C and J

It's official.

2011-02-08T01:38:00.004-05:00

I am sad and sorry to post this. This will be the last post on this blog, because C and J are no longer C and J.

We are now just C, and just J.

Final post, signing out. Send me a message if you would like the address of my new blog, if I end up starting a new one.
~C

http://www.hecheatedonme.net

Two month hiatus

2011-01-30T00:58:00.003-05:00

For those of you who have been following my blog, I apologize for my failure to provide any recent posts. Life has been hectic and extremely stressful to say the least.

I can say, however, that I would not be dealing nearly as well with life in general if it were not for my faith, and the steadfast support of the wonderful friendships I have developed with fellow students who will one day be my colleagues. Despite the many difficulties we are presented in our lives, there are countless Blessings to be thankful for, even when the world seems to be crumbling all around us.

I will survive this.

Quote of the day

2010-11-18T18:07:00.000-05:00

"Trust can take years to build, but only a second to break."

Rotation results

2010-11-02T17:53:00.001-04:00

I did not match to Tucson for my second round spin results. Normally this would mean that I would have to choose either Ohio or Illinois for my third year clerkship rotations. However, not all rotations were filled to capacity in Tucson. As a result, I have been granted Tucson as my third year clerkship site, but for rotations that do not have space I will have to go down to Sierra Vista (which is about 75 mi SE of Tucson) instead. I will probably be doing a lot of moving around in my third year, unless I find someone to trade or I move up the list. Boo.

The end is on the horizon

2010-10-23T12:51:00.002-04:00

The end of the first quarter, that is.

Updates:
We just completed our first rotation spin for our third year of clerkship. I did not get my first choice of west Valley. I have submitted my second choice which will spin on Monday.

This is how the spin works:
Everyone submitted their first choice of rotation site. The choices were west Valley, east Valley, Ohio, Champagne/Urbana Illinois, Modesto/Turlock California, L.A. California, Tucson. Then a computer randomly assigns us a ranking (260 of us) and fills the rotation sites. East and west Valey each had 80 spots, and there were much fewer spots for the rest of the sites. 22 of us did not get our first choice, which included me, so we will submit our second choice with what is left. The sites that are left are Tucson (14 spots), Ohio (5), and Champagne/Urbana (16). I submitted my second choice of Tucson. I really hope I'll be able to stay in Arizona. Since we will not rotate until another two years, there is also a chance that we me be able to trade sites with someone if circumstances change and they are willing to trade.

Hopefully this will all work out. This has been so frustrating.

Diagnosis...

2010-10-01T03:19:00.002-04:00

Imposter syndrome.

Anatomy exam two cometh...

2010-09-26T03:17:00.012-04:00

On Monday I take Anatomy exam number two. I also have a midterm in another class on Wednesday. We're past the halfway mark in this quarter. I am being bombarded with loads of information, so time is just flying by. Somehow it still feels long.

Jake came to visit last week for four days. We went to a Paramore concert (which was awesome), but for the most part we just studied together. I studied for histology/embryology, and he is studying for his internal medicine exam coming up in April. Next visit, end of quarter/Thanksgiving (U.S.) break in November. I'm really looking forward to that trip. I'll get a little over two weeks to spend at home.

Oh, and Jake got Chlamydia and Herpes from me while he was here.

;-)

Week five?

2010-09-05T13:25:00.002-04:00

The weeks are starting to run together. As predicted, my sleep schedule is suffering. I slept without an alarm last night for the first time in a month. Not surprisingly, I slept in.

I take exam number three this week, in anatomy. This exam is different than the others because there is a practical component. The written component is a 30-point multiple choice exam which follows or precedes the practical component, which is a 30-point short answer exam. Essentially we are to write a one-word answer to identify the part of the bone, the muscle, the nerve that innervates the muscle, or the vessel pointed out on the cadaver. We cycle through each cadaver, two at time, peering in and identifying the part that has a red pin or string tied to it. We have about 45 seconds to write our answer before moving on. There are also light boxes with x-rays to identify important structures, and bone models to test with. We'll see how much information my brain can retain. I'm hoping I'll surprise myself. In the end, though, I'm sure those brain cells will succumb to the wonderful aroma of preservative filtering through my nasal passages. Guess it's better than formaldehyde.

First week

2010-08-16T02:59:00.002-04:00

Last week I started my first week of school as a medical student. AZCOM's current program has changed in the past two years in order to ease the transition for those coming for their first year as they settle into their new life as a medical student. First year students begin two weeks before all other medical students (2nd through 4th year) and start with only two classes at first, Biochemistry and Histology. Gross Anatomy begins this week, and the rest of the classes start in September. These other classes include Clinical Medicine, OMM, Interdisciplinary Healthcare, and Human Behavior. Starting next Monday we have our first exam (Biochemistry), and then we have an exam every week thereafter, pretty much until the end of the quarter in November when we have finals. All in all the first quarter is 23.4 quarter credits. That will be a lot of classes once September hits.

At the moment I am enjoying having ample time to preview Biochem and Histology, attend lectures, review the material, and still have time to do extra reading. I have a sneaking suspicion that it will be my sleep schedule that suffers more than my academic schedule. We'll see how it goes.

My turn

2010-08-03T19:25:00.002-04:00

Today was my first day of orientation at Midwestern University where I am a medical student. Wow, I can say that now. I've been waiting so long to be able to say that. And today I got fitted for my white coat and received a pair of scrubs. It still feels surreal but is beginning to register in my mind the choice I have made. Yesterday I bought a new car. Tonight is the inspection for my new house. Classes begin next Monday. My only wish is that my best friend were able to join me on my journey here, not thousands of miles away. But we can't have everything, and I feel that I have been blessed with so much, that I am pretty darn close...

New addition to our family

2010-07-18T13:36:00.002-04:00

On July 15th, 2010, Benjamin Garrett joined our family. It was a whirlwind of a delivery but fortunately everything turned out and Mama and Baby are doing well.

He is beautiful, and he is my nephew. I am so proud.

Kasia & Alexandre

2010-07-03T14:00:00.007-04:00

Congratulations Kasia and Alexandre! Wishing you many years of health and happiness together.

There's nothing like a wedding to bring family and friends from all over together to celebrate a marriage...

So much has happened...

2010-04-26T00:53:00.002-04:00

I have fallen far behind on my posting, though I don't believe that many people follow this blog enough to have noticed! I will update on the past few months this week. So much has happened this year...

Another one ties the knot!

2010-03-27T20:00:00.008-04:00

Stephen surprised my sister Karen last Easter when he dropped to one knee and proposed to her in front of her family. We were all thrilled to say the least! Well Karen took it up a notch and decided to surprise Stephen right back.

You see, Stephen is not a big fan of weddings, and did not want to be involved with the planning. He did, however, want Karen to be happy with their wedding, and hinted that he would not be against having his wedding planned behind his back. So that's what Karen did - and planned an ambush wedding!

In one short month Karen booked the venue (the amazing and beautiful Tennessee Aquarium!), bought her dress, secretly invited all the guests (some came from the UK), booked the caterer, flowers, cake (wedding cupcakes!), music, officiant, and an awesome photographer (Joee Wong!). Stephen found out he was getting married the night before when he was ambushed with a large contingent of family members and friends at dinner the night before the wedding.

On the day of the wedding the sun was shining, we shared laughs and shed tears, and enjoyed good food with the company of family and friends who had assembled to witness this event. Karen looked stunning. The ceremony was moving. The photographer was perfect. And Karen and Stephen tied the knot in one of the most beautiful, memorable events that I will cherish forever. Congratulations Karen and Stephen!

Auntie C and Uncle J

2009-12-25T16:00:00.001-05:00

In my family our tradition at Christmas is to open stockings first. Everyone buys everyone else a little something and puts it in their stocking. We were pleased to see that we each had a tasty looking giant sugar cookie shaped like a gingerbread man in our stockings. But wait...someone had written our names in chocolate on each cookie. No, not our names. "Uncie?" Jake asked, confused. "That's not what it says!" Val laughed. Then understanding dawned on Jake as he read "Auntie" on my cookie, "Grandma" on my mom's cookie, and "Oma" on Carla (BG's mom)'s cookie. "Really?" He asked Val, who nodded with emotion. The same understanding spread rapidly through the room, except for those, of course, who already knew and had been keeping the news secret (two grandmas of course!).

This is the first baby in our immediate family and we are all so excited! He (yes, HE) is due mid-July. Val and BG are going to make AWESOME parents! He's going to know French, English, and German. They have nicknamed him Gunter since some of us want to wait until he is born before we learn his name. I just hope he is born before I have to leave!

R4 Match

2009-11-17T14:00:00.003-05:00

For those of you who don't know, Jake applied for his fellowship in Infectious Diseases in Ottawa, Hamilton, and Toronto (in that order). The residency match system works by having the applicant rank his or her placements according to preference. The program ranks its applicants as well. The rankings are matched, and that's how residents are placed for their program. Fortunately Jake matched with Ottawa, which means they ranked him high as well. Next July Jake begins his two-year fellowship to become an Infectious Disease specialist! Yay, Jake's staying in Ottawa!

NEWS!!

2009-10-03T21:16:00.008-04:00

I was at the Minneapolis-St Paul International Airport after numerous delays. I decided to look up the e-mail addresses of my interviewers at Midwestern so I could send them my thanks for the interview. Instead of the Midwestern website I accidentally opened my MWU Login page instead; I logged in, just to check my account. I stared at the page in disbelief. Instead of the "Applicant Checklist" that I had looked at for the past month, AZCOM had a heading of "Accepted Student Checklist," which included a deposit, transcripts, a matriculation form...

Had I just been accepted?????

