Servants of Mary

Thank you to everyone for your kind words, support, and loads of prayer for my grandmother. She was moved to River Region Hospice House in Harahan, LA from the ICU a few days ago. My mother has gone down to New Orleans to help the family take care of my grandmother during her final days.

God is listening to all of your prayers! My aunt "heard" of a congregation of Sisters who minister to the sick and dying. She tracked them down in New Orleans and contacted them. These Sisters are in high demand for many reasons by many people, and so my family didn't know if they would be able to spare one of their 12 to attend my grandmother during the night.

The Mother Superior of the convent consented to visit my grandmother in the hospice house. After that visit, the Mother Superior simply said that she would have one of her Sisters come over that very night.

How fantastic is that! God is great! Now my grandmother can have someone by her side 24 hours a day.

The Sisters sleep during the day and they have the patient's family members pick them up in the evening from the convent. After spending the night with the patient, the Sisters ask to be returned to the convent by 6:00 AM the next morning. On top of all that, they are all licensed or certified: CNAs, LPs, or RNs.

Here's a blurb from their website:

"Our congregation was founded on August 15, 1851 in Madrid, Spain by St. Maria Soledad Torres Acosta. She was a saint of great vision who placed her complete trust in God and instilled within her daughters this same spirit of love. We go out to the abandoned, sick and dying, discovering the face of Christ in all we serve with the sole desire of alleviating the suffering of others for the love of God. Our mission is to care for the physical and spiritual needs of the sick, preferably in their own home environments, free of charge. This we believe is the uniqueness of our mission and calling."

While they do not charge for their service, they receive donations. Please consider donating to these Sisters who are doing a great service to God and our family.

They can only accept checks made out to "Servants of Mary." You can send a check to:

Sister Magdalena Quintero, S. de M.
Servants of Mary, Ministers to the Sick
5001 Perlita Street
New Orleans, LA 70122-1999

Thanks again to everyone as the prayers are needed.

"Look what I found"

Sweet dreams (from Friday):



As I post this David is working his third night shift this week - and hopefully his last for a long time. He will be a day shift nurse, but his unit has all the new nurses do a week of night shifts during orientation. Needless to say, the schedule change has left him a bit tired this week. His naps are well-earned!

Nurse Daddy

What's not to love about a man in a uniform, holding a baby? :D


And if you zoom in, you can see the little sheep all over Teresa's sleeper - so cute!

Thank you

I graduated from nursing school!!!

As Frances wrote earlier, I graduated on December 19th. I took two weeks to enjoy a trip to Virginia to see Frances’ sister Beth and our new niece, Arianna. I also enjoyed spending time with Frances over the Christmas Octave. Over the last week or so I’ve continued studying for the NCLEX, the National Council Licensure Examination. It’s the test I need to pass in order to get my license. Along with my graduating classmates, I’m waiting to receive permission to schedule my test from the NCBON, North Carolina Board of Nursing. Once it's received, I’ll schedule my test as soon as possible, but I’ve decided not to reveal the test date to minimize anxiety.

As for the NCLEX, it’s what I call a smart test. Basically, before you answer the first question, you are standing on the pass/fail line. If you answer 10 questions correctly, then you move 10 steps over to the pass side of the line. If you get a question wrong, then you move back towards the line. If you get a lot wrong then you move over to the failing side of the line. The minimum amount of questions is 75 and the max is 265. So, if you get a lot correct, then you can pass in 75 questions. If you get a few right and then a few wrong, you could hover over the line until 265. You could also fail in 75 questions. Bottom line here is that you don’t know how you did until you see the results.

It’s a computer test, so the majority of questions will be multiple choice, but they have at least four other types of question formats. If you’re really interested in seeing them, click here.

No matter what happens, first and foremost, I wouldn’t be here without our Lord. Through Holy Mother Church, God has been there every step. When I felt like the ground slipped away, He lifted me up so I wouldn’t fall. Yet, when I did fall, He waited for me to ask for help and then He always picked me up. Over the next few weeks, I’ll be highlighting specific stories of how He used others to guide, lift, nourish, support, and help me get through. (Yes, I will be saving the best for last, Frances.) Though I won’t be able to thank every single person by name, I am grateful for everyone who did help, especially those who have been praying for me. There were plenty of hard moments when I could even feel that grace.

Praise be to the Lord and stay tuned…

David graduated!

On Friday, December 19th, we celebrated the momentous event of David's graduation from nursing school. Many long and challenging years of study, practice, and performance culminated in his graduating with honors, and we give all the glory to God (David even wrote "Deo Gratias" on his cap with medical tape). Next step: taking and passing the NCLEX (state boards) some time in January. Thank you all for your encouragement and prayers for David during this journey! May God be glorified by the results. :)

David with his school and work schedule marked off each day leading up to graduation:

The cap (which sparked lots of questions from fellow students and instructors):

(David is holding our nephew, Sean)

Almost Done

After three years of going back to school, I have accepted a job offer on a telemetry-medical-surgical unit at the Carolinas Medical Center in Charlotte. This unit has 36 beds and focuses on Congestive Heart Failure. While the focus is on heart patients, it’s also open to surgical and general medical patients. I have been working on the unit since April as a Nurse Aid and Unit Secretary, and I have been working in the Level 1 Regional Hospital since June 2006. So I feel pretty comfortable with how the staff, unit, and hospital flow. This was my first choice of where to work and so I’m grateful to have gotten the job. I do have some ideas for where I’ll be in two years, but that’s for God to confirm.

The catch to all of this is that I have to graduate from nursing school and then pass the NCLEX, the state board exam, to receive my license. I’ve thankfully completed the classroom portion of schooling. So here’s the list of tasks I need to accomplish to finish up:

1. Complete a 144-hour preceptorship (internship) on a progressive trauma floor over the next nine weeks.
2. Send a political action letter to a North Carolina politician about a controversial issue.
3. Send in my registration for the NCLEX.
4. Pass 3 computer tests designed to prepare students for taking the NCLEX. (Pharmacology, Assessment, & RN predictor)
5. Serve successfully as a leadership student and mentor for intermediate students two days in November.
6. Participate in 3 day NCLEX review session.
7. Pass the NCLEX, which I hopefully will take in January, but I won’t know until the end of December.

The list to get to this point would be exhaustive, but these are the last few things that I need to accomplish. For those of you who know what it’s been like, you’re probably thinking that this will be easy in comparison. I’m just glad that it’s almost over.
Thank you, Frances, for your understanding, patience, and support. We’re almost there.

Photo Credit: a.drian