Friday, January 31, 2003

 

Friday Five

I can't promise I'll do this every week, but hey, here's this week's.

1. As a child, who was your favorite superhero/heroine? I'm not quite sure. I liked Mighty Mouse, he was little like me. I don't know if I actually had a favorite...

2. What was one thing you always wanted as a child but never got? An EZ bake oven, I think. But that's okay, I think my parents started letting me use the real oven when I was like 10. And oh yeah, height.

3. What's the furthest from home you've been? With my family, the Philippines. By myself, for any extended period of time, Des Moines.

4. What's one thing you've always wanted to learn but haven't yet? How to effectively manage my time. =P How to swim. How to ice skate - forwards, backwards, and stopping - with control. There's a bunch of things.

5. What are your plans for the weekend? Going bowling tonight, probably a stop at a party as well. I have to work on a microbiology case study. Attempt (the key word) to catch up on my Physiology lectures (the first test is coming up soon, please pray for me, I heard like half of last year's class failed it) and the new micro lectures. More laundry, decide what to wear for the formal next weekend. Continue to berate myself for the mistakes I made during my SPAL (that fake patient thing - I had a test today and made some stupid mistakes). Among other things. But I think there will be much studying done this weekend.

i can be sooo stooopid... or nervous, i suppose...

So I had the Standardized Patient Assessment Lab test today. I had to go in, meet this fake patient, take her medical history, take her vitals, then write a progress note. Well, I suppose I did all right, but I made so many dumb little mistakes. I forgot to ask about tobacco, alcohol, and drug use (that's a bunch of points right there) during the interview. Then when I went back in for her feedback (the patient gives us feedback about how we did), she pointed out that I used a couple medical terms that a lay person wouldn't be familiar with, plus she noticed a few nervous habits, and some more little mistakes. Maybe not mistakes, but stuff that if I hadn't been so nervous, I might not have done. They videotape us while we're in with the patient, and we have to watch it and critique ourselves. That should be a hoot. Then when I was leaving the building, I realized that while I had noted her vitals on the scratch paper, I DIDN'T PUT THEM ON THE PROGRESS NOTE. Good job, Claud. At least the patient was really nice. She assured me that though she noticed I was nervous from the get-go, she was sure that I'd become more comfortable with more experience. She told me that she could tell that I was very caring, very personable, etc. She even said I had a nice smile. =) How sweet.

I guess I'm just so frustrated because I have a tendency to get so nervous during practical tests like this that I forget stuff that would otherwise be second nature. Before the SPAL, I could tell you every question we were supposed to ask. And yet, during the test, I go blank. I do the whole deep breath thing, but it seems like if I get rattled even once, it takes me so long to get back into the swing of things. And during a practical, you don't have time to do that. Argh. Must do more yoga. Maybe it'll help me focus.

Okay, I'm a little better now.

Claud 3:36 PM 

Tuesday, January 28, 2003

 

slip-slidin' thru des moines...

Today we had freezing rain. Fun, really. RIIIIIGHT. I have to walk over not one but 2 hills to get to the campus (3 if you count the slope that is my driveway). This morning wasn't bad, it hadn't started raining yet, but by the time I left at noon, it was raining and slushy and cold. So walking back to campus at 2:30 was a hoot. And then walking to Zanzibar (a local coffee shop) was a blast. Yes, black ice is incredibly dangerous when driving, but it's not fun when you walk on it, either. Luckily I don't think anyone saw me when I nearly wiped out on 29th street. I love the people who put salt out on their portions of the sidewalk, it provided a welcome change from the ice rink that most of my neighborhood has become. And I don't know if this is a Des Moines thing or what, but nearly all of the schools either started late or got out early "due to the weather". I don't recall ever being let out of school early if there was freezing rain. And it wasn't bitterly cold or anything. I dunno. I suppose it probably has to do with the fact that the drivers out here aren't particular about the use of signals and obeying stoplights when the weather is good, so who knows what they're like when the weather sucks.

my favorite fungus... at least to pronounce

We're studying fungi in microbiology right now. I think I've discovered my favorite fungi to say... Malassezia furfur. Just say it... furfur. It's just fun to say. Having it on you, however... not so much fun.

