jrjeya_76's Xanga

Whoa! Another pt!

Tue, 14 Aug 2007 07:21:10 GMT

Ok today's pt beat the last one.
This morning, we were about ready to see a pt who had been having paranoid delusions and hallucinations. Some of these things may have been side effects of the anti-HIV meds this pt was on. I was kind of excited because this pt was a woman.. and you almost never see women at the veterans hospital. "Kind of a nice change," I thought. Boy did I not realize what a change this pt was... Just before we entered her room, we looked at the white board on the wall with all the pt's names on it. Next to hers was the little symbol that means female (you know what I am talking about, that little circle with a plus sign). Well, this one was kind of weird, because it had the plus sign as well as an arrow on it (like the symbol for a male). Basically, it looked like it was both the female and the male symbols put together.
No one in my group thought anything of it, except for my resident (the same guy I wrote about last time), who got very excited. He assured us that this was a purposeful combination, but we were not impressed. So, he grabbed one of the nurses (he is very buddy-buddy with all the nurses) and asked her what it meant. She explained that this military vet was formerly a man who had undergone a complete sex change operation. Dude, this guy fathered KIDS. And now... viola... he's a she. I'll call her "Francine." We went into her room, and there was this woman with well done up blond hair, thin features, but her hands looked like big man hands. The creepiest part was her face. She was only in her 50's, but her face was as wrinkled as a 95 year old. It was so wrinkly that it didn't even look like skin. She also had, unfortunately, the very skinny face that people get when they are on HIV meds (called lipodystrophy). She had a soft, womanly voice, but it was clear she was not your typical woman. As part of the mental status examination, we asked her what her name was, and she replied "the name I was born with or the one I have now?"

Anyway, that was really creepy to me. My team got in an argument over what sort of 'partner' she would prefer (bisexual man, homosexual man, do bisexual men really exist... according to my other resident, "of course they do! he has a friend who will have sex with just about anything..." I wondered if it's really his friend, or if this is one of those veiled ways that people talk about themselves when they're too embarrassed to admit something. SO GROSS!) Luckily I got out of there because I had an exam to take.

Moral for today: Some things are worse than exams.

Patients are interesting

Sat, 11 Aug 2007 18:29:04 GMT

So, I'm almost done with my first rotation of 3rd year med school... Psychiatry!
I thought I'd take this oppourtunity to talk about a patient (abbreviated "pt") that I saw yesterday with my resident. Currently I am assigned to the VA, so 99% of the pt's there are men. When I walked into this guy's room, the smell almost made me barf. But, I held my mouth shut tightly in hopes of preventing that (I am not sure why, because I know this doesn't work. I did an experiment with Katie last year in which this was proved wrong. She always barfs when she goes on car rides, so one time when she was on a car ride, I held her mouth shut quite tightly. The barf gurgled and bubbled out the sides, and she looked more depressed than usual for a car ride.) But I digress.

So yeah, he smelled terrible. From the looks of it, he probably hadn't had a bath in 40 years. He was humoungus, and even though his clothes must have been XXXL, his gigantic abdomen hung out below his shirt by about a foot. My resident proceeded to ask him if he felt suicidal (psychiatrists are legally required to ask this.) My resident then asked him if he had anyone to go home to, and the pt said that he has had enough of women controlling him, so he had divorced his wife. This was the one time during the entire interview that the pt looked at me. Actually it was more like a glare. Ok, whatever. He hates women. But then my resident asked him if he planned to see "What's her name" after he got out of the hospital. The pt laughed and said that he doesn't need to, because he has like 4 women waiting for him in the area. My resident, being the good psychiatrist that he is, told the pt that he needed to pick one and stay with her, so she could take care of him in his old age.

My question: what the HECK kind of woman would ever take this kind of guy? And does the psychiatrist really think that he's helping this guy by telling him to find some poor woman to take care of him? THAT woman is going to need a psychiatrist. Or maybe an infectious disease specialist. Oh, and one last question: does "what's her name" mean "ho?"
Weird. It's just weird.

Comments?

Dwell in the midst of us...

Wed, 14 Jun 2006 06:15:50 GMT

Ahh what an awesome prayer!!! Here is a link to an awesome song.. let this be the cry of our hearts, Oh God! Dwell

Ok so it's been a while.

