I am having the craziest time on this elective. First of all, the resident I'm following around is absolutely awesome. This is a very good thing. Second of all, the hours are stinking ridiculous. I got home at 3am yesterday. I went in for 6:30am this morning, and I just, just got home. I'm sure this can't be legal.

People say that cardiac surgery is all bypasses. And I agreed. All I saw the first day was bypasses really. But things have hit the fan huge lately. I saw a guy with bacterial endocardititis whose brain got fried by the clots being thrown into his head. Today, during a supposedly routine double bypass, our patient got an aortic dissection! A lady got her LAD perforated in the cath lab, and started to do some serious bleeding in the ICU. She was bleeding from her femoral artery as well as from the drain they put into her chest. (She had cardiac tamponade.) I was the one pressing onto the femoral artery as we wheeled her into the OR. But my role in the surgical team is more than that! I also sew up legs. Yes!

I really like the cases when things go crazy. This probably isn't so nice of me. I'd imagine that everyone else (certainly the surgeon and the patient at least), hope for a mundane 'normal' case.

Anyways, I'm going to run off to choir. My brain is sincerely fried.

Today was the first day of elective. It's neat to think that across the country and indeed, across the world (I have some friends going to Uganda.), my classmates and I have all spent the day out and about playing doctor. I wonder what my classmates have seen, who've they've met, what they've learned. My first day was long and arduous. All in all, a good time.

As I'd imagined, the week we had off between the OSCE and the start of elective was good and relaxing. The night after Hairspray, the rheumatologists threw my class a dinner party. After this, a whole bunch of us wandered over to a Karaoke place. It was crazy ludicrous fun.

I also spent my week off reading a good many graphic novels as well as a novel about an assassin. Not a bad book. I liked it.

Finally, I'd like to issue my sister a formal apology for missing her phone call. The karaoke was too loud.

Hairspray.

I can't even describe.

I was sitting in the second row. There was literally ONE row between me and the stage.

You could smell the hairspray and see the sweat on the performers. My heart felt too big, like it was going to beat through my chest. I felt like climbing out of my skin.

It was too overwhelming to say it was 'fun' or 'enjoyable'. It was exhausting. I felt each beat too acutely and followed each melody too keenly.

A head-spinning, spine-tingling, stomach-churning event.

Yow!

Today my friends, is a wonderful day.

Yesterday's OSCE went alright. There was a huge emphasis on the cardiac system, which took a lot of people off guard. There was also a case of anorexia that everyone missed. It was an atypical presentation, and the evaluator at that station was distractingly good-looking. Overall, I'm pretty happy with how I did. There was a trauma case which I pooched pretty badly. Under pressure, I forgot to test for both extraocular movement AND the babinski reflex! silly Simon!

Either way, it's a tremendous learning experience, and a great opportunity to review. It's also kind of fun. McMaster has a reputation of being test-less, and for the large part this is very true. I think that a lot of us were secretely relieved to have a test-like situation, where we were given numerical grades. It was nice to have something concrete to study for. It's also a very positive environment. My classmates and I shout encouragements to each other between stations, and it's generally a happy, bustling event.

By the time the OSCE was all said and done, it was already midnight. The class headed out to a local place for good times and fun. This isn't particularly newsworthy, except for the fact that basically ALL the quiet, studious, 'good' girls in my class got completely and utterly sauced. It's the quiet ones you have to watch out for.

Anyways, because of the way my group planned our tutorials, I have absolutely nothing to do until elective starts on Monday. But because this is the only time I've ever had this "post-exam, feel like you deserve it" kind of break since I've come to Mac, it's extra special. I'm happy just thinking about it.

Tonite is Hairspray!

We lost in the semi-finals today in soccer. I must admit that the team that beat us was clearly better. The final score was 3-0. Time to look ahead and prepare for the indoor soccer season!

My roommate has cleaned up my hair a bit for me. The back is just too hard to do. She also kinda flattened the top. Actually, I think I liked the way I did the top better. I'll know for next time.

My class is in study mode right now because we have an OSCE on Tuesday. You rotate through ten stations, and at each one you do either a history or a physical exam. It should be alright.

I'm seeing Hairspray on Wednesday. I can not even describe my excitement. I've been looking forward to this for too long. This is the first musical where I've made an effort to become familiar with the music beforehand. I can't imagine why this has never occurred to me before.

I'm getting a palm pilot soon! Prepare yourselves for organized Simon. I've been thinking that I used to be a bit obsessive-compulsive, and that this trait may have attributed to some of my past successes. I'm probably a bit too mellow right now. Time to let the pendulum swing back to other way.

So the pre-clinical half of my medical education is over in one week tomorrow. We've had just over a year of tutorials, large-group sessions, small-group sessions (McMaster can't bring itself to call ANYTHING a lecture), and presentations. The next phase (which lasts another year and a half) is clerkship. From here on in, it's all hospitals all the time. The 'hands-on' part of medical education, if you will.

Yesterday my class gathered (some 140 of us) for a "Get ready for clerkship" presentation. It reminded me strongly of orientation week, just one short year ago. This time next year, I'll be completing my applications to residency programs. Sometimes it feels like I'm living life in fastforward.

I've been helping out my niece with some physics. I wish there was more math in medicine. It makes me think back to when we're young, and they expect you to learn math, English, history, music.. Everything! I miss those times. Now, I only ever study one thing at a time. You really DO end up knowing more and more about less and less.

My choir has our first performance on the 20th. It's a Christmas concert I think. I'm singing better this year. Or so I believe. And darned if I'll believe anything else.

I cut my hair this afternoon.

The horror! The horror!

It's becoming more clear why people pay to have their hair cut by professionals. It all seemed so very easy when I watched the barber cut my hair, but cutting your own hair is very, very tricky. I didn't do too bad a job with the sides, but the back is kind of odd looking. I'm hoping that my housemate can help me tidy it up when she gets home from the library. I've noticed that it doesn't look as bad if I put enough gel in it. I have a feeling that I'm going to be wearing gel or a ball cap for the next little while.

The good news is that my hair grows quite quickly, so I'll have another crack at it in another couple of months. In retrospect, it was probably unrealistic to expect that my very first attempt would be super successful. I figure I'll be decent at it by my fifth or sixth attempt. I must admit that initially, the mangling I gave my hair was almost enough to make me give up on this venture and just go humbly with my tail between my legs to the barber. I've decided that I will not wimp out so easily. No one ever learns to ride a bicycle without skinning their knees. I will persevere!

There's also a very odd sense of pride that comes with cutting one's own hair. I'll be holding my head up higher, so the world can see my handiwork!

I'm twenty-three today.

My friends from school threw a joint suprise party for me and Sunita (A classmate. Her birthday is on the 2nd. She plays varsity tennis and is a dance MACHINE!) a couple of days ago. We both thought we were going to review sessions. It was quite a surprise. I got some window markers, and my housemates got me a razor. I'm going to cut my hair this weekend. I hope it goes alright.

Today, I went over to dinner at my cousin's restaurant. It was a party as usual. There was a cake and everything. A very fine birthday indeed.