My Baby Turns Four Today!!!

I have a four year old!!!!... I cannot believe it.

I am so blessed to have this guy because I truly believe he gave my life it's true purpose.

He's FOUR!

Happy Birthday Natey!!! You have brought sunshine to so many lives and we are so blessed to have you.  Mommy loves you so much!!!

Wordless Wednesday: Nate Turns THREE!

My little pumpkin turned three years old on January 29th!!! Last Saturday we had a big party and got to celebrate with our family and his classmates. We all had a blast!

He was so excited!!!

We couldn't get him to pose for any pictures because he wanted to start playing... 

Nate loves him some cake...

Wordless Wednesday

It's already shaping up to be "one of those days".

But life goes on and we gotta keep on cruisin'...

Pumpkin's got the right idea :-)



Happy Hump Day!

It is Wednesday, right?

So I am failing terribly at this blog thing...

And part of it is because of school, but the other part is just life I guess...Exam block two went great, and is now almost a month behind me. But I haven't had much time to regroup, so I've been having little bouts of shamming here and there which isn't good at all... Today marks the last day of our last full week of class, and I could not be happier. However, it's bittersweet, because this is the schedule that awaits me...

11/23 CMB 3

12/3 Biochem 3

12/6 Anatomy 3

12/8 Biochem Final

12/10 Immuno Final

12/13 Anatomy Final

12/15 CMB Final

So needless to say, as much as I am looking forward to the few days off for Thanksgiving, that I don't have to go to class, I really don't see it being much of a break. Ah well, plenty to still be thankful for...

Pumpkin is doing great! Talking up a storm and still dancing :-) Although he is starting to call his parents' by their first names...and that is not going to fly...haha

I still need to decide about Christmas decorations, Christmas shop, and get Pumpkin's Christmas pictures taken so I can send out some cards...so much to do, so little time...Christmastime has always been my favorite time of the year :-) Although the last few years have been stressful to say the least, this year I plan on focusing on the real reason for the season...

If only following your own advice was just as easy as giving it out...

This paradox is applicable to many facets of life, but today it resonated in the student-mom department. Just a week ago, I explained to my mom, who is currently going back to school to be certified in project management, that she should always do her work ahead of time if possible, because if something comes up with my two youngest brothers, she is prepared - and something, more often than not, WILL come up...



So being the responsible student-mommy I am, for fall break I had an amazingly ambitious plan to not only catch up on work, but also get a headstart on studying for the next exam block in two weeks...A four day weekend is filled with endless possibilities, both academic AND non. Unfortunately, this weekend, I barely accomplished the things on my list...luckily fall break was Monday and Tuesday, right? Wrong. Pumpkin hasn't been himself all weekend after he got sick at school on Friday, so yesterday we were at the pediatrician where we learned about coxsackie virus :-/ and that he should stay home from daycare one more day just to be sure he's better...



I did get to feel his nodes and practice my differential diagnoses on him prior to the peds visit...but my expertise stops at "enlarged lymph nodes" for now...lol He's doing much better today. I guess watching the effects of his immune system fight off this virus will have to suffice instead of the jumpstart I was planning to get on my immunology course...These are the things I'll remember years from now - that I was able to be there for my son when he needed me. Not that I was prepared for an exam two weeks early, and I'm cool with that :-)



Also, during my break I have been able to practice my culinary skills! The Hubs is such a great cook, I feel like everytime I cook it has to be something he hasn't done much (or before) so I can impress him...haha Anyway, last night was meatloaf (it was great!) and tonight I'm slow cooking a WHOLE chicken! Cooking is pretty fun, I wish I had time to do it more often...maybe I can take weekends...maybe...lol

Sidenote: Special birthday shout out to baby brother number two who turns 18 today!!! Love you!!!!

One Week Down....

I now have my first week of medical school under my belt, and so far so good :-) They did a good job of easing us into everything...one of the highlights of the week was definitely our day in the simulation center - I learned how to do sutures, use an otoscope (we got to see a normal ear and an ear infection ear), ophthalmoscope, listen to heart sounds, and put a chest tube in a test dummy...I was so proud of myself!

Last night, the hubs and I went on our first date since Valentine's day and it was a lot of fun :-D Today we were reunited with the little one and when he saw us he let out a HUGE scream. It was the cutest ever. I missed him so much and I am so happy to have him back....

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For homework, we had to write a reflective essay on our first week of gross anatomy, and I think it sums up my most memorable experience this week and probably the semester:

Having the little organ donor heart on my driver’s license always made me feel like that was my way of leaving this earth and giving back one great final gift. However, as I begin my medical school education, I have gained an even better perspective on the selfless gift of our donor. Like those others who in death have given someone else a second chance at life through their vital organs, my donor is also giving the gift of life. He is giving life to my education and proficiency as a clinician. And most importantly, he is giving life to all of my future patients. It is through my donor that years from now I will draw on what I have learned during my time in gross anatomy.

This is the second time that I have had the opportunity to dissect a cadaver. I went into this experience with a pretty good idea of what to expect when we opened those stainless steel containers. I thought, like last year, I would focus on our task for the day and not the totality of the person on whom we were working. But during one of the moments in which I had handed off the scalpel to one of my group members, I began to look at the hands of our donor. His hands had a familiarity to them that took me beyond anatomy lab and led me to a trail of thoughts about who once held those hands lovingly, what children might have examined those big hands with curiosity, or who looked to those hands for support or strength. I realized that the word “cadaver”, although the correct term, did not do this man justice. He was not just “a cadaver”, but someone whom we would get to know very well in the coming months.

After our first week with our donor, I noticed that each lab session we approached him with increasing familiarity. The trepidation that we had as we began an external examination of the back of this stranger was soon turned into a respectful awe. Finding out his cause of death, bladder cancer, also added an element of self-disclosure – it was a piece of our donor’s story. Three days a week (at least) our wide-eyed group leans in close like sponges to soak in everything we can. Our donor allows us to delve into what was his most intimate and personal possession. In taking the time with our donor seriously, my group members and I are setting the stage for our medical education with some of the most unchanging fundamentals in a field that is ever evolving.

I have always been taught “to whom much is given, much is expected”. We now have a great responsibility, and I will spend the entirety of my career trying to repay his gift – by using the knowledge I have learned to improve the lives of my patients. I also feel like this is our donor’s opportunity to take back what the invasive and unyielding cancer tried to take from him. In the end it was him, and not the cancer, that determined the fate of his body. And in turn, our donor is training those who can help continue the fight to eradicate it. His decision to give an anatomical gift has reframed what I once defined to be a selfless act. He is a quintessential example of altruism and may he rest in peace.