Tuesday, January 26, 2010

Down the Rabbit Hole

Last Saturday, I took the TEAS test. It's a 4-part, pre-nursing entrance exam that's required for one of the programs I'm applying to.(not every program requires it) Why on earth they require pre-nursing exams in the first place beats me,because you more then show you're qualified with the transcript,essay,letters of recommenation,etc. but whatever.I brushed up on the math part with the help of my Phd husband (who eats the stuff alive,in direct contast to me) and got to the campus about an hour early. The campus was pretty confusing, there were about 7-10 buildings & no numbers in sight.(to figure out where you were going) Drove around till I found a building with a fair amount of activity going on outside,& figured it might be the place.And that soon proved to be the case,as I met up with other cluelessly wandering test-takers.At 9,we were all duly ushered into the lecture hall & told there'd be one bathroom break,no exceptions.

Guess whose blood glucose was 265? Yeah, that would be mine. This news is not the greatest tp hear when your bladder is in high blood glucose,PMS'ng,spastic mode.

The first section,reading,was a snap.But predictably,by that point my bladder was sending out strong signals.I asked the moderator and she said no.Not unless I wanted to forfeit the remainder of the test,(and see my nursing career go up in smoke)and thus flunk.

Math was next.I tried to focus,too little avail.Rushed the test,& spent the rest of the time repeating "You are hard-core,"(Greys Anatomy reference,when said person couldn't go to the bathroom for 8 hours because they were doing surgery )to keep from going totally beserk from the uncomfortableness.Somehow,I got through it & rushed off to the facilities.Blood sugar was now..289!Took a strong correction bolus,and went back to the test.

Next was Science.Ugh,it was horrible.Much of the stuff I haven't seen since 10th grade bio.That wax definatly a subject I should have brushed up on. The whole thing was beginning to have the vibes of when a 17 year old me almost got kicked out of the ACT for eating a glucose tablet,very high-schoolish.In both content,& utter control by the moderator.
I have diabetes,why do I have to make excuses for taking care of my body functions? I'm a 28 year old adult,who doesn't particurally relish begging for permission to use the restroom,etc. They aren't my healthcare providor & I haven't just had surgury. I didn't check my bg in the room,that would have been like instant dismassal.These people don't know what a blood glucose meter is,they're always thinking "Cheater!" before anything else.Clearly,I should have gotten an exception w/them pretest.I don't like to do that,it's rarely an issue but when it is..it sucks if you don't have something in place.Diabetes rarely plays by the rules.I have told my profs,if my pump is visible just so they know it's not a cellphone but on a state test they really don't care what you tell them,if it's not a documented exception,you're out of luck.I need to remember that.

Language-Vocab was last.That was easy,save 1 or 2 spelling words.(another subject I've never particurally loved)

Final BG:159. Now it's just wait and see, as to how I do on the exam & whether I should bother submitting the rest of the requirements to that school.

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3 comments:

meanderings said...

Fingers crossed for you!

Cara said...

I hope your test went okay. I'm the same way about asking for exceptions. I've not taken any major test since going on cgms and pumping. I'm not sure what I'd do...

Cherise said...

Heidi- I'm so proud of you! The lady giving the exam..shaking my head. She is rude! I'm glad your glucose levels came down. Fingers crossed, prayers sent and lots of hugs.