Can vacation go on forever?

I'm finally beginning to feel caught up on sleep, family, and friends. For the first time in a long time, I feel like ME again. All the things first semester tried to change or take away have been renewed, and I'm ready, willing, and able to go at it again for five more months. Or I will be after next week.

Talked to Dr. C today, and did better on the Biochem board than expected. Eases my grade worries, and assures me that there'll be no more biochem in my life until Step 1 studying, and then NEVER AGAIN (in the classroom format at least).

Hope everyone's having an AMAZING break. I know I am. Read two real books today and watched two bowl games. NFL: Vikings and Bears up next. Go Bears! Since the Saints aren't showing their best side these days, we're looking for a little help from the Chicago club to help us clinch homefield advantage throughout the playoffs.

As this is my med school blog, I find it important to share that I've done absolutely nothing school related since that biochem board on Dec 18th. And I will continue that plight, full speed ahead, for about another 6 days. I'll devote part of Sunday to preparing for going back Monday morning. But until then... life is easy. For the first time in a long time. And I'm IN LOVE with it!

Congrats to all my friends who are now officially M1.5's. We made it!

Two tests to go til M1.5!

Two tests til Christmas break!!! I just can't wait to go home and see my friends and family... it's going to be heavenly.

Wednesday night post-gross board "Coat Burning" was WONDERFUL! We had SO much fun. Too much fun to mention, perhaps, but coats were burned and books were burned (shame, I know) and scrubs were burned... and we've joined the ranks of all M.D.'s who made it through Gross Anatomy. Board scores should be back soon... looking forward/not looking forward to that.

Now, just some Biochem stands in the way of me and break. M has been WONDERFUL in teaching me biochem the 2nd half of this semester, couldn't have done it without her. Thank God for great friends, especially those who were biochem majors. I still love Handel and Rutter, but they haven't helped me much in biochem.... :)

Come on, Friday. Time to go home and spend some quality time with S. I hope everyone is having a great "finals" week, and I'm praying for ALLL the M1-M4's who have tests between now and then!

I'm coming home.. to the place where I belong...

It's the night before the final "regular" biochem test, and instead of studying, I find myself completely distracted. Tomorrow marks the first time I've gone home since the semester started... And it's a funny feeling. I'm incredibly excited to see family and friends that I haven't seen in WAY too long, and to celebrate Thanksgiving... but then again, school is looming. Comprehensive finals and boards are right around the corner. There's not enough time to do it all, and what am I doing? That's right. I'm taking a few days off.

I'll probably regret it later, but I'll regret it sooner if I lose my sanity before the final stretch even begins. At some point over the weekend, I'll resume studying. I'll wait as long as possible. I'll probably almost lose my mind next week. But some things just can't be replaced. The joy of the holiday season with family, after being away for so long thus far and going through so much, is one of those things. I don't think anyone can truly understand unless you've been here. And this isn't a "down on med school" post. More just "I'm tired. I'm really tired." I'm ready for a REAL break. Not this time when you're supposed to be enjoying life and professors are screaming out the back door "don't forget to pack the skull!" - Ok, maybe they didn't exactly say that... but that's the point.

And my point? I really don't think I had one tonight. Just was looking for something else to do besides study. Anything else. Because I just don't know how much more I can take. Lord, bring lunchtime tomorrow quickly!!!

Amazing week-end turns into amazing weekend!

Friday's biochem test turned out much, much better than I was hoping for. Pleased to see one of my higher grades in the class so far! Only 3 more tests (one regular, comp final, and boards) until the world of biochem goes away for a while...(until Step 1 prep)

The rest of yesterday was pretty darn good as well... and then today I went to JFC for the first time. What a ministry! I was in awe of the privilege I was given and the gratitude of the patients. My first blood draws went great - must run in the family. Mom's a great stick :)

Football today = amazing, as of replays and what I can gather. Hotty Toddy! Looking forward to a Saints victory tomorrow as well.

