Guess what?????????

It is official……..I passed USMLE Step 1 and am now a Board Certified Medical Student!!!! I am so happy to never have to take that test again. Thanks for all the support you all offered.

I am currently in Orlando to visit Angie for a week and for our road trip to Tampa and Key West. Since I last wrote, I have moved into my new place (minus any furniture). I have not spent a night there because the floors were not dry from being revarnished. The place actually seems better than I had remembered when looking at it the first time. I still have to buy a bed and all those sorts of things. Before going up to move in I stopped in DC and went to the Pig Roast at P&B’s house then out to celebrate AY’s B-day in Dupot Circle. After moving in, Liz and I drove down to the Jersey shore to meet up with Leah for our annual reunion. It was a great weekend. Then back to the farm on Sunday and then back to DC where we (mom, P, S, A, & I went sailing for a couple hours or so on the Potomac River in a sail boat we rented. It was so pleasant. I will post more pictures from all these events when I get back to NY!

Ready to go.....
I am all packed and ready to head north. I have no furniture or even a bed (other than the air mattress) but I have almost everything else I could need. Over the last week, I have spent some time searching through mom's sheds where my belongings had been stored for the last 3 years (with the exception of my clothes) and managed to discover how much stuff I have. Luckily there was only one disappointment.......the box storing my high school year books was not secured properly and had become home to some rodent (rat or mouse). This creature decided to eat part of the binding of one of my yearbooks. I was not to pleased about this and have since moved the books into the house. Another thing I discovered was that I have enough frames to give one to every person I know and still have plenty to keep for myself. Needless to say, I am not taking these items with me. Just more things to haul around and I am sick of moving my stuff from one place to another. I look forward to remaining in one place for at least a year! Once I finished the sheds, I hit the clothes and inside stuff. I found a whole lot of business clothes from my days at GHS. These will come in handy as I retire my flipflops and shorts.

My current plan is to head up with my mom to DC for P&B's Pig Roast followed by AY's Birthday Party! On Tuesday, I will be moving into my new apartment. I did indeed sign the lease when I met with the landlord last week. He wasn't as shady as I thought he might be. I also found out when signing the paperwork that three other people had also put down a deposit on the apartment. Not sure how we ended up being the lucky winners, but I am thankful we got it. After I move in, I am heading to the Jersey shore for a weekend UR reunion with LS and LR. This is gonna be followed by a week with Angie in Florida. We have a roadtrip planned to Key West. I am definitely enjoying this summer break as long as I can!!

Brooklyn, New York - my soon to be new home!

It has been a hectic weekend trying to get a place to live. I am currently waiting to hear back from the broker to say that my guarantors (Mom and Sam) are approved. Being a medical student with no income it becomes difficult to do anything without someone to back you up. I am thankful I have a family with the means to help me out. The place my roommate CL and I found is in the area of Brooklyn we had wanted to live in. It is not the ideal place but
will definitely do for the next year. We spent two days searching for a place. We saw seven places in two days. On Saturday at 5 pm, we finally found one that met our needs. It was insane though, once we saw it we had to run (trying to keep up with the broker in her high heeled shoes) about 7 blocks to her office to contact the owner to let him know we wanted the place. The places in this area go as soon as they are listed. It is cut throat to get a place. I will be able to move in August 1^st if all goes well.

After I meet with the landlord today and sign my lease (hopefully), I will then be able to head south to the farm to pack up for the move. It has been three years since I have seen my belongings. I can’t wait to discover all the things I forgot I had. No need to go shopping when I have so much already!

On another note, here are some pictures from the family reunion in FWB. You can see the rest if you click the link on the sidebar.

Crab Island

Me and Aunt Cathy

All the kids!

Sylvie with some sanddollars before she let them go.

Travis, my newest nephew!

The after sunset at the El Matador on Okaloosa Island.

Hunting for a place to live

I'm in NYC looking for a place to live. The fun begins tomorrow. I hope my roommate and I can find something great without too much hassle. I'll let you all know how it goes!

Also on the sidebar (to the right of this post), I have put a link to the photos from the reunion. Enjoy!

IT IS OVER!!!!!!!!!

I'm exhausted but glad to have it behind me. Now, I will keep praying that I passed. Iwill also keep praying for everyone else I know who has yet to take it. Hang in there, your studying will pay off.
Gotta head to bed so I can make my crack of dawn flight to FWB.

No More Studying!!!!!

As of last night at 8:32 PM EST, I have called it quits on studying for this ridiculous exam. The damage amounted to 7 weeks, 49 days, of studying for 12-14 (or more) hours a day. It has been an experience. I never imagined that I could cram so many details into my head. I have diagnosed myself and everyone I know with every medical condition you could imagine. Despite all the work I am a little (well A LOT) scared and nervous. Will I be able to retrieve all of these random facts tomorrow. I pray somehow all the synapses are working and allow me to access this stuff.

So, on the 50th day, I have taken a break to rest up. As you can see in the picture, I need it! I have aquired some major bags under my eyes (about 3 per eye). My skin is very pale. And although the scale says I have not gained or lost weight, the distribution must changed either from the gym or from sitting for a total of 686 hours. As I put on real clothes (not scrubs or sweats), they are a little snug. I am gonna hope that it is all that muscle I built up at the gym!

For my day of rest, I went to the testing center today to check out the facilities, it seems fine. I'll find out tomorrow. Then spent a few hours shopping. Thank goodness it was a weekday and no one was out. The grocery store was empty too. Some man looked at me and said "no work today?" I hardly knew how to respond. This guy has no idea that it was my first day outside, out of the house for that matter, in over a week!

I can't wait to have a life that does not involve studying. Tomorrow at 8:30 AM I start the test. (This is the day I have been dreading since I started medical school.) Good news though after 5:30 PM EST tomorrow I will officially be on SUMMER BREAK. I head to FWB on an early morning flight and can't wait to see all my family! Please continue to pray that all goes well. It is much appreciated!
 

Alligator Advisory

My dad sent me this....I had to share with the rest of you. I thought it was pretty funny!