The tears started pouring down my face, and my hands were shaking. There I was, sitting on the floor of an international airport with my laptop on my knees, sobbing as I used up every napkin in my backpack. Then I went to the bathroom and used up a few handfuls of toilet paper. I called my sister. No answer. Then my mom. No answer. Then I e-mailed everyone. Then I called another sister. Then Jake. I finally got a hold of someone and they thought something was horribly, horribly wrong from my stifled sobs, when really I had just lost it.

From my first application cycle in 2002, to my final cycle in 2009 I applied to 35 schools, participating in 6 application cycles in 8 years. I watched and experienced the life of a medical student second-hand as a wife and friend. I applied to graduate school and pharmacy school. I took the GRE, MCAT, PCAT, and TOEFL. I volunteered, shadowed, and observed. I had ups and downs over the years. Over time I felt like I was breaking, little by little, with each rejection and each passing year. Sometimes I cried. Some days I felt my belief in myself and abilities slipping away, where I felt like I was climbing an endless steep, gravelly hill. Yet there was always still help, hope, and support from friends and family, and I still held on to my own motivation to fulfill my dream, and the hope that someone would give me a chance.

Finally.

Class of 2014.

.

KCOM Interview - A.T. Still University

2009-10-01T15:00:00.002-04:00

Today I interviewed at A.T. Still University - Kirksville College of Osteopathic Medicine. Kirksville was the first osteopathic medical school, established in 1892 by Andrew Taylor Still. Dr Still was a licensed MD, but was not satisfied by what he saw as limitations in traditional medicine. His research and clinical observation led him to believe in restoring and maintaining proper health through stimulating the musculoskeletal system. This led to the development of osteopathic manipulative medicine, also called OMM, OTM, and OMT.

My KCOM interview day started at 8:00 am and began with a curriculum overview. This was followed by two one-on-one interviews which lasted one hour each. I was interviewed by Ron Gaber, Vice President and Dean of Students, and Dr David Middlemas (Pharmacology). Both seemed very friendly and warm, and both expressed great interest in my extracurricular activities, grades, letters of recommendation, and my application in general. I was amazed; both seemed like they were really trying to convince me to come. I had a really good feeling afterwards, as if they really wanted me to like the school. Dr Middlemas knew some of my former profs too. After my interviews I met with Donna Sparks in Admissions, and then all of the interviewees had lunch together. We were joined by five Student Ambassadors who answered our questions while we enjoyed turkey wraps, baked potato chips and cookies. The Student Ambassadors were awesome!! They were warm, welcoming, and helpful.

Lunch was followed by a presentation on the "Still-Well Program," which encourages students take care of themselves through healthy lifestyles and fitness, and a presentation on financial aid. A number of great Student Ambassadors gave us an extensive tour of the new OTM lab (with demonstrations), simulator lab (has six rooms all equipped with simulator dummies that breathe, have bowel, lung, and heart sounds, can talk, have blood pressure and pulses, and can be set up with any scenario for ACLS practice). There were also Standardized Patient rooms where hired actors come in and play patients who come to see the "doctor" played by a medical student who practices history-taking (1st year) and examination skills (1st and 2nd years). The tour was excellent and allowed for lots of interaction with the students, who were friendly, helpful, and interesting.

I really like this school. I really feel that if I did not have an addiction to the Arizona desert that I would have a tough time choosing between KCOM and AZCOM.

TOEFL Results

2009-09-25T20:15:00.001-04:00

I found out that I scored 119 out of 120 on the TOEFL. Although I scored in the highest category for speaking, for some reason I missed a point. Oh well, usually it's difficult to earn a perfect on a standardized test. I guess I don't talk good enough. :-)

At least my reading, writing, and listening skills are up to par! I can say that I have English as my first and second language now!

AZCOM Interview - Midwestern University

2009-09-24T20:19:00.000-04:00

Today I interviewed at Midwestern University Arizona College of Osteopathic Medicine in Glendale, AZ. The day started at 7:45 am at the Office of Admissions. We watched two presentations, one on the curriculum, and the other on financial aid. Then half of us went on a tour, the other half waited to be interviewed.

I was in the first interview group, and the first on the list. Of course, I ended up interviewing first! I was interviewed by a panel of three gentlemen, Dr Jose Hernandez (Biochem), Dr Chad Carroll (Physiology), and Dr James Cole (Senior Consultant, Office of University Relations and former Dean). They sat at an oblong table with Dr Cole at the end, and Dr Hernandez and Dr Carroll sat opposite one another. I sat at the head of the table. Each interviewer had a small netbook in front of them for taking notes. Dr Hernandez asked a few ethical questions, Dr Cole asked random questions which made me think, and stimulated pretty personal responses, and Dr Carroll tended to ask more questions about purpose and motivations for applying for medicine, and to AZCOM. After the 30-minute session I returned to the lounge and chatted with other interviewees, feeling incredible relief after my interview was done!

Next was a campus tour, followed by lunch in the cafeteria, then a tour of the housing facilities and clinic on campus. The day finished around 2:00 pm.

I love this school, and would love to be in Phoenix again.

Next interview: Kirksville.

Standardized Tests

2009-09-11T15:49:00.002-04:00

After today, here is the list of all the standardized tests I have taken:

SAT
MCAT (x 2)
GRE (subject test in Biology)
PCAT
TOEFL

Did I mention that I have a strong dislike for standardized tests?

English as a second language?

2009-09-11T15:41:00.002-04:00

My applications to AZCOM and CCOM were complete for at least a month, until last Monday. When I checked my application status there was a new addition to the checklist that was not there before. I now have to submit TOEFL (Test of English as a Foreign Language) scores before my application will be complete. The admissions employee at CCOM told me my application would not be considered complete and therefore, I would not be considered for interview until the scores are submitted. Good thing I already have an interview at AZCOM. However, I still have to submit the scores to that school too. On short notice I was able to register for the exam only three days in advance (there were no other dates offered from now until November). I had to pay a late fee, making a $245 USD addition to my overall med school application expenses. I took the exam today; hopefully my English as a second language is as good as my first! I strongly suspect that I was the only person being tested who spoke English as their first language!

Interview number TWO!

2009-09-01T12:01:00.003-04:00

I just got an interview invitation from Midwestern AZCOM! I scheduled it for September 24th! Yay! Two interviews! I never would have thought I would get that many before this...now I'm really hoping for more!

See my previous post for some photos of Midwestern University's gorgeous campus!

This is a wonderful school where four of my closest friends from university attended; one is currently starting her second year. Three of them have already completed their medical degree!

Vacation to Saskatchewan!

2009-08-22T16:33:00.021-04:00

Last week we took a flight to Saskatoon and spent a week in Saskatchewan. We went to visit Jake's uncle Marek, aunt Joanna, and two cousins Marek and Kasia. We spent two and a half days in Saskatoon, taking a tour of the gorgeous University of Saskatchewan campus where Jake's uncle, Marek Majewski works. He is the Head of the Department of Chemistry at U Sask. We also visited the store where Kasia works, that sells beautiful handmade moccasins made from moose and elk hide, along with many other products such as jewelry, cards, figurines, etc. If I remember correctly, it is called Trading Post Ltd. Kasia bought me a beautiful pair of moccasins to take home with me (I'll post a photo later)!

Kasia

Kasia's cool not only because she got me some awesome moccasins, but because she LOVES animals and always has a zoo of animals at home!! She currently has five chinchillas (two are babies that were born in her care), nine geckos (3 or 4 different kinds), a bearded dragon, an American cocker spaniel (a sweetie named Dyana), a rabbit, and too many fish to count! She used to have ferrets, a hedgehog, a corn snake, and she's planning on buying three red-eyed tree frogs. I didn't get a chance to take photos of all her wonderful pets! She would like to become a herpetologist, so I am planning on taking her down to Arizona to go find some herps!

Witek, Joanna, Adam, and Marek.

Adam

Witek and Marek

Witek, Marek Glapa (a friend of Witek and Marek's who is visiting Canada for the first time), and Adam Maher (who came to visit Canada last year) arrived on Friday afternoon after a two and a half-day driving trip from Kitchener to Saskatoon!

Our cabin

Boats at the dock

On Sunday we all drove about four hours up north of Saskatoon to Collins Camp on Besnard Lake. We fished from Sunday afternoon to Wednesday morning. We caught lots of fish, mostly pike and two walleye, and ate most of what we caught. We mainly kept fish that were greater than 60 cm in length.

Witek

We had fish for dinner every night, changing how we (Witek and I) prepared it to keep the meals varied and interesting. Sunday night: barbecued pike (Witek) and pike sautéed in butter with garlic and thyme (me). Monday afternoon: pike wrapped in foil and cooked over a fire with Italian herbs, and pike pan fried over a fire with garlic and Italian herbs (me). Monday dinner: pike stewed in a rich, flavourful tomato sauce (Witek) and sautéed garlic and enoki mushrooms with lemon pepper rolled in pike fillets (me), along with some pan-fried walleye with salt and pepper (Witek). On Tuesday night Witek cooked a tasty pike curry. Of course we also had cookies, granola bars, a FLAT of peaches that Marek Jr. brought up (he drove up on Monday night), chips, soy milk, apples, pasta, bread, cheese, etc. etc. etc. We sure brought a lot of food, but when we went shopping, it was planning for six men and one woman. Needless to say, we ate like royalty, but had a great time catching our meals!

Jitterbug!

We probably lost about 20 lures as a group this trip, and a number of us broke line, either when the pike made a quick jerk in order to escape, the lure got caught under rocks or weeds, and even one time the line broke on the propellers of the boat motor (one moment of inattention from the boat driver, we won't give names). We also learned how to filet pike to remove all of the y-bones from the master of fish fileting, Chris, who runs Collins Camps & Outfitting. Seriously, he can clean a pike in what seems like 30 seconds. If you're not familiar with pike, then you quickly learn that pike are one of the slimiest fish out there. No joke, if you are holding a slippery pike in one hand, it will shoot out of your slimy grasp. There's no easy way to hold them. Add to that the fact that they have razor sharp teeth, and if they are alive, they will buck and squirm as they try to escape.

