In just over two weeks I will be back in the USA and starting to adjust to new life. Part of that new life will require getting a job though which I'm not looking forward to. I mean I'm excited about having a normal job again but I don't like the searching process. I'm trying to find a normal 9-5 job and yet the idea of sitting at a desk all day answering phones isn't that pleasing to me. But then again maybe I'm still at that point in my life when I have to just take random jobs to pay the bills and get through school and then I can get on with what I like. Seems an odd way to do it though.
I've decided I'm going to get an associates degree in photography from SLCC and then see where that takes me afterwords. There are quite a few job possibilities with a degree in photography but I think I would rather go into the free lance, artistic side of it. I suppose that means I would need a regular job as well to earn enough money to support myself.
If anyone has leads or ideas as to available jobs it would be greatly appreciated if you let me know. Something in the arts/music industry would be nice.
Tuesday, January 29, 2008
Sunday, January 27, 2008
What's the number for 911?
Well wouldn't you know it after all that complaining I did about last week and getting in trouble, the very next day I have to call an ambulence. I was also reminded that I would not do well working in an emergency room at a hospital. So here's the low down of what happened Thursday.
Around 11 am (time is key in this) Dagmar came up to my room and started crying. She said that her right side was going kind of numb and she couldn't use her right arm at all really, that she felt like she had no control over anything anymore, she was freezing cold but couldn't start a fire, she was stressed, she hates that she has MS and a few other things I couldn't really understand because she was crying. I finally got a word in edge wise and told her to go downstairs, lay down and I would take care of things the rest of the day. In other words do the job I'm here to do instead of her not letting me help. (I could probably try harder, but couldn't we all?) So we went downstairs and I started a fire for her and got lunch ready for when the kids got home.
A little after 12 the kids got home and we had lunch. Majlie didn't have any homework so she helped Mimi (without fighting - wahoo!) I checked on Dagmar a few times but she took some sleeping medicine so she was out most of the time. Basically I just kept the fire going so that she would stay warm.
At 2 I took Majlie to a friends house so they could work on something for school and then play when they finished and when I came back in the door Dagmar was calling for Mimi so I grabbed her and we both went in. Turns out she needed to go to the bathroom but could
n't get up. I got the wheelchair and Mimi and I helped Dagmar in there and then (I'll spare the details) helped her in the bathroom. We got her back to the couch and took her temperature which was at 38,77°C which is getting pretty high, normal is about 37°C. It wasn't the most accurate of readings either since we could only do it under her arm not in the mouth since they stick it in the other end if you know what I mean. She was also starting to have trouble speaking, her mind wasn't all quite there so I called up the missionaries and luckily they had time to come over at 3 pm and give her a blessing. Mimi called a family friend who is like another grandma for the kids and she also came over. I called Dirk at work but he was in a meeting so his secretary had to pull him out and I asked what we should do. He made a few calls to some doctors and finally we decided she needed to go to the hospital.
n't get up. I got the wheelchair and Mimi and I helped Dagmar in there and then (I'll spare the details) helped her in the bathroom. We got her back to the couch and took her temperature which was at 38,77°C which is getting pretty high, normal is about 37°C. It wasn't the most accurate of readings either since we could only do it under her arm not in the mouth since they stick it in the other end if you know what I mean. She was also starting to have trouble speaking, her mind wasn't all quite there so I called up the missionaries and luckily they had time to come over at 3 pm and give her a blessing. Mimi called a family friend who is like another grandma for the kids and she also came over. I called Dirk at work but he was in a meeting so his secretary had to pull him out and I asked what we should do. He made a few calls to some doctors and finally we decided she needed to go to the hospital. At this point I'm not exactly sure what time it was but we called 911 (which here is 112) and told them we needed an ambulence. It must have been around 3:30 that they came and by then Dagmar was completely out of it. It was like the movies when people are really sick, mumbling, saying weird stuff, making 
weird noises. If I wasn't so nervous I probably would have laughed. One of the things she kept saying though was that she didn't want to go to the hospital because she would die there. Any way, the EMTs came in and asked us a few questions, tried to get Dagmar to wake up (which Mimi laughed at because they shook not so gently and loudly said, "Frau Schumaier, open your eyes!") which she didn't really, her eyes would open for a few seconds and then close again. They brought in the gurney (which one of the elders and I joked with Mimi about, having a bed on wheels) and loaded her up and put her in the ambulence. They took a look at the medicines that she has just to make sure before they took her away and then by about quarter to 4 everyone was gone and it was just Mimi and I.
weird noises. If I wasn't so nervous I probably would have laughed. One of the things she kept saying though was that she didn't want to go to the hospital because she would die there. Any way, the EMTs came in and asked us a few questions, tried to get Dagmar to wake up (which Mimi laughed at because they shook not so gently and loudly said, "Frau Schumaier, open your eyes!") which she didn't really, her eyes would open for a few seconds and then close again. They brought in the gurney (which one of the elders and I joked with Mimi about, having a bed on wheels) and loaded her up and put her in the ambulence. They took a look at the medicines that she has just to make sure before they took her away and then by about quarter to 4 everyone was gone and it was just Mimi and I. Dagmar stayed in the hospital over night under constant supervision. Dirk left from work early and came home, which being a Thursday afternoon took about 3 hours. He told me later that night after he got back from the hospital that Dagmar's fever was almost 41°C which is basically the point where you could die.
It's just amazing how quickly some things happen. In 3 hours she went from walking the stairs to hardly being able to even sit up, then an hour after that couldn't even talk.
She's doing alright now. They released her from the hospital Friday and she was home before the kids got back from school. There's no fever any more (which apparently was caused by her wisdom teeth which I didn't know could happen) but she's still really wobbly when she walks, even more so that usual. She can't go more than just a few steps without holding on to something so we have her walker out so she doesn't have to depend on the walls holding her up. Basically this means that the next week and a half I finally have stuff to do. I've only been waiting for that for the past 11 months.
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