Where were we? Ah, yes. Genitalia.
The day after last week's little trip through the nether regions, we split open the pelvis. Using a hacksaw. And a power saw. It was awesome and terrifying. One professor, who happens to be Egyptian and brilliant and very funny, was wielding his bonesaw like a machine gun, scowl and all. He also walked around with it held in the air, as if to say, "Bring me more spines! Arghh!"
Saturday was spent studying, which involved lots of reading, writing on a dry erase board, and eating Savannah's clementines. Seriously, she brought a dozen of them. There were still some in her backpack today so we could eat them at Bible study. Clementines up to our ears. But hey, we won't have scurvy (which is caused by a deficiency in Vitamin C, a key enzymatic cofactor in the hydroxylation of lysine and proline residues in collagen synthesis, synthesis of catecholamines, protection against free radical damage, and uptake of iron).
Speaking of Savannah and food, she brought lunch for both of us today (Bible study is at noon on Wednesdays and everyone brings their lunch). She got super excited about bringing food, so I said okay. Hummus was involved. Now, I have mentioned hummus before, but I don't think it came across how much I love the stuff. I eat it like it comes from a tap. It is for mealtime, snack-time, and in-between-time. I buy it at Fancy Kroger. We ate it at Aladdin's this weekend. I eat it with pita or Italian bread or, today, tortilla chips. Aside from the tortilla chips, I live the culinary life of a Mediterranean toddler. Vegetables? Pssh. Meat? Unnecessary. Fruit? Just clementines. Hummus and carbohydrates? YES.
I do occasionally eat other things, like the aforementioned vegetables, meat, and fruit. I even cook. For instance, I'm going to try my hand at making tabbouleh next week. They had really good tabbouleh at Aladdin's, and there's an awesome song about it here (same guy has a hummus song too; these were the theme songs of my apartment last year because one of my roommates had been to Lebanon and was a hummus junkie like me). But for the most part, I eat hummus.
Back to school. We had biochemistry and histology (written and practical) tests on Monday. They were hard and no fun at all. And again with the 8 to 5 testing? Come on, people. How am I supposed to get any therapeutic shopping done in five o'clock traffic?
I went to school at home yesterday. This is the best thing ever. I watched the podcasts of the lectures, but I could stop them to do a load of laundry or eat some more hummus. Apparently most M2s don't go to class but rather study this way. It has its appeal. The Nap Time portion of my school day was the best part. Surprisingly, they do not work that into the master schedule.
Today we had a few lectures, just like every day. We had an OB lecture scheduled, but the doctor was unavailable. Probably delivering a baby or something important like that. That just meant we could start our dissection early. Today was the gluteal region. Turns out, there is a lot of fat in that particular region. Not on me, of course, but I've heard other people call it a "problem area."
Oh, and speaking of fat! Zumba is way fun. I'm not as good at it as I thought, but I like the music and the dancing and the joy and laughter that it brings. Zumba is the sunshine and rainbows and unicorns of exercise. I will never try to force myself to run ever again. I can only DANCE!
I think that's all the exciting news for today. I'm going home (HOME!) this weekend, so I probably won't write again before next week. So until then, live life beautifully, because that's how God made it!
Wednesday, October 27, 2010
Thursday, October 21, 2010
this week..
Oh, this week. So many things have happened.
Monday was Test Day. Hard core. Physiology at 8, developmental anatomy at 10, gross written at 1, and gross practical at 3. Testing from 8-5 is no good. That morning between developmental and gross, I was sitting around with several people in the atrium between the hospital and Methodist Rehab eating lunch and "studying." Our conversations went mostly like this:
"Is the suprarenal gland innervated by preganglionic or postganglionic nerve fibers?"
"I have no idea."
*hysterical laughter*
Apparently delirium is not good for group studying. There was a sense of doom about the whole thing.
