In four years, you'll follow the doctor's orders.

Thank you!

2011-05-24T18:38:00.000-07:00

Now you'll follow the doctor's orders, I'm an M.D.!!!

I couldn't have gotten to this point in my life without the support and understanding of my friends and family. I want especially thank my darling sister Melissa, who has been more sweet, patient and generous than I deserve. Melissa has born the brunt of my mental breakdowns in medical school. I know she thought I was crazy when I called her crying about the anatomy test that I thought I failed. And I definitely drove her nuts obsessing over applications and interviews this year. Melissa has learned more medicine than she ever cared to know just so she could understand conversations with me and my friends. After all of that, I am so glad that I was able to share my tears of joy with her on Match Day. I love you!

Match

2011-03-19T05:55:00.000-07:00

I matched in ObGyn at University of Rochester! It feels amazing to know where I'm going to be for the next four years and also to be able to get exactly what I wanted. The interview season was long and crazy. I set out with a goal of wanting to do my residency in the city or at least LI, but when I interviewed at Rochester, everything was perfect. I even scored a few awesome interviews in New York City, but the intensity of the programs scared me off. Working 80 hour weeks is hard, I need nice people and a nice hospital. Yes, Rochester is even farther away from friend and family than Hershey, but cheap one hour flights from JFK are available. People say that you have to go with your gut when choosing a residency program, we'll see how it worked out on July 1st. I can't wait to start this next phase in my career path!

planning

2011-03-19T05:30:00.000-07:00

In January, I rotated in nyc for a family planning elective. I applied for the elective to get a broader experience and was lucky to have worked with someone who does great work for women in New York. I have always felt strongly about Choice (see my sixth grade health paper on abortion), but the patients I treated in this month really secured my interest in this field. For most women, the decision to terminate occurs in the first trimester and access to providers is good and the procedure is affordable. I met a lot of women, however, who made decisions later, because of money, fetal testing and even denial. Access for late-term abortions is very limited. I worked with someone who could practice to the extent of NY state law and participated in many interesting cases: a homeless woman living in a shelter, a Muslim woman who was carrying a child by another man and a 45 year old woman who had fetal testing showing Down Syndrome. I felt the most like a doctor when I held a patient's hand throughout the ultrasound showing her Downs Syndrome pregnancy. Everyone makes their own choices in life and I try to respect them all, I just hope that I can still make those options available to any woman who comes to me for help.

How I spent my winter

2011-03-19T05:12:00.000-07:00

After moving out of Hershey and moving back home, I had a lot of down time and really went crazy with my knitting. I got through some of my stash, but then I bought more yarn, oops. On the queue is a sweater for myself and supercute mittens.

malcolm again

2010-10-11T17:32:00.000-07:00

This weekend, I went to the New Yorker festival and saw Regina Spektor and Malcolm. In regards to Ms. Spektor, I'd rather listen to her on my ipod than watch her awkwardly and lengthily try to answer questions about her career.

Malcolm, however, never fails to impress. He spoke about the year 1975, when Marvin Miller changed labor unions in major league baseball and talent began to be paid at market prices. Before 1975, models, writers, baseball player, etc were paid what agents and team owners decided they should be paid, in a very paternalistic way. Marvin Miller, a steel worker union boss was appalled when team owners tried to change pension funds for baseball players, and altered the way that players were compensated for years to come. Because of him, players could demand market share salaries, allowing them to now make millions of dollars on a contract as they do today.

Malcolm also told us that in the 1950s, even CEOs had very low salaries, pennies in comparison to their contemporaries. He quoted one CEO who said he wished he had a pool, but he'd have to save very carefully for one. Malcolm asked if a CEO in the current era would say something like that. This all changed when tax reforms were made in the 70s and now even bad CEOs make billions of dollars and have several swimming pools.

Every time I see Malcolm, I reminded of why I fell in love with him. He's entertaining, he's liberal, he's educated and he thinks it's crazy that we don't have universal health care.

final phase

2010-09-18T14:01:00.000-07:00

One tiny last thing that I need to do before I can practice medicine on my own...4 years of Ob/Gyn residency. Applications are submitted. 24 programs, mostly in the tri-state area and a few other locations for kicks. Ob is half clinic, half surgery, so I've spent the last two months doing mostly surgery at York and Lancaster. Lots of hysterectomies and c-sections. Turns out that I love the operating room. Need to work on being ambidextrous, but hopefully I'll catch on. Looking forward to seeing friends as I'll be in ny a lot for interviews!

oh yes, and surgeons like to talk about all sorts of things in the OR. Latest:
Dr. X: Charisse, you are single, tell us all about how young kids date nowadays, what's this online dating thing?
Me: Well, you post a profile, exchange emails and meet at a public place for coffee.
Dr. X: Sounds like you've done this.
Me: Yes well it didn't work out.
Dr. X: why not?
Me: Just a bad fit, he was a little too passive for me, I guess I'm looking for someone who is more aggressive.
Dr. X: So you like to be spanked huh?
Me: uh.....

Poor woman having her c-section had to hear about my dating life.

Tickets on sale this friday!

2010-09-06T08:02:00.000-07:00

New Yorker Festival Wishlist, any takers?
10/1: The Social Network or Alec Baldwin
10/2: Atul Gawande (10am), Regina Spektor (10pm , Andrew Bujalski, Greta Gerwig, and Joe Swanberg (10pm).
10/3: Steve Carell (11am)

New Yorker Festival

2010-07-24T09:12:00.000-07:00

Mark your calendars! Oct 1,2,3

Hopefully my child psych rotation won't require weekends and I can actually attend this year and see my boyfriend, Malcolm. Look forward to emails harassing you to attend events with me.

advice

2010-07-19T04:07:00.000-07:00

NPR told me the the other day about another blogger, who asked her readers: As a 30 year old, if you could write a letter to your 20 year old self, what advice would you have for yourself?

Me? Dear Charisse, drink more, go out more, sleep with more guys and have more fun. Also, don't ever think about leaving new york. Love, me.

barthes

2010-07-01T17:52:00.000-07:00

Tomorrow is my last day as a third year medical student. While I have learned a great deal of medicine this year, I've also learned a lot about myself. It has been a lonely year. Almost every month I have moved to a different hospital for a different rotation. I have been to places in Pennsylvania where I hope to never return. Although it has been lonely, there has been plenty of time to interact with other med students. This year, I have, rather disturbingly, realized that I have a "type".

SWF seeks: smart, funny, very cute, bizarre, quirky loner.

And when I say loner, I mean it, prefers to be alone. This inherently makes for a bad relationship of any kind: alone does not equal together. Recently lamenting over my poor choice in "type", I turned to my New Yorker, where I found a story by Jeffery Eugenides that referenced Roland Barthes. I took, A Lover's Discourse, out of the library and find myself wanting to write down every line because it speaks such truth to me. Below you will find a few such passages.

