Medical School Prom

So as amazing as it is that it has come so quickly...I'm nearly 30 days away from finishing my time on the island. As a gift to the 4th semester class, the school pays for a huge banquet for everyone to attend, which was this past Saturday. The dinner was great, there were performances by members of the class, and dancing. The favorite part for me was it was held at Fort Shirley, a historic landmark here in Dominica (the first mass emancipation of the British Empire took place there). I was on the planning committee, which proved to be a lot of work, but to see everyone having a good time and random people thanking me for everything...it was well worth it.

I'm actually in lecture so I'm not going to draw this one out...but it was certainly an amazing evening full of friendship, laughs, and great pictures! It was nice to actually be able to enjoy the island without having to study for an evening :)

Godly Parents

So this week at NewSpring, my home church, we started a new series called "Don't Get Married Until..." for singles and engaged couples on preparation for marriage. Sunday was "Don't get married until you hear from God". There were so many great moments during the sermon, but one that really stuck out to me was when Perry (the pastor at NewSpring) addressed the parents. Here's a link to what I'm talking about... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L8q2o-y_hF0 I highly suggest checking it out if you have time.

Anyway, being a parent is something I have always looked forward to (one day a long time from now...haha). And there are many times I come across people and think "weren't you raised with more manners than that?" or something to that effect. Perry touched on this during the sermon. He gave the example of mom's that try to be "the cool mom" to their young daughters and dad's that don't teach their sons to respect their mother and other women. Without a second passing, I thought to myself...SO GLAD I HAD THE GODLY PARENTS HE'S DESCRIBING! Naturally there have been millions of times I'm sure that my parents have annoyed me, as I do them or we disagree, but regardless of all that, I cherish them so much and am so thankful they were the ones God chose to raise me.

My mom is a rock. I've seen her deal with a lot in her life and watched her handle every circumstance. I think she gets that from her mom, who raised 4 amazing children as well as my cousin as a single mother after the death of my grandfather. We aren't promised that times will always be easy, but you do the best you can with what you have, something my grandmother taught me when I was little. My mom has dealt with a lot in life, just like anyone else, but through it all, she stands. When my dad was diagnosed with two completely separate cancers and her mother was told she had a brain tumor...my mom, although I'm sure terrified like the rest of us, was there for the rest of us, always making sure my brother and I were alright. At the same time, growing up she was a mother to Jeremy and I...and that was priority number one. It's because of that mentality, and not trying to be the "cool mom" that has brought us to where we are not. At the age of 23, my mom is one of my best friends and someone I actually enjoy hanging out with, shopping with, having coffee and talking with...something I'm so grateful for!

As for my dad...I definitely grew up a "daddy's girl". My mom always tells us we are "two peas in a pod" and she's right on point. My dad and I have always "been on the same page" with a lot of things. My love of sports started with my dad. I remember growing up and going to Clemson football and basketball games as a family...especially football. Always stopping at KFC or something in Easley on our way to Clemson to grab lunch and parking near this giant tree on the campus. Unloading our picnic table and having lunch as a family and then Jeremy and I climbing in that giant tree...then throwing football around with dad for a while before heading over to the stadium to cheer on our tigers! From there it was baseball and basketball...with dad as my coach. He always knew exactly what to say to encourage me, motivate me, or piss me off just enough to make me a better athlete. :) Even when I got to high school and college and dad went from being my coach to on of my biggest fans, he still knew the right things to say...always helping me analyze the game. My mom memorable time was when dad told our family he had been diagnosed with cancer...to this day I'm not sure how he did that. It was as if it wasn't a big deal...I don't know how scared he was on the inside...tons I'm sure...but he never, not even for a second, wavered in his faith. He knew that God could take that cancer away at anytime and would if that's what was His plan. He prayed over our family and the doctors he was working with and that was all it took. His faith inspires me and taught me the type of dependence on Christ I wanted my future husband to have. One of the points Perry made in his sermon was about dad's "dating their daughters" and being the man that tells them they are beautiful so that when some guy comes along and tells them...they already know :) . This is something else I have cherished over the years. Both of my parents always compliment me..but something I remember from when I was little was dad bringing mom flowers and bringing me one as well. Flowers from daddy never gets old.

I feel like this blog was so scattered with random thoughts, but that's just what they were...random thoughts of gratefulness I had while watching the sermon...I'm so thankful for the Godly parents that I've been blessed with and I wouldn't trade them for anything! Also, if you want to see the entire sermon, you can watch it online at www.newspring.cc

A day in the life of Dr. G

So despite being constantly around medical knowledge and situations, I still enjoy watching medical based television shows like House and Life in the ER. Another show I enjoy watching when I have time is "Dr. G - Medical Examiner". If you've never seen the show, Dr. G is basically the best at autopsy examinations. I got the chance to step into her shoes this past week.

Twice during 4th semester at my school, students are required to go to the hospital for rounds. My second trip was last week. The schedule is the same for everyone, in the morning you follow a physician and do whatever they do, sometimes participating, sometimes just watching. There were three girls plus myself that went to the Pathology department. The physician we followed was from Cuba and did not speak English very well. So...thank you to all the teachers who taught me Spanish in high school and college because it got me through the day :) We went through a short presentation in her office and then it was off to work. We left her office and went outside to what looked like a shed or something that should be on a farm. While looking a little shady on the outside, the inside was a fully functional lab. The man was a 76 year old Dominica with a cause of death of CVA - Cerebral Vascular Accident. Just before we began, the mans wife and two other relatives came in to identify the body. That was definitely tough. To see the mans widow walk in, see him, start crying, and with tears streaming down her face told us that was her husband. After that, the relatives signed some papers and then left...and it was time to start the examination.

So this is the part that will gross you out if you're squeemish...so there's your WARNING!

So the autopsy began with cutting the deceased from his throat down to the bottom of the abdomen. The autopsy technicians cut through the fat and abdominal muscle wall to expose the abdomen. A saw was used to remove the center of the ribcage and expose the chest cavity. And this was the part that amazed me...so as you may or may not know, there are large arteries that come off the heart and then the large intestine connects to the rectum. These are the major areas that hold everything in place. These two areas were dissected through, a couple other things happened, and then in a few minutes, all internal organs from the chest and abdominal cavity were removed in one big mass and layed on the examination table. This is where the pathologist takes over. She has to inspect each organ for other signs that could have lead to his death. Everything is cut open, weighed, and sometimes samples are taken to be looked at under a microscope. However, since the cause of death that was suspected was the CVA, it made sense to look at the brain first. So we did...we had to first remove what's called the calvarium..basically the top of the skull so the brain could be removed. Once the brain was on the table the pathologist started working her way through it. It didn't take long to find the cause of death. There is a group of arteries that runs through the brain, so if you know where to look, your job is much easier. There is a one called the basilar artery. It had an "atherosclerotic plaque" in it. That's the same issue we all hear talked about with high cholesterol and eating too many cheeseburgers. The plaque closed off this artery and prevented the blood, which carries the oxygen from getting to the brain. So basically this man died because he couldn't get oxygen to his brain.

Once the pathologies was finished looking through all the organs, they were put back inside the man and he was sutured up, which was impressive in itself because the incisions that were made were barely seen.

And that was it...I had seen my first autopsy and confirmed the diagnosed cause of death....something that is so gross to many people, and was one of the highlighted days in my life on this island.

During the afternoon at the hospital I interviewed a post surgical ward patient and performed a full physical exam for him. However, it pales in comparison to the excitement of the morning...and my class has started, so that's all for now :) I can't believe I only have 43 more days here!!!