You may be a dork if....

I splattered something on my stove the other day that looked suspiciously like the blood smear of some poor soul with severe microcytic hypochromic anemia. Actually, I think you'd be dead if there were only two RBCs on your entire smear....but anyway.

Happy Birthday Pop

And Happy Thanksgiving to everyone.





Thanksgiving day would have been Pop's 75th birthday. I wonder what kind of parties they have in heaven......

Boy, do I miss this guy.....

He was one cool cat.....

Happy Birthday Pop! I'm blowin' you a kiss!

-Sweetpea

Boy have I dropped the ball on this blogging thing. But it's my blog, so I can drop the ball if I want.

Well, we are officially finished with anatomy FOREVER! Unless you count relating anatomy to the diagnosis and treatment of patients....which is important. But anyhow...we are done with anatomy lab, dissections and tests FOREVER!

This last dissection unit was especially interesting as it involved the head and neck. Kind of weird to cut into someone's face/pull someone's scalp off/chisel into someone's orbital plate. The strangest parts, by far, were the review sessions where numerous human heads were pulled out of plastic bags. Only in medical school....or the mob I suppose.

So now that anatomy is over I have a ton of extra time on my hands....hence the blogging. I've become a podcaster as well. I really fought this, but after much evaluation, I've decided it's really the best way to go. I can sleep in a bit in the morning, watch Price is Right, then study the material from the previous day while my mind is still fresh. Then in the evening, I podcast the lectures from that day. This saves me all kinds of time (I no longer have to get ready in the morning, drive to school, find a parking spot, walk to class....) and the schedule seems to correspond better with how my brain works. And I don't take as many naps now that I get a little more sleep in the morning. My dad is still on me to go to class and "make connections" with my class mates, but I figure that's what Facebook is for, isn't it?

Clyde Eugene Fry.....my Pop

When I was a little kid, the most horrible thing that I could ever possibly imagine, was one of my grandparents dying. Well, today it happened. We lost my Pop. It's a lot worse, but at the same time, a lot better than I had imagined.

Before I get into that, let me say a little bit about Pop. He was fantastic. My mom and I are both only children, so I was his only grandchild. My mom would leave me with him as a newborn when she and my grandma would go run errands, she said he was one of the only people she trusted with me when I was so little. I practically grew up at Pop and Grandma's house. Pop and I were constantly getting into trouble....the good kind of trouble....that when I think about now, makes me laugh and cry all at the same time. We would mix up gross concoctions in the kitchen and dare each other to eat them. We would make space ships out of refrigerator boxes and pretend to be aliens. We did a lot of fishing together when I was little. Pop taught me how to swim. My mind is flooding with about a gojillion memories of him right now. Like the time he and Grandma took me, Carmen, Rachel and Julie to Panama City Beach, all of the camping trips that we went on, and dancing with him at my wedding. We always left each other with our special pinky kiss.

When he was younger he was a fantastic baseball and football player. But instead of trying his luck in the major leagues, he decided to go to chiropractic college. He helped thousands of patients feel better during his career. He literally saw patients until the day he died. Actually, he treated one this morning, so I guess it would be more appropriate to say that he saw patients until he died.

(*Can I just say that this death thing is still a very abstract concept in my head. I'm not even close to grasping what has happened. I keep typing and every few minutes I stop and think, "What in the world is going on here? How can Pop be gone?")

I am thankful that I got to see him, hold his hand, and kiss his forehead at the hospital, even though he was already gone. I even got to give him one last pinky kiss.

So back to the "a lot worse and a lot better" thing. This is by far the most traumatic experience I have been through in my life...and it hurts my heart to know that this is not the last time it will happen. I'm struggling with the notion of waking up tomorrow to the reality that Pop is, in fact, gone and that this hasn't been a dream. I'm struggling with the idea that someone so full of life and so seemingly healthy could just die. It makes me sad that my grandma will be alone after 53 years with Pop. I really want to just camp out in her house and be there to hug her at any given moment.

Now let me end with the "a lot better" part. POP IS WITH JESUS! How cool is that? And guess what.....I'm going to see him again! Sadly, I didn't realize until today just how thankful I am for salvation. Not only my salvation, but the salvation of the ones that I love so much. Of course, I've always been grateful that Jesus went to the cross for me, but today the reality of it all and the magnitude of it all hit me like a truck. Thank you, Jesus for dying on that cross, so that someday I can see my Pop again and spend eternity in the glory of Your presence.

Pop hated country music, but this song by Brad Pasley is just amazing, and in my estimation, it is what he's experiencing right now, and what I will someday experience.....