"This morning I must get off an important letter right away--one on which the success of a certain undertaking depends;but instead I write a love letter--which I do not send. I gladly abandon dreary task, rational scruples, reactive undertakings imposed by the world, for the sake of a useless task deriving from a dazzling duty: the lover's Duty."

"I am waiting for an arrival, a return, a promised sign. This can be futile, or immensely pathetic..."

"Waiting in an enchantment: I have received orders not to move. Waiting for a telephone call is thereby woven out of tiny unavowable interdictions to infinity: I forbid myself to leave the room, to go to the toilet, even to telephone to keep the line from being busy; I suffer torments if someone else telephones me for the same reason..."

meet my boyfriend

2010-05-12T04:02:00.000-07:00

Over the past few months, we've become very close. Before I realized it, I was relying on him every night for support. What I like about him is that he's so easy going. He's a planner, we have lots of future plans already. He makes me laugh, cry, think. He even speaks several languages. And he's always available. It's amazing that we found each other, but when you live in Hershey, you turn to desperate measures. What's his name? Netflix! Netflix has stuck by me during some dark times, especially when I hated family medicine in Altoona. For the past two months, netflix has been a saving grace when I am tired from being in surgery and want to just lie on my bed and not think. I watch Netflix so much and talk about "him" so much, he may as well be my boyfriend. I mean, he even manages to turn me on every once and awhile! I am so glad we found each other netflix.

Sorry Malcolm

2010-04-10T06:45:00.000-07:00

Dear Malcolm,

I'm sorry, but I am in love with another man. His name is Jamie, and he's a chef. I think that you and I have had a good run of things, but Jamie and I just have more in common. I know that you can research the hell out of anything and write really intelligently about it, but Jamie is actually fighting obesity in America! You just can't compete with that.
I will always remember the special times that we had together.
Love
Charisse

H&P

2010-03-20T07:57:00.000-07:00

CC: 3rd year medical student with fatigue in surgery rotation

History of Present Illness: Patient checked surgical schedule and discovered that a Whipple surgery was going to be performed on Friday. Because this is an infrequent surgery performed at York, the patient asked to scrub in. Pt knew this was a long surgery, but could not be prepared for the 10 hours that it involved. Pt states that she zoned out for an hour and a half while the surgeon blocked her view. After the pancreatic cancer was removed, the surgeon perked up and showed her the anatomy. He also let her use surgical devices to remove the appendix. The surgery was a success, but the patient was very tired and hungry.
Past Medical History: craziness
Family Medical History: craziness
Allergies: Whipple surgery

Assessment: 29 year old with fatigue
Plan: 1. cigar 2. hot shower 3.remain horizontal for as long as possible 4. Do not volunteer for long complicated surgeries again. 5. practice Ob and perform short surgeries.

regression

2010-03-11T19:52:00.000-08:00

Surgery is actually fun, but it makes me whiny. When you've been on your feet from 6am to 3pm and you missed lunch just so you could watch a surgery, all you can think about is when you can eat and sleep next. I feel like a baby, feed me, burp me, put me to bed!

It's fun though, when you have your hand elbow deep in a stranger's abdomen. Today I am on trauma call, so far, I saw a bunch of patients, went to three traumas and helped dress a gunshot wound. Also, I a proud I've seen some pretty gross stuff, and haven't felt like passing out at all! This may not be the most coherent post ever, but you get the drill. Seven more hours until I get to sleep....

new knitting project

2010-03-05T08:39:00.001-08:00

Get me out!

2010-02-23T15:13:00.000-08:00

Gwenn sent me a book about the history of giving birth in America. It's chock full of ridiculousness. In the early 1900s, some wealthy women traveled to Germany to give birth painlessly. They were put to sleep one night and the next day woke up to their baby crying. Soon, women all over the world wanted painless births. Unfortunately, the drugs used were dangerous and did not actually control pain.

"The women of america are demanding the administration of painlessness.. Ironically, they considered being knocked out with drugs an expression of feminism."

pregnancy

2010-02-17T02:02:00.000-08:00

I am current doing a high-risk pregnancy rotation. This means I'm spending a lot of time in the ultrasound room. You hear some interesting things in there. So far, the funniest:
Scene: mother, father, cute little two year old running around

Sonographer: Looks like you are having a little boy!
Mother: [crying] a boy? are you sure?
Sonographer: are those happy tears?
Mother: no :(
(I'm thinking, oh no, does some horrible rare disease run in boys in this family?)

Mother: I really wanted another girl. [sniff sniff] I don't know what to do with boys.

I understand lady,but you have a healthy kid, deal with it.

haha

2010-02-08T16:22:00.000-08:00

psych-isms

2010-01-13T03:55:00.000-08:00

Since I'm in the psychiatry rotation this month, it'll be a good idea to keep a running log of funny things crazy people say. Now, I know that it sounds a little cold, but I do love this field and if you don't find humor in something, it could really get you down. So here goes...

Day 2:
Father: I'd like to get the kids tested for "sleep acme"
Mentally Disabled Girl: Cause you know, I told her, money doesn't grow on trees.
Nearly catatonic man when asked how his mood was: Upbeat.

Day 5:
Setting: 5 year old bouncing around the room. Kid: oh shoot, oh shoot. Dr: is he keeping it clean because he's in the doctor's office? Mom: yeah, I think so. He used to have a favorite phrase, what was it honey? Kid: Oooohh, snap!

Day 8:
"I'm not homophobic or anything, but he likes to play with barbie dolls and my wife encourages it."

Day 15: Psych Eval for patient who cannot cope with the loss of a finger.

lessons from altoona

2009-12-17T09:04:00.000-08:00

As you may or may not have realized, I have recently returned from deep central Pennsylvania. I was pretty miserable there and I fully believe that a single, liberal atheist, city girl does not belong in Altoona.
Lessons:
1. "Obama is hitler". It seems unlikely that an African American could be called the next Hitler, but he was. He is sticking government where it shouldn't belong: in the financial crisis and in healthcare.
2. Deer hunting is very important. It is discussed at many doctor's visits. You should always ask how many points the deer was. Points=antlers?
3. Central PA is very obese. At lunch, a nurse suggested a good way to cook potatoes-- in heavy cream!
4. Central PA is religious. Overheard in elevator, "I said to her, make a decision, either say Happy Hannukah or Merry Christmas. Happy Holidays isn't taking a stance, just decide already." What about not saying Happy Holidays at all?
5. I am not going to be a family doctor, I do not have enough patience.

Pop quiz!!

2009-12-02T04:15:00.000-08:00

Now that I know a few things about medicine, this is a typical conversation with family, friends, patients or strangers.

