January is flying by. I've been studying at the Student Lounge in the evenings and weekends when I'm not in a group session somewhere (usually the library). So I haven't seen my family or had a many hcances to Blog.
The MSIIs call this "Black January" for good reason. We've had tests every week. I've had to study pretty much everyday. Having my sister-in-law living here has helped. Becky can study for the Bar and I can still get in more study time than last quarter. I'm averaging at least 3% higher so far and hope to maintain that through the quarter (if not more).
I just finished my male invasive exam and second Physiology test. Both went ok, so I'm taking a breather and getting some research done for this summer's project, a Phys case and USMLE I. Well, I'm procrastinating by updating this first and hope to get to those before I nod off.
There's more details to update, but they will have to wait - hopefully not for another month to pass.
Monday, January 24, 2005
Wednesday, January 05, 2005
Back to school...
Wow, Xmas break is long gone. Heck, we just finished our first big test in "black January" - Physiology. It wasn't too bad, but I did study my butt off. Had 3.5 hrs of sleep last night. Since Sunday I've probably studied 40 hours for it in addition to class and everything else.
My sister-in-law moved in over the weekend to be our nanny, so that has freed up a lot of time for me. My boys were thrilled to spend some time with me tonight since the first we've had dinner together in three nights.
I should back up a bit since I have about two weeks to catch up on. Xmas was nice. We had my mother-in-law, her significant other and my wife's grandmother here. It was fairly pleasant here in AZ. And the boys did fine with presents. I didn't get finished helping them put together their new models, a "Visible Horse" and "Visible Human". We did finish assembling a large 3-D puzzle.
I also read a book entitled the "Ultimate Guide to Residencies". It got me really excited about Interventional Radiology. I read up a lot on it and other specialties online (e.g. SDN). It seems to be at the op of my list for the moment: lots of hands on procedures; reasonable residency; reasonable hours and pay; lots of cool toys to play with. However, lots of others still interest me too, like ENT, Plastics (burns), pediatric surgery, interventional cardiology and radiation oncology. I hope to get more exposure to some of these hospital-based specialies this summer on my own, since AZCOM's Clinical Ed. is focused on primary care only.
The only school work I managed to finish was some Biochem case research. After Christmas I spent two days interesting days with my Preceptor. We saw lots of interesting pathologies and stories. The Family Physician lifestyle wasn't overly attractive. But the specialty is intellectually challenging. The most interesting case we came across was a patient that came in with his son for some non-descript complaint.
My Preceptor went over his chart saying he was a bible salesman that had been treated for benign hypertrophy of the prostate. Recently he had complained of rectal bleeding and had been referred to a colorectal surgeon. The surgeon called her back afterwards saying in a surprised voice that he had "cured" the patient. He had removed a paint can from the patient's rectum!
Just before my Preceptor opened the door to the waiting room with this patient, she smiled and said; "I guess bigger is better"! Then I had to shake hands with the guy while keeping a straight face. Guess I wow the jackpot on bizarre patients!
I tried to study the next three days, before New Years Day, but couldn't get motivated. Instead I ran a few times, played with the kids and generally enjoyed myself. We even got in all extended versions of the Lord of Rings movies (an Xmas present for me).
New Years Day I started into Physiology pretty hard. I reviewed most of the fifteen lectures on the test over the weekend. Monday class started with no pause in the information "firehose". We covered a lot of the Lower Extremity in Anatomy and EKG in Phys. It felt pretty good. Tuesday I had to study like crazy, but luckily I didn't have to drive three hours roundtrip for my Preceptorship since I did that over the Holidays. I studied for a few hours with my old study group which was more fun than productive. Then from about 10pm until 2am I did a final review of all the lectures. I got up at 5:30am this morning to fill my short-term memory banks before starting the test at 7am. I felt better for this test than any one so far. And it wasn't just that I prepared or that the test was fairly easy. I just felt more at ease and less stressed. The first question freaked me a bit when I saw all the data for it in a table, but once I breezed through it I got back in my "zen" state and cruised through. I hope this means I've overcome the extreme stress tests have been putting me in up until now.
Afterwards I went home and slept a few hours. I spoke briefly with Dr. Jones who I hope becomes my summer research sponsor. He's pretty excited about my ideas for studying diabetic tissues. I hope this happens. It could be very cool, highly publishable and look awesome on residency applications (esp. radiology or oncology).
