Want to go home...
Head stuffed full of cotton...
Must write exam....

"As you do not know the path of the wind, or how the body is formed in a mother's womb, so you cannot understand the work of God, the maker of all things".

Bear with me, this will be a bit of a nerdy post =) I've had a bit of exposure to embryology over the last few months and there and there are some truly amazing things which happen during the development of a fetus. Did you know that during embryogenesis you have 3 pairs of kidneys? That we're all pre-programmed to develop into females unless testosterone's around? That our thyroid actually starts out in our mouth and moves into our throat, part of our brain starts in our mouth and fuses with the rest of the brain coming from the head, the kidneys migrate upwards and the gonads migrade down? That your face is actually formed from the fusion of several processes extending from the back of your head? That parts of your spinal cord have the same embryological origin as your adrenals? That given the intricacy of everything that has to occur while we're being formed, the precise timing of the hormones that are secreted and inhibited it's amazing that any of us come out looking normal?

So far, I can say that I've spent 3/4 of my life just learning. People are paying tax dollars, institutions have been established, curriculums and books are being developed, profs are giving up their time so that I can learn. And yet I will never be able to understand how it is that a few pieces of bone found their way to the front of my head to make my face.

We all experience the majesty of God in our own ways. To think that since creation, all of mankind has pooled all of our mental resources into investigating and pulling apart our world and the bodies we live in - and yet we will never fully comprehend. And then to think that all that we will never understand was created by one holy being. This is what causes me to stand in awe of the God that I know but will never be able to completely know.

So close to coming home for Christmas and yet so far!

My upcoming week will be (once again) devoid of showers, vegetables and fresh air and filled with Biochemistry, ambiguous genitalia and hormone feedback loops. I'm looking forward to discussing "normal" things once again. No more little girls that look like little boys, little boys who look like little men, bearded ladies and breasted men. I'm definitely not feeling called to go into Endocrinology.

In order to keep sane however, I took a break last night to go see Ocean's 12. Once I got past the fact that there were way too many people on screen to keep track of, it was really good, mindless fun =) For those of you who go see it, look out for Julia Roberts' expression when she meets Bruce Willis =)

Instead of studying, I've been eating, breathing, living gingerbread for the last few days =) Yups! The creators of 'Necrotizing Fasciitis' teamed up again to bring you "Only in Edmonton" - a beautiful Hansel-and-Gretel-type cottage surrounded by white powder snow, a pond complete with frogs, a rustic log bridge and a vegetable garden in the middle of winter. Actually, it's supposed to represent snow in the middle of summer =)

But I gotta admit, we were completely out-done by a team of second years who spent 3 days!!! building Notre Dame Cathedral out of gingerbread! Complete with stained-glass windows and interior lighting!

The question is: ridiculously creative and talented? or way too much free time *grin*

I'm just jealous!!! Haha =)

Our group =) 

Our gingerbread creation (I love the bridge =) 

Notre Dame Cathedral! 

Hang in there guys! 11 more days and we can all go home =)

Today we learned how to palpate a thyroid. It felt like neck... anyone feel like sacrificing their throat for the sake of future doctors? Come on guys... Christmas is a time for selflessness...

Just finished another night of shadowing in the ER, this time at the Grey Nuns. The difference is that the Grey Nuns is a community hospital whereas the Royal Alex (where I shadowed 2 weeks ago) is an acute care hospital. Given that, the night was not exceptionally exciting. However there were 2 highlights:

1) I got to wear scrubs for the first time and felt like a "real" doctor. Although I'm not a doctor. And it would be illegal for me to pass myself off as one. But I can be a doctor on the inside...

2) I saw 2 pelvic exams. Even as a woman, I have never felt so ridiculously uncomfortable in my life. I was looking INTO her vagina. The first one was bad enough, but the second lady had spontaneously aborted her fetus and she was bleeding very badly. So the doctor put in a piece of gauze to soak up the blood, and he pulled out an embryonic sac complete with placenta. I never USED to think I was squeamish.

Awww...my blog and I have our one year anniversary today =)

Last night I got 10 hours of sleep and now I've completely screwed my sleep cycle. See, lately I've been averaging 6 or 7 hours which means that by the time midnight hits, I'm completely wiped. But it's now past midnight and I'm wide awake and ready to study and not going to fall asleep anytime soon, which would be fantastic if I didn't have to wake up at 7 tomorrow. Aiya.

I realize that my problems are trivial when compared to...let's say...refugees in Sudan. But these are the things that keep me up at night (literally).