Return of the bB

I can't believe it has been over a month since my last post! So much has happened since then. The main reason it has been so long is the extended amount of time it took me to recover from surgery. The surgery was more complicated than they first expected and ended up taking about 4 hours. I slept in a recliner for the first 5 days. I had several visitors which really cheered me up! It was so great to have my dad home for the surgery and several days after. I must say my mom did an amazing job taking care of me - everything from changing my cold compress every 30 minutes for the first several days (even in the middle of the night), making sure I was getting enough fluids and calories, encouraging me to walk and get some exercise, and reassuring me that everything would be okay. I had some major trouble sleeping and had a case of night hot flashes, but thankfully that went away about 2 weeks post surgery. I am well into the road to recovery and feeling much better!

Wedding dress shopping was a blast. To make a long story short, I found the perfect dress and am so happy with my selection. Thanks to all who gave their input!

Now onto the most important thing in my life right now - medical school. My parents and I packed up all my stuff in a Uhaul and drove 3 hours south to Carbondale, IL. My apartment is so cute and nice. I am so thankful my parents were here to help me. They did such a great job with putting things together, cleaning, and decorating. We had so much fun sharing this "den" together for 5 days. Today I sent them off on the train back to Champaign. I will get to try it in several weeks to come home over Labor Day.

On Thursday I had my first day of orientation. It was more boring than I thought it would be. Mostly housekeeping type of stuff and CPR training. It was a long day. We started bright and early at 7 am and got done around 4 pm. It was nice to meet more of my classmates and see more of the school. Friday was much more fun. It consisted of some intros to our PBL curriculum (which is going to be AWESOME), talks from the staff, class pictures, personality/learning style test, and an opportunity to buy some medical supplies. My favorite purchase was my plum colored Littman Cardiology III stethescope. It is so cool! Can't wait to start using it. First day of class starts on Monday where we will jump right in learning clinical stuff - YAY! I can't believe I am finally here!

I will try to update as often as possible to let you all know about this exciting time in my life!!