Heal Me, Nature

Still licking my wounds, I headed into the canyon for a little "me" time to get away from things and to put something in front of my face that wasn't ink on a page. So, I headed into the river canyon for a short hike to get away from things, climb a ridge, and get a fresher perspective.

I drove fast in the canyon, leaning into the curves, glimpsing the river down below, seeing the rain clouds move in from the horizon. On reaching the trailhead, I ditched the car, grabbed my gear and heading across the river and into the thicket. I picked the steepest trail that I could find and attacked it. Within five minutes, my legs were throbbing and my lungs were on fire. I pushed onward, upward and, eventually, was rewarded with fantastic view of the canyon.





On the plateau, I lost the trail but managed to pick up a game trail and follow it for a while. Ten minutes later, when I was precariously perched on the seriously steep mountain side, I realized that I was not and had never been a mountain goat capable of comfortably walking on such stupidly sloped mountains. Carefully, I picked my way along the hillside for the next thirty minutes, pausing often, shooting some pics, and scouting my route. Eventually, I worked my way around the canyon and back to some landmarks that I'd noted that were on a proper footpath. Then, with quivering legs, I headed back to the car. I left the parking lot as the rain moved in and drove home tired and happy.

That Stung a Little*

*By "Stung a Little," I mean that it knocked me on my ass and hurt me badly. A brief rundown...

Community and Behavioral Medicine:

I'm in the white trunks.

Medical Microbiology

Here I am, taking the hit.

BioChemistry

Once again, I'm on the bad end of the business.

Medical Physiology

That's me in the role of Marcellus Wallace.

The Beauty of Sleep Deprivation

While shower this morning, my sleep-deprived brain took made the jump from "I need to shave" to "Billy Mays had a strange beard" to "I wonder how much cocaine he did?" to "what if he was in 'Scarface' as Tony Montana?" to me actually doing the final scene in Mays' pitch man style.

Dress it up with a little Mays' flair...

Do you want to play games? I bet you do; the good new is that I'll play with you!
Do you like to play rough? Have I got a surprise for you!
Say 'hello' to My Little Friend(TM)!

Comedy gold.
(Comparison photo not available, obviously.)

Call me Hollywood ... before I get some sleep.

Friday Nears.

Awesome. Can't wait.

Yep...this about sums it up.

Week 12 : Done

The weeks continue to roll on by and the end of the semester looms ominously. Week 19 will be here before too long.

Anatomy: Still the Winner
Just wrapped up the thorax. Again, the dissection was incredible. I held a human heart in my hands. (!?!) The prof wasn't so thrilled when I reenacted "Temple of Doom."

Wearing the costume to class might
have been a little over the top.

I Am Amusing, Insensitive
So, the H1N1 flu has made the rounds at school. It seems to have abated now but a couple of weeks ago, tons of people were out. I didn't see one of my classmates for several days and just assumed that he had the swine flu (la gripa porcina). When he finally made it back to class, I we had the following brief conversation:

"So, man, are you back from the dead?," I asked innocently enough.
His face twisted in a funny sort of way that immediately made me feel a pit in my stomach. His was an expression that foretold that this conversation wouldn't end well for me.
"I'm not dead ... my wife's grandmother is the one who's dead. I was at the funeral," he tells me.
"I. Am. So. Sorry," I offer. "My condolences. I thought you were out with the flu."
"No, we were at the funeral."
"But I thought you had the flu...that's why I said...," I spoke, trailing off into awkward silence.

We nodded at each other and went our separate ways.

Next Week: 5 Tests!
So, my Halloween plans have been replaced. Instead of rocking the Charlie from "It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia" costume, I'll be attending a party at my desk and dressing as an overstressed 1st year medical student with five tests next week. In true dedication to the costume, I'll keep my stinking face in a stinking book.

Next Friday at about 12:05pm PST, however, I'll be dressed as a guy with a thirst for beer who's ready to ride the wings of the dragon through the cosmos.

Happy Birthday to Winning Run
Wish my sweetness was here. Or that I was there.

Love is a dress that you made
Long to hide your knees
Love to say this to your face
I love you only
For your days and excitement
What will you keep for to wear?
Someday drawing you different
May I be weaved in your hair

Love and some verses you hear
Say what you can say
Love to say this in your ear
I'll love you that way
From your changing contentment
What will you choose for to share?
Someday drawing you different
May I be weaved in your hair

"Love and Some Verses" - Iron & Wine

Tough One

So, last week in our Community and Behavioral Medicine class, we had a few lecturers come and speak to us about Child Abuse and how we, as physicians, can recognize signs of it and take actions to safeguard the children. I gotta say that after sitting through three hours of photos and case studies of physical and sexual abuse, I was ready to form a posse and dispense some frontier justice.

Seems like everyone was in a pretty good mood going into the class and just crushed and defeated at the end of it. Guess this being a doctor thing has its share of grim reality, huh? It isn't always a sunny outlook before the end credits roll and the commercials air.

Kudos to the folks out there who are fighting this stuff and working to protect kids on a daily basis.

Rodeo Daze

Today's shit was so far over my head that I took the rodeo approach: try to hang on for 8 seconds before you're thrown off. Then, quickly dust yourself off, run like hell for the fences, and let the clowns take over.

People were wondering why I was dressed like a bull-rider. They were even more confused when I sprinted from the room after 10 seconds of lecture.

Probably Not Going to Be Eating Crab Legs for a While...

Today's anatomy lab was another first for me. We removed the arms from the cadaver and put them with the other parts in the bin. It was pretty strange to use a hacksaw to cut off a limb and stranger still to put them in a RubberMaid bin with everything else from the body.

Afterward, we removed the front of the thoracic cage so that we could get to the lungs and remove them. Part of this entailed cutting the ribs with a pair of pliers or snips. Let's just say that based on the auditory and tactile experience of cutting human ribs with a handheld tool, it's going to be a long, long time before I sit down to a plate of you-crack-'em crab legs. It sounded and felt EXACTLY the same.

The lungs, however, are super cool. Even without drawn butter.

So, I Might Be a Little Tired...

After a late night to studying, I got up, showered, and lumbered into the kitchen to make coffee. I pulled out the filter and began to fill it. When it was halfway full, I noticed that instead of ground coffee, I was loading it with Splenda which has no coffee aroma and is the exact opposite color.

Nothing like a hot cup of freshly-brewed Splenda water!

Three on the...Right?
Yesterday in anatomy, our prof lectured about fetal lung development and, generally, about the structure of the lungs in the thoracic cavity. At one point, he mentioned utters the phrase "three on the right" and throws three fingers on his right chest. Supposedly, he meant to give us a quick way to recall that the right lung has three lobes versus the left's two.

Based, however, on the fact that I co-invented "three on the left" signal to indicate that one had "Turned the Fun Corner." Obviously, "three on the right" is a clear indication that someone needs an ass-beating. I let him slide this time. Next time, however, the gloves come off.

Disbanding the Army
Today in Anatomy Lab, we're supposed to detach the arms from our cadaver and put them in the body bin. I'm really honing my skills here. Hobos beware.