Them: I have/my friend told me he has/my doctor told me I have this disease, it's a problem with the , it causes , I forget the name. It starts with a . Do you know what it is?
Me: Um.....

I was never very good at jeopardy.

foot in mouth

2009-11-30T16:12:00.001-08:00

When email first came out, we were more careful about messaging. Now, however, we all send so many emails and texts a day, who has time to double check the addressee? Unfortunately, this has gotten me into trouble as I have sent texts and emails addressed to friend X saying, "Man, friend X really annoyed me today", when I meant to send the message to friend Y. It's a pretty devastating feeling when you see the response from friend X saying, I think you sent this to the wrong person. Luckily, I have pretty understanding friend Xs (I think).

Resolution: Double check all messages.
Alternative Resolution: stop talking shit about friends.

Am I treating a retarded person?

2009-11-11T04:27:00.000-08:00

Generally, I don't like to use the word retarded, but I'm playing off of a 'It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia' episode "Dee's dating a retarded person". Dee is dating a rapper and Dennis and Mac convince her that he's mentally disabled, hilarity ensues. I've had a few patients over the last few weeks who I think might be mentally disabled, but I'm not really sure. It's a tough thing to figure out.

Yesterday I entered the room of a patient and introduced myself. Immediately, the patient says, very emphatically, "No, no no. I need to talk to Dr. Mary, I need to talk to Dr. Mary alone, not you". I take a look at her, she's slightly disheveled, her clothes aren't matching and have some stains on them, and she has some noticeable facial hair. She's using short sentences and seems upset because I'm a stranger. I think to myself, Is she mentally disabled? I use my "talking to a child" voice and explain that Dr. (Mary) Smith asked me to talk to her first and she'll come in later and is that ok? She is calmed by this. I quickly click through her chart as she is talking about her current problem and look for the diagnosis of Mental Retardation, but it's not there.

Differential Diagnosis: head trauma, alcohol abuse, mental disability, a product of inbreeding? I'll just call her "simple". This patient is one of many "simple" patients I've had her in central PA. It always throws me off a little. I think that I prefer the more entertaining patient population of Harrisburg, where the patients are poorly educated, but say things like "I aint been doing no humping lately".

Betrayed by Mac

2009-11-09T04:38:00.000-08:00

My macbook pro broke last week and I had to leave it at the Apple store in Lancaster to be repaired. The challenge: make it ten days without internet or tv in a strange apt in the middle of nowhere! Looks like I'll be doing lots of knitting and reading. I made very cute fingerless gloves this weekend and gonna make another pair for Nicki.

what do i want to be when i grow up?

2009-11-05T15:11:00.000-08:00

Right now, my fellow classmates and I are all feeling a little anxious about what kind of doctor we want to be when we grow up. I am practicing saying "I want to be a gynecologist", but it sounds kind of weird, doesn't it?

A friend found a quick Myers-Briggs type personality test.
Apparently we are both INFJ, a very rare personality type.
I judge, no shock there. According to this, I should be a psychiatrist. I think that I prefer to be a therapist to friends and family, not patients. But we'll see.

Quote of the Day
Patient: Oh, do you have one of those medical conditions in your stomach that makes you look 9 months pregnant all the time?
Nurse: No, I'm just fat.

Brooklyn

2009-11-01T04:32:00.000-08:00

Earlier this month, I was lucky to have two weeks off from my rotations. I chose to camp out at Hotel Loder-Jen in Brooklyn. Yes, I may have caught up on many tv shows, but I also explored brooklyn a little bit. On 6th ave in Park Slope, there are lots of little signs for doctor's offices. I told Melissa that I had imagined myself being a doctor in Park Slope and it seemed pretty cool. She replied that she's heard this from me about other places: Minnesota, Portland, Ecuador, England. I guess I just want to be a doctor and that's the cool part.

Park Slope is a great place to live--there are great bars, shops, restaurants and coffee shops. My biggest gripe with park slope is that there are too many mommies with babies. The hipsters have turned into baby making machines and I don't like it. This is why I'd like to live in Cobble Hill. Same stores and restaurants as Park slope, but fewer babies.

I also took a little tour of Red Hook, at a Key Lime Pie, went to Fairway and walked on the pier. Red Hook is cute, but just a nice place to visit.

Coffee, finally

2009-09-25T08:21:00.001-07:00

My dear friend Erin found a bookstore that just opened in Harrisburg with a cafe. We went to study the other day and I discovered good coffee with a fancy coffee machine. Mmm, organic coffee and nice thick foam in my cappuccino. It almost rivals Gimme! Erin and I tried different brews of coffee:
Me: Hmm, your blend is more earthy and has a complex aftertaste.
Erin: (confused) Well, I think it has a great pre-taste, and post-taste.

survivor 101

2009-09-18T03:39:00.000-07:00

A good friend of mine believes that the world as we know it will soon end, with economic collapse and chaos. Luckily, I have just spent a weekend at a Wilderness Medicine conference and am now prepared to survive the end. An ER doc hosted us at his home for the conference. We all camped out on his 20 acres of property and admired his beautiful log cabin that he and his wife helped to build. (Note: my med school friends did not believe that "city girl Charisse" would be ok with camping, I am very versatile.) I learned how to tie knots, start a fire, treat snake bites, stabilize and carry injured persons, use a compass and what to pack in an emergency medical kit. The most disturbing lecture was about hotel fires and how to get out quickly. The wilderness expert encouraged everyone to bring rope and a harness with them when they stay at hotels, in order to survive a hotel fire. My Muslim friend pointed out that he wouldn't get past airport security with ropes and a harness. I would prefer to pack more pairs of shoes. Overall, it was a really good time and even if the world does not end or I do not find myself in a hotel fire, I feel a little more like a survivor.

dumpling party

2009-08-30T06:35:00.001-07:00

My second dumpling party was a wild success! Why? Because I put people to work! The secret is to assemble a "dream team", in this case: Erin, Jay, Alissa and Waseem. We used this recipe http://userealbutter.com/2007/10/04/chinese-dumplings-and-potstickers-recipe/ which is very easy to follow and has stepwise pics. We used beef instead of pork, but otherwise, followed the recipe exactly. Jay said when he was a kid, his job was to roll out the dough, so I will be having children specifically for dumpling making. (erin is not pictured because she was too busy eating)

f/u

2009-08-25T18:08:00.000-07:00

My hearing has improved and I can expect a full recovery, yay! Unless I have a crazy autoimmune disease that the tested me for in the 13 vials of blood that they drew! I survived it...barely. The tech gave me some apple juice and crackers when she was done. I am a small child.

