April Unraveled

2003-06-13T22:32:00.000-04:00

After being disowned from Michael's page, I realized that I really haven't written for a long time, but for good reason. Medical school is about the least exciting subject most people can imagine to read about. Now that I hopefully have passed Step 1 of my United States Medical Licensing Exam, and will be officially entering the hospitals, I'm hoping my life is taking a turn for the better. It has taken more discipline and determination that I could ever have imagined to make it this far, and there are many trials still ahead. But for now, I've been enjoying the short vacation I have between boards and wards, catching up with old friends, and sharing in the joys of wedding preparations with my former roommie, Anna. Oh, and of course, I'm loving my new car :) So, with what optimism I have left, I look forward to the next year and eagerly greet the unknown.

2002-08-28T22:01:00.000-04:00

I was really nervous this morning on my way to the medical examiner's, but when I got home it sunk in. I realized that I've chosen the perfect course for my life--I made it through the dreaded autopsy with no problem, yet when I got home, the thought of mopping the kitchen floor seemed too gross and dirty. I don't want to do forensics for a living, but I've made it past yet another hurdle of medical school and it wasn't nearly as bad as I thought it would be. In fact, it wasn't nearly as bad as gross anatomy lab was last year because I didn't have to do the work myself, and it only took an hour! The rest of my pathology course will be great now.

2002-08-19T19:23:00.000-04:00

I survived the first day back at school. That's saying a lot...

I began my day with an 8am pathology lecture, and although I paid $17 for class notes, none of the power point presentations are in the packet. I spent all morning frantically scribbling down details on necrosis and apoptosis, and then lunch finally came. I decided to make my fourth trip to the bookstore to buy even more recommended texts, and then stopped by the student affairs office to sign up to tutor histology. While I was in the vicinity of the finaid office, I thought I'd stick my head in and see if my check had been mailed. Not only had it not been sent out, it still hasn't been guaranteed by KHEAA, even though I turned all my paperwork in June 24. So the $33,000+ I signed my life to doesn't yet exist. I guess I'll be filling out a request form for an advance. Then it was back to microbiology, which at least I had real notes for, but it's impossible to make immunology exciting and the professor didn't really try. After that came the speech about how great the new block schedule is going to be, and how we're going to have to grow up and deal with it. That was an interesting mix. Next we received our keys and padlock, and I found the key to my desk doesn't work, but at least I have a lock for my locker so I won't have to carry all my books all day tomorrow. The highlight of the day had to be my medical Spanish class, which I auditing as an elective. Everyone was like a zombie in there--I guess they were all having the same kind of day I was--but I really think it's going to be a fun class. No book to buy is a definite plus. I'm getting a little nervous about this year, but I'm sure I'll make it through somehow.

Back to the books...

2002-08-18T22:04:00.000-04:00

So it's back-to-school time once again, and as always, I have the night-before jitters. I opted to go without coffee as I tried to prepare for class by reading my brand new pathology book--now I know what to do if I can't get to sleep in a couple hours. I'm looking forward to the adventures this year is bringing: the experience of seeing patients in a clinic (and actually being the one to do the H&P), getting to hang out with old friends who have moved or are moving here, taking on new responsibilities as an officer in med school clubs, and hopefully continuing to reside in the top 10% of the class without losing my sanity. It's hard to imagine a more satisfying feeling than finishing the Gross Anatomy final or honoring Physiology, but as soon as I pass the licensing exam next June (and I will pass), I know I'll really feel like I've accomplished something. At least until I get to the Step 2 Boards....

2002-07-13T12:53:00.000-04:00

I had an absolutely wonderful birthday, thanks to Nick, Natalie & Charlie, Anna, and Sunshine. We had a relaxing evening at Bahama Breeze, and it was a nice break from the crazy dorm. Now I'm home and I'm so glad my job is over. I only have four weeks to do all the things I said I was going to do this summer, so I better get started. But I'm not ready to study just yet...