Jake caught the largest pike of the trip, a 9 lb pike. Look at all the slime dripping off the pike!

Can you imagine how tough it was to remove a barbed hook (or three) from these guys? By the end of the trip I was following Marek (Jr's) protocol and I started fishing with barbless hooks (I used the pliers to flatten the barb). It felt better doing less damage to fish, particularly if they weren't large enough to keep.

Every evening we spent several HOURS playing Settlers of Catan.

Clockwise from bottom: Adam, Jake, Witek, Marek Jr, and Marek (photo by Marek Glapa)

Yes, that's my laptop. I worked on applications, and spent maybe a tiny bit of time playing C & C Generals Zero Hour...

Overall, this was a very fun trip! It was my first time in Saskatchewan and my first time pike fishing. It was also my first time eating pike, and it was deeeelicious! With the exception of one day of rain,

we had great weather, and that rainy day was our best fishing day too! I highly recommend going to northern Saskatchewan to Besnard Lake if you want to try your hand at pike fishing. Even if you don't catch a lot of fish, it is quiet, isolated, and beautiful up there. Can't wait to go again next year!

.

I got an interview!!

2009-08-20T00:34:00.001-04:00

On Tuesday I received an e-mail invitation for interview at ATSU-KCOM in Kirksville, Missouri. I accepted and scheduled my interview for October 1st. First interview of the application cycle 2010!! I am so glad I applied early!

Yay!

The Wait is Over " * final notification * "

2009-08-04T22:39:00.001-04:00

"Dear Christine,

TouroCOM’s Admissions Committee has selected the students for ‘Early Acceptance’ for next year.

If you are receiving this e-mail it means that you were not selected. If you remain interested in TouroCOM you will need to reapply to AACOMAS. In addition, your primary application will be reviewed once again to determine your eligibility.

Please continue to stay positive and focused. You know it is just a matter of time!

Sincerely, Obed Figueroa"

In the end I was around 39 on the waitlist.

Already have started applications for the next cycle, for entry in 2010. More details to follow...

New Ranking...

2009-06-21T00:46:00.002-04:00

Movement on the waitlist has slowed this time around. My rank dropped to 56 and then 54. That's where I am listed right now.

Last week I started and submitted my next round of applications. Maybe I'll be eligible for early acceptance to some schools.

The wait continues...

New Rank Number

2009-06-02T20:00:00.004-04:00

As of today, my rank is 59. I moved up 20 spots.

Will keep posting as new rankings come in.

And then there were two...

2009-05-29T21:30:00.002-04:00

I e-mailed LECOM today to find out my application status, since my online supplemental application still says "under review." I got a response from the admissions coordinator that they finished up their interviews in early May, and that the rest of the applicants should be receiving information by snail mail that they didn't get in.

Disappointing...

What's next?

2009-05-29T17:33:00.002-04:00

Today I started my new application for Fall 2010. This year I'm starting early. I might even be eligible for Early Acceptance for some schools. No more missing transcripts or late applications this time!

Update: Two more schools left; one waitlisted, the other I am waiting to hear if I am granted an interview. However, it's getting really late for interviews now, so I'm beginning to wonder if Touro is my only hope left for this fall.

Update

2009-05-29T17:29:00.002-04:00

After my interview I received my updated status. I was not immediately offered one of the available positions in the class matriculating this fall; however I was waitlisted. TouroCOM ranks its waitlist candidates into low, medium, or high. I was waitlisted high. So far I have moved up three positions, and I have a ways to go (the high waitlist alone is 120 people!). I am number 79.

Touro College

2009-05-09T19:11:00.019-04:00

Touro College of Osteopathic Medicine (TOUROCOM) opened in the fall of 2007, New York's first new medical school in 30 years and the first osteopathic medical school with an emphasis on training physicians to serve the minority community, fitting for a school located in the heart of Harlem. The school now occupies a formerly vacant building located across from the historic Apollo Theater. Touro College was first established to promote Jewish heritage in higher education, and follows a Jewish calendar, serves kosher food (in the student lounge there was a kosher hot dog vending machine!), and does not hold classes on Friday evenings or Saturdays. Even the gross anatomy lab has a special viewing gallery for students who are unable to touch the cadavers due to religious beliefs, to allow them to participate and learn along with their colleagues. Because the school is so new it has new facilities and state of the art technology to enhance the learning environment. To top things off, it's only a one hour flight from home.
Sounds great? It depends on who you ask.

I like Touro because it allows me to be close to family, something which is very important to me. Touro College is also a well-established school which has a number of campuses across the U.S. These include Touro College of Pharmacy (NY), Touro University Nevada (Nursing, Osteopathic Medicine, Physician Assistant, Education, Nursing, Occupational Therapy, Physical therapy), Touro University California (Education, Health Sciences, Osteopathic Medicine, and Pharmacy), Touro University College of Medicine (New Jersey - - an allopathic medical school which grants MDs), and of course, TouroCOM (New York). Despite the fact that TouroCOM is new (2007), they have multiple schools from which to model their curriculum, establish connections, and build their reputation.

The Cons of going to Touro? Well, I'm not thrilled with the idea of living in a huge, busy, overcrowded city like New York, but if they grant me admission, I'll have quite a decision to make.

Here are a few photos of the campus, which is really just one building. The medical school occupies two of the five 25,000 sq. ft floors. Another floor is the College of Pharmacy, and there is a research floor. I'm not sure what's on the first floor but I think it's the main entrance to the school with offices, etc.

What a difference after visiting the campus of Midwestern University in Glendale, Arizona. I visited the campus in April and it is a gorgeous, sprawling desert landscape!

Those of you that know me understand that this is a perfect learning environment for me! Still, this journey has been long and rigorous, and it isn't over yet.

Interview!

2009-04-30T00:15:00.008-04:00

I had my first interview today. So far it is the only one I have, but I am waiting on a few more schools.

Touro College of Osteopathic Medicine is located in Harlem, New York City. It opened in 2007. Because it is so new, the students furthest along in their studies are in their second year. As such, the school's accreditation status is provisional until they graduate their first class. In this situation the school is still building its reputation and organizing the necessary facilities to ensure a complete learning environment, i.e., hospital rotations for clerkship years. We will see in the next few years how things develop.

There were about 14 students having interviews, from New Jersey, California, New York, Texas, Pennsylvania, and Florida. Everyone was friendly, some warmer than others. The most interesting student that was there for an interview was a guy with Tourette syndrome. He is so comfortable with his condition that he always tells any new person he meets that he has Tourette's right at any introduction. Tourette syndrome is characterized by physical (motor) and or vocal tics. His main symptom was vocal tics, in which he would often bluntly blurt out a profanity or something socially inappropriate at random times during the course of the day. This characteristic is apparently present in only a small number of individuals with Tourette's, but is the characteristic most publicized. Other examples of tics are sniffing, eye blinking, throat clearing or facial movements.

He also would sometimes repeat words or names that he heard (another symptom of Tourette's). It went something like this:

-----------------------------------------------------------------
Director of Admissions: "Hi there, my name is Obed Figueroa..."

Student: "ObedObedObed...Obed...ObedObed..."

Director of Admissions: "...and I'm the Director of Admissions here at Touro College. Here we have a class size of 135..."

Student: "Penispenis....PENIS..."

Director of Admissions: "...and at the moment we have 10 spots but..."

Student: "F**kyouf**kyou...F**kyou..."

Director of Admissions: "...every day that changes. Tomorrow it could be 12. When you go in for your interview, make sure that you show you're confident..."

Student: "..Penis..."

Director of Admissions: "...and that you get a chance to say all the things you want us to find out about you. This is a closed-file interview..."

Student: "..TonyTony...TONY....TonyTony..."

Director of Admissions:"...meaning that your interviewers don't know anything about you before they speak to you."

Student: "Penispenis...Penis..."
------------------------------------------------------

The whole time, no one reacted at all to the periodic outbursts, I guess because of the stress of the overall situation and our own understanding of the fact that he could not easily control these urges. I liked him though, because he was comfortable with his condition, was not ashamed to warn people on first introduction, and overall, was a very warm and friendly person. I even think that having him there helped to ease some of the tension in the room. I hope he is able to pursue his career aspirations, whether that be medicine or another area.

My interview was my first interview, and one that I can say I would like to forget. I don't think I bombed it or anything, but I didn't leave feeling good; I'll explain what I mean. My interview panel was made up of two individuals, a male and a female. The male was a D.O., the female, an advisor in the college. The D.O. asked the majority of the questions, provided no feedback, and throughout the interview, continued to keep firing questions my way. He showed no warmth or people skills, making me feel like I was being scrutinized under a microscope. Either this is just the way he is, or he was just trying to see how I would react to his cold demeanor. I just think he's like this all the time! Anyway, because of this I did not feel good coming out of the interview, simply because it was unpleasant, not necessarily because I bombed my responses. We'll see if they liked me or not. I should hear word within two weeks.

More on the school itself in my next post. I'm tired and it's really late. More tomorrow (today).

Easter weekend and the joys that accompanied it

2009-04-17T00:05:00.007-04:00

We had a wonderful Easter with both of our families, visiting my family from Friday to Saturday, and Jake's family on Sunday and Monday. On Saturday we organized a family photo shoot for Mom's 60th birthday. The photographer was shooting the last of the group photos and asked if there were any other photos that we wanted to take. Stephen, Karen's boyfriend piped up, and began assembling the group for the photo he had in mind. After arranging everyone so that Karen was surrounded by her family, he dropped down on one knee and took Karen's hand in his and to everyone's surprise and joy, popped the question!! It was a wonderful moment, secretly organized between Stephen, my mom, and the photographer. Congratulations Karen, we all LOVE Stephen and can't wait to celebrate your marriage together!