I made it back for the AMA President's lunch address to us. Dr. Thompson is a great speaker and treated us DOs as part of the team. It was the first time an AMA President has spoken at a DO school so that was cool.
OMM took up all the afternoon (like every other Wednesday) and was fun too. I spent some time talking with my favorite Adjunct Prof. and was saddened to hear he's moving to Colorado for lower malpractice premiums (Dr. Thompson's main theme ironically) and more outdoor activities. I'm totally envious of his lifestyle and skills. He makes great money doing just OMM and on very few hours compared to most Physicians. A quarter mill. on 36 hours a week with no call or rounds is pretty incredible in this day and age!
So FP with OMM is back on my list again :). But I'm concerned about not having the Jedi Knight like powers my guru does. He started in Family Practice only focused exclusively on OMM when other Doctors saw, heard about and experienced his OMM healing powers and told him he was wasting his time in FP. It's scary to think of going down the Primary Care road with the intention of focusing on OMM only to find out you don't have the skills to be very good at it (and get the referrals and committed patients it takes to establish a successful practice).
So, lots going on. But now it's time to hit Biochem and get some reasonable sleep. I have about twelve lectures I'm clueless on (including three difficult ones on hemostasis) to master by Monday plus finish my presentation on Alcoholic Liver Disease. Fun, fun, fun...
My sister-in-law moved in over the weekend to be our nanny, so that has freed up a lot of time for me. My boys were thrilled to spend some time with me tonight since the first we've had dinner together in three nights.
I should back up a bit since I have about two weeks to catch up on. Xmas was nice. We had my mother-in-law, her significant other and my wife's grandmother here. It was fairly pleasant here in AZ. And the boys did fine with presents. I didn't get finished helping them put together their new models, a "Visible Horse" and "Visible Human". We did finish assembling a large 3-D puzzle.
I also read a book entitled the "Ultimate Guide to Residencies". It got me really excited about Interventional Radiology. I read up a lot on it and other specialties online (e.g. SDN). It seems to be at the op of my list for the moment: lots of hands on procedures; reasonable residency; reasonable hours and pay; lots of cool toys to play with. However, lots of others still interest me too, like ENT, Plastics (burns), pediatric surgery, interventional cardiology and radiation oncology. I hope to get more exposure to some of these hospital-based specialies this summer on my own, since AZCOM's Clinical Ed. is focused on primary care only.
The only school work I managed to finish was some Biochem case research. After Christmas I spent two days interesting days with my Preceptor. We saw lots of interesting pathologies and stories. The Family Physician lifestyle wasn't overly attractive. But the specialty is intellectually challenging. The most interesting case we came across was a patient that came in with his son for some non-descript complaint.
My Preceptor went over his chart saying he was a bible salesman that had been treated for benign hypertrophy of the prostate. Recently he had complained of rectal bleeding and had been referred to a colorectal surgeon. The surgeon called her back afterwards saying in a surprised voice that he had "cured" the patient. He had removed a paint can from the patient's rectum!
Just before my Preceptor opened the door to the waiting room with this patient, she smiled and said; "I guess bigger is better"! Then I had to shake hands with the guy while keeping a straight face. Guess I wow the jackpot on bizarre patients!
I tried to study the next three days, before New Years Day, but couldn't get motivated. Instead I ran a few times, played with the kids and generally enjoyed myself. We even got in all extended versions of the Lord of Rings movies (an Xmas present for me).
New Years Day I started into Physiology pretty hard. I reviewed most of the fifteen lectures on the test over the weekend. Monday class started with no pause in the information "firehose". We covered a lot of the Lower Extremity in Anatomy and EKG in Phys. It felt pretty good. Tuesday I had to study like crazy, but luckily I didn't have to drive three hours roundtrip for my Preceptorship since I did that over the Holidays. I studied for a few hours with my old study group which was more fun than productive. Then from about 10pm until 2am I did a final review of all the lectures. I got up at 5:30am this morning to fill my short-term memory banks before starting the test at 7am. I felt better for this test than any one so far. And it wasn't just that I prepared or that the test was fairly easy. I just felt more at ease and less stressed. The first question freaked me a bit when I saw all the data for it in a table, but once I breezed through it I got back in my "zen" state and cruised through. I hope this means I've overcome the extreme stress tests have been putting me in up until now.
