a quick break from the placenta. woooo placenta.

yesterday, emily and i drove to mcdonalds and went through the drive thru, and then went back to her house. only we didn't make it back immediately because as we drove past this one street, there was what looked like initially like a garbage bag until we saw it was wearing sneakers, laying face down in the middle of one of the "lanes" of the road. so we pulled over and emily jumped out (she used to be on the mcmaster first response team). i parked the car and threw the fourways on and headed over.

there was another guy who was on the phone to 911. and emily was at the head girl who was laying on the road (they had turned her over). this girl was COMPLETELY out of it. glassy eyed, dry lips, looked like they had some of that dry pasty leftover from froth on them, and couldn't squeeze my hands. she came around a bit more and could squeeze them a bit later, and they were very very clammy. we stayed with her until the ambulance came. put her in the recovery position (per the 911 operator, but left her on the road because we didn't want to move her and risk injuring her). turns out she lives right by where she collapsed. we found this out while we watied for the ambulance so emily ran over and knocked to see if her roommates were home. no one answered. then this nursing student came over and totally didnt' even try to work with emily and just took over and started doing all the same kinds of assessments emily did. like, woman, someone else was already here and did that, and maybe you should have asked rather than just jumping in. but anyways. not a battle to fight.

eventually the girl was asked when she ate last, and it turns out it was the day before. so maybe she had a seizure from being hypoglycemic? she sure looked post-ichtal (emily's words, not mine - i wouldn't know what post-ichtal looks like, although having seen that on this girl i think i could recognize it again).

what is REALLY amazing though, are the cars that just drove past without stopping. like, i think someone had driven past her before we stopped. and some people did stop while we were all there and asked if we needed anymore help (including 2 of 2 city bus drivers who drove past us - nice guys!) AND WORSE? omg. one of the girls in our program is neighbors with this girl who passed out on the road/maybe had a seizure. she told us today that HER ROOMMATE WAS TAKING PICTURES FROM INSIDE THE HOUSE, PICTURES OF THE GIRL LAYING ON THE ROAD.

are you freaking kidding me?! that makes me so angry. taking pictures. think if that was your sister or your family or someone you love who was laying there on the road, and think of how grateful you'd be to the person who didn't help, but instead TOOK PICTURES.

ugh. angry!

the paramedics came, and she is alright, i am assuming? she did not handle standing up very well - looked very out of it and almost puked as she went from sitting to standing. and they managed to get her roommate to answer the door. emily told me she (the roommate) was probably having sex with her boyfriend because she came outside in all of his clothes. and then she didn't know who we were talking about, because it sounded like the girl said felicia, then he tried vanessa, and the rooommate said "vinnie?" i guess her name is vineisha (vin-eesha), i don't know you spell it. and then the roommate said "hold on and let me get dressed." well, she looked dressed to me. so....maybe they weren't her clothes?

but at least she wasn't TAKING PICTURES OF HER LAYING ON THE ROAD.

non facebook status of the day.

melissa thinks this week is going to kill her.


NOTE IF YOU ARE NICOLE DO NOT READ THIS NEXT SENTENCE

buy wedding card and get cash for wedding gift
choose wedding outfit
bachelorette party -thurs
wedding - sat
repro study notes
AOM conf call wed pm
clinical skills wed am
TOSCA thurs am
MSMC GM thurs pm
christmas party tues pm
reece bday party sun pm
meet with prof fri afternoon

i am so irrationally overrun with bitterness and judgement and a general sense of ickiness right now.

they've still got it.

best snl opening in a long while.



taryn i especially posted this for you because its him singing and dancing and made me think of 500 days of summer!

to preface: abe lincoln (the tall guy) has said that he would bring beer to the party. the short guy is gandhi.



one of the other many reasons:

Hi Melissa

I have a favour to ask of you. There is a visiting professor from Sweden at the university for the next few weeks. She is a gynecologist with a specialty in teaching pelvic examination to medical residents. She is going to be joining your group on Wednesday when you do the pelvic teaching workshop. Would you be willing to come to the MEP office in MDCL for 0815 on Wednesday morning to escort her over to 1J8 where you will be starting the morning at 0830? I just think that is easier than having her wander around the hospital looking for the room.