Claud 8:48 PM 

 

sorry about the italics, folks...

That's what I get for not proofreading for once. Instead of /i I typed in i/. So I'll be posting before publishing from now on, just to be safe.

Claud 12:09 PM 

Sunday, January 26, 2003

 

been a while since i last posted...

It's been a busy week.

i don't have time to carry a blowtorch around...

Okay, so Wednesday night I went to Liz's for some cake and girl talk. Came home around 11, put my key in the door, and it doesn't turn. So I look at the apartment number, thinking that perhaps I'm so tired I went to the wrong apartment. Nope, my door. Try turning the key again, won't turn, and oh, to add to the fun, now the key won't come out. FUUUCK. Finally I jimmy the key out. I decide to call my leasing office's emergency line (emergency because mind you, it was like -20 out), but I don't have their number saved in my cell phone. So I call Isabel (who lives across the courtyard in the other building), and she gives me the number and tells me to just come over so I don't freeze to death. So I hop on over, call the number, and GET AN ANSWERING MACHINE. FUUUCK. Bless Isabel's heart, she said I could sleep over if they didn't call back, and even starts fixing the bed for me, says she'll sleep on the couch. A little before midnight, she suggests maybe calling the emergency line back, just so that since there will be a couple messages, whoever is at the other end of the emergency can feel guilty. But this time somebody actually answers. So I meet the maintenance guy outside my door, and he apologizes for taking so long. Apparently my lock is frozen. He tries the little spray lock de-icer thing, and the lock doesn't budge. Then he pulls out a blowtorch and heats up my doorknob. Phew, the key turns, and in minutes, I'm warm and cozy. So I guess now I have to carry around a lighter or something. Though the blowtorch seemed to do a much better job. But how odd would I look lugging around a blowtorch?

once again, soooo glad I'm in a stable relationship...

At girls' talk at Liz's, I was once again reminded just how glad I am to be in a stable, committed relationship. Granted yes, if I wasn't already involved, I could easily choose not to bother with trying to start a relationship while I'm in school, but it does get lonely, I think. And hearing about my comrades' travails just reminds me that I'm lucky I don't have to deal with that stuff now. It's hard enough dealing with the pressure cooker that is med school, but throw in trying to start a relationship... it's rough. It's the whole risk vs. reward thing, I guess. You risk a little sanity here and there, and hope it all works out in the end. So I wish my gals luck...

Uno is not my friend

Call me and Dan a boring old couple if you want, but we played Uno for hours this past weekend. It was fun, but unfortunately, he soundly kicked my ass all 3 rounds. The last game we played, I was ahead by like 100-something points, totally on a roll, then he turns around and scores 200 points on me in one hand. Oh, the pain. I really think he kinda felt bad for me, seeing as how he'd beat me by 300-something points the night before. So at least I got a little sympathy.

Ode to my sweetie, part III

So Dan came out to Des Moines to visit me this weekend... it's one of the few weekends this semester that I don't have a bunch of exams early in the week. So he is driving home right now, missing the last half of the Superbowl. What a boyfriend, missing the Superbowl so he can be with me for the weekend. I really appreciate him coming out here as often as he does. It's a 5 hour drive, no small peanuts if you ask me, but he always insists that it's not that bad (though he does wish that there was a bit more to do between Chicago and DSM). And he makes sure that I study while he's here. My alarm clock will go off in the morning, and I'll shut it off, but then I hear him say, "study!" so I go study while he sleeps in a little while longer. I'm so glad that he's so super supportive about me being in school, even if it is 300 miles away. Of course he wishes I was closer, but he's glad that I'm happy here, that I feel like I belong here. I guess I'm just not used to being treated this well by a guy. He lets me practice my OMM on him (though I feel like I do a sucky job, must try to improve, luckily I'm not hurting him), he lets me practice using my medical equipment (though he nearly blinded me with my own ophthalmoscope - the thing the doc uses to look inside your eye)... he's like my own personal guinea pig =P. And I appreciate him and everything he does to keep me sane. =) And I miss him already... =(

i think i like superbowl commercials more than the actual superbowl...