Tue, 13 Jun 2006 05:21:49 GMT

Wow its been a long time since I last left an entry. I've started several times, then I've been overcome by the boringness of my own life and deleted it to prevent you all from having to poke yourselves in the eyes.

Anyway I might as well just give you some boringness. This is my last official week of my first year of med school! I'm pretty much already done since they had us finish exams early this year. WHAT A CRAZY YEAR! I never knew a universitiy could make students work that hard. It just seems beyond impossible!! Praise God that I survived (we already lost at least 15 students).

The past 3 weeks we've been working in the hospital pretending to be really dumb, really lost doctors. Ha, ha... Embarrassing. It's better than studying all the time though. And working in the ER was really awesome! Helicopters flying people in from accident scenes, people with parts of their hands missing, helping sew up wounds with blood squirting out, me getting hit in the forehead with part of a finger... almost every day, something exciting/awesome happened! I really like Emergency Medicine...

Today, I worked in the Pediatric Urology clinic. In other words, I saw lots of little boys (and a few little girls) with problems urinating. Working with urine! Isn't that what every doctor has always wanted to do! NOT! The interesting thing is, that is one of the very hardest specialties to get into... You have to be one of the smartest doctors in the whole country to get into urology... I just don't get it. Why is being a urine doctor the most competitive??

Among other things, I've joined the Air Force, and am all of a sudden called "2nd Lieutenant." Yeah it sounds as weird to me as it does to you. It's with a cushy med school program though so we get it much easier than everyone else, AND I'll get med school paid for, AND I'll get a $1200 a month stipend... sooo good!

But whatever. All of that pales in comparison to the lesson of trust in God that this year has been. And I'm finally beginning to settle down with some awesome Christian friends (though it's a good bit harder to do than it was at Ashland... man I miss you guys.) Also, I have an awesome boyfriend who is so in love with God... wow life is such a blessing. David James Holt is his name, a med student here at Loma Linda finishing his first year just like me... I never knew God would bless me this much. I'm crazy about him, and the feeling is mutual! It's neat to be able to share medical school with him. We even had been going to the same church before we started dating. As of right now, we've been dating for about 4 months.

Here's what else I am excited about: June 22nd is the day I go back home to Ohio! Yes I'll miss David and all my other friends a LOT, but I am SO excited about catching up with you all.. my dear friends back home and of course my family!

Ok I think it's time to stop boring you, especially since I ought to go make my bed. I could always just sleep on a bare mattress, but I must keep fighting laziness! It's so good to be done with exams, that I just feel like becoming a total bum. What do you think? Should I become a bum?

Thursday, February 09, 2006

Thu, 09 Feb 2006 22:01:26 GMT

Whoa, I just took one of the hardest exams I've ever seen in my life... physical diagnosis of the heart and lungs... INSANE!! I thought I really understood this stuff. But, I am going to trust God, cause He knows what's best for me, and He can do anything.

Lately, I've been wishing I could be closer to God. Who is this amazing Person/Spirit/King of all Creation that loves us so much?? Yet, I can only love him and think of him from afar (it seems). Why can't I touch him and be wrapped in his arms? Why can't I hear the lovely sound of his voice and feel his whispers of afffection in my ears? WHY ARE YOU SO FAR FROM US, God????

And then last night at 2 AM, when I was studying for physical diagnosis, it hit me. It's not HIM. It's us. We could touch him and hear him, walk beside him as a man walks with his friend, but something happened when Creation fell! Sin changed us so that we couldn't do this.

Look how things used to be with God... Genesis 3:8. "Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the LORD as he was walking in the garden in the cool of the day.... the LORD God called to the man 'Where are you?'" I have a feeling that my previous interpretation of these verses never really got an idea of what it was like. God was "walking in the garden in the cool of the day." Can you imagine what it would have been like for that to be a normal, every day occurence? God walking in this incredibly beautiful place, beyond anything I can imagine I am sure, to spend time with the people he loved so much? And he spoke openly with Adam and Eve..!

I long to be in that place where everything of this world fades away and all I see is You, God. Like Moses, I long to see Your Glory. I want You to say to me "Julie, there is a place near me (NEAR ME!) where you may stand on a rock. When my glory passes by, I will put you in a cleft in the rock and cover you with my hand until I have passed by. Then I will remove my hand and you will see my back, but my face must not be seen. No one can see my face and live." I want to know You so closely God, that you consume me. Hear my prayer. Answer me.