Afterwards I went home and slept a few hours. I spoke briefly with Dr. Jones who I hope becomes my summer research sponsor. He's pretty excited about my ideas for studying diabetic tissues. I hope this happens. It could be very cool, highly publishable and look awesome on residency applications (esp. radiology or oncology).
I made it back for the AMA President's lunch address to us. Dr. Thompson is a great speaker and treated us DOs as part of the team. It was the first time an AMA President has spoken at a DO school so that was cool.
OMM took up all the afternoon (like every other Wednesday) and was fun too. I spent some time talking with my favorite Adjunct Prof. and was saddened to hear he's moving to Colorado for lower malpractice premiums (Dr. Thompson's main theme ironically) and more outdoor activities. I'm totally envious of his lifestyle and skills. He makes great money doing just OMM and on very few hours compared to most Physicians. A quarter mill. on 36 hours a week with no call or rounds is pretty incredible in this day and age!
So FP with OMM is back on my list again :). But I'm concerned about not having the Jedi Knight like powers my guru does. He started in Family Practice only focused exclusively on OMM when other Doctors saw, heard about and experienced his OMM healing powers and told him he was wasting his time in FP. It's scary to think of going down the Primary Care road with the intention of focusing on OMM only to find out you don't have the skills to be very good at it (and get the referrals and committed patients it takes to establish a successful practice).
So, lots going on. But now it's time to hit Biochem and get some reasonable sleep. I have about twelve lectures I'm clueless on (including three difficult ones on hemostasis) to master by Monday plus finish my presentation on Alcoholic Liver Disease. Fun, fun, fun...
Tuesday, December 21, 2004
How can a Quiz be so intimidating?
I'm on Xmas break with a million things to do both for school and home. However, top of the list is a little Phys online quiz that I have until midnight tonight to finish. Nice of them to assign it over break huh?
Once you log in you can't log off, you have to finish it in one sitting. I imagine it won't be too hard, but I've been procrastinating. I'm not caught up in Phys and didn't feel like i got a good grasp on the Lambert-Eaton Myasthenia Syndrome we're studying. And then there's the very real fear that my PC will crash before I finish. Or maybe it's that the kids playing video games in the same room as my PC has me distracted.
Whatever it is, these dumb little things somehow turn into big obstacles.
Oh, I also got back grades on Friday's tests. I received 94% on Anatomy (88% class avg.) and 86% (class avg.) on Histology. I'm satisfied with the Anatomy, but a bit disappointed in the Histology. My ace histologist study had it right when he called this test our 2nd hardest so far, though it didn't seem like it to me at the time. On the positive side, Histology is only 1.5 credits this quarter and now it's half over. All the more reason to do this quiz, get caught up in Phys and do my objectives in Biochem.
Once you log in you can't log off, you have to finish it in one sitting. I imagine it won't be too hard, but I've been procrastinating. I'm not caught up in Phys and didn't feel like i got a good grasp on the Lambert-Eaton Myasthenia Syndrome we're studying. And then there's the very real fear that my PC will crash before I finish. Or maybe it's that the kids playing video games in the same room as my PC has me distracted.
Whatever it is, these dumb little things somehow turn into big obstacles.
Oh, I also got back grades on Friday's tests. I received 94% on Anatomy (88% class avg.) and 86% (class avg.) on Histology. I'm satisfied with the Anatomy, but a bit disappointed in the Histology. My ace histologist study had it right when he called this test our 2nd hardest so far, though it didn't seem like it to me at the time. On the positive side, Histology is only 1.5 credits this quarter and now it's half over. All the more reason to do this quiz, get caught up in Phys and do my objectives in Biochem.
Monday, December 20, 2004
Sunday, December 19, 2004
Xmas Break
Still haven't received grades on Friday's Anatomy/Histology test. I think it went ok. I know I made some mistakes, but I did study very hard for it. Wednesday night was kinda fun since I studied with my old group. We had a fun time. Just like the old days (first quarter) we were too slow, but it was more enjoyable and kinda reinvigorated my study efforts.
Thursday I got 4 hours sleep and felt ok during the 3.5 hour test. Maybe I would have done a better job, like not mistaking the female UG triangle for the anal triangle (oops!) on one problem, but I doubt it.