2002-06-15T15:46:00.000-04:00

So far my job has gone pretty well. Hopefully the new "quiet hours" will allow the other RA Anton and me to get some sleep at night. Other than the noise and a few little problems here and there, it's pretty much what I expected. Unitas Tower certainly is no palace, but I get to come home to my apartment to make dinner, do laundry, and then in the dorm, I have a few channels that come in clearly, so I watch TLC. My class went really well, and students are still coming to me with suggestions on raising their scores. Now my job mainly consists of driving a 15-passenger van to the Health Sciences Campus a couple times a day and telling my supervisor Kia about any issues the students are having. I'm not getting paid till the 30th, so I'm trying to stick tightly to my budget, which is even smaller now because Nick isn't getting paid till the end of the month either. I never realized how much a few dinners and pizzas helped me save money.

Another great thing about my job is that since I'm on Belknap campus, I can easily go to the gym or back to histology lab to start reviewing. Dr. Fell is actually giving me a key and my own slide boxes to use whenever I want so I'll be ready for pathology this fall. In my free time I'll also be shadowing Dr. Buchino, the pediatric pathologist Nick is working with this month. I spent a couple hours with him yesterday, and got quizzed more about the history of Texas and major wars than medicine; I'm not sure how that's going to go, but I have to have so many hours of preceptorship, so I might as well get them done while I can spend them with Nick, too.

2002-05-07T12:58:00.000-04:00

I started this semester off sick with a sore throat and it seems that I'm going to finish it the same way. I don't know if I can attribute it to finals stress or not, since I wore myself out at the mall with Natalie last week. I think we spent five hours around St. Matthews and Oxmoor (but I only spent $3 that day). My worst stress is over, though. I relaxed with a pan of brownies and "Raymond" last night after a grueling four-hour physio final. One hundred questions should not take that long to answer. I spend half that long on my gross final, and probably made a better grade on it. Luckily, the nominations for the Calhoun award were in before the final, so I was on the list of the top 26 students in physiology (as was Nick and my friend Chris Chacko). The class selects five of those students to interview in the fall, so I'll see if I get that far. Our class is a little cliquish, and I am not in the majority. But I certainly could use the scholarship!

It's about time to study for the biochem final. You know my motivation for that is pretty low. But what else is there to do on a rainy day besides curl up with a book? This time it's just going to be the Board Review Series Biochemistry instead of the next "Left Behind" novel.

2002-04-30T10:43:00.000-04:00

I am so excited about this summer now (as if getting a break from studying wasn't enough). I just went to apply for a job as an RA in an MCAT/DAT program at UofL this summer, and even though I didn't know if I was going to get an interview, I went ahead and wore a springy green suit. I tried to make some small talk while I filled out my application, and just when I was afraid she was going to look at my application later, I decided to just start mentioning my experience with Housing and Residence Life. Then she asked me if I had a few minutes so I happily said yes. Next thing I know she offerred me the job on the spot and a job teaching the verbal reasoning section too! I am going to give a big thanks to my friend Hope who told me about the position and who recommended me for it. Finally a summer without working in the mall! Could I have a job any better suited for me than a bunch of students who want to talk about the MCAT and medical school?

2002-04-17T11:29:00.000-04:00

Just some more random thoughts.

My tests are over, at least for one week. I managed to come out of these exams without sleep deprivation and too much caffeine bogging me down, and ventured out to the mall with Natalie to buy some sunglasses. I can never seem to keep a pair of sunglasses. Anyway, yesterday was also nice because the weather was beautiful and we didn't have class until 3pm. I wish they would do that everyday. (I mean, I actually made it to biochem.) Then Nick and I had a nice dinner at Friday's, watched forensics shows for a few hours, and then I had to cram in the pharmacology of hydrochlorothiazide to present to my PBL group. So I was up late, and of course missed half of biochem this morning, but it was worth it. I don't think I could have endured an entire hour on iron anyway. Right now my main concerns are my OSCE (so anyone who wants a free physical, just call), and finals coming up after Derby weekend. Med school likes to ruin as many holidays as possible.