Because of extended drought conditions in many parts of the state The Florida Department of Fish and Wildlife is advising boaters, hikers, hunters, fishermen, golfers and tourists in general to take extra precautions and keep alert for alligators while in:Alachua, Marion, Lake, Collier, Lee, Seminole, Osceola, Okaloosa (aka FWB), Brevard, Putnam, Polk, Hillsborough, Pasco, Hernado, Santa Rosa, Orange and Walton counties. They advise people to wear noise-producing devices such as little bells on their shoes or clothing to alert but not startle the alligators unexpectedly. They also advise the carrying of pepper spray in case of an encounter with an alligator. It is also a good idea to watch for fresh signs of alligator activity. People should learn to recognize the difference between small young alligator and large adult alligator droppings. Young alligator droppings are smaller and contain fish bones and possibly bird feathers. Adult alligator droppings have little bells in them and smell like pepper spray.

I am in DC at P&B's studying. I have three more days of it! I will take one day off and then its test time. I can't wait to be finished. Then I will be off to FWB!!!

Please say prayers for me, cross fingers and toes, light a candle, make packs with the devil......whatever it takes so that I can pass this thing. The last thing I ever want to do is take it again! Now back to studying.

Here is a little bit of FWB and the famous sugar beaches. I'll be there in two weeks working on my tan and seeing every relative I have!!

Only 5 more class days of USMLE Bootcamp. We have the Godfather of Path coming to teach us on Thursday. I hope he is all that they make him out to be. My last study day is tomorrow and I have lots to do. We shall see if it I can accomplish it all.

It has been raining nonstop here in Delaware for at least three days. It makes me want to crawl back in bed and sleep rather than study. No time for that though, sleep is for the weak.  

T-MINUS 19


This is a picture my dad took. I hope he doesn't mind me sharing it with everyone. It reminds me of my childhood. (He has been dubbed the unoffical photographer for the FWYC and has taken some amazing shots!) I can't wait to get down there and see FWB for myself. It has been too long and I sure do miss it.
Thursday is the new Saturday......today is my day off. My last and finally one will be next Wednesday. It has not been as productive as I would have hoped for but ohh well. I am still burned out and just trying to get through each day shoving more information into my brain while praying that what is crammed in won't go out. I can't wait to be finished with this. The good news is I booked my flight to FWB for the 12th of July. I will be there by noon! I can't wait to see everyone. It can't come soon enough!

Burned out....
Today is my study break day. I only have two more of them left till my class ends. I must say it is hard to keep up the momentum. I keep trying to motivate myself and continue to do the work but boy is it hard. I can't wait to have this experience over with and enjoy some time off. I am looking forward to the family reunion in FWB that I will just barely make it too after my exam. This is actually the reason why I scheduled my exam on the 11th, I couldnt' stand the chance of missing the gathering. It will be so nice to see everyone and meet the new babies that were born while I was away. We just had Biochem taught by a professor from USA in Mobile. He was amazing. I wish he had taught me the subject the first time around. Tomorrow starts Immunology followed by Micro, Pharm and Path. Please feel free to leave words of encouragement or advice. I can use all the help I can get. Now....I must get back to work.

half way through bootcamp

I have finished three weeks of camp and now three more to go. Last night a group of us went to downtown Wilmington. So nice to get out of the hotel. I forgot what a pretty city it is. Today was a "study break" (our one day off a week) so spent it immersed in physio. The highlight of my day was an outing to buy more pens and tabs and then some dinner at Chik-Fil-A (my favorite fast food place!). Now it is back to the books. Sad life here. Study, study, study and yet more studying.......

2 weeks down, 5 to go

Another week has passed and I'm still hanging in there. Today was a long lecture day, 8 hours of Behavioral Science. It was kind of bizarre going to class on a Sunday, but lately all the days seem to run together. The prep is going well so far despite being overwelming. My eyes seem to be bloodshot from lack of sleep and the ever present AC draft in the lecture room is making me stay sick for the last 2 weeks. I am trying to fight it off with loads of Vitamin C but so far it isn't working.
On Friday night, I took a study break and met up with Liz and family to see the Break Up. It was so nice to hang out a bit and catch up on things. And Saturday night I met her for some late night chocolate milkshakes at Charcoal Pit!
The good news is that I finally got my start date for my clinical roations. I am off until September!! So, the plan is to move up to NY at the start of August and get settled in. Then I can do some traveling before the real work starts. At last, I can unpack the things I packed away 3 years ago. No telling what is stored in mom's shed. If anyone knows of a place available up in that neck of the woods for rent please let me know.

Pain is Weakness Leaving the Body
This is what our physiology professor shared with us today. This self inflicted pain of studying for the boards must be worth it??? This is the same professor with ADHD that chugged two red bulls between breaks every hour for 9 hours for the three days he taught us. He is very talented at what he does, but it was sure hard to keep up the momentum he had. Perhaps, I should take up the red bull drinking and see what happens. Anyhow, not much to report. Still going to the gym and that is the extent of my life outside the hotel. If I have any exciting news, I will update the blog, but otherwise don't expect to see anything new here till after July 11th. In the mean time, please pray for my brain to continue to function till this pain ends.

Week One of Bootcamp

I am already exhausted from the start, not a good sign. The hotel is way more than I had ever imagined for a holiday inn. It is acutally very nice and my room is great. I have everything I could need except a kitchen and laundry facilities. I did invest in a water boiler thing from Target, so i can make lots of stuff now. The food they give is is a "continental" breakfast which consists of only coffee, bread and some variation of egg. The lunch is huge. It is more of a dinner size meal than lunch but it is good. I joined a gym down the road two days ago. Figure if I am in bootcamp, I might as well be in shape. Went the last two days. It was good to get outta the hotel and realize there still is a world. The board prep stuff is consuming. Yesterday we managed to cover all of genetics in 8 hours and today we did embryo and gross anatomy (1 of 5 anatomy days). I already feel behind but I think this is normal. The outside of class time is meant to be used for only brief reviewing of the days material and doing questions to identify weak areas. I have yet to get a routine. But am trying really hard. The two hour season finale of LOST kinda interrupted my flow last night. I had to watch it though. It was insane how much happened in the episode. Luckily though, I have no more shows to watch and can keep the tv contained in its chest. Ok, my study break is coming to an end. I must get back to work!

