Neonatal Nursing Class

I went to another class this week on Neonatal Nursing. It was really good. I loved the instructor, Margaret Crockett. She had a great way of explaining things. Learned about Hyperbilirubinemia in newborns and how/why it happens. Critical levels can cause life long severe brain damage but can be totally prevented. Also learned about sepsis in newborns and how to calculate the ANC and I/T ratio in a newborn CBC. This basically teaches us when to call the Doc and ask for blood cultures and antibiotics on a septic baby. Also learned about RH incompatibility and ABO incompatibility. It was a super awesome class. I stayed awake and was eager to soak in all this new knowledge. The smaller hospital that I work at requires some baby knowledge in addition to Labor & Delivery. I really enjoyed this class.

I'll be flying to Dallas in the morning to see my Dad. So far the Chemo is working. He is much more sick with the #4 dose that he had a few weeks ago. He has dose #5 scheduled for Monday. Dad says that he has missed several days of work and has really slowed down over the last few weeks. But his repeat PET scanned showed all tumors were shrinking. (There was one tumor in his abdomen that was the same size or slightly larger, but all others were looking good).

Ben's been interviewing for jobs and keeping up the girls' busy schedule.

Dad's Coming to AZ

Here is Mom & Dad with Natalie & Julia @ Yellowstone in 2006.

My mom and dad, Charlene & Tom are coming to AZ to visit for New Year's. I think they will be leaving from Dallas on or about 12/30. I know they will be in Tucson visiting with Sonja and my dad's stepmom, Ruth. Dad starts Chemo today. I talked to him this morning. He has a friend in his ward, brother Prince, who brought over a juicer. Prince used to be on a health kick and just had it lying around but thought my dad might like it right now. My dad really teared up when he was telling me about how Brother Prince is loading a bunch of my dad's fav songs on an i-Pod so he can listen to them while he's getting his treatments. My dad LOVES music, especially the Beatles and various other 60's bands, so I know he'll really appreciate that. We hopefully will know the results of the PET scan later today. The PET was done last week, but b/c of the holidays we are still waiting for results. I can't believe dad's going to have Chemo today and then fly to AZ on the 30th but his Doc said that would be totally fine for him to travel. On Friday 12/26, dad had his Bone Marrow Biopsy and his Port a Cath placement. Those procedures both went well. Dad said he was sore after the Biopsy. They went in through his hip and he said his leg felt numb for a few hours, but all is well now. Thanks again for all your love and prayers! We love you dad! - Carolyn