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!!!

The little things in life....

There are a lot of rituals that occur after exams at my school...one of my favorites is cooking with my friend Michelle. It tends to be a post-exam ritual because that's the only time we have to do it. My favorite thing to make is egg salad because 1. it's amazing, and 2. I can make a lot of it and have sandwiches throughout the week. I didn't have any eggs, so I went to the grocery store to grab a dozen. Pending where you go here, they may or may not be refrigerated. At the place I went to on this day, they were. As I reached for the eggs, it was almost as if I were dreaming...I could swear that I saw pasteurized milk...but I thought...there's no way...I've lived here a year without "normal milk". If I've never told the story of milk here on the island, here's the short of it...the milk here comes in a box with a flip top, sits on the shelf...therefore NOT refrigerated...tastes absolutely NOTHING like what, as an American, I am used to...so basically I bought it just for cereal, to feed local cats and to occasionally put in my coffee. Anyway...I looked again, and sure enough, the store had pasteurized milk!!! I asked them how long they had it, to ensure that I hadn't missed it over the last year, but they said they had just started getting it. It is shipped in from Barbados (I believe). I payed 11EC (Eastern Caribbean dollars) for 1 liter (which is roughly $4 US), but it was COMPLETELY worth it. To top it off, I had just received a package in the mail from my parents the day before and they had sent me some oreos....needless to say, I had a night of oreos and ice cold milk!!!!! It's amazing the little things that can excite you once you've lived outside of your "normal"...makes me realize how much I take for granted living in the USA...even something as small as a glass of milk. :)

Best Day at Ross Thus Far!

So I admit...I'm officially the worst blogger ever...I just end up not finding the time that I would like to write about all of my experiences here. However, I couldn't pass up the chance to write about this past Thursday.

In fourth semester, students spend two full days at the hospital...and Thursday was my first day. I got up early, ate breakfast and popped my Dramamine for the hour roller coaster of a car ride to Princess Margaret Hospital in Rosseau, the capital of Dominica. I was a little anxious. I felt confident in all I had learned to prepare myself for the day, but being the first time...I had tiny butterflies :) We arrived at the hospital around 9 that morning and were given our assignments for the morning. There were different specialties that were sent to observe, including family medicine, OB-GYN, pathology, geriatrics, ENT (ear, nose, throat), anesthesiology, primary surgery, and post surgical rounds. I sat there anxiously awaiting my assignment...my first preference would be surgery...no luck...then anesthesiology...no luck there either...pathology?...nope...I began to worry about how much I would enjoy the day but tried to remind myself just to be grateful that I was going to follow around a physician that morning instead of sitting in class. I leaned over to my friend Diana and joked that we probably got stuck with OB-GYN (no offense to anyone that has that profession...just not really what I want to do all day). I ended up with ENT...but poor Diana got OB-GYN (she said she learned a good bit by the end of the morning shift...but she never wanted to see a vagina again). I wasn't pumped about the ENT assignment, but awaited instructions anyway. Then, a guy in my group that had been assigned primary surgery asked to switch to something they had an open spot in, so immediately I asked for his place in surgery and I GOT IT!!! I was SO excited!

We headed over to the OR, which was an experience in itself (note to all reading...hospitals at home can be annoying and frustrating...but we should all be grateful for he luxuries we have by where we live). I went to the ladies dressing room and changed from my "professional" attire and into what I think are some of the most comfortable clothes ever invented...SCRUBS. We were given hair nets, face masks, and booties...a quick overview of the patients we would see that day, and that was it...time to start!

The first surgery we saw was absolutely my favorite and it would be a shame not to explain it fully. The man having the operation had a bad fall previously and broken his femur (longest bone in your body...from the hip to the knee). At the time of the break, he had surgery to reset the bone and inserted a large steel rod to allow the femur to heal. Luckily for this man, his leg had healed very well, however, that meant that he needed another surgery to remove the rod. The surgeon made a 4 inch or so incision in the right hip, and then proceeded to jab back and forth with surgical scissors until the end of the rod was exposed. Once it was exposed, he used fancy pliers to pull on the rod to loosen it a bit. Once he finished with the pliers (with the rod visible from within the mans hip), the surgeon began putting his tools together. The long rod that was placed in the mans leg had a small hole in the end of it. The surgeon put a T-shaped handle onto a long steel bar with a hook on the end. He jabbed this into the leg a few times until he was able to get the hook of his tool into the hole in the rod in the mans leg. From there, it was a tug of war between the surgeon and this man's leg. Eventually, with probably 3 giant pulls, the rod quickly slid out of the mans leg....I know this seems kinda harsh for people that are squirmy...but i ABSOLUTELY LOVED IT!!!...I've often wondered if I would like Orthopedic Surgery...so it was definitely awesome for me to witness one. It's amazing to me how brutal the surgeon was...made me think about how much pain people are in when they wake up...wondering how much of that is from the surgery and how much is from the surgeons method...?

I also saw a prostatectomy, removal of a foot nodule, removal of an epigastric hernia, and catherization of a man that had not urinated since Sunday (keep in mind that I went to the hospital on Thursday). Those surgeries were also exciting, but nothing like the femur rod removal...and that was just my morning.

After lunch we were sent to interview a patient and do a full physical exam. I was sent to the womens ward and met Octavia, a lovely 33 year old mother of 4. She was born with only one kidney and about 5 years ago, her kidney started to fail. She was a wonderful patient. We laughed and she told me all about life in Dominica...and amazingly, then asked me where I was from. When I told her South Carolina she said, "Greeenville, right?" which absolutely blew me away. She said she has a good friend that is going to Bob Jones University right now...small world huh? :)

Well, I better get in bed because it's one in the morning here and I need rest...but I couldn't resist getting this up while I had a few minutes....hopefully more awesome stories will come again soon.