Tuesday we had a Gross lecture (I feel Gross needs to be capitalized so you don't think I mean the lecture was actually disgusting, although sometimes the two are interchangeable) that was really good. This was our first class with this professor and he turned out to be a great lecturer, but, unfortunately, it was about the pelvis and the perineum. Do not Google perineum at work.
It turns out that talking about genitalia can still elicit giggles from most of us, at least in the beginning. I managed to be all serious and professional for a little while, but then the professor decided to orient us on picture we were seeing. He proceeded to lie on the table and tell us, "Just imagine you're lying on this table and a naked person is standing over you with their legs spread." I was a goner. At least he didn't spread his legs for us like we all thought he was about to. I don't think I would have bounced back from that as quickly.
Today was filled with many interesting moments. First, I was studying in the atrium again, but there were multiple screaming children. I mean, screaming. It was awful. Then, I went up to histology lab and had an surreal pseudo-encounter.
The histo and gross labs are on the seventh floor, which is also home to the attached hospital's psychiatric unit. I can only assume this is so they can drag people who freak out in gross lab down the hall with minimal effort. As I got off the hospital elevators, there was a man sitting in one of the chairs in the hall. He was slouched down like he was asleep, and he had a hat and sunglasses on, so I assumed the very much awake preschooler next to him was unattended. I smile at Preschooler and start walking away. As I pass by him, I hear, quite loudly, "Mommy?" I didn't know what to do, so I just walked by. What was I supposed to say? "Sorry, sweetie, but your Mommy might be in a padded room 20 yards behind that large steel door"? I did not want to have the, No, I'm not your Mommy, conversation in front of this person who might be his father and who may or may not have been awake. The discomfort level was high, so I bailed and let "Dad" handle the situation. I hope I didn't scar that kid for life.
This afternoon we were shown how to do a pelvic exam. We get to practice next year on the models she had today, and I can't say I'm looking forward to doing them on a real person. The guest lecturer was really entertaining, though. You know how when the doctor looks in your ears he might say, "Looks good"? Apparently it is impolite to say, "Feels good," when your hand is inside a person's pelvis.
That is all the exciting news I have for the moment. I'm going to go eat some hummus before Grey's Night at Savannah's. If any other insane, child-related incidents or traumatizing mutilations occur tomorrow, I'll let you know.
Monday was Test Day. Hard core. Physiology at 8, developmental anatomy at 10, gross written at 1, and gross practical at 3. Testing from 8-5 is no good. That morning between developmental and gross, I was sitting around with several people in the atrium between the hospital and Methodist Rehab eating lunch and "studying." Our conversations went mostly like this:
"Is the suprarenal gland innervated by preganglionic or postganglionic nerve fibers?"
"I have no idea."
*hysterical laughter*
Apparently delirium is not good for group studying. There was a sense of doom about the whole thing.
Tuesday we had a Gross lecture (I feel Gross needs to be capitalized so you don't think I mean the lecture was actually disgusting, although sometimes the two are interchangeable) that was really good. This was our first class with this professor and he turned out to be a great lecturer, but, unfortunately, it was about the pelvis and the perineum. Do not Google perineum at work.
It turns out that talking about genitalia can still elicit giggles from most of us, at least in the beginning. I managed to be all serious and professional for a little while, but then the professor decided to orient us on picture we were seeing. He proceeded to lie on the table and tell us, "Just imagine you're lying on this table and a naked person is standing over you with their legs spread." I was a goner. At least he didn't spread his legs for us like we all thought he was about to. I don't think I would have bounced back from that as quickly.
Today was filled with many interesting moments. First, I was studying in the atrium again, but there were multiple screaming children. I mean, screaming. It was awful. Then, I went up to histology lab and had an surreal pseudo-encounter.