Let me know if you are up for this! I thought you would be a good ambassador for your class!

bolding is MY emphasis.

AMAZING. this made me feel so great!! :D

i am pretty sure there is such a thing as a stupid question.

today in class (i am in second year, remember) one of my classmates asked the prof to point out which was the posterior vaginal wall and which was the anterior vaginal wall.

I AM IN SECOND YEAR.

i dunno why i am surprised, she is the same one who asked if a pH of 6.9 was acidic (compared to a pH of 7).

so its a doubly stupid question. because first of all, GO LOOK IT UP YOURSELF IF YOU DONT KNOW IT BY NOW, MY GOD. second, don't ask it because it makes you look stupid in class and it wastes ours and the teacher's time.

GO LOOK IT UP YOURSELF IF YOU DON"T KNOW IT BY NOW.

my god.

OH. MY. GOD. you guys.

like.

i don't even know where to start.

an incident last year around the time placements were announced resulted in a change to the way that placements are traded. it is NOW (supposed to be) an anonymous process mediated by the woman who does all the work for the lottery. like, if you're not happy, you write back and say you'd like to trade and if it works, it works (or they can offer you a different, empty spot that no one has occupied, i suppose. im not entirely sure). BUT. the point, is that it is SUPPOSED TO BE AN ANONYMOUS PROCESS.

I CANNOT STRESS THIS ENOUGH.

so. basically, what has happened is that the reason (ie person) that this ANONYMOUS process was instituted HAS WRITTEN EVERYONE IN MY CLASS BEGGING FOR A TRADE.

because the placement she has been given requires her to move away from her children. this is why she wants to stay in hamilton. and she has used up her one year leave last year when this happened before.

to which i say, you make your bed, you lie in it. your life is no more exceptional than anybody else in the program, and while i do feel badly for you that this is your "personal hardship", it is also the "personal hardship" (because having kids is not a hardship) of SEVERAL of my classmates who are making things work for them. case in point: one of my classmates is due in january, and is doing a summer placement in waterloo, living with one of our other classmates (who is also a mom). she is moving away from her husband for 4 months, with her newborn baby (and likely her 7 year old son), AND SHE IS MAKING IT WORK. she is not demanding nor expecting it to work perfectly, but she is making it work.

so there you have it. REPREHENSIBLE, i say.

edited to add: in my anger, i sent an email to the lottery lady (TM) and also to this person stating that i found this kind of conduct completely inappropriate given the clearly outlined rules for trading placements. she wrote back requesting confirmation of who received this email, i let her know it was the whole class, and she sent out an email reminding all that it is supposed to be anonymous, through her. and she's forwarding that onto an administrator in the mac midwifery program (lottery lady works out of ryerson).

my placement is in stoney creek in the summer! yay for not moving!! (but boo for not a lot of cottaging time)

the practice is small. 6 midwives. i have called my friend jen and left a msg to find out what she knows about this practice. i hope it is all good!

also, i think my notes are works of art. srsly.

two out of three midterms say 80%! woot woot!

third midterm should be back tomorrow, and it was one that i felt good about. so one of those 80s is from the midterm that i wasn't quite sure, and the 80 actually surprised me (in a good way!)

i am :D

and now i am :S because i turned down a wings invite so i could stay at home and learn about placentas. fun times. at least i have my golden girls! and cheddar jalepeno cheetos from my sister! she amazingly found two bags when they were down in the states shopping (while i was studying for said midterms).

i have no complaints right now, kids. except for missing wings, maybe. but whatevs. there will be more of those times!

things to do today

read NRP book
cleaning - bathroom, living room, kitchen, bedroom
dinner with family tonight, yay!
start doing pbl work for either repro or clinical skills
transfer money for rent
split cells in lab

i think thats enough for one day?

i should probably be studying, yes.

