My 'One Giant Leap' Experience

The first year of my nursing studies has finally come to an end, and I will hopefully be posting more blogs over the summer. This blog was never intended as a nursing blog, so you may occasionally find posts that include my own personal thoughts/feelings and what I've been getting up to. 

I wanted to start off the summer with an update from May (only 2 months late!). As you all know, I signed up for the Alzheimer's Society 'One Giant Leap' as part of Dementia Awareness week in May. The cause is very close to my heart after working with people with dementia, and losing my Grandad to Alzheimers in 2016. I try to take part in fundraising events each year and have participated in walks and runs etc in the past, but this year I really wanted to push myself to try something new and take myself out of my comfort zone. 

On the 27th May, I drove down to Hinton Skydiving Centre, and after a brief training session, prepared to jump 13,000 feet from an airplane. I'm not going to sugar coat it..I was terrified! But I was equally as excited and couldn't wait to get up there. The flight up took a while, but surprisingly wasn't as scary as I had imagined, and sitting on the edge of the plane waiting to exit was a feeling like no other. Head back, feet up..and out we went..it was exhilarating. Feeling the air on my face and hands was amazing, it took my breath away. The chute went up and everything came to a sudden halt, we were no longer free falling, we were gliding through the air with the best view. I felt like I was flying. The only bad thing I have to say about the whole thing is that it didn't last long enough! It was an absolutely incredible experience and I would highly recommend it to anyone.

The support that I received was overwhelming, and I want to thank everyone that sponsored me. In particular, my friends and colleagues from University, the staff on my ward at the hospital, the congregation at my nans church (especially the anonymous donor of £200!!) the Wolverhampton VW groups, all of my friends and family, the Facebook and Instagram community and anyone that shared my posts and collected on my behalf..I am so so grateful and the total amount raised was an incredible:

£836!!!

Thank you all again SO much! I am so appreciative of all the support for raising funds for such a worthwhile cause. You are all amazing! Scroll down for the video!!

A Week In Theatres!

This year my placements have fell a little differently to everyone else's, with only one spoke placement and the rest of the time on my hub. When I first found out I was going to be spending the week in theatres I was over the moon, but, after being on the ward, and seeing some patients post-operatively, I have to admit I was a little terrified. I've never been queasy when it comes to blood and injuries; I've lost count of the amount of times I've been called to help my brother when he's done something saft and it's never bothered me. However, seeing these patients really made me second guess whether I in fact was queasier than I thought and whether all the incidents with my brother had just been fuelled by adrenaline. As my time on theatres grew closer I became increasingly more anxious and had worked myself into such a state, I was convinced I would pass out at the first sign of blood. Ooooh how wrong was I!!

The first theatre I went to was general surgery and I was thrown in at the deep end with a Delormes procedure and when the first smell of burning flesh hit me I was sure the next thing I would see would be the lights..as I looked up from the floor, but then I reminded myself to just breathe..and that was it. The fear literally fell away from me and I spent the rest of the week with my eyes peeled wide open, taking in every procedure in as much detail as I could, from minor lump excisions, to femoral popliteal bypass surgery. I visited a range of theatres including Vascular (handy as this is also my hub placement), Urology and Gynaecology. 

The staff in Gynaecology were amazing. They were so welcoming and encouraged me to get involved, they were keen for me to learn which was perfect for me. I think I enjoyed this theatre the most as it was something that had really interested me during my Access course last year and my highlight of the week happened in this theatre. After observing a laparoscopic hysterectomy and BSO, the Sister took me and another student to a side room, laid out the uterus, cervix, fallopian tubes and ovaries for us to see and feel. It was absolutely fascinating and something I never thought I would do in my life. Seeing something like that so up close was just amazing and if anyone ever gets the chance to do anything similar, I would say absolutely just face your fears and go for it! I have had the best time this week, and the only regret is that it couldn't be a longer placement, although I will definitely be planning a return visit.

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