Afterwards, I drove one of my study friends to his house and then the airport. I then picked up some clothes I had ordered at REI and packed for the 6 hour trip to San Diego. Becky and I weren't sure we wanted to go, but my Dad said he was really looking forward to seeing the kids. Twelve hours of driving (round trip) for about one day of visiting was expensive in terms of time and energy so I'm pretty sure this won't be a frequent weekend getaway.
We just got back a couple hours ago and both Becky and I are stressed about the amount of things we have to get done this Holiday break. She has to prepare for her mom and grandmother's visit over Christmas, study for the bar and work fulltime at St. Mary's. I have to get caught up in Phys and Biochem, do a bunch of stuff around the house, and finish off a long list of todo's.
The list includes finishing an online Phys quiz due tomorrow, finishing a Biochem presentation, researching a Phys case, previewing the Lower Extremity for Anatomy and (I really, really hope) getting my preceptorship check-offs done for the quarter.
Friday Dr. Hilts said I could come in a couple of half days over break which would free up every other Tuesday afternoon during the quarter and save me from the three hour round trip. That would be so great. I hate traffic! And what a waster; 3 hours of driving for a 1.5 hour preceptorship shadowing experience.
So time to get to bed. Lots to do over the next two weeks before "black January" starts. The MSIIs call it that and seeing how we have 7-8 big tests in the month of January, I can see why.
Becky and I are really going to be depending on her sister being a great nanny for us while I survive the hardest part of MSI and Becky studies for the California Bar.
Thursday I got 4 hours sleep and felt ok during the 3.5 hour test. Maybe I would have done a better job, like not mistaking the female UG triangle for the anal triangle (oops!) on one problem, but I doubt it.
Afterwards, I drove one of my study friends to his house and then the airport. I then picked up some clothes I had ordered at REI and packed for the 6 hour trip to San Diego. Becky and I weren't sure we wanted to go, but my Dad said he was really looking forward to seeing the kids. Twelve hours of driving (round trip) for about one day of visiting was expensive in terms of time and energy so I'm pretty sure this won't be a frequent weekend getaway.
We just got back a couple hours ago and both Becky and I are stressed about the amount of things we have to get done this Holiday break. She has to prepare for her mom and grandmother's visit over Christmas, study for the bar and work fulltime at St. Mary's. I have to get caught up in Phys and Biochem, do a bunch of stuff around the house, and finish off a long list of todo's.
The list includes finishing an online Phys quiz due tomorrow, finishing a Biochem presentation, researching a Phys case, previewing the Lower Extremity for Anatomy and (I really, really hope) getting my preceptorship check-offs done for the quarter.
Friday Dr. Hilts said I could come in a couple of half days over break which would free up every other Tuesday afternoon during the quarter and save me from the three hour round trip. That would be so great. I hate traffic! And what a waster; 3 hours of driving for a 1.5 hour preceptorship shadowing experience.
So time to get to bed. Lots to do over the next two weeks before "black January" starts. The MSIIs call it that and seeing how we have 7-8 big tests in the month of January, I can see why.
Becky and I are really going to be depending on her sister being a great nanny for us while I survive the hardest part of MSI and Becky studies for the California Bar.
Monday, December 13, 2004
It was a better week
I still didn't get as much studying accomplished as I would have liked, however it was definitely an improvement over the first week of the quarter. I'm doing ok in Anatomy. The big test is Friday, right before the Holiday break. So I have a few days left to prepare. I have a lot left to do, but since I can focus on just Anatomy it should be ok.
If it was a normal week and I had to keep up on Biochem and Physiology too I would be in trouble. I'm already way behind in Biochem. I'm so thankful we have two weeks over the Holidays to catch-up. I figure I have a good 40 hours of studying I need to put in. And that's with no review from last quarter at all!
Even better, my sister-in-law will be moving this month so come January, I should have a lot more freedom for studying. I still want to spend time with the kids and family, but I won't be forced to lose 5-9pm every night of the week.
Time to catch some shut eye. It's going to be a long week: Phys presentation, female invasive exam and the big Anatomy/Histo/Embro test for the pelvic and perineal regions (going to be glad to be done with this one!).
If it was a normal week and I had to keep up on Biochem and Physiology too I would be in trouble. I'm already way behind in Biochem. I'm so thankful we have two weeks over the Holidays to catch-up. I figure I have a good 40 hours of studying I need to put in. And that's with no review from last quarter at all!