Yes, I assisted on a c-section and a vaginal delivery today, but I cannot stand needles going into my body. By the way, labor is way more silent in real life than in movies. I've been to two vaginal deliveries and the mothers were essentially silent. Weird.

say what?

2009-08-20T19:36:00.000-07:00

two weeks ago, I woke up and couldn't hear out of my right ear. I thought at first that it was because I was around kids all of the time and they gave me some weird ear infection. A few days later and no improvement with antibiotics, I went to the doctor. He sent me to an audiologist, where I realized that my hearing was pretty severely impaired. She showed me the deficits on a graph and suggested that I go talk to an ear nose and throat doctor. I sighed, disappointed that it wasn't a simple infection, and she told me "We don't know if you are going to get your hearing back, but if you don't get it taken care of now, you may not even have a chance". This was fairly upsetting, and I burst into tears. Who says that?

The ENT said it's likely sudden sensorineural hearing loss, which may be caused by a virus or an autoimmune reaction. She gave me steroids and scheduled me for an MRI to make sure I'm not walking around with a brain tumor. The steroids have made me fairly grumpy and flat, which sucks, but today my hearing is at 90%. My MRI is normal, no acoustic neuromas. In a sick way, I thought it would be cooler to have a brain tumor, but I'm pretty sure that's crazy and we'll blame it on the steroids. I have a hearing test next week and followup appointment. Hopefully by then, I'll be like new.

It's kind of strange how much you rely on your hearing. In the last two weeks, I've been totally disoriented. I have to walk on the right side of people so that I can hear them better when they are talking. I can't tell where noises are coming from. And if too many people are talking at the same time, I get a headache. I really like(d) my hearing, and I'll be really really sad if I lose any part of it permanently.

getting out of PA

2009-08-09T12:55:00.000-07:00

Last week I went to Kansas City for the National Family Medicine Conference. Under the influence of several 4th year medical students, I scoped out many different residency programs and obtained lots of brochures and free stuff! Here's a quick summary, starting with the favorites:

University of Rochester: Is pharm-free, close to my dear friends Mere and Jay, has a lot of Ob exposure and just seems pretty cool.

U of Wisconsin, Madison: they told me that Madison has what I'm looking for in a city (good coffee, a music scene and good food), all of the residents want to "do more", they are super excited!!!!!

Sutter Health (CA): the director told me that they realize that residents are people too and they have programs to make sure that residents stay sane, lots of Ob/Gyn, it's in Northern CA.

Minneapolis: also said residents want to "do more", they have longitudinal projects and they are currently assessing the needs of the community, the residents seemed like people I'd like to hang out with.

Another program in CA seemed really cool, and would normally be at the top of my list. When I got a break, I looked at the brochure and there were bios for each of the residents. The bios were something like this:
Summer Smith: hiked Mt Kilimanjaro in clothing she knitted for herself,in her year between college and medical school, she was a soy milk taste tester. Hobbies include performing poetry, acupuncture and herbal remedies.
David Hippyman: spent a year in the peace corps where he lived on food that he grew on his farm, enjoys a vegan lifestyle, created a software development company that made millions of dollars in the late 90s and did research on the next big HIV drug.

All of the residents had these crazy experiences, I'm too normal for them!

Anyway, I didn't get a chance to talk much to the Oregon and Washington programs, but the mid-west has definitely won me over! Unfortunately, Penn State also won me over with niceness, and that's how I ended up in the middle of nowhere. At least I have a whole year to figure it out.

2009-08-04T17:41:00.000-07:00

losing my religion

2009-08-04T17:24:00.000-07:00

Nothing like living in Central Pa to make me realize that I am in fact an atheist. I guess I always have been, but never came to terms with it. It wasn't until I ended up in a med school class with 150 fellow students who regularly mention god that I was driven to atheism. We had three lectures about spirituality and medicine, faculty regularly speak about god and church, and we have a lot of conservative individuals in my class. This would never happen in New York! You are religious? You believe in god? Keep it to yourself!

With the help of two of my close non-believing friends, I was able to come out of the closet. I'm not very open about it with my religious classmates. I feel dirty. Someone recently told me that maybe I'll find "god" one day. Is that supposed to make me feel better? I don't want to!

ps we learned that patients who are active members of their church live longer because of the strong social support. I recently subscribed to a Humanist podcast, maybe I can live longer by being an active human(ist).

moms are nuts

2009-07-18T07:22:00.000-07:00

Of course, I'm used to the whole crazy mom thing, but crazy moms in the pediatrician's office are nuts. After one afternoon in outpatient peds, I don't think that I can handle it. I almost burst out laughing as this talky mom tells us that she tried everything for her daughter's skin condition: dermatologists, creams, laser treatment, etc. Now she found this wonderful herbal medicine online and it's money-back guarenteed, so she may as well try it, right? Um no lady, it probably has something bad in it and you are never going to get your money back! Then next mom is also very friendly and talkative and starts quizzing me about med school and tells me her son (age 14) is going to be a doctor. Please woman, tell him to go into banking or something.

Things are picking up though and it's getting interesting. Fun fact: you can get meningitis from your pet turtle!

c-section? no thank you.

2009-07-09T13:33:00.001-07:00

Today was my second day of pediatrics. We had a pretty slow morning and went to lunch thinking it was going to be a slow afternoon also. But when we got back the attending grabbed us and said, great timing, there's a c-section that you can come watch. So, Lindsey and I put on our scrubs and waited around until the patient was prepped. Then, we watched the whole thing (no fainting, not even close). Soon, it got pretty complicated and the doctor was yelling and everyone was running around, more people scrubbed in to assist. Someone asked Lindsey to call the nursery to be on alert. It was crazy! I felt like I held my breath for 30 minutes while they tried to yank the baby out. I was on the verge of crying, it was so scary. Overall, everything went fine and the baby was healthy. But now I know that things can rapidly go wrong in a c-section. As soon as we got the baby, we learned how to examine the newborn infant, which was fun. Five fingers, five toes and our job was done.

rejoining the world...briefly

2009-06-25T13:57:00.001-07:00

Well, I just finished spending five weeks studying many hours a day for the USMLE. Step 1 is one of two national tests that I have to take before I graduate to get my m.d. The whole process was grueling and isolating, but now I am back in class and have semi-rejoined society. This week we learned things like blood draws, IV insertion and pelvic exams. And next week we review some things before we are thrown into clerkships. Over the next year, I'll spend a month in each specialty, starting with Pediatrics. I am hoping this is where I'll get some material for this blog, since the last two years of my life have been spent in the library. Just hold on for a little while longer....I promise I'll deliver!

