Happy Holidays

Last Post!! I hope that everyone had a great first semester at UNC and did ok on their first set of finals. I know everyone is excited to be home for winter break. Hopefully everyone has a Merry Christmas or whatever it is that you celebrate and a Happy New Year!

Going to the Doctor

Look, here is another one that is actually about medicine... kind of. I think it is kind of weird that I want to be a doctor but absolutely despise going to the doctor. I usually wait until I am so sick that my mother forces me to go with some kind of threat like "you are not riding untill you go get some anitbiotics". So I suck it up and go to the little emergency clinic and find out that not only do I need antibiotics but steroids and cortizone because my cold has turned into a sinus infection and ear infection. I also refuse to go to the doctor for injuries. Of all the times I have fallen off my horse and landed on the hard ground or solid jumps, I have never gone to the doctor for an injury and I have never fallen off without getting back on and finishing my ride. Three years ago my crazy ex racehorse reared and I fell off and landed on my lower back. This was the first time I didn't jump right up and run after my horse. I didn't stay down long because I heard my Dad yelling for me to get up before my horse trampled me. So I got up but couldn't seem to move my legs because they were shaking so bad. While my parents caught my horse I composed myself and decided to work the horse on a line so that we could both settle down for a few minutes. Then I got back on him and went back to work and I didn't realize until I was walking him out that my tailbone and back really hurt. I blew it off as having bruised my tailbone and went back to riding 3 days later. I now realize after 3 years of having a sore back and not being able to sit still in a chair for very long that it was probably more than a bruise and I probably should have gone to the doctor.

It isn't quite the same

One of the things I miss most about home is my horse, Goldie. Untill about one month ago she was still at home so I had to drive home to take care of her pretty often. Mom will feed her but that is about it and horses need more care than that. Now she is at a beautiful barn in Concord where she is taken care of every day by their staff. The nice part is that I can go ride her whenever I want and they have an arena with lights so I can even ride after dark. I still miss seeing her in the pasture when I get home... and as much as I hated going out in the cold every morning to feed her in high school, I kind of miss that responsibility now.

Home Sweet Home

I am sitting in my living room by the fire and the Christmas tree and I couldn't be happier. Well I would have liked a real tree but since I was gone I didn't have much say. It was nice to have a good home cooked breakfast, and I can smell the soup cooking for later. It is a perfect day for laying around and recovering from exams since it is nasty weather outside. I know that in a few days I will start to miss Chapel Hill but right now I am perfectly content to be in Smallsbury even if there is nothing to do.

Sleep Deprivation

We have all pulled an all-nighter before but did you know there are serious side effects to sleep deprivation? Sure, staying up all night once won't kill you but staying up late several nights in a row does take a toll on your body. I had never gone so many days with so few hours of sleep before this past week. When I was taking my music exam I couldn't stop my hand from shaking. I had to erase and rewrite half of my test. I have always had steady hands even when I am nervous or overly caffeinated so I had no clue what was wrong. Surprise... among other things such as increased blood pressure, headaches, and irritability, sleep deprivation causes hand tremors. I hope this issue resolves itself in the next four years or med school should be fun. Steady hands are kind of a requirement in the medical profession.

Lillian Update

Yesterday Lillian's x-rays showed that fluid is starting to clear out of her lungs which is a very good sign of improvement. The bad news is that she is fighting off an infection and is building a tolerance to the drugs that keep her sedated, making it harder to keep her comfortable. She also had minor surgeries to adjust the ECMO catheters because they had shifted, causing her oxygen saturation to drop. Keep praying for Lillian and her family.

Pointless Rules

Obviously you can get in trouble for having alcohol in your room but did you know that you can't have things such as wine glasses, flasks, and empty bottles even if they are used for decorations like christmas lights in wine bottles or painted glasses? This seems unfair and completely pointless. Most sororities give out beautiful wine glasses that should be allowed to be displayed. I don't know if all dorms do this but Granville is checking our rooms for housing violations after we leave for break. I don't really like the idea of someone snooping around my room while I am gone. At least the RA's won't steal stuff like the maids who have access to our rooms.