I'm also anxious about the lottery for 2nd year clinics, since I'm 67 and there are 80 spots. I really want a clinic that doesn't involve bloodwork, since I haven't actually been taught how to draw blood yet. But it's that or ten electives on the eye to choose from. Why couldn't they offer clinical path or forensic path like the catalog said? I've been looking forward to 2nd year electives since before I started med school, and now I'm going to be doing yet even more pelvic exams. (Ironic that I'm running for an office in the Ob/Gyn club, isn't it? More on that later.)

2002-04-04T18:24:00.000-05:00

I must say that despite a terrible biochem test last Monday (which might not have been so bad if I had studied a bit more) this week has been a little better. On Nick's birthday the weather was excellent, and even though it's been colder the past couple days, I've kept busy enough to not notice. I shadowed Dr. Wheeler again yesterday, this time with my own lab coat with my own name on it, and I had a much better time. But after assisting with pelvic exams, you have nowhere to go but up. Anyway, it was a walk-ins-only day so there weren't as many patients, and that gave us more time to spend with each patient, to look up past medical records while they waited, and to really do some good. Family medicine still isn't too exciting, but at least all the patients were really nice to let me listen to their hearts and lungs for extended periods of time.

I still hate biochem class, but I did make it there this morning, and we had an interesting clinical correlation on phenylketonuria. In physiology we're covering endocrinology, and I absolutely love that. It takes me back to the good ol' days in Dr. Fell's class again. *sigh* I loved undergrad.... But life is good now, and this weekend will be great. Not only are Michael and Sarah having a reception to celebrate their marriage, but Nick and I also get to celebrate our three-year anniversary on April 6. Coincidence, or omen?

2002-03-25T22:15:00.000-05:00

I still don't have my lab coat, I still don't like biochem, and I still hate 8 o'clock class, but I do expect to get through the next couple months somehow. After a shadowing experience that I might have enjoyed without my headache and stomach pains (and without some of the "assisting" I did that I won't elaborate on for those who are shy), I really didn't even feel like going to school the next day. I was impressed with the way the patients in the clinic regarded Dr. Wheeler, and I hoped I would have patients respect me that much some day, but I got pretty bored of lab results on lipid and glucose levels after a couple hours. As much as I liked Dr. Wheeler, I wondered how he could stand to do what he does day in and day out. However, I, like Nick, am somewhat compelled to go into family medicine, not for my own interest, but for the sake of my family. The last time I saw my great-grandmother I told her she had to be strong so I could be her doctor in a few years. Unfortunately, God had other plans for the both of us. I grieve that I will never get to take care of her the way I wanted to so much, but I am thankful that, as my mom said, now she can see and walk again in heaven. It is in her memory and with God's strength that I will keep going, and even though I don't always understand God's thoughts or timing, I pray that I can still have even a fraction of the faith that my dear great-grandmother had.

2002-03-20T09:45:00.000-05:00

This really hasn't been my week. I've missed most of biochem this morning, so I figured I'd go ahead and blog until 10 when physiology starts. Let me tell you, if you ever hear anyone complain about their doctor's bill, refer them to me. I want them to get up at 6am to fight traffic and walk several blocks in the cold rain to sit in on 2 hours of the torture UofL calls "Medical Biochemistry". With or without coffee, fatty acid metabolism and the many steps of oxidation, reduction, hydration, etc, is unbearable at 8am. Of course, hitting my snooze button is not my only excuse for being here so late. I have also to blame the incompetence of the general population. Over two weeks ago I sent my white coat to have my name embroidered on it (so I could wear it this afternoon shadowing Dr. Wheeler). My name, middle initial included, is all of 11 letters long. Yet it still isn't finished. I could carve a coat out of marble with my name on it by now. But "the embroidery lady" has moved and is running a little behind. If they had called her at the counter I was waiting at, I think I would have grabbed the phone from the bookstore employee (wearing sweatpants to work, mind you) and told her she'd have my coat there by noon. However, my plan B is now to be "Natalie Miller" for a day. I'm sure Dr. Wheeler will have a good laugh. Maybe I can artfully place my nametag and pins over her name....(I hope she's not reading this). If shadowing this afternoon doesn't help me regain my focus, I don't know how I'm going to get through the next two months. Ugh, time for acid/base balance....