Even better, my sister-in-law will be moving this month so come January, I should have a lot more freedom for studying. I still want to spend time with the kids and family, but I won't be forced to lose 5-9pm every night of the week.
Time to catch some shut eye. It's going to be a long week: Phys presentation, female invasive exam and the big Anatomy/Histo/Embro test for the pelvic and perineal regions (going to be glad to be done with this one!).
Sunday, December 05, 2004
Totally forgot!
The reason I decided to write yesterday was that we had our "White Coat" ceremony at AZCOM. I wasn't going to make a big deal of it, heck I didn't even to my undergraduate or graduate school graduation ceremonies. But my kids wanted to come because they are proud dad is becoming a doctor. Wow, now was an unexpected benefit of this whole ordeal.
I didn't realize how cool it is, and motivating, to have your kids be proud of what you're doing. It may have helped me get a good amount of studying in today. I'm not caught up by any means after several days of limited studying, but at least Anatomy is under control. Hopefully I can a healthy dent in reviewing last week's Phys and Biochem lectures tomorrow.
As for the actual ceremony, nothing to write home about. Boring speeches from faculty, long lines and ill-fitting short white coats. Heck, the school didn't even have to pay for them. But if the kids enjoyed it, I enjoyed it. That's it, just a nice and unexpected result of getting this far.
I didn't realize how cool it is, and motivating, to have your kids be proud of what you're doing. It may have helped me get a good amount of studying in today. I'm not caught up by any means after several days of limited studying, but at least Anatomy is under control. Hopefully I can a healthy dent in reviewing last week's Phys and Biochem lectures tomorrow.
As for the actual ceremony, nothing to write home about. Boring speeches from faculty, long lines and ill-fitting short white coats. Heck, the school didn't even have to pay for them. But if the kids enjoyed it, I enjoyed it. That's it, just a nice and unexpected result of getting this far.
Saturday, December 04, 2004
Harder to get going this time...
The week started ok, but I've had a hard time getting back into the school/study routine. I can justify it by saying the Christmas shopping had to be done and just couldn't wait, but that wouldn't be entirely true.
I just hope that I can catch up this weekend. I have been doing some (probably too much) research for a Biochem presentation this evening. Tomorrow will be Anatomy. Then Sunday I need to get at least a review of my Phys and Biochem lectures in. I'm already feeling lost in those classes. The only bright spot is that I have the Xmas break to do some catching up.
Oh, and the Christmas shopping is mostly done :-).
I just hope that I can catch up this weekend. I have been doing some (probably too much) research for a Biochem presentation this evening. Tomorrow will be Anatomy. Then Sunday I need to get at least a review of my Phys and Biochem lectures in. I'm already feeling lost in those classes. The only bright spot is that I have the Xmas break to do some catching up.
Oh, and the Christmas shopping is mostly done :-).
Tuesday, November 30, 2004
Into the frying pan...
Two days and we're up to our eyeballs in information we have to know, projects we have to complete and tests we have to plan for. Wow.
If feels a little less stressful, but I think I'll be just as competitive and stressed about the tests this quarter. Maybe it's my nature or maybe it's the fact that I'm scared sh**less about the residency match. I don't know what I want to get into at this point, but staying here in AZ is looking better and better - if I have the option.
Well, time to review today's lectures and preview tomorrow's Phys. lecture. Hopefully I can get to bed in time to be able to run before class. Even though the temperature has dropped a lot (in the 40's in the morning) I'm trying to wear shorts still because they fit better. My jeans and pants are either stained and ratty or uncomfortably tight :(.
If feels a little less stressful, but I think I'll be just as competitive and stressed about the tests this quarter. Maybe it's my nature or maybe it's the fact that I'm scared sh**less about the residency match. I don't know what I want to get into at this point, but staying here in AZ is looking better and better - if I have the option.
Well, time to review today's lectures and preview tomorrow's Phys. lecture. Hopefully I can get to bed in time to be able to run before class. Even though the temperature has dropped a lot (in the 40's in the morning) I'm trying to wear shorts still because they fit better. My jeans and pants are either stained and ratty or uncomfortably tight :(.
Saturday, November 27, 2004
What happened to my break??