Headed Home

I am finally done with exams! Chem was not nearly as bad as I expected so hopefully I will end up with an A. Now I get to go home and SLEEP for the next two days and after that I am going to spend as much time as possible outside. I am so tired of sitting in my room or the study lounge all day every day. I didn't even walk outside on Thursday. How pathetic is that? Good Luck to everyone on Exams!

Platelets

I went to give platelets a week ago because club teams have to donate. So after I found my way to the hospital (I don't go to south campus very often so I was kind of lost) I went to the information desk and asked where the platelet center was... they sent me to the complete wrong end of UNC's very large hospital. Anyway, after spending thirty minutes trying to find the place I answered all of the questions, had my finger pricked, and sat down in the chair. After about 10 minutes of sqeezing a stress ball the nurse still could not find a vein to stick. She would not even try although I told her it wouldn't bother me. What would they do if I needed an IV? So I walked back up to Granville after wasting more than an hour. At least the team still gets credit because I tried.

One down, One to go

Only one more exam! I thought I would study a lot for chem but I really only spent like 3 hours studying. All I can think about is going home tomorrow and having an entire stress free month. Between horses and school I have always had something to do. I am so excited to go home and have a) no homework/projects and b) no horses to take care of.

Prayers For Lillian

http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=183280774868&ref=ts
If you have not already joined the facebook group Prayers For Lillian please follow the link above and join. There are currently 7,775 members praying that Lillian, a freshman at UNC, will recover from h1n1. She has been hospitalized since November 23 and is in a medically induced coma. An ECMO machine is doing the work of her heart and lungs by taking blood from her body, oxygenating it, and puming it back into her body. On Monday her heart stopped but she was revived through CPR. While the rest of us stress about exams and prepare to go home to enjoy the holidays, Lillian is fighting for her life at the UNC hospitals.

The ECMO Machine


Lillian and her family

Flu Shot... JK flu mist in your nose

I have never gotten a flu shot before but I considered getting one since college is the flu's favorite breeding ground. I got h1n1 early this semester... well I think but I can't be sure because campus health doesn't bother to test you or medicate you (maybe they will revise this policy as a result of poor Lillian's fight agains h1n1). They had a vaccination clinic in the Agora and since it is convenient and free it couldn't hurt to go and get a quick shot. I am fine with needles but I am not sure about this mist in the nose thing. I skipped the vaccination and decided to hope that I actually did have h1n1 and therefore can't get it again. Also, being that the vaccination is a mist which indicates that there are airborne droplets that cannot possibly be completely contained within the nasal passages... Is it safe to have the vaccination clininc within 20 feet of the cafeteria food?

The little things

The more time I spend here at UNC the more I find myself enjoying the many traditions on campus. One of my new favorites is the Clefs Old Well sing on the last day of class. I took a break from studying to go watch the clefs sing and it was very nice. Obviously I have never lived on another college campus but I can't imagine that other NC schools have traditions like we have at UNC. This was not my first choice in colleges but now I can't imagine myself anywhere else, especially not Wake. In addition to the rich tradition, the community is incredibly welcoming and hospitable. There are massages in the Agora twice during exam week and late night breakfast is served on thursday night at 11:00. My sweet RA has also decided to leave a treat outside her door each day for the 12 days of studying... instead of the 12 days of christmas. I find that little things like this make even the most stressful of weeks bearable and maybe even enjoyable.

4:30 am

In the next three days I have to write 7 more pages for the honors first year seminar I ended up in. How am I in an honors class when I am definitely not an honors student? I really don't know but whoever said fys are nice easy classes to take to get used to college lied. I also have to finish blogging, study for and take a music exam, and pull off an A on my chem exam on Saturday at 8am that I probably won't start studying for until Friday night. Oh well, sleep is overrated and in three days I will be done done done. If anyone else needs to vent about their busy final week leave it in the comments it really does help :) Happy Studying

15 posts in two days!

So I got a bit behind on my blog and now I have to catch up in addition to finals for other classes. Procrastination will be the death of me. At first I thought a personal blog would be more difficult but I have found that it really is not that bad so here it goes... the blog on medicine has turned into a blog on the stresses of being a student at UNC plus the added pressure of being a pre-med student. Maybe I should switch my major to English? Atleast I wouldn't have 4 hour lab classes... sometimes two per semester!