I feel that way almost every year. This year, the Pepsi Twist ad with the Osbournes killed me! I was busting up! I love the Osbournes even more now. Speaking of the Superbowl, well, the Bucs just scored yet another touchdown, making the score 40-21 with 1:18 left in the 4th, so it looks like the Bucs are going to win, barring a miracle of epic proportions for the Raiders.

Claud 7:08 PM 

Tuesday, January 21, 2003

 

thanks again sister!

Another thanks to Christine for fixing the time-date stamp on my posts. You're fabulous!

fun things i learned today...

Did you know that having back muscle pain and rock-hard stiffness around the muscles on the right side of your 9th thoracic vertebra that won't go away with treatment, it could signal a gallbladder problem? Interesting... gotta love OMM.

and once again...

Studying.

Claud 4:19 PM 

Monday, January 20, 2003

 

yay! i have comments... =)

Ok, so now I have comments. So feel free to comment on my older posts too. A big thanks and a pat on the tush for Christine... and if you could also tell me how to put my archives links directly onto the main page, that would be swell! =)

good weekend...

So Friday night I went to go see "Chicago" (the movie, not the city, not the band). It was AWESOME! Loved it... Catherine Zeta-Jones's voice is a heckuva lot better than I would have ever thought (she's got quite a set of pipes), and Renee Zellwegger's suited the character very well... I didn't know either of them could sing. The casting was perfect. And Richard Gere tapdances! Apparently he learned just for the movie. Two thumbs up from this little critic.

And yesterday we went tubing on snow... who would ever have thought that purposely hurling yourself down a hill on a rubber tube could be so much fun! For those who have never done it, you have a rubber inner tube belted to a plastic disc, and you slide down a hill sitting in the tube (or lying on top of it and going down the hill head first). It was a blast. My abs hurt from laughing! We were like little kids again.

fun at the karaoke bar...

Yesterday me and a bunch of my classmates went out to have some fun with karaoke for Britt's birthday. Now, understand this. I am not the singer in the family, that's Fatima's job. I can hold a tune... kinda... or so I've led myself to believe. But hey, it gets a lot easier when you've had 2 cranberry and vodkas and some beer. Liquid courage; ain't it the greatest? So Liz and I sang a Dixie Chicks tune, and the whole time, my kneecap is having convulsions of epic proportions - I'm lucky I didn't fall over. Then me, Balaji, Vik, and Matt sang "Billie Jean"... it wasn't pretty. Then all of us first-year girls sang "Like a Virgin", and I hear some guy go, "hey, i want a piece of this!" and he comes onto the stage with all of us and starts singing along. And he's kinda dancing around all of us, and he starts dancing with Meghan and she points at me and goes, "Go for the little one, she's dirty!" Of course, I am aghast, but I take one for the team, luckily the song was over like 5 seconds after he sidles over to me. Meghan was like "I'm so sorry! I wanted him to go away, and you were the first person I saw!" Oh well. By the time Liz and I left (I chuckle, we said we wouldn't stay long and we ended up being there for like 3 hours), our voices were hoarse and we were exhausted. It was a good night.

you mean i'm still not done studying? awwww...

Phooey, test Wednesday, must study. Mmmm, bacteria...

Claud 9:09 AM 

Friday, January 17, 2003

 

Notepool, the bane of my existence... for today at least...


Okay, so at school we have this thing called Notepool. It's like I-notes (for all yous U of Illinois folk), except those who participate in notepool have to take notes at some point during the semester (rather than having people get paid to take notes). So each person is assigned a lecture to take notes on. So I had micro today, which wasn't bad, because he pretty much goes straight from his notes. But only thing is he managed to cover a lecture and a half... aww, boo. So who know HOW long it'll take me to do it. Oh well. I'll live.


need new clothes...


I realize now that I need more professional-type-looking clothes. We have a dinner for the American College of Osteopathic Family Physicians this Friday and it's business attire. Plus I have a couple of SPALs (refer to previous posts - it's the fake patient thingie) this semester, for which I have to dress professionally. If this keeps going, I'm going to end up wearing the same things over and over again... but maybe if someone reaaallly sweet and kind and handsome wants to take me out shopping for a little bit next weekend... wink wink... =)

Claud 10:05 AM 

Wednesday, January 15, 2003

 

Oooooooo, new toys.... but now I'm broke...