Two weeks since my last post? Boy did that go fast. It started out as expected. I got in a couple runs with my dog, caught up on sleep and met a couple classmates at the anatomy lab. We divided up sutures and starting trying to act like surgeons on our cadavers, but quickly realized we had no idea what we were doing. We planned to meet again after reading a guide or manual but events kind of took over for me.
My grandfather's prognosis worsened dramatically when we learned that his bowels were dead around the 14th. No one expected him to regain consciousness. So I booked a flight to Chicago for Thursday the 18th. My brother flew in late that night after I had a chance to see our family patriarch, Papa, in the hospital. I guess I missed the worst of it, when the gout was so bad that even unconscious he would just about sit up in pain at the slightest touch. By the time I got there, he was heavily sedated with Fentanyl. At that point it was just a matter of time, so the goal was to make him comfortable.
Friday I basically said goodbye to him and agreed with the family that we should disconnect his ventilator. Friday night I followed family tradition and got blitzed a bar near the hospital with a cousin and my brother. I spend time with my uncles, aunts and cousins Saturday and we all saw Papa one last time. He passed away early Sunday morning.
Becky and the kids flew in Sunday for the wake on Tuesday and funeral on Wednesday. We visited lots of my relatives (mostly a good thing :-) and showed the boys Sue (the largest T. Rex in the world) at the Natural History Museum. The wake was really a showing of Papa body in the funeral home. No memorabilia, no cheers or old stories. Papa looked horrible (totally unlike himself) and the boys were bored for the seven hours from 2pm to 9pm. I think he would have liked something much celebratory, even if it required some libations. We are a fairly typical Irish Catholic family :-).
The snow storm started Wednesday so it was a cold. As a pallbearer from Arizona, I was underdressed. A black suit with a parka didn't cut it. The procession was at least 30 cars long from the funeral home to the church and then to the cemetary. The Mass was ok except that the priest was new didn't seem to know anything about Papa (who had been an active member for more than 40 yrs) or how to do his job. The boys were gems in their new black suits and my dad, Papa's first son, did a nice talk on Papa's organization skills benefitting the church's Octoberfest's for many years.
At the cemetary we had to have a short ceremony indoors the weather was so bad. Two soldiers dedicated a flag to Papa in a nice ceremony that recognized his service to the country in WWII. In fact he was buried with his Purple Heart which he received over the Pacific in a B-25. He lost most of the muscle and flesh on his upper thighs from a flac shell exploding close to the plane, but managed to fly the plane another 380 miles back to base with his arms (the pilot had lost use of his arms but could operate the petals). We then met at Casey's, his favorite restuarant in Lombard. It was nice but hard to talk to anyone not at your table. And people left pretty quickly because the storm was dumping snow on the roads.
I got in trouble that evening with Becky for taking Dan to my cousins (and leaving here with the kids) to decompress as I like to call it. We played some dice games, had a couple drinks and then I returned to the hotel.
We spent Thanksgiving with my Dad and his wife. First we had a meal at Casey's and then went to my cousins to return her car. Talk about over-eating! But it was intersting for Becky and my parents to see Colleen's house. She's done VERY well in mortgages and has a 6800sf mansion beautifully decorated.
Yesterday we flew home after snowball fighting, one last "world's best" Ever Hotdog at Portillo's and a boring 4-5 hours at the airport. All-in-all we had enough Chicago hotdogs, chicago pizza and alcohol for many months (so much for losing weight over the break). But Papa would be happy that the family he anchored got together and shared many of our memories with him and created some new ones along the way. It will interesting to see how we do keeping in touch and getting together for family reunions now that he's gone.
Time to rush off to do some Xmas decoration and present shopping before Winter gets into full swing on Monday.
My grandfather's prognosis worsened dramatically when we learned that his bowels were dead around the 14th. No one expected him to regain consciousness. So I booked a flight to Chicago for Thursday the 18th. My brother flew in late that night after I had a chance to see our family patriarch, Papa, in the hospital. I guess I missed the worst of it, when the gout was so bad that even unconscious he would just about sit up in pain at the slightest touch. By the time I got there, he was heavily sedated with Fentanyl. At that point it was just a matter of time, so the goal was to make him comfortable.