2002-01-28T11:49:00.000-05:00

Finally with three exams and a quiz down, with only two projects, a quiz, and an exam to go--I have found time to blog. I know you're shocked.

I've had a great past couple weeks. You don't know how good it feels to be healthy until you get over a 3+ week cold/cough/awful icky feeling (yes, that's the medical term). Especially on a day like this when it's sunny and getting up to 60 degrees, you just have to love life. A lot of students are outside in the courtyard playing volleyball or "hooping it up", but I have to take this time to blog.

Well, I haven't blogged since before Christmas, but since I was around most of the people who read this page anyway, no news there.

I had a wonderful weekend with my friend Natalie. After studying for our neuro lab, biochem exam, and physio quiz together all week at old Eckstrom Library at the Belknap Campus, we decided we needed a break Friday night. We made dinner, gave ourselves manicures, and watched a movie. Then on Saturday we spent the bulk of the day at Oxmoor Center where we had a ball at the bridal fair. For those of you who are wondering why we went to a bridal fair when neither of us are engaged, I can just say it won't be long :) After the expo we had some wonton soup and stirfry back at my apartment, and somehow didn't get back to studying because Natalie insisted I keep looking at rings online. I think she's almost as excited as I am. She's already picking out her bridesmaid's dress! But that's okay with me, as long as she continues this enthusiasm when I'm actually planning my wedding instead of just looking at magazines for fun.

Let's see, well that leaves yesterday, when I had to torture myself again and study. There's something about honoring three of my four classes last semester that tends to demotivate me now. I'm really proud for the hard work I put and the reward of getting honors in Microanatomy, Embryology, and Clinical Practice Sciences, but the thing is that I worked my absolute hardest in Gross Anatomy and missed honoring by about 1%. Yes, it's great and I'm proud of the fact, but it seems that I did better in classes that I didn't worry about as much. That's not to say that I'm going to stop working hard and not care if I'm learning what I need to know, but this time I really am going to try to enjoy life a little more and stress a little less. I've proven to myself and to U of L that I'm a hard-working, dedicated, intelligent student. Now I need to prove that I'm even more. I want to be a good friend, daughter, sister, and girlfriend, and take the time to tell all of you I love you a little more often. I realized after my parents visited and the whole family got to go out together how little I've been letting myself enjoy times like those. I want to be the best doctor I possibly can, but I think that means I have to study and I have to be satisfied with my life outside my career. So hopefully I'll be a little more sociable and enjoyable to be around--at least until midterms ;)

Ah, I guess that's it for now. Only two hours of physio lecture, and then Nick and I have a date :)

2001-12-14T17:38:00.000-05:00

I'm quite amused by Michael's and Sarah's recent blogs about being boring. As far as boring goes, I think I have them beat, because I don't even find time to blog. Well, as for Michael, if any of his friends are surprised that he doesn't want to see "Harry Potter", then they don't know him very well. As for the video games....well, I guess I'm still a kid. As for Sarah, I certainly don't find her boring because she is one of the few people I know (other than med school students and my mom) that will listen to me when I ramble about what I'm learning. Not that I'm in to law and politics in the least, but there certainly is nothing wrong with having a passion in life that consumes most of your interest and time. For me, it's called studying. :) Outside of that, what do I have? Not much. Even most of my time with Nick is studying, sadly enough. Except for this weekend--tonight is pizza with friends, and a movie. "Gross Anatomy" of course.

In other news, I'm DONE WITH FINALS!!!!!!!!! Unfortunately, our professors of anatomy are quick with grading and have given us our final grades (but not percentages). So I happily honored Embryology, but only passed Gross Anatomy, and I'll be anxiously waiting until January to find out how close I really was to getting the H. My estimate is a couple percent away...although I may be in the 90% range as my final average. It's agonizing after the close to 40 hours I spent studying over the weekend. But in my heart, I know that I know the human body at least as well as the back of my hand, complete with extensor digitorum tendons and the anatomical snuffbox with the radial artery and overlying the scaphoid bone. I'm going to miss Gross, but unfortunately I won't get to miss the smell because it's back to lab for the brains in January. That is, after the 30-hour self-instructional book on brain anatomy we have to complete over Christmas. Happy Holidays to you too, neuroscience department.