I DO NOT WANT TO STUDY.

i realized the reason its so difficult to make myself study is that a lot of this stuff is repeat learning. like, i've already learned it in at least one class once before.

the verdict on my bike is that i need new handlebars. which are the cheapest part of a bike to fix/replace, so hey, good job melissa! the brake is still okay (apparently my one brake handle is a little bent but its not a problem because it still works) and the gearshift is still okay too. all good things.

i love googling for academic images to help me study. i spent some time looking for good images to go into my study notes. found some great ones too! especially for the genital duct systems and genital development of the fetus. all praise images.google.ca!

i hope my mom, sister and the boys had a good weekend shopping in the states. i definitely missed being there with them (and am looking forward to some more flaming hot cheetos because i ate the rest of them yesterday). mostly, i hope reece had fun at the "hoentel" (which is how he says hotel - like show and tell without the s).

its a beautiful fall day. and i am inside with books and papers and diet coke. sigh.

did you know that you are not allowed to take benadryl with you to zamibia because it is prohibited there? diphenhydramine is considered a controlled substance. i guess you're just supposed to suffer with your allergies over there.

so this morning, i was passing a bus which was letting off passengers and this pedestrian stepped out in front of me and we crashed.

i have a nasty hematoma in my right inguinal area, some light road rash on my elbows, a scrape above the middle of my upper lip (which is now swollen) and a small scratch on my nose. oh, and a couple finger scrapes. all in all, it could have been much worse, and i feel lucky, if also embarrassed and sore. the pedestrian asked if i was okay and then continued onto class. this other girl (gaby), a grad student from mexico sat with me for a bit to make sure i was okay. i called emily, who hightailed it to see me (she was coming coz we had class anyways) and she checked me out (she used to be on EFRT - the first response team at mac). she didn't think i was concussed or had a head injury (i did not hit my head, miraculously) so i am alright, just a bit bruised and battered. the left handlebar of my bike is superbent now though, so i will have to do something about that. i rode it home and it just feels awkward because the handlebar is now angled down and back towards where the rider sits. but the brake still works fine. i'll get around to taking the bike in for a once-over and to find out what they can do to either fix the handlebars, or how much a replacement job would be (and if it is possible).

then i went to repro lab for 3 hours. we stopped off at the caf on the way to the anatomy lab to pick up a bag of ice, which spent most of its time on my lip or in my crotch, and a bit of time on the elbows. i tell ya, i had no idea how often you use your elbows for support until now because i'll lean on them and OW OW OW.

our repro teacher was supercute. she works for warren (my part-time lab boss/on call pager job boss) and she was soo concerned, kept asking me how i was and was i feeling okay and is everything okay. it was difficult to be annoyed even though the more she asked me how i was, the closer i got to crying. something about so many people asking me if i was okay just made me feel like it was okay to cry, even though i didn't want to cry. so i kept it to a minimum in the lab, and took a break to the bathroom to cry. it was just a few minutes to get it out and feel more like everything was okay.

and now i think i will take some advil and try and figure out what to have for lunch. i just had some cheetos (this "flaming hot" seasoning that i picked up in the states - soooo good. soooo spicy, like, makes my face go all hot when i eat them because they're so spicy).

also, last thing. i like nerding out on taking BP's. when emily comes over here, or i go over there, we do our blood pressures. hahaha. last night i was 108/62. good stuff.

last last thing, the golden girls is an amazing show. that is all. there isn't even a standout - all the leads are amazing and have great lines and comedic timing, whatnot. love it.

pumpkin carving, just 'coz.



free-hand sketched by me when i realized i only had two patterns, and not 3. doh.



from a pattern - the batty moon



carved by jen! from pattern #2


we left them down in the lobby with tea lights in them. i love being festive.

i went to fortinos and got juice and ginger ale and fresh crackers (coz, ew) and soup.

i am now ready to be sick and hibernate. i can't imagine going to class tomorrow, feeling like this. and i'm pretty sure my classmates would thank me.

MARTA! you gave me a threadless gift certificate!!1

awww, thanks so much buddy!! i cannot wait to pick something out to enjoy!!!

i will take some time today, more than 5 minutes, to lean, and am sending some <4 your way. we will lean together soon! <4<4

aw, i'm getting sick. :( at least i can say its been a while, but it still sucks. i'm all sneezy and heavy-sinus-y and head-space-y. boourns.

