Sunday, March 13, 2005

Useless Trivia from Case 16:

The stapedius muscle is the smallest skeletal muscle.

It is located in the middle ear.

It functions to dampen sounds over 8085 dB.

It is innervated by the facial motor nerve, which is cranial nerve VII.

Spring Break is over...

John Paul: So, you have school tomorrow, eh?
Me: yup.

Alex: Oh! School again tomorrow?
Me: yup.

John Paul: Wow. Break is over, and you have to go to school tomorrow.
Me: yup.

Tony: Ahh! You go back to school tomorrow?
Me: yup.

Frank: Oh yeah! You have to get up and go to school in the morning!

Alex: So, what time do you have to go to school tomorrow?

Antonio: Hey, that's too bad, that you have to go back to school tomorrow.

John Paul: Yeah, we won't remind you of it, on account of the fact that your spring break is over and you have to go back to school tomorrow.

Move to Connecticut, acquire 4 Italian brothers! Both chivalry and full blown teasing guarenteed, everyday. Qualifications: a sense of humor, preference for pasta, and love for Mother Church. Understanding of Italian helpful, but not required.

Saturday, March 05, 2005

24 years

Wish this beauty a happy birthday today.
I love you, Bean!

Friday, March 04, 2005

A-

Kidney transplants from living donors have advantages over cadaveric kidneys. Here are some reasons:

The living kidney is the best quality kidney that a patient can receive because the donor can be thoroughly tested before the transplant.

Half of the living kidneys transplanted today will still be working 25 years from now; half of the cadaveric kidneys will fail within the next 10 years.

Most living donor kidneys function immediately after transplantation, while many cadeveric kidneys don't function well immediately.

Transplants can be done immediately; the average wait for a cadaveric kidney in New England is 3 to 4 years.

*taken from Mayo Clinic and Rhode Island Hospital websites

Some disadvantages of being a living kidney donor:

Obvious reason: one less kidney in your body.
- What if something happens to that kidney?
- What if a family member eventually needs a kidney, and you would have been a perfect match for him?
- The remaining kidney may get over-utilized, and you yourself may face dialysis or the need of a kidney transplant later on in life

A non-family member can never be a perfect match, however close the match is

Submission to the risks of major surgery (exposure to anesthesia, risk of infection, always a risk of complication or death)

6-8 week recovery period

*taken from phone interviews with Aunt Maureen, P.A., and Adrienne Kania, D.O.

Thursday, March 03, 2005

Klaske's Book Game

Very neat, so here are the rules.

1. Grab the nearest book
2. Open the book to page 123
3. Find the fifth sentence
4. Post the text of the next 3 sentences on your blog, along with these instructions.
5. Don't you dare dig for that "cool" or "intellectual" book in your closet! I know you were thinking about it. Just grab what is closest!

1. Nearest book: Little Women, my latest pleasure-read option!
2. p. 123 (which I just passed!!)
3. Her turn came next.
4. "What is your greatest fault?" asked Fred, by way of testing in her the virtue he lacked himself.
"A quick temper."
"What do you most wish for?" said Laurie.

And there I stop. Suspenseful, huh? Don't look up Jo's answer. Guess from these options, and I'll let you know if you're right or wrong:

a. a publisher to print my play
b. a pair of boot lacings
c. a hat with a wide brim
d. Father to return home

...?

Stuck - Unstuck

I spent most of the day Monday at the Minneapolis/St Paul airport in Minnesota, where a 3-hour layover turned into a 6-hour layover, plus a 1/2-hour wait on the runway. But I was happy, because the nausea and light-headedness that had continued from a vomiting episode the night before was gone.

I spent about 3 more hours after landing at LaGuardia airport in NY, catching a bus and a train back up to Connecticut. But I was grateful, because I got all my reading for school finished, and was even able to do some pleasure reading by the end of the night!

I spent Tuesday morning at Sharon's house translating all my airport reading into a written-up handout for my tutorial class that afternoon. But I was happy to eat breakfast, finish the write-up, stop at my house to drop off my luggage and pick up my books, and still make it to class on time.

I've been hearing a lot about PNF techniques, something we started learning in the Lab I missed on Monday while I was stuck in Minneapolis. But I'm lucky that it's a fun and exciting technique that people are eager to practice, so my classmates willingly show me what I need to know.

Everything seen with the proper perspective can be a blessing.