For the rest of the weekend, I'm getting my gross on. Weren't things much easier when we were kids and the bone of the head was the "skull"? Yeah, not so much anymore...

I've also got to do my research for Rounds in the NICU monday. Looking forward to a self-made long weekend :)

This is why I press on...

Friday in the NICU was like coming home... I realized, after much too long of an absence, that I was indeed back where I belonged. Not only is God doing great things in my life now, He's continuing to prepare the way for me to show His love and blessings to those in need. There's something about watching a 500 gram baby cling to life that leaves me awestruck at His creation everytime. Even on the littlest ones, the sickest ones, those with birth defects or infection - the absolute PERFECTION of His plan is amazing. Tiny fingers, tiny toes, tiny eyelashes. It's every bit perfect. And these angels, whether sent to us for a short time and then called Home or sent here to defy the odds - absolutely make my journey worth it every single day.

In boring, med school related news, Friday's phys test went just fine. Biochem is this Friday. I'm seeking redemption following the metabolism (older med students will recognize this as the "Dr. W & Dr. H test") disaster. I've tried a few new techniques this time... and although I'd jump for joy at a really GOOD grade, passing will make me happy. Biochem is OVER in less than 37 days, praise the Lord!

Update... and 50 days til christmas!

Lacey is doing wonderfully. Continue your prayers that her pain would lessen so that her therapy can proceed quickly and she will only strengthen from here on out. Glory to God!

I got my H1N1 shot this morning. Yay, shots. Ha. I just don't have time for the swine flu in the midst of first-year craziness.

In mention of M1 craziness, we have two tests tomorrow (Biochem, Histo) and three on Monday (Gross Practical & Written, Developmental Anat) followed by Physio next friday. Continue to pray for our class as we are just so absolutely exhausted at this point. FIFTY DAYS TO GO!!!! This is gonna be the hap-hap-happiest Christmas since Bing Crosby danced with Danny effin Kay!

Next friday afternoon I start shadowing in the NICU. So very excited :)

Praising God for small miracles..

I genuinely was afraid I'd failed my biochem test yesterday, but ended up doing very well :) Genetics is still up in the air, I'm sure he's trying to figure out how many points to curve (30...40...50... there were def some ppl in our class who didn't study at all).

After that, we did hand dissection. It was our first shot at skinning which was a nightmare. We started at three and left at 530, just as frustrated as ever. Not the idea for today. We're supposed to start at one but our 11 oclock lecture was cancelled, so I'm forgoing small group bible study in order to get that dissection started. I'd ideally like to get home early, but even "on time" would be okay. I was exhausted after the test yesterday and didn't get much if any studying done last night.

God, hold me. Give me strength when I have none - to finish this dissection and begin to hammer all the gross concepts into my head. It's going to be a long few days.

This is what everyone warns you about - being chronically exhausted. Blah. All I want to do is sleep - the one thing I CAN'T do. :(

Just a few more days and three more tests to go until I can breathe again.

A month has passed... really?

We've been in school a month now. Hard to believe. Somedays it feels like it drags, then I look behind me and realize how much we've already gone through. The rundown so far:

Gross - I still like it. I'm not crazy about lab time (or spending time in the lab when I don't have to), but it's alright. Learning the stuff is fascinating. There's a lot of it - but it's all so clinically relevant that I don't mind.

Biochem - I still hate it. This block's first lecturer was better, but then we got another accent... Will I ever get used to the accents?? Downfall of going to a tiny undergrad/grad school I suppose..

Histology - haven't had any this block, we start back next week.

Genetics - I really like Genetics, it's just hard to force yourself to study for something at A) is worth 1% of your grade and B) the professor tells you you can't fail.. He has the weirdest, most hilarious dry sense of humor too. Sometimes I find myself going "I can't believe you just said that..."

Developmental - Pretty sure I'm the only person in the class... that I know of at least... that likes developmental. The self-study is great for me, and I think the material is way interesting.. but that's the babydoc in me I guess.


