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Thursday, June 26, 2008

ohh yahh

Saturday, July 21, 2007

Two weeks ago I started my clinical rotations. So, for the next year I will be rotating through the hospital trying out all the different departments. My first clinical rotation is Ob/Gyn. I have to say that it was a shocker when I had to do a speculum exam on the first day (talk about nervous). But since then I have been having a great time. I think my favorite thing so far is assisting in C-sections. It is amazing to see a baby being pulled out of a small incision in a women's abdomen. The other amazing thing is that you can do a C-section in less than two minutes if you have to (that would be a crash C-section when the baby or the mother is at risk and they need to get it out ASAP). Another highlight has been the normal deliveries. When things are going well, having a baby is actually not that horrible of an experience. I have only got to catch one baby so far, but hopefully there are more in my future.

Friday, June 02, 2006

Hello people:

A lot has happened since my last post here is a sampling:
1. I finished my first year in medical school. It was fun, and that's all I got to say about that. I am already looking forward to next semester. At this rate these four years will fly by and I will finally have a real job.

2. I started my summer job. I am doing stem cell research in one of the labs on campus. I have always been fascinated with stem cells so I thought I would take the opportunity to work with them this summer. UW is a center for stem cell research, and they have four of the original federally funded stem cell lines. What I will eventually be doing is giving mice heart attacks surgically, injecting the hearts with mouse embryonic stem cells (don't worry no human ES cells, even though I live in Madison I am not that big of a pagan yet), and looking to see if the stem cells play a role in repairing the ischimic tissue. I have been working for three weeks now and I have basically sat on my butt in the library reading papers the entire time.

3. Rochelle and I got our wedding invitations out! That was an ordeal. We (I mean Rochelle) made our invitations so it was a lot of work. She is so good, I can't believe all the time and effort she has put into the wedding. I am a pretty lucky guy. I can't wait to get married-friends, family, fun, and finally doing it-what more can a guy ask for.

...In other news. I learn a lot by reading other people's xanga. Here are my a few things I have learned this week that I wouldn't have known if it wasn't for xanga.
1. I learned that my friend Brandon got his wife's name tattooed on his rib. That I think is the greatest idea ever- its Biblical.
2. I learned from the Martins that there are still stupid people out there that interfere with good parents trying to take care of there babies (changing/feeding). That is one thing Europe has on us. In Europe people don't care if your kid runs around naked pooping on the beach. It is natural to take care of a child's needs anywhere the child is public or not.
3. I learned that Jon and Kara got engaged. Cool-Congratulations
4. I learned that people I know have pretty cool lives

Monday, March 06, 2006

My life is pretty much focused on learning at this point. That means not a whole lot of interesting things happen for me to write about. As a result of this here is my new interesting fact of the day:

I have been learning some interesting facts about harmful substances that can cause birth defects. First if you ingest a toxin (like alcohol) in the first three weeks post conception the fetus will either be fine or it will die, all or nothing. If you ingest toxins between weeks 3 and 9 your baby will have a good chance of surviving with severe birth defects. Finally if you ingest toxins after week 9 in most cases the baby will be fine. Pretty interesting. The problem with this is most women do not know they are pregnant until after about three weeks which is right in that problem time period. So women who drink or take drugs regularly, but stop when they find out they are pregnant could actually be too late their baby could already be in trouble. Not everyone who intakes toxins harmful to a fetus during these windows will have a baby with birth defects, but it increases the chance of it happening. So the take
home message is avoid toxins (common ones are alcohol, cocaine, lithium, accutane, Warfarin, Iodine,
streptomycin, testosterone, tetracycline, lead, and vitamin A in excess) when there is even a remote chance that you will get pregnant (remember anything can happen even on birth control), because by the time you "know" you are pregnant it might be too late. So bottom line virgin girls better live it up while you are still virgins (bring on the booz!).

Thursday, January 26, 2006

Some random coments:
1. February is going to be a hectic month for me. Next weekend I am going to Minneapolis to see Rochelle's sister, the next weekend I am going on a CMA retreat, than the weekends after that I will be studying my butt off for two 7-credit class midterms. I'm not really looking forward to February.

2. Happy birthday to Steph. I am horrible at remembering birthdays (its like one of my biggest flaws-I just forgot my mom's birthday in January-ya I'm a jerk), but I saw it on her xanga. Its a golden birthday which is special. My best birthday ever was my golden.

3. I'm am pretty thankful for xanga. I read it alot in class. So, when very smart and somewhat boring old men are lecturing about rediculopathies I am usually reading about the most recent occurances in the lives of some very interesting individuals. Plus eventhough I am totally lazy and don't keep in very good contact it helps me to at least feel like I know what is going on in the lives of close friends.

4. That's it.