medical assisting

a lot of things have been happening in my medical assisting class lately... some pretty fun stuff (sorta). we got our stethoscope and our pressure cuffs. we learned how to take blood pressure and other vitals. we have to take 50 peoples vitals by the end of the semester. it's pretty crazy to see how everyone varies. also we've started on injections. our teacher told us to bring oranges to our lab last week so we did and we practiced a couple of times on our oranges. we learned how to prepare our syringe and make sure it stays sterile.... then she said "alright everybody wash up, we are going to practice on each other." we were all like uhhhh... alright. ha so we started with subcutaneous injections. those are in the side of the arm where the fat is (relief society arm.. in that area). they are really thin needles and they don't hurt hardly at all. we give each other normal saline which is the same acidity as our body fluids. i got two shots in the arm that day...

today we started on injections in the deltoid and the vastus lateralis. the deltoid is closer up to the shoulder where a lot of shots are normally given. we use normal saline again and the same type of needle. it was a little harder to put the saline in because we put it directly into the muscle this time. it doesn't hurt too bad but i got two shots in each arm today. the vastus lateralis is a different story... that shot goes into the thigh on the outer side of the leg. the needle is larger and longer. i got two shots in each leg and it hurts a lot worse.. not unbearable but not something you want to have done all the time. one girl that i gave it to got a spasm in her leg.. it was pretty weird. my teacher is really good at preparing us to be sterile and accurate. it's pretty crazy learning how to give injections.. i was really nervous at first but it's becoming a lot easier now and less nerve racking. the only problem is we have to practice on each other which is only fair. i love my classes and i'm so glad they are going good! next lab we get to do injections in the butt.. should be amazing!

health update: i went to a dietician to help me make sure i am eating properly for insulin resistance. i have been doing really good with it.. hardly any sweets (except on my birthday (pics coming later) which was a cupcake and it was soooo delicious) and i cut out a lot of my fat which was causing me not to lose weight. i count my carbs, fats and calories every day. it hasn't been too bad because i have a app on my phone that adds my foods up for me... very helpful. i can't really tell a change in my tiredness because i have to get up for work at 6:40 every morning and i go to bed too late (college student) but i have felt less fatigued. i still get nauseous and light headed so those are my bad days but other then that things have been going pretty good.. lost 6 lbs so far which i'm really excited about.. it's been about 3 weeks. just gotta keep working at it!