Stiletto Race

And the winner--at 11 seconds-- is actually only 2 seconds above the World Record holder in the 100 meter dash. Imagine what she can do you if you give her a pair of running shoes!

Last night in the Bay...

So tomorrow I embark on a new part of my life. For the last eight years I have lived up in the Bay Area of California--San Francisco and Oakland mostly. My entire adult life has been spent up here, all my adult friends are up here. My grandmother is going to turn 90 this year and my grandfather is 88. I figure once I start medical school, my time with them will be limited, so I should enj0y their company now. I am glad to be returning to my childhood home, but at the same time I am a little bit nervous. I have no social network save for a few childhood friends, no clubs, no groups. I guess I get to recreate myself, if you will, starting tomorrow. I told my friends up here not to do anything dramatic--like throw me a going away party, because unfortunately I have to retake the MCAT in a few weeks and don't want to dwell on the fact that I am leaving. In fact, I didn't even tell some people I was leaving.

So goodbye Oakland Hills, goodbye Lake Merritt, goodbye downtown San Francisco, goodbye my good old college, and goodbye Golden Gate Bridge. I hope to see you again in a year...

Brain Surgery

So I saw my first surgery yesterday--and it was brain surgery no less! I think I must have gotten lucky because from what I've heard normally the surgery rooms are packed with medical students, but they must all be on vacation or something because during the resection it was just the surgeon, two neurosurgery residents, the surgery tech who was raised on a platform to the side of the patient, the one random nurse who sat in the back and checked her email most of the time except when the surgical tech needed something, one medical student and me.

The surgery takes place in about 5 parts--first the skull gets cut open and the brain prepared for the mapping and surgery (this I didn't see). The patient is on their side, and their entire face and head except for the part that is being operated on is covered in a yellow tarp. Only the 5 X 5 inch section of the brain is exposed. Then the epileptologists come into the room (these are neurologist who specialize in the care of people with epilepsy). The surgeon attaches about 16 electrodes to the patients brain--some slide underneath the brain itself (depths), and some get put in and around the brain's sulci (subs). The electrode device looks like some contraption out of a horror movie or one of those head massage devices that have wires (I wish I could find a picture). Then, the epileptologists look at the EEG and record all the abnormal regions on the graph. In most cases, this doesn't change the surgery plan, but sometimes it does. In fact one of the residents said that this doesn't even need to be done for about 75% of the cases, but they do it for every case so that they are good at it for the 25% of the cases that do need it.

After the epileptologist has confirmed the surgery plan, the surgeon steps in and gets cutting. Yesterday's case was fairly straight forward, so the removal of the temporal lobe (the resection) took about 90 minutes. I don't now why, but I expected to see knives, but to my surprise there were none! They use these high tech tweezers things that electrically cut through tissue. 90 minutes later a piece of her brain was missing. It was very odd to see that.

Then, the epileptologists come in again and place electrodes on the brain again. To my amazement all the abnormal brain waves are gone, except for a few in new places that are due to the brain feeling agitated (these will usually disappear after the brain heals). If there was still some significant abnormal brain activity, then the surgeons might go back in again and remove some more tissue. This had to be the most amazing part to me...in just 90 minutes the brain went from abnormal to mostly normal.

I have to admit, I thought that since I am basically a nobody at this point in my career that I would be ignored, so I didn't expect much. I guess people at a teaching hospital like to teach (go figure), so without my asking several doctors took the time to show me what was going on, point out parts of the brain, etc, etc. I was also shocked by how close I was allowed to get without actually being scrubbed in (only 4 people were scrubbed in - the three surgeons and the scrub tech). The surgical resident allowed me to get within about 16 inches of the patient's brain without being scrubbed when people were scattered around the room doing other things (I had on scrubs, a face mask, little booties, and a hair cover). I guess as long as I didn't touch anyone scrubbed in, the blue tarp covering the patient then I was good...I had no idea the brain pulsated as much at it did. It's almost hard to believe that what you are seeing is real since the patient's face is covered, until you see the pulsating movement of the brain. Pretty amazing!

Dear Abby...

The following is a very touching and heartwarming story. Isn't it wonderful to hear from such a fine, well-adjusted citizen. It indeed makes one feel that all is right with the world after all!


Dear Abby,

I am a crack dealer in Beaumont, Texas who has recently been diagnosed as a carrier of HIV virus. My parents live in Fort Worth and one of my sisters, who lives in Pflugerville, is married to a transvestite. My father and mother have recently been arrested for growing and selling marijuana. They are financially dependent on my other two sisters, who are prostitutes in Dallas. I have two brothers, one is serving a non-parole life sentence at Huntsville for the murder of a teenage boy in 1994. My other brother is currently in jail awaiting charges of sexual misconduct with his three children. I have recently become engaged to marry a former prostitute who lives in Longview. She is a part time "working girl". All things considered, my Problem is this. I love my fiancée and look forward to bringing her into the family. I certainly want to be totally open and honest with her. Should I tell her about my cousin who supports Hillary Clinton for President?

Sincerely,

-- Worried About My Reputation

Drinking and Driving....

So I got woken up at about 12:30am when I heard a huge crash and a scream. I sleep with earplugs, so the source of the noise was not clear to me. I thought someone had broken in and was attacking my sister. I woke her up and she was sound a sleep. She thought I had had a nightmare, and told me to go back to bed. That's when we heard ambulances and police cars. So since we were up, we walked outside to see what was going on. There was an SUV flipped over in the middle of the street, and a couple of people lying on the street who were thrown out of their car (in heels and nightclub attire). Then, that's when I realize my car is parked on that street. Quickly I start looking too see where it's at. That's when I realize the car up on the grassy hill above the sidewalk that's totaled is MY CAR! (And I just put $50 into an oil change, fluid change, tune up two days ago). The driver took out several cars on the side of the street. One guy was just sitting in his car, listening to music and was hit and injured. Luckily no one was killed (just seriously injured), but as it turns out the driver was over 2x the legal limit!