Roller Derby

2009-04-15T13:16:00.000-07:00

At some point, in my desperation to find fun things to do in the Herhsey/Harrisburg area this summer, I came upon the Harrisburg Area Roller Derby team website. I bookmarked the site and checked it every once and awhile to see when their games were being held, and finally experienced roller derby at its finest last month. It was a typical central Pennsylvanian crowd with lots of families, interesting facial hair and stylish clothing. We didn't really figure out the rules of the game until the end of the bout, but it was very entertaining to watch the derby girls wipe out and push each other out of the way to score points. Each girl made her own outfit, which primarily consisted of fishnet stockings, short shorts and a tank top. All in all, it was a pretty good time.

Then, while searching through Netflix, I found the movie "Jam", a documentary about roller derby. I organized a movie night and we learned about the history of roller derby and how a few guys in San Francisco tried to keep it going during the 90s. This form of roller derby was co-ed, there were no cute outfits and it was pretty physical. I would say that it borderlined on WWF-style fights.

Now that we've all educated ourselves about roller derby, we are ready to attend another event in May. I secretly want to play roller derby and mess some people up and be bad-ass. But let's face it, I'm not bad-ass am I? For the next bout, I have insisted that we make posters and act like proper fans and yell obscenities at the opposing team. That's about as bad-ass as I'll get.

2009-03-02T03:38:00.000-08:00

Ahmed took this beautiful picture on New Years day after we all got only a few hours of sleep. My darling tea cozy is struggling to get away from me as I attempt to pin him down for the picture. Miss you Coze!

Ball Pit

2008-11-04T04:30:00.000-08:00

It's been awhile, but do you really want to hear about boring medicine stuff? I was talking to some friends last night about Chucky Cheese when we were kids. We were reminiscing about the characters, the prizes and most importantly, the ball pit! Wouldn't it be amazing if we could have our own ball pit in each of our apartments? Naturally, I'm not the first to come up with this idea, and a quick google search gave me a calculator for how many balls I'd need and instructions on how to build it.

http://turingcompletewasteoftime.blogspot.com/2007/11/im-grown-up-now.html

I suggested to Gwenn that instead of buying gifts for each other this christmas, that we make baskets to send to a charity. She was devastated and refused, stating that she reserves the right to spoil her new stepdaughters. I'll go along with this whole christmas thing gwenn, if you buy 500 ball pit balls for me on ebay. :)

weddings

2008-07-23T08:27:00.000-07:00

Last weekend was Dad and Gwenn's wedding and it was beautiful and perfect. The week preceding the wedding was a whirlwind because I decided to ask Waseem to help me make a cake for the wedding. It wasn't the wedding cake, but a cake for after the ceremony on Friday. I didn't know what I was getting myself into, but I am now well versed in fondant, gum paste, fillings and buttercream frostings. I'm pretty sure if Waseem had had his way, we would've redone the whole thing, but my standards are lower and it turned out really well, in my opinion. Travelling six hours with the cake was the most stressful part of the cake fiasco, but my nigthmares of tripping over something with the cake in my hands did not come true. Dad and Gwenn were really surprised and it was yummy, so gold star for us. Thank you Mary Anne and Waseem!

The day of the wedding, Melissa and I stopped at my grandparent's house to decorate the cake. As I was putting the finishing touches on the cake, Melissa realized that she had left her dress at the apt in Astoria. I laughed at first, but as I drove to the mall to shop for yet another dress with my darling sister, I started to tear up. Melissa and I have gone dress shopping too many times this summer thanks to Omar's 3 day wedding (which was amazing). I thought that we'd never have to dress shop again. As it turned out, we both bought cute dresses, but it wasn't enough to get me out of my bad mood. Lack of sleep and lack of food led to me bitching out the saleswoman in Aldo about how ugly a certain shoe was. It was not my finest moment.

I had a really great time at all of the wedding events this summer, but I am happy to say that the summer wedding season is over for me. No more drives to New York!

quick observations

2008-06-06T09:36:00.001-07:00

Today there was an eyeglass sale at the medical center and I refrained from buying my 5th pair of glasses. No one encouraged me to buy another although I am pretty sure I would've been persuaded to if I were still in New York.

I finally broke down and opened up a bank account in Hershey. When I registered for online banking, the choices for security questions included: Name of my maid of honor, city where I was married and name of best man. I have never noticed these questions before-- is this just me being crazy or is this a result of banking in central PA?

I finally started watching The Office and I am in love....

almost there

2008-05-07T05:22:00.000-07:00

Our last test is on Friday and it seems like we'll never get there. Melissa helped me with my mini-meltdown yesterday which was a result of too much time in my cubicle and too much time obsessing over viruses and cancer. 2.5 days and I am finished with my first year of med school!

I finally watched Once this weekend and loved it. Now the soundtrack is getting me through the next few days.

I got to call Rick for a pharm consult last week. He referenced my future colleagues who are testing new leukemia drugs and that made me happy.

coming up: Hershey Park, Deleware, D.C., research project on blood pressure, Lion Care (free clinic), and much much more...

people watching

2008-04-25T03:01:00.000-07:00

Small town (or high school) life has been getting to me a little over the last few weeks, but a trip to Philly was just enough to keep me going for the rest of the term. We went to the Mutter Museum, which is full of anatomical specimens and medical oddities. The best part of the museum was when a little girl pointed to a fetus in a jar and said, "I can tell that that is a baby boy and not a baby girl." Her younger brother replied, "How?". Mom to the rescue, "Well, if you look at the belly button, you can tell." After the museum, we sat in Rittenhouse Square and watched a babysitter play hide and seek with some kids. Basically, we people-watched, something that you cannot do in Hershey. You New Yorkers take it for granted, you see interesting people and interesting clothes on the subway, in the streets, and at work. There is nothing here!

In other news: I am co-president of the Family Practice Interest Group! First family medicine, then the world. Also, I'm feeling pretty invigorated about medicine, I don't know if it's spring or the fact that we are finally learning about some cool stuff, but it finally feels like I am really going to be a doctor. Just three more years!

I heart Apple

2008-04-11T17:05:00.000-07:00

My NPR podcast informed me that creative centers in the brain are stimulated by the Apple logo. Unfortunately, the IBM logo failed to stimulate any creativity. Go Apple.

NPR also convinced me to watch South Park, something I probably should have figured out ten years ago.

Looks like I'll be serving drinks at Hotel Hershey!

stir crazy

2008-04-07T05:14:00.000-07:00

Last weekend, I couldn't stand to be in the library anymore, so I took the afternoon off to go the the Allen Theatre, the only indie movie theatre in a 300 mile radius. Ok, slight exaggeration. Go see Bella. It's a sweet story about a Mexican soccer star who experiences a life-altering event just after he comes to the States to join a soccer team. It takes place in New York and Long Island and is just a really good movie.