Me and Angie in Clarendon celebrating me being back in the US of A.

This is for Uncle Bill who I hear is reading my blog. Me and Lucy after our delicous meal last night.

The Ivan Class- SGU Class of 2008

Holiday Inn

The last week has been hectic, but relaxing. I have managed to see a few of the people that I have missed so dearly. Lots of quality time with my mom and all the Howtons and by coincidence Angie too. She came in for a long weekend to celebrate Allie's law school graduation. It was perfect so I could see her before heading off to study. I was even able to go to ABH's birthday party. I can also report that I have a new cell phone to communicate with the world. No phonecards and no echo.
Last night, I saw Lucy and the family for dinner. She and Hank is quite the chefs and I can't imagine ever wanting to eat out if I had a dinner like that every night. Sure does beat the ramen, I have been eating. I am still trying to get used to the idea of being back for good. Such a different world from the Caribbean. It is rather chilly here. About 60s with some highs in the 70s. Angie told me I looked like winter with my longsleeves on! I don't miss sweating, but I sure don't like having goosebumps. Been doing lots of driving around for various errands and am proud to report that I have only done the "international salute" (turning on the windshield wipers instead of the blinker) about 5.
The car is all packed up for the drive up to Wilmington. I have way more clothing than I could possibly need. Hopefully, this will eliminate the need to do laundry. My 6 weeks of living in a hotel will be roomy compared to the hotel that the girls and I lived in up in Long Island. I'll have my own bed!!! A friend of mine taking her class in Chicago said the course isn't bad and she is enjoying it. I am optimistic that mine might be the same. I have posted a link on the right entitled "Sailing the Grenadines". These are from the day trip I took with some friends right before heading north.

I'M BACK!!!!!!
I made it back after a long day of travel and sadly without any luggage. Hopefully, it will arrive sometime this week. (Good news is my red dress is not lost, I had it in my carry on!). I am at P&B's till later today and then am heading to the farm with my mom. Plan to stay there until Thursday then back to DC. It is still strange to think I am not going back down to the Caribbean. I will try to post my pictures of the last days in St. Vincent before the bootcamp starts, especially the ones of the Cays.

I'M COMING HOME!!!!!!!!!!

My time in the Caribbean is offically over!!!!!!!! I have passed my classes and get the "ticket north". I am still in shock that it has ended. I keep thinking back to the start of MPH and how much I have done since then. I would not change any of it! I feel so lucky for it all.
Today, I flew back to the Grenadines for some quality time with a few of the islands and the Tobago Cays. It was just as amazing as the last time I was there. I will post pictures later. And.....I came home to find the water is out again. So, here I sit covered in salt water and sand. C'est la vie. I will miss this! Funny thing is that due to the constant absence of water, I have become professional with brushing my teeth with bottled water. I hope there is water for me to shower before I have to board the plane. Otherwise, it will be a partial reinactment of the post hurricane ivan arrival.

WISH ME LUCK!
My last Exam for the basic sciences is tomorrow in Pathophys. I can't wait to have it over with. It has been difficult to sit still and study knowing so many things are coming to a close. Luckily, this week I finally found a new study spot, the lecture hall, to be productive. But, sadly that ended today when everyone from the library evacuated due to "pepper" spray. So my quiet place was no more. Good thing now is that I am finished with studying (well untill Board Boot camp starts)!!

Yesterday, I decided to go back to the Tobago Cays. I bought my ticket and am going on Friday with a few friends. I am really excited about seeing some of the islands we didn't have time to see on our sailing trip. I doubt I will have a chance to post pictures from the trip till I get back to the states because I am turning off our internet on Saturday. This may be the last post from St. Vincent!!!

ONE DOWN, ONE TO GO!!!!!

Finished my Pharm final this AM! It wasn't too bad thankfully. Now all there is left is Pathophys on Thursday. The hard part is finding (and then maintaining) the motivation to study so close to the end. I only have 5 days left here then back to the United States of AMERICA!!!!!

Today was the last day lecture!!!! It marks the end of the basic sciences part of med school. No more sitting in the lecture hall with my other 300 and some classmates (well not that many actually make it to lecture at 8AM) trying to pay attention or having to stay awake for four hours. I am almost offically half way done!!!!!! Unfortunately though to complete the term, I must study (cram) for the last two tests. Pharm on Monday and Pathophys on Thursday. Even better is that I am leaving on Sunday the 14th (provided my flight is not delayed, overbooked, or non-existent). After this, I have a week off before starting Boards Bootcamp (aka Kaplan Step 1 Review Course) in Delaware.

15 days!

I still can't believe I will be leaving this place in 15 days! After living down here for what seems like forever (3 years!).
I dont' know what I will do when I have:
running water
no mosquito bites all over my body
a real grocery stores
a cell phone with reception, no echo and a real plan (not pre-paid!)
can drive without fearing for my life
see lines on the road
steering wheel on the left side
paved roads
not afraid of being swallowed by potholes/ditches
not have to use matches to light the stove
have hot water in the sink
not have to flip a switch to heat my shower
water pressure
no more transformers
no more ants, spiders!!
dont' have to check my bed for those things
Sadly I will miss:
the perfect warm weather
sunshine
random rain showers
views of the grenadines
sunsets
beach time anytime
island hopping
palm trees
carefree lifestyle
being on island time
wearing shorts/tank tops/flipflops all the time
(this isn't a complete list.....i will save some for later)

It is all bittersweet to think about. I consider myself lucky to have had the oppourtunity to live in a place people save a lifetime to visit. AS brought up a good point in the comment she left. If we hadn't gone out in the middle of the DC blizzard for the SGU open house, I dont' know that I would be where I am today.

On another note, I am pleased to report that the water finally came on!! Now, if it will stay on till I leave, I will thrilled! Monday is "Worker's Day" and NO SCHOOL!! I think it is like Labor Day. To celebrate I will be studying in the library the entire time in an attempt to make up for my lack of motivation which I have been experiencing since the last set of exams.

water, water, everywhere except where you need it!