The histo and gross labs are on the seventh floor, which is also home to the attached hospital's psychiatric unit. I can only assume this is so they can drag people who freak out in gross lab down the hall with minimal effort. As I got off the hospital elevators, there was a man sitting in one of the chairs in the hall. He was slouched down like he was asleep, and he had a hat and sunglasses on, so I assumed the very much awake preschooler next to him was unattended. I smile at Preschooler and start walking away. As I pass by him, I hear, quite loudly, "Mommy?" I didn't know what to do, so I just walked by. What was I supposed to say? "Sorry, sweetie, but your Mommy might be in a padded room 20 yards behind that large steel door"? I did not want to have the, No, I'm not your Mommy, conversation in front of this person who might be his father and who may or may not have been awake. The discomfort level was high, so I bailed and let "Dad" handle the situation. I hope I didn't scar that kid for life.
This afternoon we were shown how to do a pelvic exam. We get to practice next year on the models she had today, and I can't say I'm looking forward to doing them on a real person. The guest lecturer was really entertaining, though. You know how when the doctor looks in your ears he might say, "Looks good"? Apparently it is impolite to say, "Feels good," when your hand is inside a person's pelvis.
That is all the exciting news I have for the moment. I'm going to go eat some hummus before Grey's Night at Savannah's. If any other insane, child-related incidents or traumatizing mutilations occur tomorrow, I'll let you know.
Wednesday, October 13, 2010
winning
Anyone who was ever won anything will tell you that it takes diligence. Motivation and determination are key, and you cannot give up the fight at the first sign of difficulty. I know what you're thinking. "Gosh, Erin. How profound of you. You are the most disciplined medical student ever." Well, that may be true (or probably not), but I'm actually talking about my war against The Smell. Yesterday at lunch, I discovered that not all my classmates are as dogged in their anti-stink efforts as I. I, on the other hand, am sitting here sniffing various body parts, checking for any hint of smell, which will be eradicated upon discovery. For this, I win.
We had a pretty light day class-wise today (and this week, really), even though we had a long lab this afternoon. I did discover that I can entertain myself with four almonds and a Ziploc bag for several minutes when the teacher stops talking about cool things like how insects and birds fly and switches to boring things like why Sammy Sosa took creatine supplements, which was about 10 minutes of class today. Look, an almond square! An almond kite! An almond flower! A straight line! An almond swastika!
That last one was sort of an accident. I then proceeded to pick up the bag of almonds, drop it, and interpret the results like one would read tea leaves. "Hmm. The financial wellness almond landed far south. That can't be good." Then the professor started talking about muscles and exercise and I tuned back in, because I find that all fascinating.
Speaking of exercise, I recently ordered Zumba, the Latin dance workout. I'm so excited it makes my face hurt. Many of you are aware of my affinity for Hispanic culture and a good beat, so it should come as no surprise that after seeing the infomercial it took me about 24 hours of restraint before I simply had to have it. I'll let you know how it goes. I'm anticipating good things.
Tonight I will be spending some quality time with gross anatomy. As much as I tend to detest the lab, I really do like the subject and learning where everything is supposed to be. Hopefully by this time tomorrow I'll be able to tell you which organ is going crazy when you point to your stomach and say, "It hurts here." I can't wait!
We had a pretty light day class-wise today (and this week, really), even though we had a long lab this afternoon. I did discover that I can entertain myself with four almonds and a Ziploc bag for several minutes when the teacher stops talking about cool things like how insects and birds fly and switches to boring things like why Sammy Sosa took creatine supplements, which was about 10 minutes of class today. Look, an almond square! An almond kite! An almond flower! A straight line! An almond swastika!
That last one was sort of an accident. I then proceeded to pick up the bag of almonds, drop it, and interpret the results like one would read tea leaves. "Hmm. The financial wellness almond landed far south. That can't be good." Then the professor started talking about muscles and exercise and I tuned back in, because I find that all fascinating.
Speaking of exercise, I recently ordered Zumba, the Latin dance workout. I'm so excited it makes my face hurt. Many of you are aware of my affinity for Hispanic culture and a good beat, so it should come as no surprise that after seeing the infomercial it took me about 24 hours of restraint before I simply had to have it. I'll let you know how it goes. I'm anticipating good things.