This weekend I went to Philly to go a Family Medicine Conference. I learned how to do an ultrasound, deliver a baby and do a pelvic exam. I can also suture, draw blood and read an EKG. Ok, so there were no humans involved in any of this, except for the ultrasound, but I'm almost a doctor.

Have an interview with the Hotel Hershey this week, I feel like I'm in high school again.

Jill is stealing Malcolm Gladwell away from me and I am not happy about it.

quotes

2008-03-16T11:54:00.000-07:00

i forgot my two favorite quotes from kentucky:

"Doctor, I was having chest pain, but I took off my bra on the way here and I feel all better"
(actually, it wasn't her bra, she was in atrial fibrillation, go figure!)

"Mrs. X's daughter called, she said her mom told her she has to schedule a mammogram for her head."

Americana

2008-03-16T08:49:00.000-07:00

As crazy as it sounds, I was won over by life in Kentucky. I stayed with Dr. Melissa, who lives in a small college town in Kentucky. It's a liberal arts college that started as a arts and crafts college, so there are lots of crafts shops in town. I met Dr. Melissa's entire family, who were really welcoming and sweet. Her parents had recently moved from PA to be closer to their grandson, so they watch him every day and we had dinner with them every night. Dr. Melissa's office was about 45 min away from her home and it was a totally different world. The clinic is in a very underserved area and they offer a sliding fee to patients who qualify. Many of the patients we saw did not have health insurance. We saw two patients who had significant injuries, a sprained ankle and a broken tibia, but could not have operations because they could not pay the orthopedic surgeon's fee. It was really pretty eye opening to see what it's like to practice in such a rural area and also to see how priorities change in such a place. The focus is much more on whether patients can afford their medications, what their home life is like and what additional services they need. Working with Dr. Melissa really affirmed that I want to practice family medicine. There were so many times that we saw multiple members of one family in a day. It just seems much easier to treat a person if you know what problems their family is dealing with and you treat them over their lifetime.

So, no, I am not going to start looking for residency programs in Kentucky. But, yeah, I'm going to keep an open mind about practicing medicine in a place where accents are thick and hairstyles are questionable. Why? Because that is America. Living in the city convinces you that you are you living in the only place that matters, but really, it's on a little piece of America.

spirituality

2008-02-14T03:47:00.000-08:00

Spirituality was the topic of our Medical Humanities Class this week and all that I kept thinking during the class was, boy, am I screwed or what? Tons of statistics were thrown at us, most of them reporting that patients with strong religious beliefs have better survival rates than patients who report that they are not religious. Attending church two or more times a month is pretty protective. And when compared to other social networks like bowling leagues or book clubs lets say, religion wins. So now what? Am I going to die younger because I don't believe in God? Either that or I'm screwed in the afterlife.

In other med school news, we watched Sicko for our Health Policy Lecture Series. This was the first time I've watched it and I have to say, I wish Michael Moore approached this topic a little more academically. Wasn't he supposed to interview Susan about the pharm industry? That would've given him a little more weight than talking to disgruntled ex-employees. And did he really have to go to Cuba to prove that the US health care system is lacking? In the end, what I think we should all get out of this movie is that the Brits are really the funniest people in the world and I should be practicing medicine in London asap.

Three more weeks until I see what medicine is like in rural Kentucky. Then off to Costa Rica to relax!

kids

2008-01-22T08:26:00.000-08:00

Mere, Jay and Michael visited this weekend and helped out a lot with my post-test depression. Mike was really excited about staying in a hotel for the first time in his 7 years and totally psyched about swimming in the indoor pool. Every time that I hang out with them, I wish that I had written down the things these two boys say. Mere, maybe you can remember better, but the best quote from little Michael was, "You know what I've noticed since we got to Pennsylvania? People are a lot nicer here than they are in New York." Yeah, I noticed that two Michael, and it's pretty freaking weird.

two weeks and a half on my couch

2008-01-06T16:47:00.000-08:00

Wow, after a semester of anatomy and biochemistry hell,it was starting to feel like we'd never get a break, but we had two and half weeks of nothing to do and it was wonderful! I went to see movies and I watched tv and I went to see movies and I watched tv. I did manage to get off the couch for one day to meet with dear Claudia in the city and see Rick's amazing new apt. But then, it was more couch time until I went to my dad's where I was cranky the whole time because I missed my couch. I went to see No Country for Old Men, which was amazing and watch all of Arrested Development, which is hilarious, and watched Futurama and every movie I own. I love vacations!

Now, we are back at school and everyone is overwhelmed by class and it's hard, but I'm just happy to have something to do again. So what's on the schedule for this semester? Well, we got our Patient Project assignments, so me and my partner will be spending time with our patient who has a chronic illness. The idea is to get to know our patient and find out what it's like to live with this illness. Then, we have the continuation of our class on physiology and biochemistry, what fun! Also, I'm still hoping to get my preceptorship in Kentucky, looks like I don't have any competition, they are just waiting to hear from the doctor.

Lastly, we started a new class, Medical Humanities. Now, the humanities program is one of my reasons for coming here, but when I did the readings for our first class, I couldn't help but think about how corny it all is! Believe me, I want to be a good doctor and I want to get to know my patients and talk to them about feelings and stuff, but I don't want to write a poem about it (just a blog, I guess). Anyway, I am stuck with fifteen quiet dorky medical students who are supposed to be discussing their interpretations of this poem or our feelings about anatomy and no one would say anything! Let's hope for some better discussions....

oops, it's been a month....

2007-11-27T16:31:00.000-08:00

Wow, I wish that I could say that life post-anatomy has been a wild ride, but no, just a lot of biochemistry.

In the last month, I:

-went pumpkin picking and felt like a real person!
-visited my dear friends Mere and Jay in Rochester and met up with Tim in Ithaca to see Broken Social Scene (loved them!) and Yo La Tengo.
-decided not to go to class and to spend that time in the library instead
-found out that most of my class was in high school on 9/11 when a doctor asked us to raise our hands if we were in college on that date.
-was told that I don't look "that" old by my classmate
-have been able to cook more, turkey croquettes coming soon!
-got to spend time with the family and lay around on the couch
-read Steve Martin's Born Standing Up
-saw friends in the city but actually missed Hershey
-saw Into the Wild and absolutely love it, reading it soon.
-am still dying to have kids especially after listening to the cutest three year old tell his dad all about what train we were on and what his favorite subway line is and why.
-talked to and touched a patient today!

Coming soon:
Charisse's 27th birthday on Dec 7th, Cocktail party in Herhsey!
Winter break=relaxation, knitting, reading, friends....

goodbye anatomy, hello cellular and molecular basis of medical practice?