So we are about to enter day 3 of no water! I don't mean a dribble here and there, i mean BONE DRY! Turn the tap and nothing happens. This is due to the lack of rain in the last couple months and the country has decided to turn off the water to conserve. It is supposed to come back on at 4 pm everyday but I that has yet to happen. Luckily our place has only had it out for two days. some are going on 5 days without. Good thing we are all resilent afte living through Hurricane Ivan. At least in this case there is electricty. Last week the power was off for two days so we are lucky it is just water now! I take for granted how much water it takes to live day to day. Brushing teeth, showering, shaving legs, washing dishes, washing clothes, flushing the toilet and washing hands. (My list will probably grow the longer it is off.) Our landlady was kind enough to bring us some 5 gallon jugs so we have some for emergency use and I have lots of bottles of water too. The last shower I had was on Wednesday morning with a trickle of water, so by tomorrow I pray that there is something in the taps or else I guess i might have to bathe in the pool (nasty thought!). Lets hope it doesnt' come to that. I mean i did last 5 days after the hurricane. It can't possibly get to that point. Only 17 days left on this island! I really will miss living down here even under conditions like these.

Basil's Bar before meeting our tourguides.

me and jz in the mule

Rescuing the skirt!

Me and L at Lagoon

early morning calm

view as we are leaving on the ferry

Sunset from Firefly

Macaroni Beach (my desktop background right now)

more of Lagoon

first stop......Lagoon

castle top view of mustique with Bequia in the background

View of St. Vincent's from the plane. The island off the coast is Young Island.

our little plane to mustique.....well via Bequia

View of the Grenadines from my place. Mustique is between the two sets of islands.....have to squin to see it!

Gosh it is hard to even know where to begin. So the original plan was to fly to Mustique at 10:30 AM (10 minute flight) and fly back at 5 PM. Well, since when do things go as planned! There were five of us: me, J, B, L and A. We should have known it would be an adventure when all of the sudden we realize our plane was landing in Bequia rather than Mustique. (This was an unplanned stop.) So no big deal, we picked up some baggage and passengers and headed on over to Mustique (only 4 minute flight from Bequia). Flying in was beautiful. You could see some of the perfectly manicured villas on the coast and many others dotted around the island. Once we landed we got out and tried to rent some transportation. Unfortunately though, everything is closed on Sunday so we had to take the only taxi at the airport (there are only 3 on the island!!). We took the taxi and headed for the famous Basil’s Bar. We were totally unsure where or what we were doing. So we try to arrange for the taxi driver to take us on a tour. After some negotiations we manage to get a post lunch pick up to start the tour so we can be back at the airport for our flight. Lunch was good. We end up meeting the only other people at the place, three guys who were thrilled to find people their age. After much conversing they decide we should get a free tour from them. So we paid our cabbie enough to keep him happy and started the tour. They had a “mule” (it’s like an ATV/gator/golf cart and is what everyone has and what we had wanted to rent originally!) First we went to Lagoon. It was breathtakingly beautiful and all to ourselves. The entire trip we didn’t see hardly anyone at all. It was as if everyone had gone out of town. The entire time the guys they were telling us…..”Just miss your flight and stay”. At this point they are our only source of transportation and made it easy for us to miss our flight. None of us objected. How could we leave paradise? So we continue with our tour to Macaroni Beach (rated one of the top ten beaches in the world over and over). And it was! The water was so perfect and the sand as soft and almost as white as FWB’s. After that we had “accidentally, on purpose, miss our flight!” The tour continued to see some of the homes. Then onto watch the sunset at Firefly. Everyone was so hospitable and eager to share their island with us. Later we went back to Basil’s Bar for Karaoke. It was entertaining and apparently the only thing to do on the island. The great thing about missing our flight was that there was a ferry back to St. Vincent at 730AM we could catch. The ferry was about 1 ½ hours long and choppy. I must say it was the best most random surreal experience I have ever had. I would go back in a heart beat if I could. Now, as I am driving down the road I can see Mustique in the distance and I can’t believe that place has been there all this time and I just now experienced it.

Mustique

Just got back from a tropical paradise and will be posting soon about the adventures. It will be hard to put in words but I will try. And I have tons of pictures!

Grand Anse Beach......the scene of many afternoons.

The famous Grenada sunset.....I miss seeing this every night.

before our snorkel/scuba trip

28 days from now.......

I just got back from Grenada tonight. I had a wonderful time visiting the old roomies and seeing other friends. I wasn't sure how I would feel going back but it was an awesome time. I felt as if I hadn't left. Despite the Easter weekend where most places are closed, I was still able to eat at a number of places I had wanted to: Boulangerie, Nick's, Big Fish and was even some Glover's Pizza and a chicken wrap from Pearl's. When I was living there these were definetly not places I would have thought of missing. Not long after arriving on Friday I went to the beach with SM. The sun was so strong we didn't last but a few hours. On Saturday, I tried to go snorkeling in Flamingo Bay but unfortunately there was something in the water that was stinging everyone. Not sure what it was but perhaps "sea lice" or something similar. Either way I still have a rash from where it got me. Besides my fun outdoors I did managed to get hooked on the show "House, MD". Too bad there is no FOX here in SVG or else I would be watching it weekly. Not much else to report from my trip other than a relaxing time and I will miss that place. No telling if or when I will ever go back. Kind of sad, but good to move on. Soon enough, 28 days to be exact, I will be leaving this island too but I am not sure if it will be as memorable as my 2 plus years in Grenada.

JULY 11th I am set to take Step 1 of the USMLE! I just scheduled it online. Kind of weird that I will be taking it in the building right next to where I worked for a year at GHS. I hope the stars are aligned that day for me to do well. I will need all the help I can get.

31 DAYS!!!!!!

Finally I have reached the one month mark until I am back in the states for good!! Now, if only I could find some motivation to study my world would be perfect. I have a bad case of "ready to leave itis". Its kinda like senioritis, but since I'm only half way to graduating that term really doesn't work.
I had my BSCE on Monday. It was definetly a marathon test taking session and I am glad to have it behind me, no telling if I passed or not. Have to wait to see what they say at the end of April.

