I Almost Sewed My Head to My Arm

things are going well. but, i am impatient to know stuff and be good at doing stuff sooner rather than later. i am developing a list of all things "i wish i could..." such as:

-suture properly w/o needing supervision and having to totally re-do some incisions because they're only slightly less of a gaping wound when i'm done sewing on them than when i started
-name all the instruments and suture type and not sound like a buffoon asking for 'that pointy thing' or 'the purple string'
-steer well when driving the camera/trochanter instruments when doing a lap procedure
-remember all the tendons, vessels, and landmarks of the anatomy (or any of them, really)
-know how to find my way from the PA office to my locker and maybe even to my car without having to ask a janitor for directions (they’re very helpful)
-not take 5 times as long as the 'real' PA's to do an intake history and physical
-transfer money from checking to savings instead of vice-versa JUST ONCE IN MY LIFE...(this one will happen soon, which is some of why i'm working so diligently on the previous ones. i'm only a week and a half out from my first big kid pay check!)
-make heads or tails out of my loans/try not to default too much and lose my house
-adjust to the idea that i will be waking up at 0:500 every morning and learn to not secretly try to count in my head how many weeks i have left of this 'rotation.'


...so that's my wish list. but overall, like i said, things are going swimmingly. and since i'm starting this new chapter of my life, i figured it was time to clean other things up, too. so, i cold turkey withdrew myself from caffeine. i had become dependent and found that i was compensating for its side effects (teeth whitening tooth paste for yellowed coffee stained teeth (that's totally hot), trying to come up w/ non-caffeine related reasons while my breastesses might be achy (TMI?), the awful headaches when coming down from it, etc, etc). now it's been about a week and a half, and the headaches and cold sweats are mostly gone. i still allow myself decaf lattes and such (to all my starbucks benefactors, a million coffee breath kisses...). i'm also working out and watching my diet. not as strictly as i soon will, but better. we bought wii fit, which is pretty much the coolest thing ever, and i've been compulsively playing that...and i might even go back to my gym sometime soon (for the last few months i've looked at my membership fee like a donation to the thin, tan, pretty people who work there). and i'm making more time for God and exploring my faith. that should put me back on track.

so ANYway...my cases have been good. i had a cool 22 year old guy today who was having his gall bladder removed after he lost 170# in the last year. (gall stones are really common after significant weight loss). he did it all by diet and exercise. a very strict diet, mind you. a liquid diet, prescribed and monitored by a physician in a program....but still. he had intended to get gastric bypass- they told him he had to try to lose weight on his own first, and this is what he did. 100 and 70 whole pounds! we all ooh'd and aah'd all over him for his amazing accomplishment. he said he hoped we'd see him soon for a tummy tuck to get rid of all the excess skin. he was really cool. although, he did request to keep his gall stones. is that common? do any of you out there have gall stones that you wear on a necklace or something? it seemed like an odd request to me, but the doc said he hears it all the time.

just for the record, anything that comes out of me, can stay out. black market, trophy cabinet, whatever. i just don't really want it back.

one last thing...it seems like everyone i know is talking about becoming a PA these days. it's a good trend to be on. is anyone out there who reads this blog thinking about PA school? in PA school now? already a PA? i'd love to hear from you. post me a message.