2007-10-30T05:59:00.000-07:00

only a few short months ago I was a bubbly (ok, not really), idealistic young girl who wanted to save lives and now I've become this freak who is pushing herself harder than she thought she could to get through med school and hopefully not kill anyone. It's hard to keep that idealism going, but volunteering at the free clinic last week really helped. No, I didn't do much, I interviewed the patient and observed a pap smear (so cool!) but just getting to be near a patient was a real pleasure. I'm hoping that now that I've conquered anatomy, I'll at least have more time to get a little clinical experience to keep me going.

This weekend was all about relaxing and I'm still not ready to return to school life. I made chili for a potluck, I went pumpkin and apple picking with friends and I caught up on tv. Hershey is really pretty in the fall and I'm planning on enjoying it more now that anatomy is over.

Give me an I, Give me a U, Give me a D!

2007-10-21T14:53:00.000-07:00

Yes, this weekend I learned how to insert an IUD into a plastic uterus, just like the real thing! I went to a family medicine conference in Pittsburgh that was chock full of encouragement and idealism-- enough to get me through this last week of anatomy. Now my head is swimming with ideas: OB, rural medicine, family medicine in the city, mental health, etc. I went to a session on psychotherapy were I learned about a therapeutic technique that was incredibly familiar. Why was it familiar? Because my therapist used it on me. Damn, I guess it works! I also learned more about contraceptives, which I didn't think was possible, but I did. And now I am once again motivated to be a doctor! I don't know what kind, but I'm guessing that women's health is going to be a part of it. I hoping to volunteer at women's clinic at lion care (free clinic in harrisburg) this week to give me one last boost before the test. Maybe there will be a post on what it's like to actually touch a patient.

Sorry, but I will be catching up on all phone calls after my last anatomy test on Friday, talk to you then!

cranial nerves

2007-10-15T06:30:00.000-07:00

We are studying the head and neck, which is awful, but there is less pressure since many people have already passed the course or just have to get 20 points on the last set of exams to pass. The library is empty and everyone is seeming more social, thank god. I thought I was feeling pretty relaxed (relatively) but last night I had an anxiety dream about the cranial nerves. Let me tell you, the nerves in your head are pretty tricky. But now I know why you sneeze when you see a bright light....optic nerve over-excitement which tiggers the trigeminal nerve. This is why I'm going to get paid the big bucks.

Also of note, one week of our sring break is dedicated to spending time in the office of a primary care physician. We have a long list of doctors who agreed to be shadowed or you can choose your own. I decided to select a rural doctor in Kentucky as my number one choice. It'll be interesting if I end up there, I'll keep you updated.

messing with the head

2007-10-10T08:28:00.000-07:00

Anatomy update-we are dissecting the head and neck for our last block and it's fairly disturbing. Our body was one of the few that still had a brain, so yesterday the graduate TA took a bone saw to her skull and removed the brain. Before doing that, the TA had to scalp her...not fun. There is no way that I'm going to be a surgeon! Also, we are going to be doing the eye soon and eyes totally gross me out, so wish me luck!

My visit to New York this weekend was amazing and I miss the city so much! I say that I never want to practice medicine in the city, but if I am a rural doctor or even a small town doc, I'm going to have to come very very often. Why? First of all, I realized that I've had med school goggles on and there are a ton of attractive men in the city! It's unfortunate that I spent most of my time there either depressed or focused on getting into med school because I dated very little, as you know. Oh well. Second, everyone dresses so well in New York and I miss it. The good thing about being in PA is that I'm not fairly fashionable for the area and I won't be spending all of my loan money on clothes and shoes because no one cares about them. Thirdly, I miss everyone so much and I didn't even get to see you all! I have a few weeks for winter break, so hopefully I can catch up with more people then.

Also, I am going to continue to call it "The City" because that's what New Yorkers do.

hair

2007-10-02T13:54:00.001-07:00

I'm taking a cue from Jill and posting pics of my haircut. There are a few problems with the pictures, mainly that I haven't quite gotten down the whole taking pictures of myself thing and my camera was running out of batteries, as usual.Also, I don't like smiling.

I got this cut at a salon in Hershey for 1/2 the price of my cut in NYC. I love it!

highs and lows

2007-09-25T04:18:00.000-07:00

Med school is a freaking roller coaster and not one of the fun ones that's at Hershey Park.

Highs
-getting a good grade on my lab test, yay!
-going to the post-test bar crawl and being pimped out to my classmate (my good qualities are that I am an excellent cook and I like art, by the way)
-having a potluck and relaxing this weekend

Lows
-calling Melissa between tests and crying that I failed
-suffering post-test depression because med school is hard

My friend Rick and I had a good talk on Sunday nigh. First he said, I told you so, because a few months ago he asked me why I was doing this because it was going to be really hard. Second, he said that doctors have to go through 4+ years of hell to be good doctors. Who wants to go to a doctor who hasn't? And who would go to a doctor who isn't very smart?

Rick is right, of course (damn). And I will try to keep some perspective as I go through this hell and learn 10,000 new terms in 11 weeks.

ps we broke throught the vertebrae and saw the spinal cord yesterday, very cool. Then we saw the spinal cord on a "fresh" cadaver, even cooler and more disturbing.

i quit

2007-09-18T02:20:00.000-07:00

That's the major thought running through my head this week, I quit. Also, what the hell have I gotten myself into?

One of my classmates wrote a really great letter to our professor (who read it aloud in class) about how anatomy has changed him so much over the last few weeks. It basically said that he now sees the world in relation to muscles, artery branching patterns, etc. Yes, I am seeing the world differently also. I am now making corny anatomy jokes, see Melissa for more details. And yesterday in lab I actually said, "Wow, this is a really nice penis" and "There's a beautiful fornix of the vagina at that table".

Our professor said that we are really privileged to be in this world of anatomy. It's true, I probably won't have the privilege of a guy saying, "Charisse, will you explain the parts of the penis to me?" again. (The problem is, we are all so obsessed with learning this stuff that no one thinks that's a funny thing to say.) The best I could do is keep a straight face, point to the penis and explain it to him.

Quote of the day

2007-09-12T02:34:00.000-07:00

"You know, this might sound kind of weird but, the female reproductive system is pretty cool looking."-Greg

That might sound kind of weird if it were some kind of pick up line, but in anatomy class, it just got me psyched to see those fallopian tubes.

The GI tract was pretty gross. Few things to note: your stomach is pretty high up near your last rib and the appendix is half the size of your pinky finger, until it becomes inflamed.

the real world?

2007-09-09T05:35:00.000-07:00

After hanging out with my fellow medical students and the wife of my classmate, I have to say that I really do feel bad for anyone who tries to spend time with us. I mean, we try pretty hard to talk about other things, but spending so much time in Anatomy means that we don't know a lot about other things. My only connection to the real world is the half an hour of Fox News that I watch at the gym and believe me, that's not telling me much. Also, I have very little to write about in this blog because I'm thinking about stupid anatomy every waking hour, sorry to my readers, Melissa and Carrie.

