Yippee

I took my first Advanced Pathophysiology exam, and I got a 92. I'm surprised - boy, did I make some bonehead mistakes. I was very relieved though - the exam was fair and the questions were clear. I left feeling confident. Maybe I should take this for a grade instead of pass/fail - ha -- nah! No way! Like I need more pressure in my life! Here's the stupid stuff I did on this test. One of the questions was which heart valve makes the S1 sound and what is it doing - opening or closing? And yes, I actually had to throw the dart on that one. But here's the type of question I got right: Your patient presents with fever of 100.4, respiratory rate of 18, heart rate of 120, his lymphocytes are 80% and his WBC is 12.8. His Bili is 1.2 and is ALT is > than AST. Which of the following differential diagnoses is most likely? And which diagnostic test do you order to confirm that? I put a lot of time into being able to know exactly what the lab test values mean and which diagnostics to order. And there was a whole lot of other stuff to memorize, like what is the SOC (standard of care) for heart failure medications with left-sided systolic failure vs. right, vs. complete right-sided failure. You can see why I was so worried about this test. But it's all over now....and I'm happy.

And the weekend before my test was Austin City Limits Music Festival. And yes, we got tickets for Sunday and went. We heard some good music, here's who we saw: Broken Social Scene, Death From Above 1979, Fleet Foxes, Empire of the Sun, and then Arcade Fire. We were walking over to see Randy Newman and saw Empire of the Sun playing. Man, it was contagious. We had to see them - it was like Las Vegas, their show was so good and honestly, I really like their beats too. Like your hips have to move (kind of like Zumba, but in an Aztec sacrifice ceremony kind of way -- ha!) Really, I mean these guys are totally insane & unique and I now love them. You've probably heard their one hit: Walking on a Dream. (If you listen to Alt Nation, that is.) Anyway, here's a link to them. Way cool. They had an incredible stage show (cool video, freaky dancers, wild Aztec costumes, charismatic front man) - and this is at ACL, an outdoor festival. This is not the Erwin Center. Anyway, sorry Randy.

http://www.walkingonadream.com/

So yes, I studied for a few hours before we went, and then we left early when Arcade Fire played -- they sounded good, but not exactly energetic. But I'm glad we went. It's such an Austin thing to do and you know me....I loooooooove Austin. Which disgusts Dani, all she wants now is to move to NYC. She's too cool for Texas as she tells me. Tonight she said she's going out to meet friends, I ask her where and this is amusing: she blushed, embarrassed, and said "well....we're going to the football game...." Yes, my precious 17 y.o. daughter thinks football is silly and beneath her. Not sure how her friends talked her into it, but they did.

Anyway, I've got a backlog of work to do this weekend because all I did this week was study for Patho. It paid off, but here comes the price. I have two write-ups to do for Advanced Health Assessment, basically my examination of my lab partner's skin and EENT (eyes, ears, nose and throat). And yes, my favorite class: Psychosocial Nursing - I have to turn in a plan for a paper with references, etc. My topic is healthcare for the gay community and how their different needs/concerns get addressed. Seeing that "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" finally came to an end this week gave me the idea.

Oh! And guess who's playing here on December 29th! Better Than Ezra! Can my life get any better?