This is the actual photo from his proposal!! (Jake was kneeling off to the side and from this angle, is hidden from view behind Stephen)

ER shift number 2

2009-04-15T23:01:00.018-04:00

Today was a half-shift from 1:00 to 7:00 pm. There was way more variety and intensity than yesterday's 11-hour shift!

We saw a guy who needed to pass a 2 mm kidney stone, a man with hep C who was having severe abdominal pain and vomiting, a lady with BPPV, a 3-mo old baby with a virus, a guy with a foreign body in his eye (a tiny metal shard), a 3-year old with a finger laceration (requiring propofol, metacaine, and about 7 stitches), a man with a thumb laceration from a mitre saw (requiring a few stitches), a lady whose ears were blocked from an infection, a bipolar lady who wanted something because she was feeling really agitated (she couldn't sit still and was pacing the halls for over an hour), a guy who dropped a log on his ankle (worried about the calcaneous but no fracture), a guy with an arthritic knee, a guy with a sore throat (swabbed for strep), and a number of people with cellulitis. I think there were more people that I'm forgetting about; there are so many people coming in and the flow of patients is nonstop. It's amazing how many people abuse the system by coming to the ER for blocked ears and sore throats when they could go to a walk-in clinic, see their family doctor, or just wait out their infection. I must say that a lot of people with health problems also happen to be smokers...hmmm...is there a connection here?

To top it all off, I saw my first Code. A lady in the ICU coded after the ER doc had finished putting in two stitches in the finger of the 3-year old. It was a little crazy because he had to leave in the middle of the procedure. He switched roles with a surgeon who responded to the Code Blue, so the surgeon finished suturing the finger and the ER doc went in, intubated the lady, and ran the Code. I only came in near the end of the Code because I was assisting the suturing procedure. The team was not successful in resuscitating the poor lady, unfortunately; they suspect an aortic aneurysm rupture but they don't know for sure.

Anyway, it was an educational, yet action-packed day. Next shift on Tuesday. Needless to say, I'm so thrilled with this amazing opportunity!

What now?

2009-04-15T00:17:00.006-04:00

A friend of mine who happens to be an ER doc is helping me out by arranging an "observership" for me. Basically, I am shadowing him during a number of his ER shifts. He also wrote me a letter of recommendation for medical school. We also play tennis together. He's a great friend!

Today I shadowed my first shift with him, an 11-hour shift from 8:00 am to 7:00 pm. I wisely chose to wear high heels and proceeded to have crunched, sore toes by the end of the day, but I thoroughly enjoyed myself. This observership is "no touch" patient interactions for liability reasons (I am not a medical student and do not have any affiliation with any school). However, he allowed me to take patient histories prior to his visit with the patient. I didn't do too badly, and for obvious reasons, I have a lot to learn. But it was interesting, educational, and, well...awesome. Overall we saw about 30 patients. I am looking forward to my shift tomorrow. Definitely no high heels though.

so much for keeping up to date...

2009-04-15T00:10:00.005-04:00

Well, the intent was there, but the time wasn't. I have not blogged for several months. Here's the update:

After a number of frustrating mishaps, bad luck, and incompetence from AACOMAS, my efforts to apply to 12 schools resulted in timely submissions to five schools. I have an interview at TOURO-COM on April 29th (my first interview!!!). It is a new school in New York City in Harlem that opened in 2007. I am waiting on LECOM-Erie, LMU-DeBuskCOM, NOVA, and Western University.

More to come...

.

Update long overdue

2009-01-07T18:18:00.003-05:00

I haven't blogged since September when I started classes. That's because I had no idea that taking three classes with assignments, exams, and studying along with work, physio, and applications would not only fill my plate, but keep it constantly overflowing. Not once from September to December did I feel that I had completed everything and that I could relax and take it easy. There was always something I needed to do, and deadlines were always approaching.

Now it's the new year, I have not registered for any classes, and I just returned from London, England yesterday. Here is what I accomplished last fall:

- took the MCAT and PCAT
- completed and submitted OMSAS and AMCAS application
- medical schools applied to:
McMaster (Hamilton, Ontario)
Creighton (Nebraska)
Howard (Washington, DC)
Rosalind Franklin (North Chicago, IL)
Wake Forest (Winston-Salem, NC) -- rejected
University of Alabama (Birmingham, AL) -- decided not to complete secondary
- started PharmCAS application
- completed courses in calculus, anatomy & physiology, and economics

My checklist to accomplish in the next coming weeks:
- complete and submit PharmCAS application
- complete and submit AACOM application for DO schools - I'm really disappointed that I already missed AZCOM's deadline of January 1st...all this travelling to visit family threw my deadline radar off...I'll have to apply to schools with Feb.1st deadlines
- interviews for above-mentioned schools??

Pray that I get some interviews this spring! I'll try and keep this better updated.

First Day of School

2008-09-05T15:39:00.009-04:00

Ah, the first day of school. Exciting, right? You had new binders/notebooks, pencil crayons, pencil case, and a brand new, pink eraser (who remembers their Pink Pearl?).

You walked to school or took the big yellow school bus, and you had a print-off of your school schedule listing your classes and room numbers. You walked from one class to the next, passing and waving at friends in the hallway. In between periods you could stop at your locker and change books.

For the most part, things are pretty laid back, enjoyable, and easy; no homework, no tests, no assignments due, it was the first day!. Some teachers would just give you a syllabus and dismiss you.

Wait a second...that's not how my day went.

This was not only my first day at school in five years, but my first time at a huge school.
I hate it already.

Okay, my first day attending classes at the University of Ottawa was awful. First of all, I didn't know where to park. I had parked many times on campus before, and even the week before classes started, in the Pay & Display lots. Naturally I drove to a lot that was centrally located, and close to both of my classes. At least, I tried to. When I headed towards the lot, this was how it looked:

Well, maybe not exactly like that, but it sure seemed that way. The minutes were ticking by as I waited for the endless stream of students to end so I could enter the parking lot. Once I finally got in, I parked and went to the machine to buy a parking pass. It wouldn't let me. I found out later that this particular lot is open only to permit holders during the day. I had to pass through the never-ending stream of students again and promply entered something that looked like this:

Drivers were turning around and illegally driving the opposite direction on one-way streets to get out of the mess. Believe it or not, hundreds of pedestrian students really disrupt traffic, especially at a school that happens to be located downtown.

In the end I parked further away than I would have liked. I had to walk quite a distance to get to my first class and I was about 25 minutes late. I entered through the back door so I wouldn't disrupt the lecture and this is what I saw:

I didn't see any seats, so I just stood at the rear of the lecture hall. Another guy came in late and a student indicated that there were two seats on the far side, so we shuffled our way behind the back row to those seats. Good thing too, because I probably wouldn't have lasted the remaining 45 minutes on my feet.

After Economics ended, I had to walk all the way back to the parking lot again to buy another parking pass that would extend through my next lecture. By the time I walked back and entered the next building, I was already 5 minutes late. Then I couldn't find the lecture hall. The rooms didn't have their room numbers in chronological order, as they jumped from the 100-120 to 180+. My lecture was Room 146. I went all over the place looking for it, even to the second floor, and below the first floor (there's a level "0"). I ended up finding it in another part of the building past some administration offices, away from the "sciences" part of the building and into the "business and management" side. Of course I was really late and the lecture hall was packed. A girl told me there were more seats upstairs (there's an upstairs??) so I left the room and took the stairwell upstairs and entered the room from the second floor.
*sigh*
I guess once you get lost a few times, you'll really get familiar with the campus and buildings.
Until next week...

Next obstacle: Getting a parking pass.

Range of Motion!

2008-09-05T00:46:00.003-04:00

I forgot to mention my PT cranked my knee to 135° today. Normal for me is 140-145°. Almost there! My next task is to rebuild the lost muscle. I'll resume work next week. My surgeon wants me to wear my brace when I'm playing. I'm slowly getting closer, but still far from normal.

Updates

2008-09-04T23:53:00.006-04:00

I haven't blogged in a while. Things got really busy the last few weeks before the MCAT. A week later it was the PCAT. The week following I went to L.A. for a recruiting trip for my student. This week I was finishing an application. Tomorrow I start classes. Next week I start work. And during all of this time I still have to fill out OMSAS applications (Ontario medical schools), other med school applications across Canada, pharmacy school applications, and AMCAS applications (American medical schools). I think I'll probably be busy at least until December. If I get interviews (cross your fingers), I'll be busy through March/April as well. I will send updates as they come.

.

Feel the burn

2008-08-01T13:57:00.010-04:00

Yesterday evening I decided to combine some of the fresh ingredients we had in the fridge. I had an extra jalapeño pepper and some cilantro, and Jake bought some fresh local tomatoes from the market last weekend. Why not whip up some fresh salsa? I used four ripe tomatoes, a small onion, some green onions, cilantro, two cloves of garlic, and of course, the jalapeño, finely minced. It tasted fresh and delicious with tortilla chips.

My left hand started burning shortly after, from the capsaicin in the jalapeño. The problem started yesterday evening and lasted through dinner, until the afternoon of the next day. I tried doing some searches on the internet for home remedies but they didn't work. I tried washing my hand with milk (nice and cold, soothing, but only temporary), a paste of baking soda, rubbing alcohol (95%), hand sanitizer (because of the alcohol), and dish soap. I had temporary relief soaking my hand in cold water. No luck. Fortunately after all of these remedies, eventually the burning stopped. Who knows if it was one of those remedies, or just time that did the trick? Next time I'm using the food processor or gloves!

Back to my studying!

Two more chapters to go

2008-07-30T12:11:00.008-04:00

For those of you who have been checking on my blog, though I have a good feeling you all have better things to do, I apologize for not updating recently.

