August 14, 2010
A year out
So I had what I think was my 9 month check up and everything was great- CA-125 = 13 which is in the range that it's been post-treatment. I am due for another appointment in a few months where I am going to have a CT scan of my abdomen and pelvic area. I've had no symptoms and my fatigue has been much better by taking Ginseng 100mg daily. It's a wonder drug! I read a study on the effectiveness of 2000 mg in Ginseng for post-cancer treatment fatigue and went out to find it. In the study they used American (Wisconsin) ginseng but all I can find here is Asian. Still works though!
So I have been busy busy busy! This summer.... I went to lots of awesome music festivals and camped in the Cascades & the Olympic Rainforest, went to the Washington coast, rode naked in the Solstice parade again, had a few fun barbecues.... I also met my boyfriend of 3 months. But really, all I have been doing for the last 8 weeks is frantically trying to finish school.
In June I graduated- not really, I just walked in graduation but didn't recieve my degree, as we had 8 more weeks of clinical. My parents were in town and so they came too. I walked with barefeet and wore my colorful sunglasses which got some dirty looks from some, and "awesome glasses" from others. And my bf screamed "Skittles" as they said my name :)
So this summer quarter has otherwise been nothing but a huge pain in the ass. You won't beleive it, but SU SCREWED ME AGAIN!!! Go figure. We have one last 8 weeks of clinical to get all the experience we can get before the REAL WORLD. This means having the required 240 clinical hours to pass the course and finish the program. Well that didn't work out too well because I got two sites, each twice a week: one at a two-provider pediatric clinic, and the other at a community clinic. When I set up the days it turns out that the provider's availability overlapped, so I could only go 3 out the 4 days I was assigned too. This means 8 hours a week less than I'm supposed to. Furthermore, when I got to my pediatric site, it turned out that over 70% of the population was only Spanish-speaking, and I speak NO Spanish. I guess in the past they have always had students who were either fluent or knew enough to get by. Even when the patients spoke a little English, my preceptor would still use Spanish and fail to translate all the important guidance and treatment plans to me. So immediately I called my instructor and notified the placement coordinator that I would need another site....She replied that there were NO MORE sites available to students. The quote from an email I recieved said that this cohort was already 50% larger than the last, and that they hadn't anticipated the added students who were returning from last year. They offered no help and said that I should just try to get in as many hours as I could. One of my preceptors did say that I could go Fridays, but that's the day I have our 3 hour seminar. So off the bat I was short on hours.
I also found that the community clinic was lacking a little community. I don't know how this clinic remains open, because there have been 3 days where I saw one patient and sat there for 6 hours in order to get more time in. I got some studying done, but what a waste of clinical experience! Last quarter I saw at least 15 patients a day! This was extremely frustrating since I already feel behind due to my year off.
So after a few weeks with no help from the school, my increasing frustration led me to find my own sites. I called up a pediatric site and Planned Parenthood- both places where I had done a rotation before. Immediately my call was returned and the coordinators said they could maybe work something out. WTF? How easy was that? If I can get two sites in one day, why is the school so incapable of doing so over a span of severeal months? So after 3 weeks being short on hours I happily restarted my favorite clinical site looking at vaginas all day ;) (actually I do more birth control starts than anything else). After my first day I talked them into going an additional day. Both days turned out to be fabulous, with supportive, knowledgeable practitioners, doing something great for the health of women, all while decreasing the world population at the same time ;) I love this clinical, and I am now pretty much independent, with my preceptors just signing scripts and helping me with the ridiculous billing process. I've seen some cool things, such as a girl with two cervixes and a split uterus. Another woman had an ectopic pregnancy while on the pill, and had the fetus removed and all the appropriate followup- only to have the same symptoms of pregnancy for the next month. Turns out that even with all the ultrasounds and exams the doctor had missed a second pregnancy implanted in the uterus! Yesterday I also met one of the clinic managers who is desperately looking for new employees. I'm pretty confident that PPH will hire me when I get my license :)
Unfortunately, adding the extra days didn't really help make up for the 3 weeks I was already short on hours. Now I have to be in clinical 38 hours a week, when all of my classmates have Fridays off for seminar and homework and their theses. Not me. I had to make time to write and edit the damn thing when I was already super busy in the clinic. Total hell. This leads me to the second problem this summer:
My thesis. I was working on my 1st rough draft when my chair/prof left to go to Africa. She was doing great things teaching safe sex, but no time and minimal access to the internet. I sent her half of my first draft and she revised it, but then after I sent the other half a day later I heard nothing back. The thesis was due yesterday and I had no one to review my draft nor the ok and signature needed to turn it in. Now I am trying to resolve the mess with constant emails to other profs, the presentation coordinator, and the assistant dean in order to get an extention! Such a pain in the ass! Fortunately, what I've heard so far is that I will be able to turn it in tomorrow afternoon.