Monday, January 09, 2006

Mon, 09 Jan 2006 23:32:24 GMT

Hey! It's been less than a billion months and I'm making another entry! I've just got some random thoughts for today (wait, when is it ever NOT random? Xanga probably is a word that means random in Eskimoan or something.)

Ok Random Thought #1: Respiratory physiology is really hard. I never thought calculus would help me in medical school, until now. Actually, it isn't helping me, cause I can't remember any of it anyway.

RT #2 (no Jon, not Road and Track). I was busy wasting time yesterday looking for a picture to print out so that I could put something actually decorative in my room (as opposed to all my strictly functional stuff). I love trees in the summertime, cause they're green, and I like trees best when they have their summer foliage on them. Well, I looked through just about every picture with a tree in it on Allposters.com, and there were maybe FIVE posters that were mostly green. And they were dumb shots! (too much other crap in the picture, like roads, for example). So, my question is, do people not like pictures of green, summery vegetation? Am I that far off the beaten path?

Ok I think I need to get back to my new buddy, Respiratory Physio. Have a good one. Cmdr LaForge Out.

Saturday, December 31, 2005

Sat, 31 Dec 2005 00:36:08 GMT

Wow its only been 90 years since I updated... sigh... I'm back home in Steuby right now. I have a couple days of break left, and then it's back to California. I must say, I won't miss the COOOOLD, or the mud, or the endless clouds and lack of sunlight. Newly single, and done with about 2 quarters of med school, I'm always getting interesing/bizarre surprises thrown at me... and now, we'll change the subject, cause I don't want to think about that stuff. SO, I've passed all my exams so far, some by the slimmest margin possible (if I had missed one more question, I would have failed) and some by scoring over 90%. WOOT to me!!!

On other things, it's been great being home this past week and a half! Katie has grown up into an awesome dog! A little crazy, a little naughty, but just 100% lovable German Shephard. She's eaten everything gross that I could ever think of (yes, EVERYTHING), and some stuff that I thought was totally inedible (paper, plastic, cardboard, rubber, teflon... maybe metal but I haven't seen that first hand). It's always a surprise to see what comes out the other end, if you catch my meaning. Today, it was blue. Soooo, changing the subject again... Jake is doing pretty well.. he's 15 now. Not bad for a golden retriever! Plus, he's gotten over his obsession with eating gross/bizarre stuff. WHOA I THOUGHT I CHANGED THE SUBJECT.

Lalala... heading back to Loma Linda in a couple days... that was the shortest 2 weeks I have EVER seen. I'll try to update more often... I'll try!

Sunday, October 09, 2005

Sun, 09 Oct 2005 07:43:22 GMT

Listening to: crickets outside my window.

Ok, time does seem to fly when you are studying like crazy (not fast enough in some ways, though.. I've got a long ways of this to go!).

So... updates and news... I passed all my exams!!!! I have never been so happy for a 76% in my whole life (I was sure I failed several exams.. failing is below 70%). I had mostly low and mid 80% and one 91%. I have never worked so hard in my whole life and come so close to failing. I was questioning whether or not I should be here.

As thrilled as I was to pass those exams for summer quarter, a new realization is hitting me now. In the 4 (or was it 5?) weeks preceding the first exams, we covered about 5 inches worth of lecture notes. Since those exams, we have already covered over 6 inches just IN THE PAST TWO WEEKS, and we have several more weeks to go before exams again. In addition to this scary thought, we are now in lab for at least 2 hours every day, in addition to 4 hours of lecture. There's so much more to learn this quarter, and there's even less time to learn it! We even started aNOTHER class in addition to our others.. I think we are up to 9 or 10 classes now.

Wow, ok sorry for the complaining. The roommate situation is... bizarrely interesting, if you have a sick sense of humor. If I make it through medical school, ask me about it someday!