My MCAT is in just over two weeks and I am reading every day. I completed two sections of a practice test last weekend, not a bad start. I will be reading more and more over the next couple of weeks to ensure I am well prepared. Another two practice tests planned this week.

For those of you who have taken the test before or anyone else who is interested, the MCAT is now a computer-based test, administered entirely on the computer. Now instead of filling out a scantron you are clicking onto your multiple choice answer. You can "mark" any questions to go back to them if you wish, strikeout to eliminate answers, and highlight sections of the passages. The essays have to be typed out, so if your typing skills are not up to par, you may be at a disadvantage. Because the test is administered on the computer, you can choose to take your 10 min. break in between sections or not at all, and the test no longer takes 8 hours (from handing out tests, collecting tests, counting tests, waiting between sections). The total test day should take no longer than about 5 hours. Also, results should come back sooner (though they say it will take 30 days).

Anyway, back to the books!

Four years!

2008-07-18T13:01:00.022-04:00

Yesterday was our fourth year wedding anniversary. Time sure flies!

Jake had GI clinics in the morning. I had physio. Jake dropped me off before work and I happily, but not without difficulty, achieved 95° of flexion. I prepared myself for a full day of studying while waiting for Jake to finish his day, when surprisingly, Jake called at noon to let me know he was done for the day. Yay, we were able to spend the rest of the day together!

First we had lunch at Mamma Teresa Ristorante, an Italian restaurant downtown. We sat outside in the shade and enjoyed the sunny afternoon, the warm atmosphere, the friendly service, and the delicious food. Before lunch Jake gave me my first gift, a beautiful necklace with two sparkling heart-shaped tourmalines and small diamonds, beautifully set in 14k gold.

We drove home so Jake could change out of his work clothes. We went for a short walk on a trail through a forest near our home called Turnberry Trail. We could have gone longer but my knee could only handle so many hills; it's unbelievable how little I can handle right now, compared to what I used to do! For over two months in the fall of 2006 I was hiking in Arizona through rocky hills to look for tortoises! Those tortoises are better and faster than me on that terrain now!

After our hike (and lots of mosquito bites) we went to the movies. We went to see Wall-E, a wonderful new movie by Pixar. It was highly recommended to us by friends, and we both enjoyed it so much! We definitely recommend it too! In fact, we're looking forward to seeing it again soon!

After the movie we went to Starbucks and enjoyed a chai latté while we exchanged gifts again. I bought Jake a new soccer ball, a Poland soccer shirt, and a mushroom-shaped bird house.
He gave me another beautiful necklace, this time a moonstone.

I'm a lucky girl!

Another step forward...

2008-07-15T22:28:00.005-04:00

Yesterday I kicked someone. I missed, so I kicked at him again. Hard. Then I cried out as I woke up in excruciating pain.

Jake immediately came to my aid (poor thing, I woke him fifteen minutes before the alarm clock went off) and through the pain, I told him I really needed some ice. And I really did.

Amazing how realistic dreams can be.

Today my physiotherapist decided I would achieve my 90° flexion, since I was half a week behind schedule. This involved forcing my knee to bend while I clenched my teeth and fists and tried to keep my knee relaxed. After achieving 80-85° we had to be sure we didn't lose any extension, and he proceeded to lean down on my leg while my foot was propped up. He said that next time it might be him I dream about kicking. He might be right. Just in case, I'm no longer sleeping without my extension splint.

It sure is a long, slow healing process.

One step forward, two steps back

2008-07-10T18:11:00.008-04:00

Last Friday I was sitting on the sofa with Jake while we were watching an episode of Grey's Anatomy on DVD. At one point I went to reach behind Jake for the remote control to pause or restart the show, and as I did, my feet lifted off the floor to counterbalance my weight shift to the right. When that happened, my quads and hamstrings on both legs automatically engaged. This normally wouldn't be a problem, but a week prior, my right hamstring had portions surgically removed to replace my torn anterior cruciate ligament. My hamstring immediately let me know that it wasn't yet ready to be used, and I felt a shot of pain behind my knee. I iced it immediately afterwards, but the damage was done. I have lost a lot of the range of motion I had gained post-surgery, and there is more swelling in the back of my knee (which is why I have lost some range of motion). My physiotherapist thinks I may have torn my hamstring (but to what extent is unknown). If he's right, my recovery will take a little longer, perhaps a week or two more than anticipated. So much for "flying through the recovery."

This is my little friend who keeps me company while I am studying. Just kidding. Yesterday I whipped up some homemade play dough (it took me less than five minutes to make) so I could better visualize and refresh my memory when I'm determining the configuration of organic molecules (I have no idea where my organic chemistry model set is, and I'm not about to start digging through boxes in the basement to find it). Or maybe that was just an excuse to make play dough.

In any case, ten points if you can name the molecule, determine if the configuration is R or S, and tell me how many σ bonds this molecule has.

One day at a time

2008-07-07T12:33:00.007-04:00

I had my first physio session on Friday. My PT says our goal is to have me achieve 90° of flexion in two weeks. As long as I do my exercises every day, I can see this goal is possible.
On Saturday, Jake and I removed the sutures (on the recommendation by my surgeon, of course). We were disappointed to see that they were not done very well, as some of the sutures were tied too tightly, others did not seem to have been tied properly (some didn't pull out properly when we cut the knot), and the largest incision had been stitched very sloppily, with part of the incision still open after one week after the surgery. We had to put a stitch strip to close that part and allow it to heal for a little while longer. This was apparently a job done by the resident who assisted my surgeon, but I am not impressed. Whatever happened to taking pride in one's work?

Anyway, my pain is much better now. I am no longer taking any narcotics to control the pain, just Tylenol. I still have to wear the extension splint whenever I'm up and about, or sleeping, until I get enough strength back in my leg. This week my goal is to ditch the crutches completely.

We'll see how that goes.

Here's the lovely bruise I had from my IV from the surgery. Jake told me he has never seen such a nasty bruise from an IV (it looked a lot worse than the photo shows), especially from a seasoned anaesthesiologist. It has been more than a week since my surgery, and now it's almost gone. That's nothing compared to the bruises tracking from my shin to behind my knee though! I can see why this takes months to really heal, but at least now I'm moving forward!

Spoiled!

2008-07-03T11:30:00.011-04:00

I am so spoiled. I didn't know that after having surgery I would receive so many wonderful cards, e-greetings, e-mails, and flowers! Everyone has been so amazing. I am so blessed to have so many concerned and caring friends and family members in my life. Thank you to all of you for your messages, phone calls, cards, and beautiful flowers.
I love you all!

Reap the Consequences

2008-07-02T18:42:00.007-04:00

Well, I paid for it. After a hard day yesterday paired with no pain control all day, I ended the day needing to take an oxycocet before bed. And not suprisingly, almost exactly four hours later (4:30 am to be exact) I woke up and needed to take another pill. I learned that next time a better idea would be to stop taking the oxycocet and substitute something else in the meantime. I think I'll try that tomorrow.

Happy Canada Day! On July 1st, 2008, Canada celebrates its 141st birthday. And a beautiful day it was. After having rain and thunderstorms for something like 5 out of 7 days last week, we were fortunate to have weather on Tuesday that was nearly perfect. There was no rain, some light cloud cover, and warm sunshine. The temperature was relatively mild at 25°C in the afternoon. Jake and I shamefully spent most of the afternoon studying indoors. Once I am more mobile we will hopefully spend days like this outside, enjoying the beauty of nature.

A Little Over-ambitious...

2008-06-30T22:04:00.004-04:00

My surgeon told me I'm "hyper-motivated," but in a "good way." This was after I told him I was willing to do whatever it would take to recover from the surgery: use a Cryo Cuff, rent a CPM machine, do physio twice a week, whatever. He predicted before surgery that I would "fly through the recovery." Well, I think my "hyper-motivated" attitude became more like "over-ambitious." Today I decided to try and wean myself off of my narcotic painkiller, oxycocet. The last one I took was at 6:45 this morning. Instead of trying to increase my range of motion on my CPM machine by 10° every day, I used the CPM for 4 hours and increased my range of motion by 20°. I stopped not because it was feeling better, but because my leg didn't want to move that much anymore (a mild, aching pain might have had something to do with it). So instead of resting, I re-chilled the Cryo Cuff, and went down the stairs (a very slow process, let me tell you). Some friends were coming over to drop off some fresh, local organic fruits and vegetables, so I couldn't just sit and do nothing, I had to invite them over for dinner, didn't I? I decided to make homemade pizza, but lo and behold, I was out of yeast. They drove me over to the grocery store (I won't be driving for a little while) and we picked up a few extras like pizza sauce (usually handy on pizza), Diet Coke, and the yeast, of course. I prepared the dough from scratch and let it rise while I chopped a pepper, cut up some barbecued chicken breast, mushrooms, garlic, and turkey bacon. The pizzas took no time at all to make, and they were quickly tossed into the oven. By the end though, you can imagine I didn't want to stand for very long anymore. This weaning off the oxycocet became harder than I imagined after such a long day limping around, sometimes without my crutches when my hands were busy with something. I guess I did a little too much. This girl is going to pop her little white pill and head off to bed.

And to think that I used to be able to work six hours straight on the tennis court...from the way I feel now, that will be a long time from now...

Post-surgery Day 2

2008-06-29T22:05:00.004-04:00

There's not a whole lot more to report. I was a little ambitious today and accompanied Jake to a friend's house to watch the Euro 2008 Spain vs. Germany final. We caught the second half and were treated to a tasty meal of Korean barbecued ribs, spinach salad with strawberries and poppy seed dressing, and chips with guacamole, sour cream, and salsa. It was definitely a way for me to get my appetite back. I have not been eating much the past few days because I am finding the side-effects from the oxycocet are a little bit difficult to deal with, despite the pain-fighting potency. The oxycocet makes me drowsy, dizzy, and gives me a little bit of nausea. Fortunately, it does make the pain tolerable; my pain is fairly well-controlled by taking an oxycocet every four hours in combination with a frequently-chilled Cryo Cuff. That's all for now. Back to another hour or two on my CPM machine.