Geeky Pickup Line of the Day!

If I were an enzyme, I would be DNA helicase ,

so I could unzip your genes.

Part II: All about Interia in 40 questions...

Schrödinger passed this on to me, so I figured I might as well procrastinate for a few more minutes…

1. What is your middle name? I’m not telling…even though Schrödinger has gone public with his real name, I prefer anonymity since I am in the process of applying to medical school.

2. What color pants are you wearing? Blue cut off sweat pants-turned into shorts. Very white trashy. I haven’t gotten out of my pjs yet. These used to belong to Schrödinger.

3. What are you listening to now? The sound of the freeway next to my apartment, and my sister singing off tune to the jingle of a commercial.

4. What was the last thing you had to drink? DHMO- Dihydromonoxide.

5. Do you wish on Stars? Nope, not since I was I was a kid maybe.

6. If you were a crayon what color would you be? Teal. I have a million shirts that are all shades of teal. I think that color looks best on me.

7. How is the weather today? Really overcast and foggy. Strange summer weather for California. Although, yesterday was beautiful.

8. Last person you spoke to on the phone? My dad. I was doing some car maintenance and I needed to ask him some advice.

9. Do you like the person that sent this to you? Of course! It’s Schrödinger. He’s my best buddy!

10. Favorite drink? 2007 Napa Cabernets!

11. Favorite sport? To watch: Gymnastics…I once was one, but I got too tall! To do: Cycling or running. I really want to learn how to play tennis however…I want to wear one of those cute skirts! Maybe Schrödinger can teach me?

12. Hair Color? Dark brown and straight.

13. Siblings? Lots. Two sisters (older and younger) and a brother (older). In fact, my little sister is my apartment mate.

14. Favorite month? June Why? Because it's my birthday month and the beginning of summer!

15. Favorite Food? Pasta Carbonara. Ben and Jerry’s Fish Food and Mint and Cookie Ice Cream and Dynamite Sushi rolls! Oh, and my grandmother’s Sticky Buns!

16. What was the last movie you saw in theaters? Ratatouille. My sister wanted to go see it.

17. Favorite day of the year? Yes, this is cliché, but Christmas. I have a close knit and crazy family, so it’s always a fun time. I also love Christmas food! We do an untraditional brunch, and eat sticky buns, honey baked ham and scalloped potatoes…yummy!

18. What do you do to vent anger? I stomp and slam drawers. Schrödinger can attest to this because he once lived below me in an apartment (usually I was angry at him; he stays so calm when we get into tifts that it ends up making me angry, and he knows this so then he just stays even calmer). Sometimes I try to be constructive and run!

19. What was your favorite toy as a child? I had this game called “Mall Madness.” I swear all the kids always wanted to come over an play at my house because they’ve loved the game. I also/ still have this teddy bear that my grandfather gave me as a toddler. He always believed that every kid should have a teddy bear.

20. Summer or Winter? That’s hard…I love to ski, but I also like all the things that summer brings- Barbecues, outdoor sports, camping and hiking trips…

21. Hugs or kisses? Kisses…the half kind.

22. Car or motorcycle? Cars! I hate motorcycles (the sound they make).

23. Chocolate or vanilla? Chocolate! I can’t even remember the last time I had vanilla. I have to have something chocolate everyday.

24. Do you want your friends to do this survey? Um...my blog partner already did it. I guess I could email it out as a forward, but I hate it when people do that to me, so I won’t do it to them.

25. Who is most likely to do this survey? My little sister.

26. Who is least likely to respond? Er, Schrödinger since he already did it.

27. When was the last time you cried? The day I got my MCAT scores back a couple of weeks ago.

28. What is under your bed? My bed is on the floor…so nothing (I am in the process of moving).

29. Who is the friend that you have had the longest? My childhood bestfriend. We go back to preschool. Funny, because she now has a preschooler of her own.

30. What did you do last night? Went to a party in the hills above Napa Valley at a ridiculous nice house.

31. What are you afraid of? Not getting into medical school.

32. Plain, buttered, or salted popcorn? Buttered and salted with M & Ms thrown in (or sugar tossed in)

33. Favorite car? I don’t have one…I would really like a truck though…not as SUV, but an honest to goodness “Bitch truck!” (like GMC two cabin pickup truck). I had one on rental for a month last summer when my car was in the shop for a month. It was the best. I felt powerful and I can’t tell you how often I got hit on because of my truck.

34. Favorite Flower? Roses….maybe. No one ever brings me flowers, so its hard to say.

35. How many keys on your keyring? 7 plus my bite size gym card. I don't even know what some of them are for!

36. How many years at your job? Does being a student count? With a couple of years of working in between—18 years!

37. What did you do on your last birthday? Went to a chocolate making factory, had lunch at their restaurant, and then worked for an event planner (yes worked) on a boat party for someone else who happened to have the same birthday that evening. It was fun work though, and I got to tour around the whole SF Bay.

38. How many states have you lived in? One! Just California. I’ve lived in Italy though.

39. Did you have fun doing this? Better than studying biochemistry.

40. Who are you going to send this to? I don't know... probably no one.