Category: BlahBlahBabble

I’ve made a decision recently – a rather huge decision. One I didn’t make alone (Mike had a say in it also) and one that I didn’t make lightly.

I’m returning to college in a week to pursue a degree.

I didn’t finish my degree back in the early 90s. I went to Texas A&M for two years, and did a great job of enjoying college life – ending up on scholastic probation. I took a semester off and then went to North Harris for a semester where I earned a 3.75 – barely missing a 4.0 by 6 points – I had 444 points in my Political Science class and 450 points was an A. *sigh* One extra credit assignment. So close.

Instead of returning to A&M as I had originally planned, I got married and moved to Germany. I thought I would be able to study over there, but our base was so small that I didn’t have the option to do so. When I moved back to the US in 1992 it was right before Jason was born. I eventually returned to work full time, and school just wasn’t in the cards.

Last spring, before the wedding, Mike & I decided that I would work from home, which would allow me to be home with Jason. We also realized that it would give me a chance to return to college at last if I decided to go that route.

It has been great to be able to be home full time this past year, but in some ways I suspect it has contributed to my moments of depression. I have days where I feel adrift, without a purpose. Just getting by. I don’t function well like that. So a month ago, I started to do the research on what it would take to return to college, what courses I need to take, what I need to do … and back on August 8th I took the plunge. I registered for Biology I (with lab), Chemistry I (with lab), and College Algebra. I’ll attend school 4 mornings a week, starting on August 29th. Two days at the “main” campus, and two days at the Tomball campus which is closer to home. My Algebra class has a late start date, it doesn’t start until September 12th – giving me a chance to get into the swing of things.

I have most of my lower-level coursework completed, but I need several science and math courses. I still need an art course, so I am hoping to get into Photo I in the spring semester. Otherwise, it may be all math and science all the time.

My goal is to take the basics that I need out at North Harris where the tuition is lower, and then transfer in to U of H to get a degree in Pharmacy. Yes, pharmacy. It was the degree I was considering when I left school years ago. It is fun raising people’s eyebrows when I tell them that – everyone assumes I would go into a computer related field or something that has to do with photography. I don’t want to be in the same field as Mike – not after witnessing what has happened in Houston in the past 5 years. I can’t handle the stress of the dot com industry. And photography is my fun passion – I don’t want it to be my work. At least I don’t think so. (I am leaving this open-ended just in case I feel the need to change my mind later!) Being a professional photographer is more than taking pictures – it requires that you be a disciplined savvy business person too. That starts to suck some of the fun out of it. I would rather keep the fun!

I’ll be honest – in some ways, I am terrified. I haven’t attended a class since May, 1990. 15 years is a long time. I will be in classes with freshmen, and I am almost old enough to be their parent. Ugh. Also, the Pharmacy program is a competitive degree – I have to qualify and be accepted into it. I don’t have the best GPA from my first two years of college, so I have to kick ass on grades from here on out.

On the other hand, I’m really excited. I’ve got my science textbooks and I’ve already started reading through them. I’ve got my notebooks, my backpack, my pens and pencils ready. (Not the Hello Kitty backpack though – it is too small for my giant college textbooks.) Speaking of hands, this is part of why I went ahead with the cortisone shot and why I’ve been working with the physical therapy team to help my shoulder. I’ll keep an eye on it through the semester and make sure I take good care of it.

And my mood? It has been a complete turnaround from where I was at the beginning of the month. I have a mission. A dream. A goal. That is such a good feeling. I feel good. Clear. Happy.

Dude, I’m a co-ed again. How crazy is that?

I’ve been wearing my wrist splint almost constantly since Thursday, and all seems to be going pretty well. My wrist is still slightly bruised at the injection site, and if I completely extend my fingers they scream in pain. Yes, they scream. It is like this sharp, searing pain shooting out the end of my middle finger. I have a similar pain when I take the splint off to get dressed and twist my wrist while putting on a shirt. You don’t realize how often you move your wrist until doing it causes pain.

Overall, this shot doesn’t hurt as bad as the one in my shoulder did. I can function, I can type in limited amounts on the laptop, I can get by. I’m sure the painkillers play a role in that, of course. But when I had the shot in my shoulder last month, I could barely move my right arm at all. I could lift it or move it away from my torso in very small amounts. This time, I can do almost anything I need to do. I even cleaned out part of my closet this morning!

All in all, it is going pretty well. My index finger and middle finger aren’t completely back to normal yet, but it has only been two days. I’m waiting patiently for them to feel better. Then I’ll start knitting some sexy wrist splint covers – this ugly black thing is just … bad. Plus the velcro on the side catches on the baby blanket I’m working on for Jenn. What, you didn’t think I would stop knitting, did you?

It has been a crazy week. I’m now going to physical therapy three times a week for my shoulder, plus I had my follow-up appointment today with the orthopedic doctor for both my shoulder and my wrist.

It is officially official CTS. (Carpal Tunnel Syndrome) It is moderate to severe, although I didn’t have a lot of problems with it before mid-July. I was able to knit without any problems, typing was only an issue at the giant desk, and in general I was doing fine. Now it is numb a lot (although less than it was when I had my first appointment on July 29th), and my wrist and elbow hurt from time-to-time.

The physician’s assistant came in to give me the prognosis, and then said, “At this point, we can either do a cortisone injection or surgery.” Call me crazy, but those aren’t exactly equal options. Wouldn’t you try the injection before you did surgery? I moaned and groaned about the injection though because the one in my shoulder last month hurt A LOT. I couldn’t lift my arm for 3-4 days. In the long run, it didn’t help my shoulder much (like it was supposed to) but it did help my hand/wrist. But it hurt. And I am a wimp. So when the doctor came in to look at me, I said that I really didn’t want it, and he said that was ok – but to be warned that it could eventually cause permanent damage that could not be reversed.

I checked out with my prescription for two wrist splints in my hand and no shot. Two wrist splints at night — how sexy is THAT??? I got about 10 feet down the hall when I realized that I really should do the shot. It might hurt for a few days, but hopefully it will help in the long run. I went back to the office and asked if it was too late to change my mind. They said it was ok, and took me back to an exam room.

If you should ever consider having the cortisone shot in your wrist, be warned. It is a special kind of pain. Searing, burning, shooting pain going across my hand and up my middle finger. I considered making gestures with that finger in response. Ok, ok, I wouldn’t have done that because they were taking good care of me – but the thought crossed my mind.

It isn’t hurting too bad now, but I’ve been warned that it will hurt tonight. This time they gave me a prescription for pain killers – would have been nice to have had those last time!

As for the shoulder, we did X-rays today, and he didn’t see anything on there. They think it is an impingement, and I get to continue the physical therapy for now to treat it. I’ve also got medicine to try to help with the inflamation, so hopefully I’ll see an improvement there.

Typing with a wrist-splint is fun.