Pre-and Post-surgery

2008-06-28T14:02:00.014-04:00

I was strongly considering spinal anaesthesia because I did not like the thought of having to be intubated for the surgery, and not being in control of my breathing. For intubation, the patient is anaesthetized and a laryngoscope inserted into the open mouth. The doctor views the vocal cords then slides an endotracheal tube through the trachea. The patient's breathing is then controlled by a mechanical ventilator.

I expressed this concern to the anaesthesiologist, who immediately told me he was not planning on intubating me, but allowing me to breathe freely by using a laryngeal mask. He assured me that I would be breathing on my own, and that the laryngeal mask does not penetrate past the larynx. This makes them easier to insert, and cause less pain and coughing than endotracheal tubes. However, the laryngeal mask does not protect the lungs from aspiration, so laryngeal masks are unsuited for patients with this risk.

He also recommended against spinal anaesthesia because a small percentage of people in my age range get migraine-like headaches as a side-effect (for up to a week afterwards). Although the risk was low, I still did not want to take that chance. I also think the anaesthetist was pushing a little more strongly for general anaesthesia, but I wasn't thrilled with the idea of having long needles penetrate my spine, so in the end, I chose general anaesthesia. My throat is still pretty sore from the laryngeal mask, so I can't imagine what it must feel like after being intubated!

All I remember was being wheeled in to the operating room, the anaesthesiologist connected the IV to my left arm, and he began administering the medication. Very quickly the room began to spin and I closed my eyes. The next thing I remember was waking up in the recovery room and suddenly feeling immense pain in my right leg. I let out an involuntary moan, and the nurse quickly came with a glass of water and two oxycocet tablets. She told me I had been given two doses of fentanyl (a powerful opioid painkiller) and propofal (a sedative). I was apparently also given a shot of morphine. Even with the addition of the oxycocet I was still in a lot of pain. With all the narcotics in my system I was still feeling very dizzy and sleepy.

We went to the pharmacy to fill my oxycocet prescription and I was suddenly overwhelmed with a sense of nausea. In a panic, I asked the pharmacist for the bathroom and I was quickly escorted, hobbling on my crutches, to the bathroom in the storage area. I sat in the bathroom on a chair until the feeling passed, and waited there until the pharmacist knocked on the door to let me know my prescription had been filled.

Once we got home, I hobbled upstairs on my crutches to the bathroom and promptly got sick, then I went to bed. I slept a lot. I even fell asleep while using my CPM machine. My first and only meal of the day ended up being a lovely fruit salad that Jake brought up to me. Then we both went downstairs and got some more O.R. time by watching two episodes of Grey's Anatomy before heading off to bed.

Today I am a LOT more swollen. I am feeling a lot of deep pain from the trauma from the surgery, but also superficial pain from the incisions. There are four incisions on my right leg; one horizontal incision about three cm below my knee, two smaller ones on either side and just below my patella, and one incision on my thigh. If you watched the animation from my previous post, you would have seen these illustrated. I am having trouble even putting weight on my leg. I am currently in bed using the CPM machine.

Here are a few photos from today:

There is a shadow covering my foot on the CPM machine, my foot really isn't that dark compared to the rest of my leg!

Here's a picture of Jake coming to take care of me. He brought me a bowl of Jell-O. What a sweetie!

ACL Reconstruction

2008-06-25T17:41:00.016-04:00

For the next little while I will try to keep an updated weblog of my ACL reconstruction surgery.

A little background:
On April 13th, 2008 I was playing in an evening game of pick-up soccer at an indoor facility. I had the ball and was challenged by another player. I attempted to pass him with the ball, but as I pushed off with my right leg, I felt my foot slip on the turf (despite wearing cleats), and my knee took the entire weight shift and body turn. There was a horrible twist, a nasty grinding feeling, followed by a popping feeling, then a hard, painful, bone-on-bone impact. I screamed like a little girl and crumpled to the ground in a ball of pain.

The MRI report gave us a better idea of why the injury felt the way it did.
The short version: Complete or near complete ACL rupture (the feeling that something popped as it released). Lateral meniscal flap tear (the grinding feeling -- the meniscus is the cartilage that allows the knee to bend and straighten smoothly, and cushions the joint). Significant bone bruising of the tibia and femur (the bone-on-bone impact when the tibia hit the femur after the ACL ruptured). Displaced meniscal fragment and MCL sprain (just add that to the pain of everything else). Oh, and I also got a trabecular fracture of the tibial plateau to top it all off. Quite the fancy soccer footwork it was, and I am proud to say I did it all by myself.

Fast-forward to now; the main goal prior to surgery is to regain full range of motion in the injured knee. Just over a week after the injury I could only extend (straighten) my leg to 15° (normal in my other knee is 0°) and flexion was 85° (normal for me is about 130°). Now two days prior to surgery my extension is nearly 0° and flexion is about 120° (my PT thinks my torn meniscus may be preventing me from gaining any more flexion).

PT since the injury:
- Intermittent muscle stimulation to prevent muscle atrophy by recruiting more muscle fibres while voluntarily contracting the quadriceps muscle
- Ultrasound and IFC to help with pain and inflammation
- squats with exercise ball to maintain muscle mass
- weighted leg raises for strength maintenance (works quads, hip flexors, IT band)
- stationary bike to increase range of motion, keep joint mobility
- stretching to maintain flexibility (hamstrings, quads)
- ice (to reduce pain and inflammation)

The surgery:
- Portions of the hamstring's semitendinous and gracilis tendons are harvested through an incision in the front of the knee, a few centimetres below the patella, closer to the medial (inside) side of the leg.
- The tendons are braided or sutured together to create an autograft to replace the ruptured ACL.
- A guide pin is inserted diagnonally from the tibia to the femur for placement of the graft.

- A tunnel is drilled through the tibia and femur along the guide to attach the new ACL.
- The graft is attached through an anchor pin to the femur, and a screw attaches the tendon to the tibia.

You can view an animated ACL reconstruction here.
- If the meniscal tear can be fixed, the surgeon will repair it by suturing it. If it cannot be repaired, the meniscus will be trimmed instead.

Equipment post-op:
- knee extension splint (to be worn at all times the first week while sleeping and if up on the feet)
- Cryo Cuff (provides compression and cooling to reduce pain by pumping ice water through the cuff)
- CPM machine - continuous passive motion machine (passively straightens and bends the knee, providing some pain relief and helps to improve recovery by keeping the knee mobile)
- custom brace - provides support and stability during recovery when able to resume athletic activities, by preventing anterior tibial translation and rotation in the knee)

What's next? Surgery is this Friday. The surgery is somewhat less invasive compared to many other types of surgery, as it is arthroscopic (a camera is guided through a small incision and the surgeon performs the job through this tiny hole), so it is only day surgery. The entire procedure takes only about 1-2 hours; I will not require an overnight stay at the hospital. On the day of surgery I will speak to the anaesthesiologist to discuss the type of anaesthesia that will be used (general or spinal) and the possibility of a nerve block (haven't decided yet).

That's it. I'll try and update again shortly after the surgery.

Custom Breg Fusion XT brace (mine's royal blue!)

Cyclone hits Madagascar

2008-03-09T16:38:00.004-04:00

I know it's been a while since my last post, but after hearing the news I had to post. Cyclone Ivan hit Madagascar in mid-February, killing at least 60 people and leaving 200,000 people homeless.

I am torn between two worlds; one a place in which I would like to pursue a career, and the other, a place that needs so much help that I cannot even imagine where to begin...

Madagascar

2007-08-29T19:12:00.000-04:00

If I could make a difference somewhere, this is where I would do it. This is a country where, when you visit, you realize just how much you have, even when you seemingly have little according to your standards. You are moved, just by seeing a child gazing at you with innocent eyes, shining with curiosity and happiness. Yes, happiness. It's amazing how little one needs to be happy; a child in North America has this "need" for an iPod, portable DVD player, Nintendo DS, Wii, or cellular phone. Many of the children I saw in Antananarivo had no shoes; they were simply walking on their bare feet, whether they were walking in the street or on gravel. Already their soles have hardened over years of walking without shoes. Their toys were homemade, built from scraps of metal shaped into cars and trucks, or even simply a wheel on a stick to run around with. No soccer ball? Kick a bottle around. They bathe in river water, and beg in the streets. Just children themselves, in their arms you see them carrying their infant brothers and sisters. They pick through garbage for something to eat, something to wear, or something to provide shelter. Fifty percent of the people here cannot read. Only those that have money have access to medical care.
How does this happen? How is it that we live in a country where there are children getting diabetes because they are stuffing their faces with processed foods and sitting in front of a computer all day? How is that we are burning fuel left and right with multiple cars, gas-guzzling SUV's, and fancy Porsche's, and these people are clear-cutting all of their forests just to have a fire to cook with and to keep warm at night? How is it that we are dying of heart disease, stroke, and cancer because of our unhealthy lifestyle choices and these people are dying from malnutrition and from a lack of access to basic medical care?
Sometimes I have to remind myself to step back and think:
1. Keep things in perspective. In the whole scheme of things, it's not all that bad.
2. Be thankful for what you have. Many things we take for granted are luxuries for others.
3. What kind of a difference do you want to make in your lifetime? What kind of contribution can you make to others to truly make a difference?

This is where I'm stuck. I would love to help. But I have no medical training, nor any experience in international development. If I could, I would build medical clinics, schools, houses, churches, teach the children and adults how to read, and how to speak English and French, feed the hungry, and give shoes to those children who are walking around on their bare feet. I would teach them conservation methods to harvest wood responsibly, have sustainable fisheries, and protect endangered species. I would teach them environmental responsibility, and help them to implement emissions standards for cleaner air. I would give everyone the opportunity to educate themselves. It's a big job. But I'm too small for something so large.

