Finished my rotation in radiology.  Whoo-hooo!  What did I learn??  That radiologists are a bunch of ego-centric doctors, at least a good portion of them (not ALL, mind you, just most)...and that the techs are the department's bread and butter.  Those people are knowledgeable and a great resource.  I definitely have a great respect for the rad techs and a good understanding on what NOT to do when ordering studies. 

Don't forget Mother's Day is Sunday (not that you could even if you wanted to).  Give Mom a big hug and say thanks, ok?

So, my patient from yesterday, the man with the bleed in his brain?  He's not going to make it.  This is the part of medicine that they don't even try to prepare you for in school.  Why don't they?  How could they?  This is where I get angry at medicine...he was walking and talking yesterday morning.  Today, they're preparing the family.  Crap.

In the midst of my radiology rotation...and I'm learning more than what goes on behind the scenes.  I've learned that a bunch of calcifications on a mammogram mean that a woman, a real live person, is probably going to be receiving one of the worst phone calls in her life soon.  I learned that a man can have breast cancer and then all of a sudden develop a bleed in his brain.  I learned that a woman who 31 weeks ago rejoyced over becoming pregnant now has to mourn the loss of the child she never got to meet.  It's soo much easier reading about this and doing case studies.  I found myself praying for each and every patient I saw today.  I found myself near tears at soo many different times.  And you know what?  I don't ever want that to change.  I want my patients to know I care, that I am upset about their bad news too.  What if that person was my mother, brother, father, husband, child?  Wouldn't I want their healthcare provider to give a damn?  I get soo damn angry when doctors, nurses, techs, whatever, don't give a damn.  Or who say, it'll be alright.  That's bullcrap.  While I don't want to breakdown into tears, I do want to always feel compassionate about and empathetic for my patients.  Maybe that's the real reason we do our rotations...although learning patient care/contact/etc are pretty dang important too. 

Anyhoo, was feeling a bit thoughtful today.  Hope you all have a great hump day.  Be safe and be cool. 

Well, I have survived my first mini-rotation.  It was great and I learned a ton.  I got to see some very interesting stuff when we went to the Pathology department...in the interest of NOT grossing y'all out, I won't go into it here.    I did just find out that I'm in a MESS of trouble though and that could be a very bad thing.  *sigh*  Lesson learned??  Never go by what your preceptor tells you, only by what your SCHOOL tells you.  Dang, I'm soo pissed at the preceptor now, pissed at my self and terrified at what's going to happen to me.  poop

Live, learn and move on, right?  Took Kyra to see Dora the Explorer Live yesterday.  It was a pretty good show!  She's been talking non-stop about it and is just soo darned cute.  I really wish we could have had the money so that all four of us could have gone...I think Spence would have loved the show. 

Well, I'm gonna git.  I'm in a bad mood since receiving the email from the clinical coordinator at school.  I will now proceed to beat myself up all week long until Monday rolls around.  Wish I was the type to let these things roll off my back! 

I am finished with my didactic year!!!!!!!!!!!!  Whooohoooo!!!!!!!!! 

I am sooo excited...now I just have to apply all that I've learned in the past year to my clinical rotations!  I start this Monday at the National Naval Medical Center in the lab...it's a short one week stint, followed by a week at Shady Grove Adventist Hospital for a week in radiology.  My pediatric rotation will begin May 31st.  Dang, I'm excited!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  Can u tell??!?

Hrm, what else.  I am going to enjoy being a wife and mom this weekend.  Nothing more.  I'll do some garage saling on Saturday morning...the ones around here are amazing!!  Then we'll head out to see Royce's sister's new abode/mansion.  It's just huge!!  On Sunday, our anniversary , we're taking the kiddos to the O's game!!!!  Go O's!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  Kyra is super excited about the game, she really loves baseball, or is it the cotton candy?? 

Best of all is going to be church on Sunday.  Our pastor just started his series on blasting away the DaVinci Code.  heh heh  It's excellent!

Y'all stay safe, y'hear? 

I am very nice and sunburned....gotta love driving around in a convertible.  Just getting my last rides in before we sell it.  Shoo-wee, it sure is fun though!!! 