Friday I basically said goodbye to him and agreed with the family that we should disconnect his ventilator. Friday night I followed family tradition and got blitzed a bar near the hospital with a cousin and my brother. I spend time with my uncles, aunts and cousins Saturday and we all saw Papa one last time. He passed away early Sunday morning.
Becky and the kids flew in Sunday for the wake on Tuesday and funeral on Wednesday. We visited lots of my relatives (mostly a good thing :-) and showed the boys Sue (the largest T. Rex in the world) at the Natural History Museum. The wake was really a showing of Papa body in the funeral home. No memorabilia, no cheers or old stories. Papa looked horrible (totally unlike himself) and the boys were bored for the seven hours from 2pm to 9pm. I think he would have liked something much celebratory, even if it required some libations. We are a fairly typical Irish Catholic family :-).
The snow storm started Wednesday so it was a cold. As a pallbearer from Arizona, I was underdressed. A black suit with a parka didn't cut it. The procession was at least 30 cars long from the funeral home to the church and then to the cemetary. The Mass was ok except that the priest was new didn't seem to know anything about Papa (who had been an active member for more than 40 yrs) or how to do his job. The boys were gems in their new black suits and my dad, Papa's first son, did a nice talk on Papa's organization skills benefitting the church's Octoberfest's for many years.
At the cemetary we had to have a short ceremony indoors the weather was so bad. Two soldiers dedicated a flag to Papa in a nice ceremony that recognized his service to the country in WWII. In fact he was buried with his Purple Heart which he received over the Pacific in a B-25. He lost most of the muscle and flesh on his upper thighs from a flac shell exploding close to the plane, but managed to fly the plane another 380 miles back to base with his arms (the pilot had lost use of his arms but could operate the petals). We then met at Casey's, his favorite restuarant in Lombard. It was nice but hard to talk to anyone not at your table. And people left pretty quickly because the storm was dumping snow on the roads.
I got in trouble that evening with Becky for taking Dan to my cousins (and leaving here with the kids) to decompress as I like to call it. We played some dice games, had a couple drinks and then I returned to the hotel.
We spent Thanksgiving with my Dad and his wife. First we had a meal at Casey's and then went to my cousins to return her car. Talk about over-eating! But it was intersting for Becky and my parents to see Colleen's house. She's done VERY well in mortgages and has a 6800sf mansion beautifully decorated.
Yesterday we flew home after snowball fighting, one last "world's best" Ever Hotdog at Portillo's and a boring 4-5 hours at the airport. All-in-all we had enough Chicago hotdogs, chicago pizza and alcohol for many months (so much for losing weight over the break). But Papa would be happy that the family he anchored got together and shared many of our memories with him and created some new ones along the way. It will interesting to see how we do keeping in touch and getting together for family reunions now that he's gone.
Time to rush off to do some Xmas decoration and present shopping before Winter gets into full swing on Monday.
Saturday, November 13, 2004
First Quarter done!!
I meant to write earlier but I've been in recovery mode since noon yesterday. I didn't do as well as I hoped on Biochem but the 88% was enough to squeak a 90% out of the class; 90.17% based on my calcs. (Amazingly they had our results back in about two hours. No wonder there wasn't any multiple choice!)
Anatomy and Histo/Embryo were similar. I had 88-89% on the finals and barely managed to stay in "A" territory, 92 and 90.8% respectively. OMM was pretty easy and I got a 95% even though I blew a rotation dx on L5. My partner got inominates and the Prof gave me L5 :(. I can hardly move L5 and probably should have just guessed a normal Type II dysfunction but NO, I had to go with what I felt :).
So that leaves Friday. After Biochem I studied a straight 12-13 hours with three classmates (gunners wouldn't be an inaccurate description). We seemed to clicking pretty well on Biochem, and this session seemed to confirm that we work well together. I just hope they help me pull my scores up a bit :). Most of the time was spent on ICM with about two hours on Human Behavior. Then I got up early and studied two more hours on the 8am Human Behavior final. Those 25 questions took me all of 15 minutes! It was such a joke that I didn't even review my answers. I found out later that 5 of the 25 questions had been thrown out. It's only 1 credit and I just don't care.
From 8:15 until 10am I studied ICM. I really feel like I got the information from lectures down pretty well. Some questions seemed out of the blue, but they were probably from the reading we were supposed to do. I think I did ok on it. It was the first test where we got to keep the questions so after reviewing them with fellow students I'm sure I got two wrong, which means I probably got 4-5 wrong total out of 40 questions. I passed.