When I get where I'm going

on the far side of the sky.

The first thing that I'm gonna do

Is spread my wings and fly.

I'm gonna land beside a lion,

and run my fingers through his mane.

Or I might find out what it's like

To ride a drop of rain.

Yeah when I get where I'm going,

there'll be only happy tears.

I will shed the sins and struggles,

I have carried all these years.

And I'll leave my heart wide open,

I will love and have no fear.

Yeah when I get where I'm going,

Don't cry for me down here.

I'm gonna walk with my grandaddy,

and he'll match me step for step,

and I'll tell him how I missed him,

every minute since he left.

Then I'll hug his neck.

So much pain and so much darkness,

in this world we stumble through.

All these questions, I can't answer,

so much work to do.

But when I get where I'm going,

and I see my Maker's face.

I'll stand forever in the light,

of His amazing grace.

Crying in my Brain

We started our Brain and Behavior block this week. Yesterday we got to play with real human brains. I was really excited about it because brains are pretty cool - all gooey and squiggly with little nerves and arteries shooting out everywhere. My excitement quickly turned to pain when we pulled the brains out of their tubs. Apparently the standard procedure for the storage of human brains is to first fix them in formaldehyde and then to let them soak in water. Unfortunately, one of the esteemed faculty in the Brain Storage Dept. at KU left them soaking in the formaldehyde.

Here's a fun fact about formaldehyde: It can kill you :)

Anyhow....like the strong and brave future doctors that we are, we pressed on with the dissection. The formaldehyde was emanating from the brains, causing watery eyes, sore throats, coughing, and overall whimpering from the students. Every time I would try to get close to the brain to see an important structure (that I will no doubt be tested over), I could hardly breathe. It's hard to describe the sensation, all I can say is that it was physically painful. It got so bad that one of my friends had to leave because she was developing a rash on her face and her lips began to swell. The whole experience was awful, but the sight of medical students crying over their brains was really kind of funny.

Mabel's Trip to the Vet

Mabel: So Doc, I've been really itchy lately. So itchy, that I feel compelled to chew on my own paws until they are raw. Oh yeah, and my butt leaks sometimes.

Vet: Okay Mabel, I think we'll put you on some Prednisone to try to get your itching under control, but first come with me and we'll drain your butt.

Mabel: Sounds like fun. So, how long will I be on the prednisone? Should I worry about bone loss or developing cushingoid features? I'm very vain, you know.

Vet: Don't worry Mabel, you'll only be on the Prednisone for about a week so you won't get chubby. Alright....let's go drain your butt.

This is just a test

Today was the first test of the second year of med school. Our schedule was a bit strange. We had our anatomy lab test this morning at 10:00, but didn't have our lecture test until 7:30 tonight. It was dark when I left the testing center....I had to haul it to my truck to minimize my risk of being attacked/abducted/mugged. I'm happy to report that my lab test was a huge success, but it was dampered a bit by my mediocre performance on the lecture test. I ended up with the overall grade I was shooting for, but I just don't feel satisfied. Like I'm going to be a sub-par doctor someday because I didn't know which nerve block you would give to someone having shoulder surgery. Oh well.

So now I don't know if I should just relax and enjoy my weekend, or be a complete masochist, study all weekend and retake the test on Tuesday.....because there's a slim chance that my grade might improve. But if I studied all weekend and my score didn't improve....well, I think I would scratch my eyes out. So....yeah....that's my current dilemma.

Oh, and FYI, next time you're anesthetizing someone for shoulder surgery, I would recommend using an interscalene block.

Why didn't you tell me it was going to rain today, Don Harmon? I walked about 1/2 mile to my car in a torrential down-pour with no umbrella. My underwear was wet and I had mascara all over my face. I had to take my flip flops off and run in my bare feet because they got too slippery. Why didn't you tell me to take my umbrella today, Don? Oh, who am I kidding? You know I love you!

Dogonnit!

After class this morning I was walking to my truck when I noticed two large dogs running down the street. Running down 39th toward Rainbow. If you're not familiar with this intersection - it's a big, busy, metropolitan intersection where lots of big trucks and speeding cars drive through. One of the dogs stopped a couple blocks from Rainbow, but the other dog (Shepherd/Rottweiler) kept going. I was yelling at it and trying to lure it back with popcorn, but it just kept going. I saw it make a left at Rainbow and just hoped that it stayed on the sidewalk. I wasn't about to go chasing down a big black dog in the middle of an intersection....I have some sense about me.