Ooops, more complaints. Ok, its been really warm here, like high 80s or even 90s every day. Before you go, "Bah! I'd rather have rainy weather in the 40s than blazingly hot 90 degree weather," let me remind you: this is practically a desert. It is so dry out here, that 90 degrees literally feels like 75 here. 80 starts to get downright chilly. I kid you not (yeah ok i get chilly at the Ohio temperature of 65, so I am saying that 80 here feels like 65 in Ohio). But it's not so dry that there aren't flowers all over...!

Ok now that you're bored to tears and probably stopped reading, lets talk about... natural disasters. I was taking a nap the other day, and I felt an earthquake! Luckily it was just a little guy. Kinda cool... nothing fell of the wall though. Also, recently, there have also been a lot of wildfires nearby. I have some really cool pics of the hills on fire (taken from my balcony)... The sky was filled with brown smoke (this is a sky that is deep blue and cloudless 99.9% of the time). It was weird/cool!

Also, another great thing about being here is that it still feels like midsummer... perhaps just a little beyond mid-summer, with some crackly leaves blowing about. The only weird thing is that it gets dark earlier than summer ought to.

Other news in my life... my relationship with Jeff is going ok. The fact that it is now a long distance relationship does not seem to affect it much.

OK.. i better stop procrastinating. It's almost 4 AM Eastern time (1 AM here), so I gotta get studying some neuroscience. Night everyone! miss ya!

Saturday, September 17, 2005

Sat, 17 Sep 2005 18:29:20 GMT

Currently listening to: some kind of bird outside.

It's Saturday morning before my first week of exams in medical school. I've been studying so much, yet I have this despairing feeling that I know its not nearly enough... I am just hoping like crazy that I've studied enough to actually PASS these exams. and NO, I'm not just being my normal, overkill-studier self who worries about exams but is well-prepared anyway. The amount of knowledge expected here is above and beyond anything I could have ever imagined. It's so hard; i'm so buried in it. I think all of my undergraduate learning (including independent study and research internships) has been covered in the past 4 weeks.

It's also rough right now cause, in addition to the crushing workload, I'm missing the people I care about most: my family is back home and I just want to see them again!!! The vast majority of my friends are in Ashland or somewhere else in the state of Ohio (the exceptions being in Nashville TN and Bangor ME, and other places around the country and world). I even really miss my dogs, dang it! I am finally breaking down to the thought of buying a ticket home for Thanksgiving, but the cheapest I can find is $336. In addition, I am really missing Five Stones Community Church... I just want to strip all other thoughts from my mind and openly worship God with all my heart... with others who are doing the same thing. Five Stones was great about that.

One good thing about being absolutely SLAMMED with work is that the time goes by relatively quickly. Days and weeks slip by and I have no chance to realize it. To those of you who have left comments or AIM messages or sent me stuff... you guys have made my life SO much more joyful... and if I have not responded, its not because I don't want to. Every day as i crawl into bed, exhausted, I think about how another day has gone by without me writing back to all those people that I would love to keep up with. I think about you guys a heck of a lot and I can't wait til we can hang out in person again. Ok i gotta grab some food and get started studying for today. Have a good one!

Saturday, August 27, 2005

Sat, 27 Aug 2005 08:55:58 GMT

Currently listening to "The Maldau" by Smetana.

Wow, i remember when we performed this song, back in the days of my youth orchestra.
But that is besides the point. Right now, its almost 2 AM early Saturday morning here on the West Coast; almost 5 AM back home. And I am feelin it like i'm still on Eastern time. But, i'm learning a lot about embryogenesis... yes, that would be how eggs get fertilized. Ask me about it later. or.... not.

Today was the day i met my "dead guy" cadaver. He was an army veteran, so that makes me respect him even more. (I already respected him cause we got several lectures about respecting our guys/ladies). Cadavers get a lot of use at health schools like this, so my group was quite lucky in that we got one that had already been dissected a bit. We didn't have to skin him, which I think is the worst part. Once you're past the skin, everything seems a lot less realistic. Nobody is used to seeing/touching muscles and fascia. Everyone is used to seeing and feeling skin. So, the fact that it was already done made me feel a lot better.

Thought for the day: med school is academic boot camp. No, actually, I think its academic nuclear war. The stakes are high, and its harder to understand than I could have dreamt (just like nuclear physics, though i bet i could get those better than this, as long as i had enough time). Whoa, note to self, don't write in here this late after studying embryology. Its just too weird... and now back to the books... soooo tired...