No pictures today (awwwwww). Got a 97 on my second Psychosocial test....yeah, baby. And a 92 in Patho again. Hey, that's fine, if every grade I get is a 92, I'll just smile. The semester is winding down. And you know, I get to have so many varied experiences, even if none of it really applies to what I'll be doing professionally when I graduate. Well, "none" is a big extreme, but it's at a big, big remove shall we say. For example, Friday I did newborn assessments. I spent 4 hours at an Austin hospital's newborn nursery examining newborn babies. It was fun (obviously, huh?) but will I ever do that when I graduate? Absolutely not, newborns don't have psychological problems yet. We have to give their parents time to do that. Ha. No, if a newborn has a brain-related problem, they call the neurologist. Probably the only time in life when psycho-social issues do not apply.
I love my volunteering gig. I mentioned Tina (not her real name), the gorgeous transsexual chick that works on the same days with me. I really like her. I think it's because she's completely out - she lives with AIDS, she is a transsexual, she likes sex, she has a hot boyfriend, she likes to read....you get the idea. If it's on her mind, she's saying it. She is so completely comfortable in her skin and let me tell you, what a skin. I mean, most women only wish they look that good. And she has to be about my age because she's been volunteering there for 20 years. I see the grey roots - ha. Last week I met her boyfriend -- a really nice, average kind of guy, brought pizza for lunch, easy to talk to. And the other folks I work with are all interesting -- from different parts of the country, different walks of life. It's like gee...I get so much back by being there. And here's something neat. Tina and lots of other Austin folks are in this great photojournalism display that's going up for World AIDS Day - December 1st. Here's a link to the photog's web site, but it won't be posted until that date. http://www.joannsantangelo.com/
The exhibit is called Austin Faces AIDS - Portraits of People Living with HIV/AIDS. I can't wait to see it. It was fabulous listening to Tina describe how the photographer interviewed and photographed her at her home.
I learn so much in school. This Patho class I'm taking is really an overview of everything that can go wrong in the body. What advice do I have for you, dear readers? Take a vitamin D supplement every single day. 1000 units. That's the first thing. Then the obvious stuff: don't smoke, drink a little alcohol (1 drink per day for gals, 2 for guys), exercise and eat right, meditate, drive carefully. Last week I learned how to do this cool screening test for kids under age 6 called a "Denver". It's actually a pretty complicated, skilled assessment that I wouldn't dare try to do without much more training. But it tells you if a kid has any developmental problems. So this is funny -- after being in class and listening to the endocrine lecture, I was convinced that I have a thyroid problem. It runs in my family. I had blood drawn and of course....thyroid is perfectly normal. I mean, TSH level of 0.69. That's great, nowhere near hypothyroid. My doc thinks it's just perimenopause. Yes. Ick. The joys of being a certain age. Oh well, at least I don't have to look my age. Westlake Dermatology (and the gym) takes care of that -- ha.