Passed my PALS course...so if you happen to be near me and you and your child are in need of resuscitation, I'm your girl!  The worst part of the course yesterday was watching the video on coping with a child's death.  Dang that was hard to watch.  I do have to say that I do have a better idea of what to do and what NOT to do.  I just pray with all my heart that I never see or experience that pain ever.

School, the classroom stuff atleast, is drawing to a close.  It seems soo weird to me that I'm going to be out there, working, seeing patients, doing what I've wanted to for soo many years.  I'm almost there.  The next 15 months are going to be very tough.  I have soo much to learn, it's a daunting task if I think about it too much!  I pray all the time that the kiddos will do ok with me being gone soo much.  I know Royce and I will be fine, but how do you explain to young children that mommy is going to be gone for huge chunks of time?  *sigh*  I try not to think of it too much because I really get myself upset. 

Oooooo...it's our 6th Wedding Anniversary this Sunday!!!!!  Holy smokes...where has the time gone???  I'm posting a pic here so you can see us as those young kids with stars in our eyes.  Those stars...they're still there.  I love Royce more than ever.  He is definitely my best friend and soulmate. 

Hey all!!  Great day, huh??    Had a great morning in that I was able to see both kiddos before I left for school...that is a huge deal as Spence typically sleeps in.  It was great getting the sleepy cuddles this morning.  Kyra was just a sweetie, giving me big hugs and kisses.  *sigh* they're pretty cool, you know?

Nothing exciting planned this weekend as I have to take a Pediatric Advanced Life-Saving course.  We're required to take that and the adult one before we can start rotations.  I'm only bummed because I have to give up a weekend...which I treasure.  Oh well....gotta be done.

I have nothing really to say...what a worthless blog, eh??? 

Ok, where'd Spring go??  I'm serious, it's cold, rainy and if it weren't for the green grass and blooms everywhere, I'd think this was November!  Heck, one of our neighbors still has Christmas decorations up!

I survived Easter Sunday...it was actually a great time and my in-laws pretty much behaved and didn't say anything too annoying.    It gives me hope that we can eventually have totally event-free family gatherings!  I will post some pics of the Easter Egg dying fun that Kyra and Spence had once I get the pics downloaded.  Spence truly loved the dying process, especially dropping the eggs into the mugs of dye.  Thank goodness for dyes that wash out realllllllly well!

I can't believe I only have 8 more days of actual class time left.  I have a one week rotation in a Lab setting, then a 1 week in a radiology setting, an exam and then after a break, I start my actual clinical rotations!  Cool.  I just hope these last 8 days don't drive me insane!!!!!!! 

What an amazing day...the sunshine is soo welcome after all this rain.  I can't believe it's only 2 and I've been up for 9 hours already.  I've taken a final exam in radiology, worked a fictional case through using our lab skills, gone to Price Club with the fam, put the kids down for naps, and checked email.  I'm tired, I'd like to go to bed now, please.    I'm trying to decide what I should do.  I'm thinking that I should make the cheese cake and boil the eggs for dying tomorrow.  Hrmmm.  Or, I could just sit on my fanny and read my SIR. 

Anyhoo, I hope you all have a blessed weekend.  I'm going to be hosting, why do always volunteer???  10 adults, 4 kiddos and two doggies.  Anyone feel like coming over and helping me clean?!?!?  Ugh.  Here's a little Easter comic....but please don't forget the real reason for this weekend's celebration. 

Thought I'd do some more pics.    Kyra got her ears pierced on Sunday...she wasn't going to, but once she saw those sparkly purple earings that were definitely fit for a princess, well, it was all she needed to see.  She nearly backed out, but I gently urged her to go through with it.  She looks sooo darn cute, almost a little tooo cute.   

Alrighty, here's more pics...cause I have absolutely nothing to say.   I have no idea why I like this picture, it's just darn cute to me. 

 This is Royce's fav pic of Kyra.  She was getting some braids done the day we were leaving.  Which she promptly cut off the Monday we were back.  *doh*

 Spence replying to our favorite question, "Donde esta tu umbligo??" 

 And, my two beach bums waiting outside the room on our last day.  *sigh*  I wanna go back!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!