3 births.
two vaginal.
one c-section.

all amazing. well, and not to discredit the CS, but the vaginal births were.....AMAZING. AMAZING! for the last one i saw, she was SO TIRED and then all of a sudden it was half an hour of pushing and if that didn't work, she'd go for a CS, BUT that half hour of pushing? SHE DID IT. holy. amazing. AMAZING! she just had so much strength and i had NO IDEA where she got it from. she just kept pushing and pushing and we weren't even really telling her she should push. she just kept at it! she was a lovely polish woman, and her husband was also polish. i didn't quite like him as much as her though. something seemed off about him to me. but HER! wow. god-like. incredible.

time to go to class now. is there enough caffeine for this?

another thing that made my week. from a facebook message exchange over PBL and how much i hated it. this guy, omar who was on east village RLS with me, and went through physio at mac which is a lot of PBL. so he was trying to give me a bit of a pep talk and tell me how to feel better about it, which helped somewhat. but what was really awesome, was this.

Knowing your interpersonal skills as an RA, you will do very well in a program like this. You just have to trust the system and trust your own abilities.

aw, omar. thanks buddy! :)

when you watch a lot of cheers at once, the back and forth between sam and diane is really annoying. like, grating on your nerves annoying. i don't like diane much at all.

hi, so i just wanted to come here and write that i am super proud of myself today for doing everything that i needed to do.

we had 4 hours of clinical skills this morning, practicing taking a history and doing some vital signs assessment. BP is not as hard as i thought, even though if it were up to me detecting my own brachial pulse, i'd be dead.

and then i went into work and switched my western from blocking to primary. and then i came home, and had lunch because i was starving. followed by finishing up my repro PBL notes and then finishing up my notes for next week's readings for clinical skills. split in between with some dinner.

and i just watched the office, and now community is on.

also, i changed my text message sound to dwight saying "idiot" 3 times. I LOVE IT.

also, it is almost october and that is exciting because october is my favorite month.

AND! my L&D night shift is on monday! exciting!!!

if anyone needs a birthday idea *cough cough* for me *cough cough* i really like this hoodie over at threadless, and its on sale. and thats hoodie, not tshirt. probably size medium, because i have some american apparel hoodies (L and M) and the M fits better. the L is too L.

jus' sayin, is all.

signs facebook is totally over:

it just suggested i become friends with my MSc thesis supervisor.


THERE IS NOT ENOUGH :| IN THE WORLD FOR THIS STATEMENT.

my goal this fall, besides schoolwork, is to take some good fall photos, akin to these, which, admittedly, are okay but not the best.


acadia university

hahahahahaha this tshirt makes me laugh like crazy and i can't even really explain why.



hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha. get excited and make things. hahahahaha.

this one is also amazing.



hahahahahaha.

the best? worst? for last?




all shirts sold here.

so much for only spending $225 on books this semester. i think now i am up to....3? 4? no, 3. physical assessment for the newborn is out at amazon right now, so unless it is available at the bookstore it is moot. so 3 more more books that i am thinking of buying? 2 for sure - one on skills for midwifery practice, the other for neonatal resuscitation (have to have that one before our NRP course at the end of october).

the others i'm not sure on. waiting to hear back from jen on if they would be good (breastfeeding and human lactation). and physical assessment of the newborn, if its around? maybe a new edition is coming out or something.

ah well. i knew it was too good to be true!

school was good. it was awesome to see emily and be with both emily and otis at the same time. they are good people. and it was nice to meet new people! my buddy is awesome. she was hobbling around on crutches because her ankle is still all messed up from when she injured it. and there is another melissa who seems pretty chill. like the anti-me - she did 2 years of an undergrad in women's studies. LOL. at least she doesn't have to take womens studies here though. that is a bonus. the down side is that she spent 2 years doing womens studies, haha.

and i saw jen! which was nice and unexpected. they find out tomorrow where their placements are. but they are all in the golden horseshoe area, so that is good at least. the third years are doing a week-intensive right now at mac, so we get to see them. i think jen may come over for dinner on sunday after their exam (ed note: WTF EXAM FIRST WEEK ON A SUNDAY?!). that would be lovely!

okay. time to cross stitch for a bit before mellow wind-down time before bed. i have class at 8:30 tomorrow! in the A.M.!!!! haha. clinical skills, which excites me and terrifies me!