But I don't have a care in the world right now because I have my tree lit up, presents to wrap, chocolate chip cookies baked, and I survived my first semester!

2001-11-02T20:52:00.000-05:00

Not much goes on in my life that truly is blogworthy, but the past couple weeks have been somewhat eventful--but just too busy. Last week (although it seems like a month ago now) we finished our Microscopic Anatomy class with an early morning final. Since I had finally gotten my cat Lizzie, and since she cried all night and I got no sleep (well, a couple hours--I'll be fair) I was a little concerned about how I would perform on the exam. Despite my lack of rest and confusion over a couple lectures, I pulled through and was excited to find out that I received honors. As hard as I work in all my classes, getting honors in histology is especially important to me should I decide to pursue Pathology. And I certainly know surgery isn't an option, as I said in my last blog.

Another encouragement to me this week was our CPS skills lab review yesterday. For those who don't know, besides the basic science classes we have the first two years, we also have a "clinical practice sciences" class in which we learn how to perform a physical exam and incorporate what we know to make diagnoses. Each Tuesday and Thursday we have skills labs and we practice on each other in small groups (males and females separately). After we cover a few topics, we have review sessions which incorporate the university's standardized patient program. The SPs are basically paid patients who are trained to know how the physical exam is to be performed better than we know it, and they teach us while we are performing various exams on them. It is a very unique opportunity to have a patient who can point out the location for every type of pulse or lymph nodes or whatever it is you're examining. It was a very positive experience for me because my group had a very friendly SP and I felt much more comfortable that I imagined I would giving a patient an exam for the first time. And it's much easier to learn when you have patients who love being patients!

2001-10-13T17:36:00.000-04:00

Well, I slept in till 2pm today, after a long week of exams and the Cadaver Ball last night. The Gross written wasn't too bad except for the bad copy of the MRI which would have been easy to decipher if it weren't so blurry and I could tell where the arrows for the questions were pointing. The practical was a different story--my consolation here is that when I'm a pathologist (or whatever else besides a surgeon) being able to identify a small artery that's about 1 cm long won't be part of my job. Actually, the arteries, nerves, and lymph nodes aren't that bad--if you can tell what organ you're looking at. Some bodies are quite odd. Anyway, it's over and I feel 100% better because I can relax until next weekend when I have to study for our LAST histo exam.

The Cadaver Ball was fun, except that I'm not a big partier. Neither Nick or I used our green bracelets given to us after our IDs were checked, so I didn't enjoy the bad DJ's selections like the majority of the med students there, dancing with drinks in hand. It's a little scary when you realize all those people (well, maybe not all) are going to be doctors. I'm glad they offered free cab rides home. It was a nice evening nevertheless because I didn't have to think about studying and I got to dress up for once. I don't feel too good most days when I spend hours in scrubs and stinking of embalming fluid fumes, so it was a pleasant change of pace.

2001-10-08T22:21:00.000-04:00

Medical school midterms. Enough said....

2001-09-27T07:49:00.000-04:00

Here I am at school again, 25 minutes before class, and not willing to study anything this early in the morning. I'm going to have to have a talk with the curriculum people--one day we have class at 1 (aka, sleep in) and another at 8am (aka, not awake yet). Nevertheless, it is nice to be here in the wee hours of the morning when it's still quiet because no one is here yet, and at least I'm not frantically running to make it to class on time. This week has been pretty good, even though Gross is a little confusing right now. I've adjusted to what I thought was going to be a huge change, but what now is still close to my style in college. I think for the first round of exams, I might have stressed a little too much (not saying that b/c I obtained any perfect scores, of course, although I wish I had). I went in to those exams knowing so much (which is not a bad thing) that I think I was overconfident by the time I took my gross practical, and I made some rather silly mistakes b/c I didn't take enough time to orient myself. For the next exams (in a little over a week) I'm going to revert back to my old style--cramming. Yes, I've been keeping up like a good little med student should, but since I don't intend to get burnt out before the really tough part begins, I'm going to have to settle for less than perfect. And definitely relax and enjoy my coffee a little more.