Tonight I will be spending some quality time with gross anatomy. As much as I tend to detest the lab, I really do like the subject and learning where everything is supposed to be. Hopefully by this time tomorrow I'll be able to tell you which organ is going crazy when you point to your stomach and say, "It hurts here." I can't wait!
Sunday, October 10, 2010
kroger
The other day I went to Old Navy just to see what they had. The answer turned out to be nothing much. BUT I found these sunglasses. They were marked as $9.50. So I was all, "Cool. I'm-a get me some cheap sunglasses." Then I went to the register. She scanned the shades, I swiped my card, then she said, "That'll be 51 cents." My excitement was great, though tempered by my feelings of silliness at having used a debit card for a 51-cent transaction. Then a girl at school complimented my new sunglasses, and I felt all awesome and stuff.
But I told you that story to tell you this story. Today I went to Kroger because I was out of hummus and chocolate, which is an unacceptable situation. The Kroger in my new town is fancy. It's clean, the people are friendly, and the freezer section has lights that only come on as you walk by (which makes you feel like you have all kinds of power). It took a while to get used to the different arrangement, but now, after a few unfortunate instances of wandering around looking for salsa, I'm a huge fan. Last time I went, I walked around with my little arm basket with sunflowers and Italian bread feeling very European and grown up. Contrast that with today.
I wasn't there for long. I grabbed the hummus (roasted garlic instead of classic, because they were out, but we'll talk about that later) and got to the self-checkout line. Somewhere in the middle of scanning and bagging a mere five things, my new, 51-cent sunglasses fell out of my shirt pocket and onto the floor. Annoyed at this mild inconvenience, I looked down to find my sunglasses had skidded across the clean floors under the register, halfway to the next aisle. I thought about what to do for a minute, then decided to play it cool. I finished scanning, paid, put my little basket away, then had a very fast, very intense little debate in my head.
Sure, the sunglasses were only 51-cents. But that had been a surprising triumph! And it had come at the cost of a slightly embarrassing debit card charge. I didn't want to lose them and let that whole experience go to waste. But did I want to get all the way down on the floor to retrieve them? Did I want to risk being judged in my fancy new Kroger? What if they banned me from the store? Where would I get hummus?! The Wal-Mart is entirely too far away, and its relative uncleanliness and stealthy, ninja-like staff would be too much of a let-down after that to which I had so quickly became accustomed. So I just got down, hoping there weren't any cute Army guys around like there were the last time (when I had fortunately walked around all graceful-like with those sunflowers), desperately tried to get my sunglasses as quickly as I could, using my wallet to swat them toward me, got up, and flew out of there like it was about to blow. I didn't make eye contact with anyone, so maybe they won't recognize me when I try to come back.
My disappointment at having to purchase the Roasted Garlic hummus rather than Classic (because switching brands had burned me once before) was great, but I decided to be open-minded and try it when I got home. Basically, it was normal hummus with this pile of oddly-orange roasted garlickiness in the middle. My friend Amanda had told me that she had to get some of this before, and she ate around the stuff, but I wanted to be bold. I tried a little, and it was okay. I mixed it around a little bit, dipped in my pita wedge, and had a happy little snack. I figured, as long as I don't have to kiss anyone within an hour or so, I'd be fine. But the garlic lingered. Oh, how it lingered. Then I went to the kitchen for some Diet Dr. Pepper (or DDP, as I like to call it) to remedy this situation. Then I noticed a little green banner on my pita that said, "Tasty Onion." No stinkin wonder. That's the double whammy of people-repelling food odors. Fortunately the garlic part of my hummus is now gone, but I still can't go out in public for a while.
I wonder if eating chocolate would help. Since I have such an agile and curious mind, I think I must find out. In the name of discovery, people.