The System is Flawed

2007-07-11T11:16:00.001-04:00

I'm afraid I waited until after I completed my Bachelor of Science to "make myself a better person." Too bad for me.

Blog Editing

2007-06-14T08:47:00.001-04:00

Does anyone know why my photos from posts merge into previous posts? I can't seem to edit my post to look the way I want! Can those of you who are more experienced bloggers help me out? When I'm doing a post I often have to delete huge spaces and add spaces in weird places in the posting editor to make the actual post look somewhat normal...what am I doing wrong? I thought this was supposed to be easy. Look at the following post "Graduation" and scroll down to the bottom photo and you'll see what I mean.

Graduation

2007-06-14T08:09:00.000-04:00

Sorry I haven't posted in a while...but I'll try and bring you all up to speed over the next few days.
On Wednesday, May 16th, Jake graduated from medical school. He is now a doctor, and will begin his residency in internal medicine in Ottawa, starting July 2nd. Poor guy, his first day of residency he is on call.

Here are a few photos from his graduation:

Match Day Cometh

2007-03-14T21:40:00.000-04:00

Today was "Match Day," the day fourth year medical students find out where CaRMS (Canadian Residency Matching Service, I think) has matched medical students with their residency positions they have applied and interviewed for. It's an interesting process; even medical students who are couples can be matched as a couple for their residency! I think Brent and Nicole are doing this. If I had gotten in to school at the same time as Jake, perhaps we would have had that option.
Jake interviewed and ranked the following areas of medicine:

1. Internal medicine - U of Ottawa
2. Emergency medicine - U of Ottawa
3. Family medicine - U of Ottawa
4. Rural family medicine - McMaster - Kitchener campus
5. Family medicine - McMaster - Hamilton campus

After doing numerous rotations in Ottawa, we were 90% sure he would get placed in Ottawa because many of his interviewers already knew him and worked with him.

We found out today that Jake got his first choice, Internal medicine. His plan is to subspecialize, although he doesn't know in what area yet. He has mixed feelings though...he is happy about his placement but a little nervous because he knows the first few years of residency will be rough. There is a lot of time on call and working long hours in the hospital, so we will not be seeing a lot of each other, but we talked a long time about this before Jake ranked his choices. In fact, I helped him make the decision to rank IM first; I knew it was what he really wanted. Now we are prepared (we hope) for what is ahead! We'll see what happens.

Lemon Dream

2007-02-19T21:57:00.000-05:00

I made my first lemon meringue pie today. It was surprisingly easy, and very quick! The pie crust was extremely easy and fast to prepare. I was also pleasantly surprised that the lemon filling was not too sweet or artificial tasting, as has been my experience with most lemon meringue pies I have tasted in the past. Try it for an impressive-looking, easy-to-make dessert! The pie crust, which is less pasty-like and more shortbread-like, can be found here. Just a note, I added a little more sugar to the pie crust after reading the reviews.

Dinner is Served

2007-02-17T23:37:00.000-05:00

Did you know that Jake likes to cook? In fact, he can be quite creative in the kitchen. I've been spoiled for the past few days because he is at home for a couple of weeks before he does one more elective, and then goes back to classes. One night this week he cooked dinner for us, and here is a photo of his colourful creation. It was a stir-fry of eggplant, red and yellow sweet peppers, and Italian sausage and green peppers. On the side, he warmed some soft flour tortillas. This tasty meal was accompanied by a spinach salad with artichoke hearts, grape tomatoes, fresh sliced white mushrooms, which was topped with light blue-cheese dressing. Sure, it's a little different, but it was tasty!

Decadent Chocolate Truffles

2007-02-13T17:22:00.000-05:00

I decided to attempt to make one of my favourite, sinfully rich desserts, chocolate truffles. The recipe called for milk chocolate but I used semi-sweet for a richer flavour. Here is the recipe:

Ghirardelli Milk Chocolate Truffles

1/3 cup + 2 tbsp heavy whipping cream

1/2 tbsp unsalted butter

2 cups Ghirardelli Milk Chocolate Chips

(or 2 4-oz Ghirardelli Milk Chocolate

Baking Bars)

Coating: 1/3 cup Ghirardelli Unsweetened Cocoa

(or 3/4 cup chopped almonds)

Bring the cream to a simmer in a small saucepan. Add butter and stir until melted. Add Ghirardelli chocolate to saucepan. Stir until completely melted and smooth. Remove from heat and pour the chocolate mixture into a shallow bowl. Cool, cover and refrigerate until firm, at least 2 hrs. Roll mixture into 1" balls. Roll each ball in coating. This recipe can also be adapted for white chocolate truffles (use 1 cup shredded coconut for coating, or chopped almonds).

Home Remedies

2007-02-09T22:05:00.000-05:00

What better way to cure the post-med-school-rejection blues than with some freshly baked double chocolate cookies? Okay, I'm not really blue. Surprisingly, it's easier to receive rejection after the third year of applying. That's when you really feel that there's just something about the system and you haven't quite figured out how to manipulate it yet. In the end though, everything seems just a little bit better when there's a plate of chocolate chocolate chip cookies in front of you, followed by an ice-cold glass of lactose-free milk. Cheers.

It's almost that time of year again...

2007-01-13T19:30:00.000-05:00

Okay, so it's a little early, but the time to receive interview letters or rejection letters is fast approaching. I received last year's rejection e-mail (yes, who wants to spend $0.51 on a stamp when you can just send an e-mail??) on February 2nd, 2006. I have to admit that I am a little anxious...I mean, Jake is graduating this year. He's finishing up four years of medicine. To think that we applied the same year...what a different stage we'd be at right now. This is round three of med school applications, and this year I applied only to Ottawa.

This is part of last year's e-mail:

"Your application was carefully reviewed and although your academic performance did meet the required level, we regret that the evaluation of your detailed autobiographical sketch does not permit your application to advance further in the selection process. This decision is final and cannot be appealed. We are governed by an internal policy which does not allow us to provide feedback..."

Anyway, on a positive note, Jake is graduating this spring! Also, my friends Brent and Nicole (who also happen to be husband and wife) are graduating from medical school at Midwestern! Three wonderful people are going to be added to the pool of medical professionals who are talented, intelligent, compassionate, and incredibly competent! I hope one day I might be able to work with you guys. I'm so proud of all of you!

You guys are awesome!

Raclette

2007-01-10T21:01:00.000-05:00

Last night I hosted a dinner for some friends. I used my new/old raclette grill that I bought two years ago and had never used until last night. For those of you who are not familiar with raclette, it originates from Switzerland, and raclette refers to both the type of cheese used, and the name of the dish. The raclette cheese is melted and served with small potatoes, sour gherkins, and pickled onions, as well as dried meats (I used prosciutto), tomatoes (I served grape tomatoes), sliced fresh baguette, and mushrooms (which I cooked on the stone, right at the table). I bought two types of cheese, a Swiss raclette and a French raclette. It was so neat to prepare everything at the table! We served our Montresor Amarone Della Valpolicella 2002, a Christmas gift from the Ambassador of Yemen. After dinner we served double crème Brie, blue cheese with candied pear, a round of St Aubin, and a delicious smoked applewood cheese. Dessert was chocolate fondue accompanied by sliced bananas, strawberries, blackberries, and raspberry pound cake. The meal was followed by Mauritian vanilla tea and rugelach! We were pretty full afterwards, but happy. I highly recommend you try raclette! The food photo is from Raclette Suisse, where I learned how to serve my raclette dinner. Here is a photo of my raclette grill.

The grill comes with eight nonstick raclette trays and scrapers. The melted cheese just slides right off.

Rugelach Success!

2006-12-12T21:28:00.000-05:00

Yesterday evening I attempted my first batch of Rugelach! These rolled-up pastries are filled with chopped walnuts, cinnamon, and sugar. You can try the recipe here. If you like sweeter cookies, however, I would suggest you either add some sugar to the pastry or sprinkle some confectioner's sugar on the finished cookies afterwards. Also, the recipe recommends chilling the dough for two hours for ease of handling, but I just tossed the disks of dough into the freezer for a few minutes. Happy Christmas baking!

Mmmmm...Snickerdoodles!

2006-11-17T01:13:00.000-05:00

While I was in Arizona I really missed baking! Yesterday evening I made cinnamon sugar cookies. These are called "snickerdoodles" in the U.S. They turned out really well! I highly recommend this recipe I used, found on allrecipes.com. I made two changes, however, by adding 1/4 tsp of cinnamon to the batter, and I baked the cookies for 7 minutes instead of 8-10. Snickerdoodles have a tendency to harden all the way through once they have cooled if they are baked too long, so baking them for 7 minutes ensures they keep that chewy texture that everyone loves!

More photos from Arizona

2006-11-10T16:11:00.000-05:00

Tiger rattlesnake, Crotalus tigris. This snake was found by an employee at a masonry company. It was likely a released or an escaped pet from a Phoenix residence, since it was found in the middle of the city.

Many people wonder why we can't release these animals back into the wild. First of all, we don't know where it came from, and even though we know the range where the animal occurs, we don't know what kind of bacteria or parasites we might be exposing to the other wild animals.

This is a ground snake, Sonora semiannulata. Check out the PARC website in my links to see other colour morphologies that occur in this species.

This is a female Anna's Hummingbird.
The male has a brilliant ruby gorget and crown.

This is a Dark-eyed Junco. There is considerable colour variation geographically. In Ottawa they are very dark grey with a white breast ("Slate-coloured junco"). This one is the "Oregon junco," the abundant western form.