2001-09-23T21:55:00.000-04:00

Not much has happened in my little world in the past week. I have a quiz in microanatomy tomorrow morning, for which I have tried to study, but just can't seem to focus. Just when I was hitting "the zone" as I call it, the web site went down, so now I can't look at slides and I'm certainly not venturing out to use my microscope on campus tonight. Hopefully this weekend will have served the purpose of letting me catch up on sleep somewhat and I can focus a little more this week. I've kept up fairly well in class, but I've devoted a lot of time to histo so I need to spend a little more quality time in gross lab now. Gosh, we only have two basic science classes and CPS right now--I can't imagine how I'll balance my time in mid-October when we pick up embryo and neuro! But as tired as I am, the thrill still hasn't worn off of walking to 500 Preston St and seeing the School of Medicine sign. And now that I have my stethoscope and we get our new white coats on Tuesday (long story) I can be an even bigger dork. And maybe that will give me the inspiration to get through the next round of tests in two weeks. If that doesn't do it, maybe knowing that I don't have to handle intestines everyday anymore will....

2001-09-10T16:02:00.000-04:00

YES, contrary to popular belief I AM still breathing (thanks to lots of nerves and vessels I can name now) and I'm doing great right now. I'm done with my first round of tests officially as of about ten minutes ago, and I survived the day I've dreaded for years. "Black Monday" is a UofL tradition, when they cram all of your first exams as a first year in medical into one fun-filled day. Luckily, our class deviated a bit and took one exam Friday (which I already found out my score on, and I didn't drop out), but we still had a combined histo and gross practical and gross written exams. I think studying for them all was much worse than actually taking them, and I feel pretty good right now. I don't know for sure that I'll honor these two courses yet (meaning I score in the top 10% of my class of around 140 students) but I may have a shot. Hopefully when I get the rest of my scores back I'll still feel this good! I certainly know one thing--I've earned my title as a medical student and future MD already! It's hard work, but I'm still smiling. And I can catch up on sleep later...like after my residency.

2001-08-22T17:10:00.000-04:00

My mom is on her way to visit me here, and I would take a shower since I just got out of gross lab, but I'd rather be blogging.

This week has been pretty awesome. Medical school is a humbing experience because you are surrounded by intelligent students and you are bombarded with knowledge. You never know how much you can learn until you're put under pressure like this. Dr. Bhatnagar told my gross group today that many medical schools (in other countries mostly) spread classes such as gross and embryo over 18 months, while we cram gross into one semester, and embryo into 8 weeks. "Well, you must be covering less" you may say. No--we cover the same material exactly. We just have to learn it faster. But I'm not complaining about it. Not many people ever have the honor to hold a human heart or lung in their bare (well, gloved) hands. I can have full apprecation of the amazing creation of God that few ever do. After years of studying biology, I finally get to see in person all I've learned about. It's going to be a tough, testing year, but I'm already in awe of the privilege I have to be a medical student, and in under 4 years, an MD.