So I am pleased to report our place was not burglured on Break-In Day and I pray this continues to be the case for the next 31 days. The only intruder I have had is another spider. This one was the baby of the Massive spider (30% its size). Under normal circumstances, he would be considered big, but after having the real HUGE one I know he is the baby. God help me if I find another big one, I might pass out. I did see one (not as large as mine but about 80% as big) at the gym the other day. I was thankfully he was there and not in my room. The one I just saw was running under my desk. I quickly smashed him with my flip-flop before he had a chance to get away. I wasn't about to let him get under my bed. I would have spent all night looking for him before I could ever sleep. I'm sure there are more where he came from and I wish I could do something to keep them far away from me. My flip-flops seem to be the best killing machine for spiders, ants and any other random bug that I find.

It must be the week for the uncles. My Uncle Hall shared with me his art website that is being built. It is currently in the beginning stages of set up but it looks great so far. And...My Uncle Pete had a very nice write up on the front page of the Washington Post Business Section on Monday. The other family news is that my niece Isabelle turned 17 on Saturday! Happy Birthday Isabelle! It sure does make me feel very old! And lastly, my brother, WT, passed his Real Estate Exam (not sure which part) perhaps the one to be a Broker?

Ok, I am gonna go do some work to get my mind of that spider and hopefully then I can sleep.

8 hours

Tomorrow I have my BSCE II (Basic Sciences Comprehensive Exam). It is 400 questions covering the first two years of medical school. The test is 8 hours long and consists of both internal and external questions. Since my long term memory is not that good, I have been studying. I surely don't remember the details of Anatomy or Biochemistry from back in the day and wonder if i even retained the stuff from my test two weeks ago! The studying is good though because I am giving myself a boost for when I am studying for the USMLE Step 1 (one month from now!). Supposedly, passing for the BSCE II is a 53% but there is debate as to if I really even need to pass it. Regardless, I would regret not having done some preparation and it really can't hurt. So we shall see what happens.

Additionally tomorrow is known as Break In Day. Since all students are stuck in the test for 8 hours locals have found it a good time to break in and take whatever they want. The penthouse above my place was hit last term and I pray that we aren't hit this time. Thankfully, the SGA has set up a room for us to put our "bags or even suitcases of valuables" into during the exam so that we don't lose irreplaceable items (passport, computer, money, harddrive, and anything else we don't want taken). I just went thought a panic a few minutes ago when I couldn't find where I had hidden my passport but finally I located it. Good thing since I will need it to go to Grenada on Friday. Yes, I am going back. Gonna go visit the old roomies who are still there and visit the beach and perhaps some of the restaurants that I miss (I never thought I would say that!).

Sailing Pictures

You can look at my pictures from the trip by clicking on the link on the right sidebar under the other links. Enjoy!

Paradise Found

I am alive and well after the sailing trip. It was amazing. We left St. Vincent's Blue Lagoon on Friday AM and headed straight out to the Cays using both wind and motor to get us there before dark. It was a little rough in the areas where there wasn't an island to break the wind. I had no idea how many islands made up the Grenadines. The majority of them are uninhabited. I spent a bit too much time below decks getting all our stuff packed away and managed to feel sick (not get sick) on the way over. Once we arrive in the Cays about 4 ish we dropped anchor. There were lots of other boats anchored out too but we did find a place to ourselves. We then swam and snorkled. The water was crystal clear. It reminded me of Destin's East Pass near crab island. The reef we snorkled, Horseshoe Reef, is one of the longest barrier reefs in the Western Hemisphere. It was beautful. I saw loads of fish, different types of coral, stingrays and so many more things I don't know the name of. Since we had not eatten since breakfast, we cooked an early dinner. Spent the rest of the evening watching the stars pass and saw a few shooting stars too. Unfortunately, I didn't sleep well below deck and ended up finally getting out of bed at 6:30 AM to find a gorgeous day starting and some sea turtles swimming near the beach. Later that morning, we all headed over to Petite Tobac. It is an uninhabited island outside of the main grouping of islands. It was used in Pirates of the Caribbean (where Johnny Depp is dropped 0ff). White sands and palm trees and lots of shallow reefs. It was so pleasant. I could have spent all day there. I found lots of shells, urchins and a pefect conch shell buried in the sand. After this, we headed back to the boat. By this time the tide had fallen significantly to leave the highest parts of the reef exposed and perfectly calm waters. I went snorkling some more it was so clear though you didn't even need a mask you could see everything from above the water. I wish I could have spent more time there but we had to head back and sail to Bequia before nightfall. Pete and Sam fell in love with sailing. The captain taught them how to tack and Pete how to sail the open seas. We spent the night in Bequia and relaxed. I tried sleeping on deck that night but was awakened by a middle of the night rainshower and had to move below :( On Sunday midmorning, we headed out of Bequia and didn't even use our motor. We managed to sail all the way back with only windpower. I had a great time. I only wish we could have stayed longer!

I came home to find my sister, HB, had the baby on Friday. 6 pounds 11 ounces and 20 inches long with "long toes". She is doing well and the baby looks perfect from the pictures they sent.

Today we found out our prelimary hospital placements. I got my first choice and am very happy about it. Now I just have to finish the term (1 month and 11 days!) and then pass my boards and I'm set! I need to get cracking with the studying after my self declared week off.

"Please, DON'T FALL OVERBOARD!" - Mom

That was the last bit of advice my mother could get out as our connection was breaking up last night. Of course I won't try to fall overboard on our boat trip......but God forbid this happens I pray I am as lucky as the father in Grenada who drifted on his mini hobie cat for two nights almost to Venezula. We are leaving this AM to head south for the Tobago Cays on the chartered sailboat. There is a captain/skipper who will take care of the sailing. I hear the crossing over from St. Vincent to the Grenadines can get really rough so hopefully all will be calmer for us today. I am greased up with sunscreen and the plan is to not get burned. Well if something does happen and we don't return by Sunday evening, please do send a serch party for us!!

While I am doing this my sister, HB, is going to have her labor induced. This will be her second child, another boy! I only wish I could be there to see him but I will have to wait till July. This will make me an aunt to five.