As if I wasn't already broke before today. I'm taking my Physical Diagnosis class now, so we have to buy our own medical equipment, like a stethoscope, sphygmomanometer (blood pressure taking thingie), otoscope (for looking into the ear canal), opthalmoscope (for looking into the eye), and a bunch of other little stuff. Definitely not cheap. But hey, I need it, so it had to be bought. Luckily though, I won a really good stethoscope in a raffle earlier last semester. So that saved me about $120. And apparently I might want to get it engraved or something with my name so in case it gets lost, it might just come back to me somehow.

If you knew what I knew about microbiology...

You would not want to eat.

You mean we're not done yet?

Must go study some more, because we have another microbiology exam on Wednesday. Oy vey. Yay, more bugs to learn...

Claud 6:47 PM 

Tuesday, January 14, 2003

 

Okay. This is going to be a long one, since Blogger decided to be a booger yesterday and not let me post. And Christine never got back to me. =( But apparently she was out wedding dress shopping, so that's okay. Where to begin?

Ohhh... brain hurts... too full...

Okay, so got out of class around 2:30 yesterday and hunkered down for a long night of studying for my microbiology exam. For the sake of my sanity, I took a Simpson's/exercise break at 4:30 (I found an exercise regimen in Cosmopolitan or some other mag that I can do while watching TV... multitasking at its best!). Lo and behold, I turn the TV on, and it's Dharma and Greg! OH NO! WHERE ARE MY SIMPSONS!!!! Apparently they changed the schedule so it's on at 5 and 6pm now. Phew, got a little worried there. Need my brain candy I do.

So I continued to study on with the AMA's on in the background. I need the background noise sometimes, my mind wanders sometimes if it's too quiet. I love the Osbourne's, they crack me up. I really liked the rendition of "Tiny Dancer" that Elton John and Tim McGraw (a country singer, a good one actually) did to open the show. I didn't know Tim McGraw's voice could go that high. And I loved Missy Elliot's (at least I think that was her) performance. I didn't see the whole thing, but at one point she had these little kids breakdancing! It was so cute!

So I was studying the whole time, and do you ever feel like you've got so much information in your head that basic common sense eludes you? I had to look up the word obligate in the medical dictionary at one point last night because I just couldn't remember what it meant. Oh, dear.

Things I have learned in micro...

The more I sit in microbiology class, the more the appealing the "boy-in-the-bubble" life looks. My professor told us that by the time we're done with this class, we'll be afraid to eat anything. For those who aren't familiar with micro, it's the study of microorganisms... like bacteria, viruses, fungi, etc. Luckily, I have yet to be scared off food-wise by any of our lecture material, though I'm sure I'll be a bit more careful. Oh, by the way, don't try to store frozen potatoes in your cupboard and then try to cook and eat them later (I'm talking weeks). Not a good idea. Yes, someone actually did do this. Of course, they tasted nasty and he immediately spit them out, but there was enough toxin produced by the bacteria to land him in the ICU for 6 months. So yeah, try to avoid that.

my back is MESSED up...and I didn't even know it

So I had my Osteopathic Manipulative Medicine lab class today (where we learn the manipulation techniques, like muscle treatments, spine adjustments, etc), and we're learning to diagnose any rotations or sidebending of the vertebrae on the thoracic and upper lumbar spine (the two middle sections of your spine). So there's 12 thoracic vertebrae and 5 lumbar vertebrae. We diagnosed the 12 thoracics and the 1st 4 lumbars. Apparently, all but my 1st, 6th, and 7th thoracics were rotated left and sidebent right. SEE WHAT STUDYING IS DOING TO ME???? And one of my ribs was out of place (the ribs are connected to your spine like joints - I had one that had slipped out of the joint), too, but I knew about that because I think I probably did it while I was exercising or something. So my TA actually stayed after class to fix me up. I feel much better now.