2001-08-19T23:31:00.000-04:00

Gee, is it Sunday night already? What a long week! I told everyone back home that I wanted a challenge, and I certainly got it. But I most definitely would rather spend 60-70 hours a week over books than 40 in a job I hate. Of course, it isn't easy to spend that many hours studying (including class time, of course), especially just for the first week! My typical schedule is as follows: Class 9-5 with a "lunch break" at noon, during which I read ahead for class, go home and eat dinner, crack the books open again at 7 or 8, and collapse about midnight. If class isn't till 10, I get there at 9 anyway, and likewise for tomorrow when we don't have Gross till 1. I was exceptionally lazy yesterday and did nothing but laundry, dishes, and cook dinner w/ Natalie and then we watched a movie. Last night's dinner of stir-fry, wan ton (sp?) soup, and fortune cookies for dessert sure beat tonight's on/off snacking of popcorn, Snicker's, and an oatmeal cream pie. But at least I covered the mediastinum....and spent more quality time with my hefty cadaver. Finally the brachial plexus is more reality than theory. I'm learning more now that I ever thought possible (or at least I'm being exposed and will eventually learn it), and although it can be tiring, it's also so amazing. I don't particularly enjoy dissecting and feeling around for nerves and arteries in a corpse, hearing the mushy sound of fascia and embalming fluid, and carrying the smell around with me afterward, but despite it all, I can't imagine doing anything else. Sick, isn't it? You just don't understand the satisfaction of finding your scapular circumflex artery off the subscapular artery off of the axillary artery (which is the same as the subclavian artery after the inferior border of the first rib) and which branches with the thoracodorsal artery.... I think....

2001-08-13T18:27:00.000-04:00

Today was my first real medical school experience. No matter how many lectures I've sat in, students I've talked to, or days of orientation I endured, nothing could truly prepare me for today apart from some prayers and Pepto-Bismol. Today, I met my cadaver. Being a biology major, I've done a little dissecting, but nothing like this. I won't go into the gory details in case Mom is reading though....but I'll leave it at this: it will take a little getting used to. Lecture wasn't too bad before our lab, but walking in a room of over 140 students, all clad in scrubs and latex gloves, and opening those metal cases to see your body for the first time--that's a memory I'll have forever. Luckily, we have several professors to rotate around and help us figure out exactly what we're doing, but it's amazing how much work you don't get done in your 2 alotted hours. Of course, I got lucky and one of my group members has had Gross Anatomy before, and it shows in his willingness to cut and pull and clean out....OK, I'll leave it there. Even though the smell stays with you (and it takes getting used to) I'm proud to say that I made it through. It wasn't easy, but I'm glad. As our professor said, this is our first patient, and the patient that we'll know the best. It certainly wouldn't serve my patient well to take this task lightly. I have to separate myself from the fact that it is a human being still to get through this semester, but in no way will I ever be completely desensitized. It will get harder from here, but since one person has entrusted his life to me in order to make me a doctor, I am all that more determined to get through this for those who trust me when I have an MD.

2001-07-31T00:02:00.000-04:00

I seem to have lost a rather long blog, but I'll do my best to recreate it:

I've spent the last several days going through boxes and packing new ones, remembering my Strawberry Shortcake dolls and my eight Cabbage Patch Kids (a little excessive I admit, but I loved every one of them at the time). It amazes me how much one can accumulate in 22 years, but I am relieved that my parents will have professional movers taking care of the rest of the work. Moving is never an easy thing for me, not because I mind the packing, but because I'm so sentimental. I have spent five consecutive summers moving to and from Louisville, and only becomes more and more difficult. I look around at the skeleton of the dorm or apartment which housed my college memories for nine months, and I begin to feel like I'm packing up little pieces of that year and losing something in the process. I am looking forward to new friends and experiences as I begin the adventure of my next four years, but I certainly will miss my home of 20 years which I won't get to see again. This summer has flown by so fast that I hardly had the chance to appreciate the cozy, quiet life of my small home town, or the comforts of home itself. I know I'll always be welcome to visit in Plainfield--I'll probably be bribed--but I'll still miss my old room that was first painted "cherry blossom", with my canopy bed that I used to do ballerina twirls around. On the bright side, I have a whole new apartment to paint and decorate, right? I have to be optimistic :)

2001-07-27T19:37:00.000-04:00

Well, first I would like to say hi to Michael and Sarah, both the sources of my blogging inspiration. I have not succeeded in keeping a written journal over the past few years--I guess things like organic chemistry, the MCAT, and medical school interviews may have something to do with my lack of time. I don't suppose medical school will be giving me more time, but typing is always faster and cheaper than phone calls to Plainfield, Paducah, and all the other cities the Adams clan inhabits. So here goes a glimpse into my life for all the world to see. I won't promise it will be entertaining, but maybe it will at least give everyone who wants to know a little insight into the life of a first year.