My mind is on vacation

Exams ended on Monday and I have been in recovery since then. It was rough leading up to them and only having a weekend to basically cram for Pathophysiology was way too short. Good news though, they are over with and onto the last round in the Caribbean!!!! After the exam on Monday, a bunch of us went to lunch and then Brisbane Beach. The waves were outta control, I stayed in the calmer section (the part you can see in the picture) to keep my hair dry for my haircut later that afternoon. I did some major cutting, 4 inches. It is wonderful to have the length gone (see pic below)!


Today we had an exam review where we can see what we got wrong on the test and take our time to analyze. In theory this is educational but my mind was not working it is already on post-exam vacation and I didn't seem to even remember stuff from the first test on Friday (Pharm). It actually gave me a headache just looking at it!! Hope the knowledge stays in some part of my brain for boards.

We went to the hospital on Tuesday for our OB/GYN rotation. It was very interesting. First we saw tubes being tied and then the second surgery was a massive ovarian cyst. I definetly could sympathize with the patient. This is the same surgery I had in 2002 to remove the cysts in both my ovaries. Thankfully mine were much smaller and my ovaries could be resected. This patient had one massive ovary about the size of a cantalope. It was enourmous. I know how much pain it can cause. Towards the end of the surgery I started to feel faint and had to leave the OR before I passed out.

After class today JZ, JC and I went to check out the leeward side of the island. Was a crystal clear day to sightsee. It took over an hour to get to the Pirates of the Caribbean set. The views there were amazing. This is where they filmed Pirates 1, 2 and 3. I could tell why they picked that place it was breathtakingly beautiful (the second and third pictures in this post are from the set)
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On Friday myself and four others will be leaving for our sailing trip to the Tobago Cays. I am so excited. JZ and I are cooking some chocolate chip cookies and cupcakes right now
In a hour we will be watching the much anticipated LOST!!! I am addicted to that show. My only two shows are that and Grey's Anatomy.

After an intense weekend marathon of studying (actually cramming) for my Pathophys exam, I am ready to give up the fight and surrender. I can't take it anymore! Thankfully come Monday afternoon the test will be over and I can take a week off (well not really....). Some friends and I are going to be sailing around the Tobago Cays next weekend. I can't wait!
Back to studying for the last few hours that I can manage.

He cracks me up! He keeps doing this!

The new roommate! He needs a name!

I think I am starring in my own national geographic series! Coming back from a post test lunch I saw a huge neon green iguana walking down the road then just in front of our driveway there was some mongoose like ceature running across. And as always there was something in my bedroom! This time it is one I dont' mind having around, a lizard (a good sized one!). I hope to keep him to eat all the other bugs. He is entertaining himself in front of the mirror thinking his reflection is another lizard.

The Pharmagology test was ridiculous in my opinion. I have to hope my guessing skills were at their prime. No time to worry about that....now it is onto cramming in as much Pathophysiology as I can by Monday!

Wish me luck, say a prayer or do whatever you think can help me do well on my Pharmacology test on Friday and my Pathophysiology test on Monday! As always, I am cramming in as many last minute facts as I can and can't wait for this exam period to be over with!

The KMC library. Also known as the place I will be living till exams end on Monday. That is JC in the background and my set up by the orange gatorade. Normally it is full of people but when you get there at 8:30 AM on Saturday this is how it looks!

ants

Since January I have killed the following:

• Black Army Ant (just now in the bathroom)
• Fire Ants (biting me 5 or 6 times while I was sitting at my desk)
• Sugar Ants (used to be crawling up and down the wall)
• Flying Red Ants (occasionally flying out of the light socket above my mirror)

Who would have thought there could be so many types of ants crawling around on an island much less in my bedroom!!!

Update: Came home at lunch to find fire ants crawling out from under my bed!

Saw this on campus and had to take a picture to share.

THANKS MOM!

My mom is wonderful. I just recieved a package from her of homemade chees-straws, cadbury eggs (minis and regular!) and thin mints. The thin mints are from SH my little girl scout. Now the hard part is not eating it all at once or else I will be needing bigger clothes sent to me!
We had a hospital rotation today, waited an hour for the doctor to show up then went to the district clinic next door to find him seeing patients there. We were able to interview and examine a patient even thought he said he would sign our card and let us go for our troubles. It was an interesting case since they dont' know what the lady has. Left us to speculate what it might be.
Anyhow, less than two weeks till my second round of exams and my motivation is zilch. For the last two days I have gotten barely anything done and need to get cracking. I am on top of my work thankfully and just have to go back and cram all the details in.
Less than two months to go!!

WHAT!

We had our first surgery lecture today. It was pretty boring, learning about wounds and sutures. Up until.........the doctor showed us a patient with a deformed hand caused by keloids had reconstructive surgery to make his hand look normal. This required a massive skin graft. Warning to those who might get queasy (yes, LR, that means you!).
The way they did the graft was to remove the skin on his hand up past his wrist (about midway up) and then lifted up the skin on the patients stomach and placed the hand under the stomach skin. Another graft was placed on the stomach to cover open areas. But the hand remained attached to the stomach!! It was then covered in some sort of cast or wrapping (not exactly clear on that part). During the recovery process the patient reported that maggots were in the cast/wrapping and were itchy. The doctor said this wasn't a problem, because the maggots will eat up the debris (actually a benefical thing!). The doctor also mentioned that you can't get maggots under normal circumstances but once they are there, its ok. After 6 or so weeks the cast/wrapping was removed and the hand cut off of the stomach and it looked realtively normal. I am not clear on when this procedure was done, but I presume a LONG time ago and probably in Thailand (our lecuturer spend 7 years there around the time of the Vietnam War). The poor patient. I don't think I could handle maggots living on me much less my arm grafted to my stomach!