So, I went from being confused (why are two big dogs running down the street?) to scared (oh my goodness, I hope the big black dog doesn't get hit by a car) to livid (who the crap lets his/her dog go running free near 39th and Rainbow????). Now, let me encourage all of you pet owners to keep an eye on your animals. No...."encourage" is too gentle a word. How about: I will beat you within an inch of your sad little life if you let your animals go running free. I don't care if you live in a nice little neighborhood or if you live in the inner city - take effing care of your animals. Now, to all of you who might be contemplating the purchase or adoption of an animal: if you have any intention of turning your animal loose to roam the streets, or if you don't intend to care for your animal darn near the way you would care for a 2 year old....maybe you should buy some fish or a neat new video game. Okay....just the video game, fish might be too much. You have to clean their tank and feed them.....or they will DIE. Just like if you let your dog out on it's own....odds are it will cross a street.....where there are cars......and it might get hit.....and then it might be seriously hurt.....or dead. All of these things make me very sad....and ANGRY!

Gross Lab

For those of you who don't dissect dead people on a regular basis, "gross lab" just means "all encompassing." It doesn't mean "gross" as in disgusting or icky, although sometimes I think it should. Today was an icky day. Our cadaver is rather obese. We were dissecting to the gluteal and posterior thigh region to reach various muscles, nerves and vessels, but before you can get to the prize, you have to get through the fat. Oh my gosh. Have you ever seen one of those Weight Watcher's demonstrations where they hold up a big chunk of plastic, yellow fat and say, "this is what 10 pounds of fat looks like!"? That's what we were taking out of our body most of the day. I kind of felt like a plastic surgeon using really crude techniques to thin someone down. Fat is disgusting. It's yellow and greasy and slimy and it oozes and dribbles everywhere. Anyhow, I had my hands in the fat, trying to clean some away with a scalpel and the next thing I know, I've jammed the scalpel into my thumb. Stabbing ones self in the thumb with a scalpel isn't the most pleasant thing in the world, but stabbing ones self in the thumb with a scalpel and watching as cadaver fat oozes into your wound is pretty horrible! I'm happy to report that my thumb didn't fall off and I didn't die. I managed to get the bleeding under control and continue with my dissection.

nighthawk

I'm supposed to be writing a paper right now, so this will probably be a long entry. More time goofing around = less time doing boring, important things.

I was sitting on the couch watching TV today and a commercial for Burlington Coat Factory came on. It was pretty effective advertising, in about 7 minutes I was up and out the door headed to BCF. Has anyone been there lately? Oh my goodness! Aisles and aisles of cheap, CHEAP stuff! And since this is my last Saturday before my life is over (read: I go back to school), I indulged myself and shopped for a good hour and a half. I got 6 shirts and 2 pairs of pants for about $60.00. Yippee! A poor girl's dream.....even though I already spent my allowance for this month, and it's what?....like the 4th? Anyhow, I would highly recommend that you go there SOON! They're having a huge 40% off clearance sale. I got some shirts that I normally wouldn't buy because....well because they were like $6.00. And I'm wearing one right now. Sweet! Okay, with my glowing endorsement of BCF, I must also warn you that it's a bit trashy. The one on SMPKY isn't as bad as the one at the Great Mall, but the clientel is still a little sketchy. I was there, afterall.

Okay, moving on. Danny and I are at Nighthawk's coffee shop in Mission. He's being all studious and crap and I'm blogging. He thinks I'm writing a paper about my experiences serving humanity, so don't tell him that I'm really just a huge slacker.

Our review of Nighthawk's: The atmosphere is pretty cool. Danny mentioned that it felt kind of "underground." I don't know what he knows about "underground" stuff, but whatever. The service, however, wasn't the greatest. I got a luke-warm latte and a cinnamon roll. The flavor of the latte is good, but again, luke-warm. I think the girl couldn't remember if I said iced or hot, so she shot for somewhere in the middle. Nice work! The cinnamon roll was good, but she forgot that she had put it in the microwave and I had to ask her for it. Oh....and we are the only customers in here. So, 2 of us, 3 of them (coffee girl and 2 owners), so you'd think our odds of good service would be pretty good. The girl has pink hair. I don't know if this is necessarily a reflection of her character or work ethic, but I thought it was worth mentioning. Danny got a coffee - Columbian something or other - he said it tastes like coffee diluted with apple juice, but he won't complain. He's just not a complainer. That's probably why our marriage is so blissful :)

Okay, I think I'm going to have to start writing my paper now. I want to get it done before school starts on Monday. I can't decide if I want to cry or throw up.