But I told you that story to tell you this story. Today I went to Kroger because I was out of hummus and chocolate, which is an unacceptable situation. The Kroger in my new town is fancy. It's clean, the people are friendly, and the freezer section has lights that only come on as you walk by (which makes you feel like you have all kinds of power). It took a while to get used to the different arrangement, but now, after a few unfortunate instances of wandering around looking for salsa, I'm a huge fan. Last time I went, I walked around with my little arm basket with sunflowers and Italian bread feeling very European and grown up. Contrast that with today.
I wasn't there for long. I grabbed the hummus (roasted garlic instead of classic, because they were out, but we'll talk about that later) and got to the self-checkout line. Somewhere in the middle of scanning and bagging a mere five things, my new, 51-cent sunglasses fell out of my shirt pocket and onto the floor. Annoyed at this mild inconvenience, I looked down to find my sunglasses had skidded across the clean floors under the register, halfway to the next aisle. I thought about what to do for a minute, then decided to play it cool. I finished scanning, paid, put my little basket away, then had a very fast, very intense little debate in my head.
Sure, the sunglasses were only 51-cents. But that had been a surprising triumph! And it had come at the cost of a slightly embarrassing debit card charge. I didn't want to lose them and let that whole experience go to waste. But did I want to get all the way down on the floor to retrieve them? Did I want to risk being judged in my fancy new Kroger? What if they banned me from the store? Where would I get hummus?! The Wal-Mart is entirely too far away, and its relative uncleanliness and stealthy, ninja-like staff would be too much of a let-down after that to which I had so quickly became accustomed. So I just got down, hoping there weren't any cute Army guys around like there were the last time (when I had fortunately walked around all graceful-like with those sunflowers), desperately tried to get my sunglasses as quickly as I could, using my wallet to swat them toward me, got up, and flew out of there like it was about to blow. I didn't make eye contact with anyone, so maybe they won't recognize me when I try to come back.
My disappointment at having to purchase the Roasted Garlic hummus rather than Classic (because switching brands had burned me once before) was great, but I decided to be open-minded and try it when I got home. Basically, it was normal hummus with this pile of oddly-orange roasted garlickiness in the middle. My friend Amanda had told me that she had to get some of this before, and she ate around the stuff, but I wanted to be bold. I tried a little, and it was okay. I mixed it around a little bit, dipped in my pita wedge, and had a happy little snack. I figured, as long as I don't have to kiss anyone within an hour or so, I'd be fine. But the garlic lingered. Oh, how it lingered. Then I went to the kitchen for some Diet Dr. Pepper (or DDP, as I like to call it) to remedy this situation. Then I noticed a little green banner on my pita that said, "Tasty Onion." No stinkin wonder. That's the double whammy of people-repelling food odors. Fortunately the garlic part of my hummus is now gone, but I still can't go out in public for a while.
I wonder if eating chocolate would help. Since I have such an agile and curious mind, I think I must find out. In the name of discovery, people.
Wednesday, October 6, 2010
change in taste
I remember the days when my friends and I used to watch funny YouTube videos together and laugh and laugh and dance through the sunshine, skipping and holding hands. Ah, those halcyon days of carefree college youth.
Below are two examples of the kind of YouTube videos that get sent around by med students. Less than halcyon, my friend, but oh, so helpful. These are also two topics that we are studying or will be studying soon.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6TOdcaNw3IA
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3u8Sgi8w50I
I learned the first verse of the circulation song from an aspirin commercial in high school, and it has stuck with me ever since. Apparently, if I could learn everything in song, I would remember all this stuff FOREVER. Then I could finally make My Life: The Musical, which is really an exciting enterprise.
Below are two examples of the kind of YouTube videos that get sent around by med students. Less than halcyon, my friend, but oh, so helpful. These are also two topics that we are studying or will be studying soon.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6TOdcaNw3IA
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3u8Sgi8w50I
I learned the first verse of the circulation song from an aspirin commercial in high school, and it has stuck with me ever since. Apparently, if I could learn everything in song, I would remember all this stuff FOREVER. Then I could finally make My Life: The Musical, which is really an exciting enterprise.
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