Tuesday block test: genetics and biochem. Guess what I'll be spending MY weekend doing. Le Sigh. You suck biochem.

I live for the weekend...

This morning we had our Gross Practice Practical. It went really well - I was quite pleased. I need a little more work on my identifying nerves vs arteries, but the rest was good to go.

After lab, I went to try out Berry Berry Good Yogurt. Best idea ever. Best place ever. I'm hooked.

Fat free, sugar free, low calorie - guilt free. 12 flavors and you build your own. My choice today was cheesecake with raspberries, strawberries, blueberries and blackberries :):)

It's been a great day. Time to study biochem.

Week... three?

The days are already starting to blur. Today we started small group bible study, and I'm pretty sure it's going to be one of my favorite parts of the week. Dr H is wonderful (kudos to the M2's and up who recommended the study).

Biochem is still biochem, but this block is better. It makes more sense and I'm a lot happier with the professor.

I still like learning Gross and Developmental Anat... the tests are going to be heck, but Rohen's and the Moore book are my second bibles these days. So far, I'm doing better at identifying the structures than identifying what they do. Ah. It'll come :)

Ummm... other than that, yeah, life's pretty much study study study. I will NOT get discouraged. God brought me here and He will bring me through it. Every day I wake up, I'm thankful for the opportunity I have - to whine, moan, complain, and spend entirely too much time studying.

Thank you, God. I can't wait to serve you as a physician :)

I PASSED!

I passed my biochem test and owned the histology one :) Yay for first tests being out of the way!

PIG tomorrow. Couldn't be more excited.

Met my cadaver yesterday. She's skinny. Very, very skinny. We also received a box of bones, which I promptly had my lab partner take home. Human bones in my house are just a little creepy at this time.

With all that was going on yesterday, preparing for the tests, I didn't have time to do the reading for Gross... and Gross (this block at least) is going to be an adventure, considering that our lecturer has one of the thickest accents ever. Yay for hours of wasted time sitting there listening, then more hours of coming home and memorizing.

Anyway, I had to share my celebration. Back to the grind! :)

One week down... 36 to go :)

The end of the week finally came! It was an amazing ride this week, learning lots of neat stuff... even when it's something really boring, it's cool to see it all put together in a big picture. And oh, what bliss there is to 64 hours of no new material! I finally had a chance to get through all of it... and it's not nearly as intimidating as it seemed. The biochem is definitely more intense than the histo, but it's almost all do-able (I've yet to get all the math problems down... stupid math).

Of course, Dr. Hawaiian Shirt still has a few lectures to give on Monday... But it's all good. I'm not there yet, but I know I'm on my way... Bring it, first test!

(Just wait til Wed, please :))

In other news, we'll be starting Gross on Tuesday. That will be an interesting turn of events. Kind-of hoping I get assigned to group B so I'm not dissecting on my birthday... But, the way things normally go, I'll be knee deep in formalin for 4 hours. And my family can enjoy the smell of it over dinner, because I've heard that showers don't necessarily rid you of the odor.

Yes - that's right. The family's coming to town next weekend and I cannot wait. Yay for birthdays!

(And now, back to biochemistry...)

Med school 101

The first week is going pretty well. It's a lot of material, but I'm hanging in there... I've gotten a schedule down pretty well and I'm keeping my head above water. Just keep swimming right? One day at a time...

I got CPR trained yesterday. My trainer commented that my infant technique was the best she'd seen in a long time. Hmm... wonder why.... With the adults, on the other hand, I had to get on a stool (so I'll be the doc riding through the hall , hovering over the patient's chest to do compressions on them...). Nonetheless, i'm all clear so if you happen to cardiac arrest with me there, I'm ready, willing, and (practically) able.

So far, biochem is the suck and histo is not nearly as bad as I thought it would be.

That's my med-school-in-three-minutes overview. I'll try to post again this weekend. First test: a week from today!