P.S. Aunt Linda: I hope my descriptions don't churn your stomach, but I wanted you especially to know how my hospital day went. Also, I still had that pack of PB crackers you gave me...I took them with me and ended up giving them to Diana when she was feeling sick...so on behalf of her, Thank you for those!!! :) love ya!!!

Mini's...a new measurement of time

Being in med school and living in what is considered to be a third-world country, where the slow pace of island life is clearly high on the priority list, I often find myself losing track of time. The only way I ever know the date is by checking while I sit on the computer doing school work. However, I can't complain (though I often try, and do...I shouldn't).

Today was what I often refer to as "Mini Monday". The school that I attend happens to test all subjects on the same exam. There is one test every month. Ironically, they call these exams Mini's, despite the material that they cover. It's amazing the way these exams can, if you let them, control your every thought and action.

I was very stressed of this last exam (and probably will be until the scores are issued). This was Mini #2...and #1 did not go nearly as well as I had hoped. Therefore, I was doing all I could to prepare for this one. However, that led to more and more stress, which I don't always do a good job of dealing with (it's definitely something I need to work on). I would spend all day studying, and then go home feeling like I didn't know the material. Anyway, I often keep stress to myself. I don't want to appear stressed in front of other people because I feel that they have enough stress of their own...and I would rather be cheerful and try to alleviate their stress. However, for the people closest to me, that I care about the most, that's not always the best. For example, my stress caused me to be short-tempred with my fiance over absolutely nothing. He is AMAZING when it comes to my stressing out and many times has told me that he would rather me take it out on him than bottle it up...but that's not fair to him, not at all. I was also short with my parents, when they were just trying to encourage me to keep pushing and to get the rest they knew I needed...these are the people I love most in the world and yet I often treat them the worst.

Anyway, today before the exam, I got up early to study, but I made sure to leave time to read my Bible before I went. I've been reading through Matthew and today was the story of Jesus walking on the water. When the disciples saw him, they were scared and so Peter said, "if that's you Lord, tell me to come out there with you" (this is my translation of course). So Jesus does, Peter goes, but then the storm got worse and Peter took his eyes of of Jesus. At that point he started to sink into the water and had to cry out for help. I AM PETER!!! When I read the part where Jesus was asking Peter why he had so little faith, I felt like God was sitting there asking me that. Why do I let these exams stress me out to the level that they do. I know that I can't do this on my own..I've never done anything on my own. God designed me to be a doctor at a young age, got me into and through an amazing college, got me into medical school, and he's going to get me out! Why have I had so little faith in that...? I've seen him work so many miracles, just in my family alone...what's a mini exam to Him??? I guess sometimes it takes weird things, like Mini exams to remind you of how amazing God is. Despite the scores that come back from my exam, God did a MAJOR work in my life today! He guided me through that exam, but more importantly , He taught me a lot about my own perspective....and with all that said, this may be the only night I have to relax, so I'm off to do just that!

Life is Good

So I haven't written anything in quite a while due to the heavy load of schoolwork. My first exam for this semester was this past Monday. The email of our responses and the actual answer key were sent out today, so you can calculate your raw score. That's where my day turned sour. However, that's not the purpose of my blog today (or hopefully any day). When I got the scores in my email, I had also received an email from the post office telling me that a package had arrived for me. I know that getting actual mail has lost it's appeal in the States and isn't really something to be excited about anymore. However, when you're on a tiny island and all your loved ones are at home, getting something from them is more exciting than Christmas! My parents mailed me two packages about 3 and 1/2 weeks ago...and today was the day I finally got to enjoy them. They sent all sorts of things, like sticky notes with my initial on them, body spray, and my absolute favorite thing to get down here...FOOD!!! It's hard to find a lot of the normal conveniences of home when you're in Dominica, so in a way (and yes, as cheesy as it sounds) it was like getting a piece of home today in the mail. :) However, my favorite thing out of the two boxes was a green handbag they send. it's a canvas tote from the brand "Life is good". I love their stuff just for the sense of optimism it brings. Not only was the bag green, one of my new favorite colors lately, but it had a daisy (which are my favorite flower) on the front and read "Life is good..." above the daisy. The bag couldn't hvae been more perfect for me and I've already made use of it.

I guess the point is kind of like..."when life hands you lemons, make lemonade", but so much more. I'll be the first to admit that I was absolutely angry and sad all at the same time about my test scores this afternoon. I sat alone in the building I study in with my hoodie over my head frantically writing notecards and getting to work on my new material...determined to rock the next exam. I was short with anyone that even attempted to talk to me. However, I won't blame anyone else for my own mistakes and I take full blame...and although I was rather upset this afternoon, I finally realized that although the frantic studying was good and I was rather productive, the attitude in which I was doing it was completely wrong. All in all, the tote bag I got in the mail today was so much more than a bag to me. It was an instant reminder that I've been blessed...absolutely BLESSED with an AMAZING life. I get to live on a tropical island while pursuing my childhood dream. I have two wonderful parents that are my biggest supporters and never fail to show it, even through something like a care package from home. I have a brother that I absolutely adore and my life would not be the same without. And for the last three years of my life, I've had the most wonderful man standing beside me, facing every giant I do and telling me how much he believes in me. The gifts God has given me, which I completely do NOT deserve are uncountable...I can't wait to see what he has next in his line up! :)