ipod

I got a ipod nano about a month ago. I love it! The battery life is about 5 times what my mini had. I can go almost three days of studying before I have to recharge it. The fiasco though is that I have had trouble getting the songs I want on it. So initally I added a bunch I thought I wanted. I ranked them on the nano and was going to delete the ones I didnt' want. So this AM I plug it in to do some updating and with the click of the wrong button, I erased all of it. All 984 songs (except for 24 of them). Needless to say, here I sit trying to reload my ipod and I get to start over again with ranking the songs, since it has lost my previous ranking. GRRRRR. Too bad Apple hasn't come up with a way to transfer these rankings and playlists from one ipod to another and from computer to ipod. There are programs on the internet that you can download to do this, but right now I don't have time for it.
Not much else going on here. Julie and I went to an early St. Patty's Day party on Friday put on by our SGA. There were hardly any students there, most were at home studying. It was entertaining though, they had Karaoke. Definetly was worth seeing. The club downstairs had its own dj but it was empty and everyone that was there was outside listening to our classmates attempt to sing.
Today will be a full day of studying. Once I get my ipod geared up, I will be heading to the library to learn as much as possible so I dont' have to get stressed later. Only two months to go till I am back in the states and four months till I can take a break from studying and relax! Till then you know where I'll be......the library.

published

I got word this evening that my biochemistry research at University of Richmond was finally published in the Biochemistry Journal. I had to go back and read about what I had done and won't bore you all with the detials of the project. It is exciting that it was finally deemed worthy of printing after all these years! If I get a link to it I will add it, but as of now, I don't think the article has been offically released.
We had hospital roations today with the urologist (had two patients, one with curvature of the penis and the other with bladder cancer) and tuesday was internal medicine (patient with severe abdominal distention due to neprotic syndrome (basically peeing a LOT of protein 0ut)). This evening we had night classes for the second time this week. It was an SGU grad and ER doctor from Williamsburg, VA. He made the time fly by in lecture. Too bad he only had four hours of lecture and can't come back and make other things more interesting.
I am also proud to report that so far (knock on wood) I have not seen another spider. I pray this remains the case for the next two months!
Another note, my dad has sold his house. The home I was raised in and for my dad it goes back even further back than that. For those of you unfamilar with it, there is no central heat or air just fans and gas heater in the hallway for those cold spells (and YES, they do have them in North Florida!). I think he might have one of the only houses without central heat or air, not too many still exist. So many memories of my mom and dad heating my clothes up at the heater and bringing them to my bed in the morning so I didnt' have to get up and put on cold clothes. Marshmellows in the fireplace, Zip lines in the backyard, being dragged down the uneven brick patio by the dog, the creeking of the wood floors, raking the yard, camping in the backyard, hammocks, sitting at the table till I finished drinking my mik and so many many more. My Dad has decided to move out and move in with his two older brothers into a house they all own. I imagine it will be an adjustment for all of them, but I think they will enjoy each others company. Perhaps they can revert back to their childhood activities of egg fights and pancake flipping contests. Even though I have not lived in that house for many years, I will miss it. I am sure who ever buys it will simply tear it down to build something bigger and better. Thankfully I have my memories to keep.
Ok, must go put the freshly washed sheets on my bed so I can get in my bed for some sleep!

6 legged beast

I just came home from the library, turned on my light and looked up to see a HUUUUUUGGGGGEEEEEE SPIDER! He didn't even have 8 legs he only had 6. He was soo big. I quickly yelled for the roomies to go get Luke (the handyman who lives on site) while I watched to make sure it didn't run away. That would be the worst, to not know where it went and have to attempt to sleep with him loose! So Luke came in and moved my bed away from the wall and then reached the broom up and smashed him, it fell to the floor. I thought it might get away, then Luke says "push the bed back" im thinking (KILL THE SPIDER, forget the bed!!) so we quickly did and ran to get some paper to clean up the spider (hopefully he was dead!) and Luke reaches down and underneath his foot is the smashed spider. Thank God he was home! I can handle bugs, roaches, ants, etc but this thing was "big enough to enroll in school". Two more months of tropical insects! Apparently this has been the week of the critters. I have had three different types of ants in my room. It started with three flying ants, then the always present sugar ants and just yesterday with FIRE ants that bit me while I was standing in my room. These are things I can deal with, its part of living down here, but the SPIDER, that is not what I would like to walk into my room and see, nor wake up and find. The last one was found back in January by the guy that was supposed to live in my room. It freaked him out so much that he didnt' even stay in the place longer than five minutes and never even moved in! Thankfully because I like this apt better than the first one we had. If the time frame is acurate there shouldnt' be anther one for another two monts ( I PRAY!). That will be right after I leave (hopefully). Glad I have been checking in my bed every night before I get in, just in case there are critters in there. I would hate to find him next to my pillow!

Stick up

After spending all day at the hospital from 1:30 to 10:30 PM watching non-stop surgeries, the last being multiple stab wounds, my friend RG decided to stop at one of the two KFCs downtown and grab some food. These are his adventures as told to me over im!!!

RG:we stoped at KFC for dinner and on the way in a local ran at us with a bone in his hand carved to look like a gun and he told us he was going to shoot us
RG: he was saying "i'm a fucking criminal, i'm going to shoot you.."
RG: turns out he is a looney tune...we had a security guard walk us to the car....he was waiting outside the resturant for us....peaking in the window and shit....the security guard came with us and ran him off...he jumped out from behind a column...guess he didn't see security with us...he ran him off....and told us that the guy was a mental patient
me: wow, theres security people?
RG: just KFC security
RG: yeah thank God cause we where pretty scared
RG: none of us where showing it but we where scared
RG: i seriously though he had a gun
me: what bone was it? and man, whats he gonna take?? your pd kit with his bone?
RG: well...the guard told us it was a bone...we didn't see the bone....it was something carved to look like a gun with cloth wrapped tightly around it....
RG: but he was making clicking noises with his mouth like he was cocking the hammer so we kinda knew something was not right
me: guess i will know not to stop at kfc late night
me: i'll make sure to take advantage of the delivery they offer, perhaps he is the reason why they deliver!
RG: but it looked real in the dark....i don't want to experience that again
RG: it feels good to laugh about it now....
me: since your alive
RG: HELL YEAH....you know what the funny thing was...was he was waving this damn thing around all i could think about was..."shit i don't want to get one of those damn chest tubes"
RG: "don't shoot me in the chest please"

RG: but aside form that....the day was good

If he had a blog he said he would post the whole thing but since he doesn't I had to share what I thought was a pretty funny (but scary) thing.