So, I am very much looking forward to rejoining the real world for a weekend in October in NYC. First of all, I've been telling the west coasters all about New York, so I'm a little hyped from that. But also, I'm planning my usual shenanigans: the New Yorker Festival, Punk Rock shows (yes, I am a poser), and eating good Japanese food. The New Yorker Festival may be my last chance to convince Malcolm Gladwell that we belong together. I am a little upset that he didn't call me while working on his talk about bringing down the Ivy League, but I'll forgive him.

Be prepared, I won't have much to talk about on my visit, but I will bring my stethoscope and listen to your heart and make something up about it. Back to anatomy...

balls

2007-09-04T19:19:00.001-07:00

so far, so good, I passed the lab test, we'll see how I did on the written.

We are now dissecting the abdomen, and today we dissected the groin region and below. We have a female and we didn't have that much to do for her, so I walked around to other lab groups. I looked over and saw my friend Erin, concentrating on her dissection. She had something small and round in her hand and she was looking at it seriously with her scalpel poised. "Erin, what have you got there?"

Erin looked up at me and smiled, "Balls".

Yes, she was dissecting a testis. Today was just one of those days, you know, where you stare at an 80-year old's genitalia all day.

I'll spare you the details on the intestine and the rectum.

crying

2007-08-24T14:43:00.000-07:00

so last night in anatomy lab, during a gossip session, I found out that many people cried the first few days of class. My study partner had to leave class to cry, she knew a guy who cried, and others did the same. As our first exam approaches (and pms sets in (that was for you melissa)), I too am feeling teary. We have a practice practical tomorrow morning, where we'll be identifying 50 structures on cadavers throughout the lab. I am anticipating a short freak-out session following this practice test. After that, I'll continue plugging along and ignoring my classmates' increasing anxiety.

In high school, I wrote a research paper on PMS, after hearing so many people complain about it. In my research, I found a paper that said that women tend to do slightly worse on exams when they are premenstrual. I will be citing this paper if I am unfortunate enough to fail my first anatomy exam.

Now for a few margaritas before an intense weekend in the library.

the thorax

2007-08-23T09:18:00.000-07:00

Me: I sawed through the sternum today!
Melissa: EWWW!!!
Me: But I made the guys cut of the breasts, I couldn't do it, it's too personal.
Melissa: Wait, that's more personal than sawing through someone's bone?
Me: Um, yeah, I guess? I prefer the guys to do the major cutting, but I figured it was only fair for me to saw.
Melissa: Did you see the heart?
Me: No, but we felt the lungs, they feel "like a nerf football" according to my lab partner.
Melissa: EWWW!

comment

2007-08-18T07:37:00.000-07:00

This morning, as I took out some anatomy atlases from the library reserve, the librarian commented that I was the most upbeat first year he's seen so far today. First of all, it was 9am. Second of all, it's a beautiful day!

But really, I think its all about perspective. I mean, my post-college years were pretty shitty--I lost some people who were pretty important to me, I was depressed and I experienced very little personal growth. Now, I'm in med school, finally doing what I want to do. Yeah, it's hard, but I signed up for this didn't I?

Back to studying and not freaking out over anatomy....

I miss NY?

2007-08-17T19:19:00.000-07:00

My feelings about New York change by the minute, but I generally think that there is no way in hell that I could do this whole med school thing in the city. There's something nice about being in the bubble in Hershey where I can walk to the library and gym and be totally isolated from the real world.

It felt really bizarre, though, to get in my car and drive to a movie theatre to see a move alone. I mean, I really liked my whole routine- taking the 1 to 116th and walking down Broadway to Lincoln Plaza to see a movie. Now I have to drive? What the hell? Also, no one is at the theatre alone and no one is reading the New York Times before the show starts...it's just different. I love going to the moves alone, it just feels wrong to do it in the suburbs.

Otherwise, I have been pleasantly surprised by Herhsey. Sure, I have to go to two different supermarkets to get the ingredients for Pad Thai, but at least I can get them. There's no JasMart, but I do plan on checking out the chinese supermarkets this weekend. In the meantime, I appreciate Melissa buying me my favorite rice and any asian food-filled care packages that you care to send!

I give it about a month before I'm really desperate to come back, so be prepared for that post.

Charisse meets her cadaver

2007-08-13T19:19:00.000-07:00

So I have a little history of fainting: when learning about angioplasties in sixth grade, when taking my pulse, after getting a flu shot. But why should that prevent me from becoming a doctor? So far so good... I met and dissected my cadaver today and didn't come close to blacking out! I did feel sick at one point, but I think it's normal considering that I was skinning a human being.

My cadaver is a female in her 80's. That means that I won't get a cool penis pump like I was hoping for, damn.

Other than finding a few veins and getting a lecture about a million new structures that I'll have to memorize this week, not much is new.

Still hoping to meet a cute med student to date.....wish me luck!

Melissa's Memories

2007-07-29T19:40:00.000-07:00

I've known about Melissa's illness for awhile now, but it wasn't until today that I really understood its severity. Today, Melissa and I spent the afternoon cleaning out the attic. I watched her as she went through her things and noticed the symptoms right away--hearing loss, agitation, and perspiration. I thought that the spell would pass, but when I tried to help her, her symptoms worsened. As I wrestled the 20-year old dance costumes and dozens of stuffed animals away from my sister, I discovered the monster inside of her, the "I-don't-want-to-throw-anything-from-my-childhood-away" fever. Treatment usually includes talking calmly and aiding her with the cleaning process. The side effects are ugly, usually including: heightened heart rate, elevated blood pressure, whining, begging, and sometimes crying. Luckily, the only crying experienced was by me, as I laughed uncontrollably at my sister's progress in the attic after 3 hours of "cleaning". I have hope that a few more treatments will make it possible to condense Melissa's childhood effects into a few boxes, but the setback today (stealing her things back after I threw them in the garbage) will put us back a few months.

Thanks for the memories Melissa.

Last Days of Freedom

2007-07-26T21:09:00.000-07:00

And so my last week of vacation is here and it promises to be full of preparations for moving to Hershey, PA and starting medical school. I have to say, I'm still in denial about the whole thing, but I am buying a new Mac and Grays' Anatomy and new furniture and a new car, so it looks like its really happening. Let me say that I am actually glad to be in Westhampton right now, where I can safely learn how to drive a stick, load up my car at Target and spend the next day relaxing at the beach. I hope that I'll have time to post on this blog fairly regularly, although my anatomy professors sent out a pretty scary email warning us of the intensity of the first 11 weeks. Wish me luck!