Claud 3:37 PM 

Saturday, January 11, 2003

 

Ode to my sweetie... kinda (kinda an ode, not kinda my sweetie)

Ok, can I just tell you how glad I am to be in a committed, healthy relationship at this particular juncture in my life? Watching my cohorts out here has made me realize just how lucky I am to have that special someone in my corner. No major dramas, no worrying about defining a relationship at the moment, no worrying about what every signal means, not dealing with getting to know someone that you're kinda seeing maybe but not quite sure... Med school is stressful enough! So sweetie, I love you. Thanks for trying to ease my stress and not add to it! =)

Claud 6:25 PM 

 

Went go-karting yesterday. I assumed it would be your normal simple go-karting except indoors. We get there, and I HAVE TO SIGN A WAIVER. That's when me, Jenn, and Liz looked at each other and went, "huh?". Then I see people with helmets. And I'm wondering what the hell I got into. Apparently this is some hard-core go-karting. And it was a bit pricey. And I will confess, they had to adjust my kart (not too much, mind you) because of my height. But after 10 minutes of whizzing around the track, I admit, it was fun.


It took me a while to get a feel for the kart and the track, but when it was over, I was just glad that I wasn't Luke, who I passed as he and his kart were being extracted from the tire wall after crashing into it. I was one of the slowest ones out there, but eh, I'm not competitive like that anyhoo. I'm pretty sure the karts were a bit faster than the karts I've ridden before, I mean, we had to wear helmets and sign a waiver, and I felt like I was going pretty fast. It was actually really fun.


But peh, back to studying I go. Micro exam on Tuesday.

Claud 2:23 PM 

Wednesday, January 08, 2003

 

So apparently the Blackhawks traded Boris Mironov today. Good. Now he can be the Rangers' mopey I-don't-wanna-play-so-I'm-just-going-to-walk-out-on-the-team problem. It's not like he was productive. And you don't need that kind of attitude in the locker room, especially when there's so many others whose spot he was taking who WANT to try. So phooey on him, hope no one resigns his $1,631,637 ass this summer.

Was that just mean? Oh well.

Claud 8:35 PM 

 

Okay, sorry for my loyal readers who thought I haven't posted since November. Not like I've posted much since then, but apparently you have to hit post AND publish... Ooops. So the other 2 posts are here now too, in theory. Twice, possibly, since I have no clue what I'm doing anyhoo. Speaking of which, Hey, anyone have any clues about how to hook this puppy up with comments links? I'm curious to see who's reading this.

So I'm back in Des Moines. Woo. Faboo. And naturally, thrown right back into the fire education-wise. I can already tell that Physiology is going to be uuuuugggly. It can't be a good thing when your professor says it's not necessary for us to go nuts learning about the Nernst Equation (the equation itself), but then proceeds to discuss the equation for 40 minutes. Oh, nelly, am I in trouble.

I don't know what to make of Microbiology though. It's really interesting, but it's a lot of memorization. We have to know all these microorganisms, what they look like, where they grow, what kills them... etc. Oy.

And then there's Physical Diagnosis. Interesting, yes, incredibly applicable, yes, stressful.. HELL YES! It's that SPAL thing with the fake patients that I was talking about earlier. But apparently only 20 other schools (MD schools included) have a program like this (where med students are exposed to patients with symptoms to diagnose), so it's cool that I kinda have an upper hand on some other students in terms of diagnosing patients.

Is it bad that I'm ready to go back to Chicago already? Wish me luck, folks, I'm gonna need it...

Claud 8:25 PM 

Thursday, January 02, 2003

 

Happy New Year everyone... a day late.

2002 was a heck of a year for me and my family. Like a roller coaster, I tell ya. Not just a little weenie coaster like at a carnival, I'm talking Millenium Force-type peaks and valleys. I got into med school, my sister got engaged, my other sister found out she'll graduate from college (I knew she would, it was just a matter of when... =)), I fell in love, I actually had a first-year anniversary that was memorable, my cousin and his wife had a baby... but on the downside (a hell of a downside if you ask me, btw), my mom was diagnosed with lung cancer after having been in remission from breast cancer for over 3 years.

Who knows what 2003 holds? Hopefully it'll be a good year.

Claud 3:05 PM 

 

Okay, so I suck at the whole blogging thing. I'll admit it. SO QUIT GIVING ME CRAP ABOUT IT!!!! =) Thank you. =)

Claud 2:53 PM