Freezing Cold~

As usual, I was greeted with bone-chilling Midwest gusts upon leaving the airport terminal. Well, it’s time to get back to reality after two weeks of insanely crazy getaways. The familiar scent and look of my studio. Everything is as it was, and it makes me wonder if I did truly leave this place.

PS: I hate the blue that comes along with me.

I Think I Was Born to Snowboard

Both of my brothers love to snowboard, but I never thought about trying out the sport. Since I didn’t go last year, they ask me to join them this year. So we all went to Mountain High yesterday, which happened to be a really nice day, and let me tell you, I think I was born to snowboard.

Snowboarding equipments are fascinating in many ways. Jackets, pants, gloves, boards, bindings, accessories are all so customizable. Every rider looks unique in their own ensemble and board setup. Shopping for gears can also be so addicting not to mention EXPENSIVE. In the end, I opted for cheap and rented out a goofy beginner board appropriate for my height and weight while my brothers used their own.

Of course, they took me to the beginner course and told me to start riding facing forward with the board running horizontally. When the three of us were little, we all rode skateboards, so it wasn’t hard for me to learn to stand and balance on the moving snowboard. The fascinating characteristic is that it tends to go in any direction as long the board is pressed in that direction. So I spend the first run practicing my heel control by riding facing forward the board running horizontally. I fell A LOT on the first run. After I got the hang of it, they showed me to practice my toe control. Basically, it’s the same horizontal technique, but riding backward. After several falls, I got sick of it and start riding however I want including fakie (hahaha), bending, twisting, and jumping the board all the way down.

By noon, I found my brothers (they ditched me) and the three of us took the last biggest lift up and ride side by side snaking each other all the way to the finish line. Siblings, I feel that we are different and yet very much alike in many ways. Riding with my two favorite men, I think I can find no greater happiness.

Blizzard tomorrow, and it’s not from DQ

After living here in the midwest for a year now, I realize how sensitive I have become toward the national weather forecast. Blessing or a curse? In any case, it seems that there is a storm coming all day tomorrow and a big one at that. Estimated wind chills 10 to 20 degree below zero and possible 1-2 feet of snow. It will hit Nebraska, Kansas, Iowa, and possible Wisconsin.

I’m having horrible flashbacks of last year blizzard. My car was caked in ice of 2 inches thick. The cherry on top of the cake? I have 8am quiz tomorrow morning. Very unhappy.

Here’s a song from Tokio

Ready for Turkeys

With the end of Cardio, everyone is feeling a little bit excited about Thanksgiving. Before that, however, there is Behavorial Medicine. I’m seeing less and less of my classmates, and I’m skipping classes myself since Behavorial Medicine is a piece of cake (let’s not jinx it here).

Truth be told, I really like Cardio and I can really see myself in it. Still, it’s too early and there are still Renal, Respiratory, GI, etc to go through and I might like those just as much. My friends said that they easily see me in Emergency Medicine due to my lack of long-term commitment and unwillingness to be tied down to one area. I disagree with their judgment, but they don’t care.

Everyone is flying out of here for Thanksgiving except me and a few other unlucky souls. I have credits for American Airlines and can probably get a free ride, but it’s a waste to spend it on a 4-days vacation. My plans are going to be incredible for winter break though. It better be.

Currently wanting to watch, “Delicatessen”. I love most of Jeunet films I’ve seen so far.

Wine

My M1 buddy bought be two bottles of wine (white & red). What am I gonna do with them? Buying wine for a non-alcoholic is a waste, I think.

Talk about peer pressure, haha.

Goodbye Hem/Onc, Hello Cardio

Finally, I passed my Hem/Onc final exam yesterday, and had my “little break” in the afternoon. Today we starts on Cardio, which is the #1 class that fail the highest number of students every year.

How do I feel? tired out. I think, but I just have to last until Christmas. I’m staying here for Thanksgiving, it seems.

Murphy’s law Holds True

So I thought I should share this somewhat crazy and grotesque story that happened last week.

I spent the entire weekend (which starts promptly on Friday at 2:30pm until Sunday midnight) studying ad nauseam for the Infectious Disease final on Monday. It was horrible. I felt like throwing up.

Finally Sunday night came and I decided that it was enough. Before I went to sleep at 1am, I had a cup of milk. Around 3am, I woke up to a horrible pain in my stomach and had diarrhea until my colon was completely clean. Fell asleep, woke up again at 5am, fell asleep and finally woke up at 8am. My colon was feeling better at morning–there wasn’t anything in it anyway.

My exam was scheduled at 10am, and I decided to go to school early. So, I went out to pick up my car in the garage. It didn’t want to start. ‘No, this can’t be happening. It must be my imagination.’ I turned the key again, and again it didn’t start. It only made a clicking noise. ‘NOOOOOO!!!!!’ It was a dead battery. I knew it would happen sooner or later, and it just had to pick that day to die on me. Fortunately, I was able to get in contact with a friend and she came to pick me up.

After the exam, I got a new battery for almost a hundred. Went to pick up my brother at the airport who decided to visit me two days before. It was a crazy weekend altogether.

Still Hanging On

Yes, I’m not dead, though I am a little bit freaked out that I will be soon. Right now, I found a few minutes around midnight to write a proper entry of what second year entails. To be brief, it is VERY different from first year.

With the exception of Human Anatomy & Gross Lab, first year is more or less a regurgitation of undergraduate education except that it’s on steroids. Memorization is still the biggest key element in any subject. If you can remember information and parrot it back on exams, you’ll be fine.

Second year is quite different, and it takes me by surprise in all honestly. For the first time, I have to pay attention to not only the “right answer” but also to “second & third best” and under what condition do they apply. Diseases (prevalence in population), laboratory testing (including theories & methods), diagnosis, clinical symptoms, pathophysiology, proper selection of drugs (mechanism, side effects, interactions etc), contraindications, prognosis, and exception to the rules are just a few of the things that I have to memorize every single day and in huge quantities. The speed is still the same (it’s still on steroids). I feel like my brain is pulsing and it’s only been four weeks since summer.

We just finished Infectious Diseases and are now on Hemat/Oncology. I don’t even want to think about the Step 1.

HOLY COW!

Everything is FAST FAST FAST! No breaks. I’m drowning in drugs, treatments, bugs, symptoms, diseases, in every minute detail. This is why they say second year is hell?!

Welcome Back to Second Year

Second year of medical school starts off with Infectious Disease. This is the first weekend, and I am already overwhelmed with the amount of information. I really want to write more, but I have to get back to work. Long story short, no one in my class is happy to be back. It was evident on the first day of school.