Dr. Kristen

Yes I am going to be vain and post about the coolest thing that has ever happened to me:
My dream came true!!! I am going to be a doctor! I was accepted to Chicago Medical School and am on the alternate list at the U, so one way or another, yours truly will someday be Dr. Kristen. Mind-blowing, humbling, incredible. Trying to soak the moment in.

Studying equations (sort of)

Studying + allergies= :(

Studying + allergies + wine= :/

Studying + allergies + wine + pizza= :|

Studying + allergies + wine + pizza + double chocolate gelato= :)

A tip for everyone:

Never let a hypochondriac take a medical microbiology class. It can lead to constant worry/sleepless nights worrying about scarlet fever and gas gangrene and c. difficile and scalded skin syndrome. Not fun...

Strangely enough, hypochondriacs can still shove gauze inches deep into a person's cheek and watch pap smears. Hmmm...

I received the nicest compliment today at the homeless clinic:

Me: (tired, grumpy, aching sinuses, half-hearted smile) Do you have high blood pressure? Are you allergic to any medications?

Homeless man: No and no. Hey do you see this weird arm that I have?

Me: (Slight nod.)

HM: I was electrocuted. Want to hear how?

He then goes on and on, but I listen as intently as I can at 9 am.

HM: You know, you are going to be a really great doctor some day. There are a lot of bad doctors out there, but you are going to be one of the few good ones.

I don't know if this was a real compliment or if he was simply thanking me for listening to his long story. Because I need a little inspiration at the moment, I am going with the former:)

And in other medically related news: Gentleman watch out. A man was in our hospital this week for penile injury during sexual intercourse. I guess that it can really happen. OUCH!

I am studying HIV/AIDS pathogenesis for my microbiology class and I want to cry. How can one infinitely small capsule of nucleic acid lead to such devastation of the human body???? Definitely humbling, definitely sad, and definitely mind-blowing.

Some of my favorite new words...

*gubernaculum (yes, it is a very real word. connective tissue of the testes)
*gingivostomatitis (a sore mouth in babies)
*claudication (atherosclerosis leading to limping. many pts in the hospital have this symptom..who knew?)
*cholangiocarcinoma (cancer of the bile ducts...again who knew that this could happen?)

I would have been a damn better speller when I was a kid if I knew some of these words. Then again, I probably would have been Doogie Howser, M.D. if I had known these words.

I was telling dear EB today that the only thing running through my head today while talking to patients were names of foramina and features of the skull. Yes, I do know (maybe) where the petrotympanic fissure is located. EB said, "Ladies and gentleman, we have a nerd in the house." HAHAHA!!! So true, so true. But I love my nerd status. I have come to find that I feed off of knowledge, especially medical knowledge. Like, do you know what claudication or kyphosis mean? (If you know this without having to google it, you should maybe apply to med school, if you haven't already). Bring it on baby..this nerd wants more of it!