Now all I have left is 4 more days of clinical, my thesis presentation, a chart writeup, and my final evaluation which is tomorrow. The end is soooooooo close....
On a happier note, we just got our hot tub to work as of yesterday, so I can now go home and relax all this added stress away.....
pics to come soon!
So I have been busy busy busy! This summer.... I went to lots of awesome music festivals and camped in the Cascades & the Olympic Rainforest, went to the Washington coast, rode naked in the Solstice parade again, had a few fun barbecues.... I also met my boyfriend of 3 months. But really, all I have been doing for the last 8 weeks is frantically trying to finish school.
In June I graduated- not really, I just walked in graduation but didn't recieve my degree, as we had 8 more weeks of clinical. My parents were in town and so they came too. I walked with barefeet and wore my colorful sunglasses which got some dirty looks from some, and "awesome glasses" from others. And my bf screamed "Skittles" as they said my name :)
So this summer quarter has otherwise been nothing but a huge pain in the ass. You won't beleive it, but SU SCREWED ME AGAIN!!! Go figure. We have one last 8 weeks of clinical to get all the experience we can get before the REAL WORLD. This means having the required 240 clinical hours to pass the course and finish the program. Well that didn't work out too well because I got two sites, each twice a week: one at a two-provider pediatric clinic, and the other at a community clinic. When I set up the days it turns out that the provider's availability overlapped, so I could only go 3 out the 4 days I was assigned too. This means 8 hours a week less than I'm supposed to. Furthermore, when I got to my pediatric site, it turned out that over 70% of the population was only Spanish-speaking, and I speak NO Spanish. I guess in the past they have always had students who were either fluent or knew enough to get by. Even when the patients spoke a little English, my preceptor would still use Spanish and fail to translate all the important guidance and treatment plans to me. So immediately I called my instructor and notified the placement coordinator that I would need another site....She replied that there were NO MORE sites available to students. The quote from an email I recieved said that this cohort was already 50% larger than the last, and that they hadn't anticipated the added students who were returning from last year. They offered no help and said that I should just try to get in as many hours as I could. One of my preceptors did say that I could go Fridays, but that's the day I have our 3 hour seminar. So off the bat I was short on hours.
I also found that the community clinic was lacking a little community. I don't know how this clinic remains open, because there have been 3 days where I saw one patient and sat there for 6 hours in order to get more time in. I got some studying done, but what a waste of clinical experience! Last quarter I saw at least 15 patients a day! This was extremely frustrating since I already feel behind due to my year off.
So after a few weeks with no help from the school, my increasing frustration led me to find my own sites. I called up a pediatric site and Planned Parenthood- both places where I had done a rotation before. Immediately my call was returned and the coordinators said they could maybe work something out. WTF? How easy was that? If I can get two sites in one day, why is the school so incapable of doing so over a span of severeal months? So after 3 weeks being short on hours I happily restarted my favorite clinical site looking at vaginas all day ;) (actually I do more birth control starts than anything else). After my first day I talked them into going an additional day. Both days turned out to be fabulous, with supportive, knowledgeable practitioners, doing something great for the health of women, all while decreasing the world population at the same time ;) I love this clinical, and I am now pretty much independent, with my preceptors just signing scripts and helping me with the ridiculous billing process. I've seen some cool things, such as a girl with two cervixes and a split uterus. Another woman had an ectopic pregnancy while on the pill, and had the fetus removed and all the appropriate followup- only to have the same symptoms of pregnancy for the next month. Turns out that even with all the ultrasounds and exams the doctor had missed a second pregnancy implanted in the uterus! Yesterday I also met one of the clinic managers who is desperately looking for new employees. I'm pretty confident that PPH will hire me when I get my license :)
Unfortunately, adding the extra days didn't really help make up for the 3 weeks I was already short on hours. Now I have to be in clinical 38 hours a week, when all of my classmates have Fridays off for seminar and homework and their theses. Not me. I had to make time to write and edit the damn thing when I was already super busy in the clinic. Total hell. This leads me to the second problem this summer:
My thesis. I was working on my 1st rough draft when my chair/prof left to go to Africa. She was doing great things teaching safe sex, but no time and minimal access to the internet. I sent her half of my first draft and she revised it, but then after I sent the other half a day later I heard nothing back. The thesis was due yesterday and I had no one to review my draft nor the ok and signature needed to turn it in. Now I am trying to resolve the mess with constant emails to other profs, the presentation coordinator, and the assistant dean in order to get an extention! Such a pain in the ass! Fortunately, what I've heard so far is that I will be able to turn it in tomorrow afternoon.
Now all I have left is 4 more days of clinical, my thesis presentation, a chart writeup, and my final evaluation which is tomorrow. The end is soooooooo close....
On a happier note, we just got our hot tub to work as of yesterday, so I can now go home and relax all this added stress away.....
pics to come soon!
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