(The picture is from Vail....not Mission. Danny is drinking a coffee though folks - so it's appropriate.)

facebook

I've discovered a new application on facebook. It's the Ilike application and it just let me download not only the song Crazy, but the video as well! Have you seen the video? It came out back in the day and starred Alicia Silverstone and Liv Tyler. This is just way too exciting. This video inspired me....inspired me to take a road trip with Rachel in a black convertible, wear skimpy clothes, rob convenience stores, compete in an amatuer night stripping competition and then chase down super-cute farm boys in our black convertible. So far the dream is still just a dream, but now, thanks to facebook, the dream is still very much alive! Don't tell my parents.

Mabel has been sick today. She pretty much blew chunks all over the floor. Thankfully we have hard wood floors so clean up is a bit easier. I got to her in time to hold her ears back.

Drugs

So, what do you do when you're counting out drugs for a patient and one (or two) of them falls on the floor? Five second rule?

Last weekend, Danny and I took the train to St. Louis to visit my aunt and uncle and my two cousins. I've only been on the train at Worlds of Fun, so this was a new experience for me. We left from Union Station in Kansas City....who knew that you could actually catch a train at Union Station? Anyway - there were old pictures hanging everywhere from the days when Union Station was primarily a train station and not just a fun place for wedding receptions. I think my favorite part of the station experience was when the conductor yelled "all aboard!"

Here's a crazy thing about trains - they don't even check your ticket until you've already pulled out of the station. We were half way to Lee's Summit before anyone came by to make sure we were legitimate train riders. I'm not quite sure what they do with the people who sneak on without tickets, but I have a feeling that it's not pretty. Anyhow, the train itself was a rather pleasant way to travel. You can sit wherever you want (I think Southwest took the idea from Amtrak), you can walk around, you can get a snack from the snack car, and there was plenty of leg room. As a side note, there were several obese passengers on the train who kept walking back and forth from the snack car carrying arm loads of chips, candy and other fat-filled edibles. Have you ever wanted to yell, "don't eat that!"? I have.

St. Louis was fantastic. It's a little misleading when I say that we visited my "aunt and uncle" because my uncle Kurt is 39 and my aunt Angela is only 6 years older than me (I'll post pictures later). Angela should be an event planner or a travel agent, because I think we saw just about everything there is to see in St. Louis in 3 days. They accomplished their goal of sending us home tired. Danny even got a new nickname: Danny-o's Pantyhose - given to him by my cousins Adison and Lillian. I have a feeling that this nickname is going to be around for a while!

The ride home would have been great except that the most annoying pre-teen girl alive was sitting right behind us. Lordy! I've never wanted to strangle someone so badly. I'm pretty sure she had a severe form of A.D.D. She wandered through the train several times, back and forth, back and forth - running at times. We were hoping that the train would hit a bump and she would be thrown out a window.... no such luck. Eventually she sat down next to her grandma and she talked and talked and talked. Poor grandma! Poor me! At one point she performed her rendition of The Itsy Bitsy Spider in her very best Christina Aguliera voice, followed by Take Me Out To The Ball Game where she substituted, "buy me some peanuts and apple jacks" for "cracker jacks." This really seemed to bother grandma....understandably! Anyhow, we finally rolled back into Union Station at about 10:30 pm. We had a fantastic trip, but it's good to be home. I missed my girl!

It never ends

Can anyone tell me when I should start studying for this thing? I'll be taking it next spring. Should I start studying now? Over winter break? Or should I have started when I was BORN?

blogger shmogger

Since I have nothing better to do at the moment, I decided that I should try out this here blog thing-ama-jig. Lately I've had a lot of people tell me that I should keep track of my experiences in medical school because there are bound to be some pretty good stories. Considering I've forgotten 95% of what happened in high school and undergrad (heck - I can't remember what I did yesterday), I thought I should write it all down - the good stuff anyway. So, this little blog is essentially to supplement my memory, but if you want to read it - go ahead.

Oh....and the dog. This blog will undoubtedly include my sweet girl Mabel. In fact, "out the winder" was inspired by Mabel. She spends a good deal of her day sitting on (read: ruining) the sofa cushion looking out the "winder." (www.outthewindow.blogspot.com was already taken - heck!) I looked up the blogspot out of curiosity and this person hasn't blogged since 2003, but they continue to use the name, causing ME to have to spell like I didn't pass 1st grade.

Okay. I don't want to over do it on my first attempt. Start small....build up. Keep the expectations small.