Afterwards I hooked with a few of my old study partners at a bar in Scottsdale. We had a fun time as I unwinded with delicious Dos Gringos tacos and three marguaritas. They are a really nice group of people but just study at the level I like to. Unfortunately two of them will be decelerating, which I understand to mean retaking a few classes next year and doing Med school in 5 years. One guy is a really neat person with a great attitude that had to work through school to maintain healthcare coverage for his family. They have several serious and chronic problems so it's sad and amazing that he manages to keep his positive attitude. I really hope he finds a way to get out of work so he focus on his studies.
I got home in time to pick up the boys from school, take a quick nap, clean the house with the family and then greet my Mom as she arrived from Seattle. I also had the pleasure of reading the latest issue of Wired magazine. It's my favorite (SciAm is a distant 2nd) and it's been sitting on my desk for about two weeks.
Today I took two naps and walked/ran the dog for about 4 miles. It felt great. Man do I need to find a way to fit exercise into my schedule. If nothing else, it really helps me reduce the stress. I then went grocery shopping so we could host dinner for my mom, brother and his "girlfriend". Mom loved her and agrees he's crazy to hold out. She an adorable Japanese girl that he lived with in Japan for a year. It's obvious she came here for him and they still have feelings for eachother. He's driving her home at this moment, hopefully asking her to caravan with us to my dad's house for Thanksgiving. Then she'll have met the whole family - and I can get really be relentless about going ring shopping with him!
Anatomy and Histo/Embryo were similar. I had 88-89% on the finals and barely managed to stay in "A" territory, 92 and 90.8% respectively. OMM was pretty easy and I got a 95% even though I blew a rotation dx on L5. My partner got inominates and the Prof gave me L5 :(. I can hardly move L5 and probably should have just guessed a normal Type II dysfunction but NO, I had to go with what I felt :).
So that leaves Friday. After Biochem I studied a straight 12-13 hours with three classmates (gunners wouldn't be an inaccurate description). We seemed to clicking pretty well on Biochem, and this session seemed to confirm that we work well together. I just hope they help me pull my scores up a bit :). Most of the time was spent on ICM with about two hours on Human Behavior. Then I got up early and studied two more hours on the 8am Human Behavior final. Those 25 questions took me all of 15 minutes! It was such a joke that I didn't even review my answers. I found out later that 5 of the 25 questions had been thrown out. It's only 1 credit and I just don't care.
From 8:15 until 10am I studied ICM. I really feel like I got the information from lectures down pretty well. Some questions seemed out of the blue, but they were probably from the reading we were supposed to do. I think I did ok on it. It was the first test where we got to keep the questions so after reviewing them with fellow students I'm sure I got two wrong, which means I probably got 4-5 wrong total out of 40 questions. I passed.
Afterwards I hooked with a few of my old study partners at a bar in Scottsdale. We had a fun time as I unwinded with delicious Dos Gringos tacos and three marguaritas. They are a really nice group of people but just study at the level I like to. Unfortunately two of them will be decelerating, which I understand to mean retaking a few classes next year and doing Med school in 5 years. One guy is a really neat person with a great attitude that had to work through school to maintain healthcare coverage for his family. They have several serious and chronic problems so it's sad and amazing that he manages to keep his positive attitude. I really hope he finds a way to get out of work so he focus on his studies.
I got home in time to pick up the boys from school, take a quick nap, clean the house with the family and then greet my Mom as she arrived from Seattle. I also had the pleasure of reading the latest issue of Wired magazine. It's my favorite (SciAm is a distant 2nd) and it's been sitting on my desk for about two weeks.
Today I took two naps and walked/ran the dog for about 4 miles. It felt great. Man do I need to find a way to fit exercise into my schedule. If nothing else, it really helps me reduce the stress. I then went grocery shopping so we could host dinner for my mom, brother and his "girlfriend". Mom loved her and agrees he's crazy to hold out. She an adorable Japanese girl that he lived with in Japan for a year. It's obvious she came here for him and they still have feelings for eachother. He's driving her home at this moment, hopefully asking her to caravan with us to my dad's house for Thanksgiving. Then she'll have met the whole family - and I can get really be relentless about going ring shopping with him!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)