Tuesday, March 8, 2011

No Potassium = BAD

So last night and this morning I was having heart palpitations and a pain in my shoulder.  When it didn't go away last night, and it was becoming hard to breathe, I became quite alarmed. 
I called the Dr's and they said they didn't have the equipment for that situation, to go to the ER.
Then I called my friend to see if she could let the dogs out and maybe feed the animals if I was gone all day.
She mentioned that another friend of ours had the same symptoms a little while back, and it turned out to be low potassium.   So I googled low potassium symptoms, and it was exactly what I was experiencing.  Then I looked at my vitamin stash and realized my multi vitamin doesn't have any postassium in it period.  Hmph.
With my eating mainly meats and cheese, I KNOW I'm probably getting none in. 

Well, I don't know if it was the best decision, but when I started feeling better, I decided not to go to the ER, and instead I went to Walgreens and got some potassium supplements.  AND I had mashed-er-taters for lunch *gasp!* carbs!!  (high source of K)

So......while I'm not 100% better (my heart still beats hard when I move too much), I'm just gonna take it easy.  I did call my doc and make an appointment for labwork and stuff.  That'll be next week.
I do promise though, that if it doesn't go away, or gets worse, I will get my little heiny to the ER.

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Ok, update on school.....
I went to the university of Phoenix campus to talk face to face with the counselor.  The whole doing school online thing really sounded appealing.  I loved the idea of being able to visit my family and not have to use the universal excuse of "sorry, I have class".  
It worries me though, because last time I took a class online, I didn't read when I was supposed to, and occasionally (oopsie) forgot the days of quizzes and tests.  (and yes, I re-took that class on campus).
BUT, the idea of starting a class whenever you want, and doing one class at a time, and being able to take breaks between seemed super.  No restrictions on semesters.

So, I was sold on the school, and now it was just boiled down to paying tuition.
Turns out the GI Bill is not going to pan out.  My hubby would have to re-enlist to be able to transfer any to me.  And while we're mulling it over, it probably won't happen.

Since the hubby is deployed, I can't call him up whenever to "chat", I called up my mama to be a sounding board.  I'm glad I did, cuz she brought up a good point. 
She pointed out HOW EXPENSIVE  University of Phoenix costs.  Being military, I got 1/2 price tuition, and its about $900 a class.  It's been a minute since I went to school, and it was a community college, so I didn't have much reference for current tuition costs.  When I looked up my local scool, turns out I could get 2 classes in for a little over that. 

Sooooo......I will probably go to my local school.  I may or may not take online classes.  I still like the portability of online, but I know I learn better in person. 

And for tuition.....
I JUST called the education center on post, and they had a pretty good idea!  To take as many courses as I could through the community college here, and then go to the upper level college, as the lower level is $150 a class and upper is $350 a class.  I don't have TOO many courses that overlap, but there may be some!
So, now to apply to schools and talk to more people.
I'm excited!!!!

4 comments:

Angela S said...

Oh yeah U of P is WICKED expensive and I'm not sure if their credits transfer (and are recognized as necessary courses) at other colleges. Anything will transfer it just may only count as electives. The BEST way to do things is all you can at community college and then upper level classes at a university, etc. So you're on the right track now.

Manda said...

:) The community college counselor said herself that U of P credits don't transfer. And what's cool about the junior and upper colleges I'm looking at, is they're right next door to each other, and are programmed to be symbiotic. There are two courses I can still take, one next month, online, at my own pace. The other hopefully will be available in the fall.

Lineback said...

I worked for the Government for the past 11 years. I am now a full-time student. I was even working on Army posts and University of Phoenix claims to be a big school that a lot of military attend. My boss told me that if I got my degree from there, that she would not promote me. She does not think it's a good school. SCARY.....I since, have heard from another girl that she couldn't get a job w/ her degree from there, because employers don't like that school. CRAZY!!!! I go to UMUC.

Manda said...

that's nuts. and what a waste of the fortune it costs to go there!