too. Well I have my echo this Friday, hopefully it will show that everything is ok. Then I think I will start the Inderal to see how I react to it. I will just have to keep in mind what the worse case scenarios are. I think that I might talk to the doctor and see if I can have a prescription for 10 mgs twice daily and start off with one. I am not sure if this will be effective though. When my doctor prescribed the Inderal, I asked him if my blood pressure could possibly bottom out and he said "we won't know until you start taking it". I know this is the only answer he could give me, but it just seems so unassuring. We talked about some other issues, but I just needed to hear from others that had personal experience. Like I said in my OP, I do not like to take medicines, but it looks like I might need to suck it up and take it. Thank you again for responding.

I want to first say I am not asking for medical advice. I was diagnosed with MVP when I was 18 years old. I have not had any real issues with it since then except a little chest irritation here and there. Sometimes I would have a feeling of someone standing on my chest. I would have to cough to open it up. Sometimes I get lighthead and feel like passing out. But these things do not happen a lot but when they do they are scary. At the beginning of the year I started going to the gym. When I started exercising, I found my heart rate jumping up to 185 to 190 within 5 minutes of starting any kind of cardio. Well I mentioned this to my doctor and he had me schedule a echo. He also gave me a prescription for Inderal. I have researched MVP and Inderal. I am really concerned with both issues starting nursing classes in January. My dilemma...If I don't start taking the Inderal, I could have "stress episodes", which the professors might not take kindly to. I think these things happen to me because my blood pressure bottoms out. I don't want to give them any reason to kick me out. But if I do start taking Inderal, I am afraid of the possible side effects of the medicine causing the same thing. I am sensitive to medicine. Usually if there are side effects of medicine, I have at least one or more of them. The two side effects of Inderal that make me the most nervous is the possibility of low blood pressure and fatigue. My blood pressure now is on the lower end...it averages 110/60. I would be afraid that it would cause it to bottom out. With the fatigue issue, I am already tired all of the time (which is a symptom of mvp). I would not know what to do if it made it worse. I would not be able to study and retain the information. Another big concern is that once I start using it I would have to be weened off if I wanted to stop. I don't like to take medicine, so I hate to have to be dependent on drugs possibly the rest of my life. Now my question...When you first started taking Inderal, did you experience any of the side effects? Does it really help with MVP? Does anyone have MVP that chose not to take Inderal because of the side effects? Whatever information on your experience would be highly appreciated. I know everyone is different when it comes to reactions to medicine but every little bit will help. Again not asking for medical advice!!!

I think Valencia students are few and far between. I was accepted into the January 2007 class. I have the same thoughts that you are having. When I read some of the posts on here, they scare the bejesus out of me. As far as orientation goes, I have no clue about that. But I do know that I have contacted them regarding a few things and really did not get an answer that would help. There is not alot of information for the new students coming in. I am sure if you e-mail them, they would give you something to ease your mind. I will pm you a site to visit. Oh...almost forgot. They place you in your first semester class. They pick which one you will be in, at least that is what I heard. So one less thing to worry about!!!!! I think not knowing what to expect is worse than waiting for the letter. I like planning ahead, I hate surprises. I am even thinking about getting some of the books, just to start skimming through, so I am not cramming everything in at one time. Well good luck

Ok now I am nervous. I have had vericose veins since as long as I can remember, probably middle school is when I became painfully aware of it. Kids kept asking me what happened. My legs swell horribly now even when I am cooking dinner. I have not started clinicals yet, so I have not had to stand for long periods of time yet. Would my primary be the one to do the doppler testing or would I have to go a specialist? I would like to have whatever needs to be done if anything before school starts. How long was the wait for the "stripping" if that needs to be done? AHHHH one more thing to worry about.

This is the information I found too. I wonder why we use it as prescription? Things that make you say HMMMMM

I am not a nurse yet...When I do graduate, I want to work in Peds. I cannot offer my advice on that end of perspective. But on the other end...the parents side...My son had croop & pnuemonia when he was around 8 months old. He was admitted in the hospital and was put into a tented bed. I did not want to leave him alone because he was so young and he was sick. I was so scared for him (I was a young mother). When the nurses would come in to check on him, they kept telling me to go home and get some rest. They told me they would take care of him if he needed anything. The hospital did not have "beds" for parents to stay in, I slept in the chairs. I am not sure why but can only assume it was so the parents would go home and get some rest. I guess what I am trying to say in all of this..The nurses here suggested that the parents get out of the room and get some rest. They seemed very concerned for the parents as well as the patient. I always thought that is what pediatric nurses do...take care of children...at least this is what I want to do when I become a ....