Another day closer to being back in the states

I had an internal medicine rotation today. It wasn’t anything too dramatic or exciting except for the brief moment when I got to hear my first mitral regurgitation murmur. That was pretty cool. The rest was the standard stuff: history, physical exam, present to doctor, listen to doctor tell you what you missed, and the doctor then telling you everything relevant to the case. You learn at lot and retain it more than just reading about it in a book. We have four rotations this week, normally there would be only two, but our group is trying hard to get as many out of the way as soon as possible so we don’t have to go at exam time. Tomorrow we have another internal medicine then surgical/urology on Thursday and pediatrics on Friday! Perhaps we will get to see our little boy from last week. Word is that he was alive and at last notice he was going to get a CT scan to try and figure out why he is still disoriented.

Other things going on here, trying to tackle the numerous packets I have gotten. I think there is at the very least 1-2 inches of notes we got on Monday to be covered in addition to the massive packet for Hematology. I feel bad for all the trees that are dying for me to learn. I should start planting a tree for every day of lecture I have to compensate for the loss.

I sent in my preference for my clinical placement. Unfortunately, I won’t know the results for a few months and even then it won’t be 100% for sure. It is up to the sgu gods to decide, but I will be on the east coast (NY or NJ). I already am dreading the cold weather and wish there was a way to start thickening my blood so I won’t freeze to death when winter arrives next fall. It is bizarre to think that I might not be living in a third world country in the Caribbean for the rest of my life!!!!

What holiday?

So this holiday from school we had today wasn't really a holiday. Simply a day without lectures. Word on the street is it is "Ed Johnson Day" (he is our dean here in St. Vincent). Everyone else on this island was going about their normal routine. I don't get why we had a day of no class today and are having night classes this next week (i.e. 6 hours of lecture in one day for the fourth time this term!!!). I'm not complaing, just confused! It was great to not have lecture but why can't they space it out????? No telling! Anyhow, it did allow us to go to the hospital for a surgery roation. We had heard rumors of the island rush hour and left early. Good thing because traffic was pretty backed up. On our way we also saw yet another accident, not sure what happened, the police were already on scene measuring stuff (it was next to the police station!). The surgery we saw was interesting. It was a male with an indirect hernia. That lasted about two hours.

We then headed to the police station to give our statements. It was an experience in itself. We waited for ages for the officer to arrive. When he finally came out, he was in street clothes (like he would wear just lounging around the house) and lead us in the back. I thought we would go into a room, nope. We went to the back of the buliding and he scrounged around for some seats (3 for 4 of us). I wish I had my camera. The area had a chicken running around the place and the desk he was using was an old desk with a piece of plywood on top. It was pretty funny to see. So after about 45 mintues we finally got to the writing of our witness statement. He took a sheet of paper and very slowly wrote out my statement as if I were writing it. This took forever. Meanwhile another officer took julie upfront to record her's. The officer kept asking me if I would live in St. Vincent (at least 5 times) and if I would marry a Vincentian and live here. Needless to say I didnt' feel like this was the appropriate conversation or pertinent to why I was there. I did find out that the case will go to court and the driver most likely will lose his license even though it was unavoidable. The officer claims that since we leave in May they will try to get the case heard before we leave. I doubt that will happen, but we shall stee. If it does, we'll be heading there. That will be quite a site to see. We weren't able to get any word on how the boy was doing, only that he was unconcious on arrival in the hospital. Perhaps we can find out when we go back to do our rotations next week.

To end the day, we three spent the evening having an amazing dinner at Mariner's French Veranda. Jenna and I split crab cakes (best crab cakes I think I have ever had) and my filet was delicious. We were all too full to even attempt the desserts. I hope to go back sometime soon. So happy to have found a great place to go.

We shall see what tomorrow brings......

Scary Roads

We spent the afternoon in our trauma rotation where we were interviewing a patient who damaged his spinal cord back in August while diving off a pier into shallow water. He is paralyzed from the waist down. It was pretty sad to hear about his case knowing he has virtually no chance of ever leaving the hospital and will most likely not last very long.
So I dont' know if anyone has heard about the crazy drivers in St. Vincent. I personally thought they were crazy in Grenada, but this is no comparison. While in Barbados a person we met said "Grenada, the people aren't very nice and St. Vincent has bad drivers". Surprisingly she has it dead on. Glad to know the reputation is accurate. The roads remind me of the Amalfi coast near Naples just not sheer cliffs on the side. Here there are no lines on the road and open ditches 3-4 feet deep on either side. Most of the time you are trying to avoid the oncoming vehicle which are usually driving on your side and avoid the ditch and pedestrians. Drivers, passengers, pedestrians and the roaming wildlife are all targets!
So on our drive home we were behind a reggae van (used as the busing system here) and a little boy, about 7, darted out infront of the car to cross the road. The van hit him head on and the kid went flying into the concrete ditch. There was no way the van could have stopped. The poor little boy flew at least 15 feet and left a massive dent in the front of the van. I was driving so julie and jenna ran out to help but some other driver from the other direction jumped in and grabbed the kid. Hopefully it didnt' cause more damage. He was pretty badly hurt, broken bones, breathing problems and big cut on his head. His cousin, a little girl about 7 or 8, was crying thinking her "favorite cousin" had died. I called for an ambulance, but when it finally came about 20 minutes later it just drove by with someone else inside. The police came strolling by about 25 minutes later, having no clue as to what had taken place. They marked the scene and took our names and we go back tomorrow to give our statement. From the people around the scene this is a pretty common occurence. There is barely enough road for two cars to pass much less pedestrians to walk. Someone told us of two brothers who were waiting for a bus right across from where this accident was and that one was decapitated and another had his chest crushed. This must explain why the little girl thought her cousin died. Poor thing. I am just thankfully that we weren't the ones to hit the boy. That would be pretty hard to deal with. I just pray he is ok.
Tomorrow we are scheduled to go in to see hernia surgery at 8AM. No class since it is a holiday here. Not sure what holiday but I'm not asking, it means I dont' have to sit in lecture for four hours. Not sure what is planned for this weekend, probably just doing lots of studying and sleeping in.