Bicentennial post! My blog now has as many med school posts as the US had years of existence in the seventies! That's a terrible comparison but I'm going to run with it. Both started at dubiously defined times (US: Declaration of Independence vs ratification of the Constitution; WILTIMS: move-in week rather than day 1 of classes), both didn't align with the larger time division (US: 200yrs in 1976; WILTIMS: #200 in October), and both very nearly didn't make it this far (US: Civil War; WILTIMS: neuro... ugh neuro). And yet, here we are!
Amusingly, today was the release date of our school's student journal the Quill & Scope in which my remarks from the Convocation of Thanks were reprinted. That was one of my most meaningful moments of the past 200 school days and it was all thanks to this blog. Writing every day, even if it's only short paragraphs filled with sesquipedalian (needlessly multisyllabic (apparently there is no word for this that isn't self-descriptive)) scientific words, is the only reason I was able to write that piece (though clearly I haven't learned to control my use of parentheses (or irony)).
A second throwback milestone for the day was learning in pharmacology about the chemotherapy that I was taking just over two years ago. It was very surreal watching classmates take notes on the symptoms that I knew - and still remember - all too well. Nausea is three-pronged: pre-treatment, acute, and delayed. Hair-loss sucks. We were told that low blood cell counts can leave you immunocompromised or anemic, but they didn't mention the psychologic distress of waiting for permission from the lab tech to get the treatment you hate.
I am still so glad I wrote about chemo as I was going through it because, as we broach these topics as student clinicians, I can integrate my experiences with my medical education and that of my friends. Also, I have a head start on the material!
Amusingly, today was the release date of our school's student journal the Quill & Scope in which my remarks from the Convocation of Thanks were reprinted. That was one of my most meaningful moments of the past 200 school days and it was all thanks to this blog. Writing every day, even if it's only short paragraphs filled with sesquipedalian (needlessly multisyllabic (apparently there is no word for this that isn't self-descriptive)) scientific words, is the only reason I was able to write that piece (though clearly I haven't learned to control my use of parentheses (or irony)).A second throwback milestone for the day was learning in pharmacology about the chemotherapy that I was taking just over two years ago. It was very surreal watching classmates take notes on the symptoms that I knew - and still remember - all too well. Nausea is three-pronged: pre-treatment, acute, and delayed. Hair-loss sucks. We were told that low blood cell counts can leave you immunocompromised or anemic, but they didn't mention the psychologic distress of waiting for permission from the lab tech to get the treatment you hate.
I am still so glad I wrote about chemo as I was going through it because, as we broach these topics as student clinicians, I can integrate my experiences with my medical education and that of my friends. Also, I have a head start on the material!
TIL: Naegleria fowleri is a single celled parasite found in warm freshwater that will eat your brain! These creatures get into your head when the unsuspecting swimmer gets water way up his or her nose. The amoeba then burrows up through the very thin cribriform plate of the skull and starts munching on the brain. The amoebae don't want or need to live off of a human host, but when life gives you brains, make brain-ade? Unfortunately for us, infections are almost always fatal.
Alkylating chemotherapy agents are derived from the chemicals in mustard gas from WWI. Well, it does kill cells.
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