Countdown to Chattanooga and Ottawa

2006-11-07T01:19:00.000-05:00

Well, I'm down to two and a half more days before I leave Phoenix. I'm going to Chattanooga to visit Karen and Stephen, as well as Rolling Stone, and I'll finally meet Peanut Butter! I'm very excited about the trip; I've never been to Tennessee before. I've missed you all so much! To help me during those frustrating times I had a copy of this photo printed, and I have looked at it often. Can't wait to see you all!

More photos from Arizona soon to come, check back soon!

The Project is in Progress

2006-10-30T17:56:00.000-05:00

Things have been going okay with regards to the project. I came to the decision that I would go out into the field whenever I can to get as much done as possible. As a result I have gone into the field several times on my own, which I haven't minded at all. We have surveyed two plots in our "Unburned" area. Our "Burned" site ended up being an area that had not been hit hard during the fire last July, so we had to look for a new site. Because temperatures are dropping quite a bit at night, tortoises are beginning to go into hibernation. Now the main goal is to find carcasses, particularly in areas that burned. Surveys for the burned plots should begin this week.

Looking forward to seeing you all soon! I leave Phoenix on Nov. 9th.

Frustrations!!

2006-10-20T01:28:00.000-04:00

I am so frustrated...I've been here over one month now and we're still just getting the project going. Tom and I went out to Four Peaks yesterday and determined the locations of two of the plots. I want to get this project done as soon as possible so I can go home!

I tried calling my research partner twice today and left two voice mails and one e-mail. I still haven't heard anything. I'd go out to the field by myself but I don't want to seem like I'm excluding her, since she's the one that wants to work on this for her Master's, and she's the one with her name on the contract.

What am I supposed to do, just sit here until winter? Even Arizona gets too cold for tortoises...soon it will be too late and all the tortoises will be hibernating.

I don't know how long I can do this...as much as I'm enjoying spending time in the desert and seeing animals, I'm tempted to just pack up and leave.

One more...

2006-10-19T22:56:00.000-04:00

Just one more shot of that little tortoise (see the next post). It was such a cute little turtle!

Reptile update!

2006-10-19T22:38:00.000-04:00

My rattlesnake tally is up to 5:
3 Blacktail Rattlesnakes, and now, 2 Western Diamondbacks!

This pretty diamondback was coiled on the bank of a wash near our study area.

This is another Western Diamondback, Crotalus atrox. This one was a little more orange in colour than I have seen before.

Yesterday Dr. Jones and I went up to the "unburned" study area to locate two of our plots. While we were hiking around I went to sit on a large boulder and peeked down where part of the rock had split off and created a gap; I was surpised to see this:

This is an old turtle carcass. It has been there long enough that all that is left is the bone carapace, or shell. We determined that this poor female tortoise accidentally flipped over and slid down the rock crevice. Unable to free herself, she surely perished as a result of dehydration and starvation.

On a more positive note, we ended our day after coming across this little one:

So cute! This little tortoise is the smallest I've seen so far. It measured only 120 mm! It is considered to be a subadult and estimated to be only about 8 years old or so; sex is difficult to determine at this stage.

Arizona Adventures...some animals I've seen so far...

2006-10-03T00:30:00.000-04:00

Desert Tortoises, one walking around, the other one happily sitting with his head under a bush. The first photo is from Four Peaks, where the study site will be; the second photo is from the Tortilla Mts.

The Regal Horned Lizard...can you believe there are six horned lizard species in Arizona? They each have subtle differences in colouration and in their horns. Horned lizards are very docile. When you flip them over and rub their belly, they start to close their eyes like they're falling asleep! It's really cute!

A Gopher snake! We saw this snake on the road when we were driving into the Tortilla Mts. at 6:00 am! This was a nice big snake, but not aggressive or venomous.

Three Lowland Leopard Frogs sitting comfortably in a shallow hole dug into the ground at Cottonwood Creek.

A juvenile Red-spotted Toad and a newly metamorphosed Red-spotted Toad beside it! The juvenile at the top of the photo is about a third the size of an adult (normally around 3") so you can see just how small the metamorph is! Cute huh?

This was my first Madrean Alligator Lizard! I had never seen them before, even in the lab when I was taking Vertebrate Zoology. This lizard readily loses its tail to predators, as you can see in the photo; the tail is in the process of regenerating. I quickly learned these guys bite when they're caught (but not too hard!).

A Black-tailed Rattlesnake. I have only ever seen two of them...one last week at Sugarloaf Mt. and this was the second at Four Peaks. I hope I get to see lots more!

Puss in Boots look-a-like

2006-09-04T22:22:00.000-04:00

When we were at the CNE last weekend we went to the cat show and saw this adorable Scottish Fold! She had such large eyes that Val thought she looked like Puss in Boots in Shrek. I think she's right!

Here are a few other photos from the CNE...

Stephen's first poutine
(fries with cheese curds and gravy)

This was a huge sand sculpture with impressive detail!

A really cool butter sculpture.

BG and Jake relaxing at the CNE

Karen and Val

Off to Arizona!

2006-09-02T00:38:00.000-04:00

I'm going back to Arizona to study the effects of wildfires on the desert tortoise, Gopherus agassizii at Four Peaks, AZ. I'll be there for a couple of months to establish a study site and look for survivors of the fire, as well as search for any mortalities. I'm looking forward to being in Arizona again; I really miss being in the desert!

Nature's Beauty...

2006-07-24T22:35:00.000-04:00

Grape Hyacinth

Snow Drops

Daffodil

A fear of rejection?

2006-07-10T17:57:00.000-04:00

As I think about the next round of applications drawing near, I sense that I am hesitating. I feel thoughts of regret and uncertainty. Sometimes I don't feel I know where I want to go, or what to do with my life. I used to think that I knew what I wanted to do. Then rejection slapped me in the face a few times. Now when I think about applications I question my ability...I used to think I could do whatever I wanted in an occupation. I wonder now who will take me, and where? It's not sensible to be thinking this way...are these feelings a result of a fear of rejection? I try and tell myself not to give up. Yet, I still hesitate. I want to publish a paper...but I can't bring myself to open the file. I feel unmotivated. I'm letting myself get caught in the present, allowing myself to stay busy with work when I could set aside some time to write. I feel like I'm stuck, trapped in a hole that I dug myself into when I left Arizona. I often wonder...where would I be right now if I had stayed?

Mer Bleue Conservation Area

2006-06-11T21:15:00.000-04:00

Last weekend Jake and I stopped by Mer Bleue after I finished work for the day. We were thrilled to see lady's slipper orchids in bloom! For those of you not familiar with Mer Bleue Conservation Area, it is the largest peat bog in eastern Ontario. Apparently it is unusual to have a peat bog this far south, as there is a huge peat bog area in northern Ontario around Hudson's Bay. Mer Bleue has a number of short hikes through the forest, as well as a boardwalk through the peat bog itself. This is where you can find those plants that have adapted to the acidic conditions of a peat bog, such as lady's slipper orchids, tamarack trees, and carnivorous plants like sundew and pitcher plants. You can also find blueberries, birch trees, and of course, sphagnum moss. There are so many wild blueberries at Mer Bleue that there are actually fines for picking them. Here are a few photos from our walk along the boardwalk.

Tamarack cones

Round-leaved sundew

Bunchberry, or Dwarf cornel

Wild calla

Stella's Banana Tart Recipe

2006-06-03T14:59:00.000-04:00

What better way to recover from dental surgery than to bake something? Sure, I can't eat it right now but it helps distract me from the pain! I decided to bake my cousin Stella's Mauritian banana tart. This is also my first attempt at a lattice pie top. Hopefully it will taste good! If you want the recipe, visit my cousin's blog. She has lots of tasty recipes and some amazing photos to go along with them!

The Road to Recovery...

2006-06-02T08:22:00.000-04:00

Here are some of the goodies I'm taking to ease some of the pain from the surgery...I blurred out the labels so my name isn't posted all over the place. One of them is an antibiotic (Penicillin) to prevent infection...I have to take that four times a day! Yesterday I tried a number of medications for the pain - - it was a challenge to find one that helped...first a Tylenol #3, then later on one Aleve, and after that, two Tylenol #3 tablets! Of course I waited a few hours between doses. Last night I took two Tylenol #3's and two Advils before I went to bed and that seemed to do enough to allow me to try and get some sleep. I also filled my prescription for Percocet (love those 24-hour pharmacies) in case I woke up in the middle of the night. This morning when I woke up I didn't seem to be feeling too badly...until I made the mistake of drinking a glass of water. Excruciating. *shudder* Time for pudding, Jello-O, and ice cream for breakfast! Thanks for those who keep asking how I'm doing!
Things are slowly getting better.

Val's Third Dan Test

2006-06-02T00:38:00.000-04:00

Click here to watch 'Val-Third-Dan'

This is a video from my sister's third degree black belt testing in Tae Kwon Do. For the first degree belt, one concrete block is broken, second degree, two blocks of concrete, and with third degree, you guessed it, three blocks! This was Val's second attempt. My sister is awesome!!! We're all so proud of her!!

To Upload Video and Images - Putfile

The Extraction

2006-05-31T16:14:00.000-04:00

Why not begin my first blog with my interesting experiences today. I had my first dental surgery this morning and had two wisdom teeth extracted (I had only two -- the other two upper teeth never formed). One was impacted, the other was normal. I can't say I remember anything from the surgery itself...the oral surgeon was talking to me while administering IV sedation and the next thing I knew the nurse was helping me out of the chair to lie down in the recovery area. I've never had sedation before and I was amazed at how heavy and wobbly my legs felt! No pain yet but I've taken two Advil and a Penicillin so far. My mouth is still frozen so I'm having a lot of trouble talking and drinking! I'm hoping any breakthrough pain will not be terrible but I have some Tylenol 3 in case I need it, as well as a prescription for Percocet. We'll wait and see. Time for a nap.