I have to agree with most of the other post. You are young. Get your education so you can provide more for your kids. Not only do they take alot of time, they also take alot of money. You and your husband are still honeymooners, enjoy each other. When you start nursing school, the extra time will no longer be there. IMHO, wait until you have your degree, enjoy your husband and your freedom. I had my third daughter at 24 years old. I am waiting for nursing classes to start Jan 2007, I only wish I had finished school before now. Utimately it is your decision, not one to take lightly. Good luck and best wishes no matter what you decide. Kim

So lab sounds like alot of fun!! You can go to lab anytime you want to practice???? Not like lab in A&P or Micro, when we could go only when scheduled??? Is there always an instructor in there to answer questions or to say no that is not right? Did you find yourself nervous the first time you went to lab and started doing the different procedures? Sorry so many questions. I would love to just sit in one of those classes to get a feel. I wish they would let us do that. Well good luck in your classes. Please keep us posted on how things are going. :bowingpur

Thanks everyone... I will call the volunteer head tomorrow and talk to them about policy on this situation. I will have to start trusting myself when it comes to having a gut feeling. I think the issue I was having yesterday was there was a baby going up for adoption because it tested positive for drugs. I had a bunch of ill feelings for that mom. I knew nothing of this mom. I knew nothing of her situation in life. But I just could not get the feeling of anger out of my mind. So when I came across this situation, my bad parent sensors where already activated. (I hope this is making sense) Like I said in my op, I want to go into Peds when I get out of school. I just hope I can learn to trust myself. If not I am not sure what I am going to do with my future. Thanks again to every one for your honest opinions.

The lactation consultant goes into each and every room to talk to the parents about feeding. She is really good with the moms and this mom liked to talk. I did hear the nurses talking to her about the feeding schedule at the nurses station later. So I kind of felt like mom was opening up to them. I just did not know if I should pass on what I felt to the nurses. But next time I will make sure if I feel weird I will let someone know.

I volunteer at a local hospital on Saturdays. I work with newborns in the mother/baby department. I love doing what I am doing but I tend to wonder about some of the patients parenting skills. Some moms like to talk to me while I am doing what needs to get done. I am not sure if they talk to the nurses about some of the things that I hear. I would think not because I am in the room from 15-30 minutes. The nurses are so busy trying to overcome short staff and an overwhelming census. I know they do not get a chance to just be in the room and talk to the patients about other things besides the medical aspects of their life & stay. Most of the time what I hear is just common girl talk, about their family & work. Well today, when I first met mom, I got this weird feeling. Everything was ok at first, mom started telling me about her other kids, one daughter & one step daughter, like they were one big happy family. Well come to find out, she lost custody of her daughter (baby lives with her father) and they hardly see step daughter. I was kind of shocked that she was telling me this. She then went on to say that she was not breast feeding because no one was going to make her have pain. Well I think what really made me worry, she said that when she gets home she will make the baby wait to eat when she get home. Basically saying that just because the baby is hungry does not mean that she will be fed. I really try not to judge people because I know what it is like to be judged. But I just could not get it out of my mind that something just was not right about baby going home. I did not say anything to the nurses about it because I was not sure if it was my place. She seemed like she really loved the baby, but I am was not sure if it was an act. Should I have said something to the nurses? I know people tend to let babies cry, so they don't get "spoiled" but when I put everything together it just bothered me and it still is. I want to work in peds when I get out of school. I am wondering now, if I will be able to do so without judging parents that might not conform to what I believe to be the "norm". How do the nurses in these areas determine if there might be a possible problem with discharging child to go home. I understand that people believe different things when it comes to bringing up children, but when do you start wondering about the safety of the baby/child? When I get out of school I want to be an advocate for my patients, but I do not want to cause problems for parents that are not the "norm" Any advice you guys can give me would be appreciated it. I would hate for me to get the "feeling" and pass on it because I did not want to cause problems.

Congratulations! I am almost finished with my first semester in the VCC RN program. It is a lot of work. There is more to it than just class and lab time. I know several people who have full time jobs and are doing fine but don't study as much as I do. I quit my job before I started school but I am lucky that I don't need benefits or the extra money. I waited a year and a half to get in and want to give it everything I have. Next semester I will take a shift at the hospital 8 hours a week to start getting some practical experience. Most hospitals will hire you as a tech after you complete your first semester and the pay is around 11 an hour. The faculty recommends working outside school no more than 24 hours a week. Good luck to you!! Deb" I have a few questions. I took my pre-reqs at the East Campus, so I was not able to talk to the nursing students on the West Campus. I am so glad there is someone here that is taking their classes at Valencia. I am a little nervous with not knowing what is going to be expected in the nursing classes. So any information you could give I would really appreciate. So how is the first semester going? What would you say the hardest part is? What do they concentrate on in the labs for the first semester? Whatever information you can give would be wonderful and truly appreciated.

I got my acceptance letter about the same time you did. :smiley_aa I think it will be possible to work some but it will have to be a flexible schedule. I have been looking at the schedule for Spring 2006 and Summer 2006, the hours at school do not seem that long but that is not including study time. I can't wait for class to begin and get it over with. Did you go to the east or west campus for your pre-reqs? Kim