Deep into the Abdomen...

Well, as you may assume, I'm talking anatomy.  This class consumes my live in many fashions:

1. I prepare before class and read the recommended material. - Anyone who saw me in undergrad knows that I was a total chaotic mess and printed lecture notes only to scribble and frantically try to keep up with lecture... not in anatomy.  If I don't pre-read the lecture notes, it feels like I waltzed into a 500 level foreign language class, which is terrifying.
2. I study during the week.  - I thought weeknights were reserved for nerdy Biochemistry club, chatting with roomies, babysitting, and nursing shifts... reality check. Not anymore.
3. Portable studying is essential.  - I don't leave without my flashcards, but the next step is remembering to pull them out of my enormous backpack.
4. Referring to things in latin terms/medical nonsense.  - Man, this strapless bra is really digging into my intercostal muscles and anterior serratus.... woof.  Err, I mean, ouch?
5. Finding all excuses to revert to normal life.  -  Paul and I sit down for dinner quite often now that anatomy is in full swing, mainly because I want to cook delish food rather than slave away to my atlas of human anatomy, and my new love affair, Dr. Netter.  I try to make myself feel better by putting the recorded lectures on while I'm cooking away, but we all know that pressing garlic takes my full attention, and osmosis of information never worked for anatomy.

Frank H. Netter, MD (1906-1991) - Doctor & Artist

It truly is a right of passage as they say, and I really do hope they continue to make it one of the first courses you have the pleasure of taking as a medical student.  We medical students tend to be a little nuts and have had experiences in the past that make us feel smart or knowledgeable.  I think the humbling of anatomy is the best orientation week/month medical school can provide...  I enjoy being brought to my knees every once and while...  heck, it feels like I'm back in Physical Chemistry all over again!

Although I will never conquer entropy, perhaps I can scratch on the surface of this right of passage called Medical Anatomy.  Now, back to my hot date with Dr. Netter.

All 'Merican Journey Concert!

One of Lyssa's main reasons for visiting Pittsburgh was to go with me to a Night Ranger/ Foreigner/ Journey concert!  Paul bought tickets a while ago for the event, but we soon realized that his schedule would not be flexible enough to allow him to attend, unfortunately.


Saturday we slumped around and watched a 1992 movie with Tom Cruise in it, and were making eyes at him for most of the morning.  Lyssa snoozed a little bit, but I watched the movie intently, haha.  After the flick we jumped in the car and headed down to the Strip District.  We were on a mission for lunch and a few groceries.  I picked up some organic olive oil and cheese and we found lunch at.... McDonald's.  Kind of embarrassing to go to the Strip and then buy lunch at McD's, but it was just what the doctor ordered.

Me and Ms. Lyssa at the Church BREW! Amen.

On our way home, we stopped at Church Brew.  Considering Lyssa is a catholic school teacher and everything, I thought it was only appropriate to stop for a brew.   Lyssa by animal instinct ordered the Cherry seasonal beer with ABV of 10%, haha, even a small sip will make you smile.  It was fun to stop and take pictures of the BREW!

Off with those sleeves... a vest is muchas mejor.

Once we got back to the apartment it was JEAN VEST TIMMME!  (said like T-Shirt TIIME!)  We hacked of the sleeves without thinking twice, frayed them up good, and paired them with some jean shorts and partyin' tees.  My tee was a salvation army purchase of "Freedom Is NOT Free" which I had to cut up into a halter and fray the edges, it was nast, yet perfect.  I threw my 80's hair into a frenzy, slapped on a temporary tat, and we headed to the concert!

Rock and Roll in America! Air guitar... so many ways to play.

Dog 'n fries... doin' it right...

We made it there in perfect timing to grab a hot dog and fries while listening to Night Rider.  It was a great concert with so many classic songs.  We were asked many times if we were even alive when this was popular and how we know the words.  I am sure our outfits pulled in a few stares, but overall, it was an excellent decision.  After singing on the top of our lungs to Don't Stop Believing, we jumped in the Hyundai and exited in smooth fashion, taking the back roads back to Pittsburgh.  We were so tired, and excited about tunes... Man, what a rock show.

The good smiling picture didn't turn out, but the ugly ones always do for some reason!

Sunday I brought Ms. Lyssa back to the airport and we said our goodbyes, while promising to both learn musical instruments so we can take our duo to a whole new musical level....

Lyssa is going to learn guitar, and I am going to fire up my mandolin... Updates on the progress of this later.

Lyssa arrives in Stinky Pitts!

Lyssa few in on Thursday (also pronounced "Chursday") and we made good time coming back to the airport to head to Mad Mex for their late night Happy Hour!  We repeated the Deb and Alyce mistake of sugary margarita bliss, but this time I added on black bean dip and massive quantities of chippy chips... (aka. Bomb in stomach).  It was a good night of classic laughs, catching up and exchanging stories of our new med student and new teacher adventures...

Friday I skipped class, whooop, but remain completely confident in doing so.  I got up read a few magazines that have been sitting around the apartment so I can finally recycle them, and caught up on some anatomy... story of my life.

Friday it was our personal mission to find jean jackets, purchase, and then cut off their sleeves.  It was a success.  We went up to Mt. Washington to get a view of the city, which was particularly clear on Friday and then made our way down to Salvation Army on Carson Street.  What a gem of a store!  They have a ton of clothes, and I think I'm going to be going back there soon to do some business casual shopping, I already found a really nice dress!

After tucking away our jean jackets in the back of the Hyundai, we went to Squirrel Hill to  grab a bite to eat at the Bagel Factory.  Paul bought me a Groupon a while ago, and we had money to spend for lunch.  It was delish!  The soda's were by far the highlight of the meal!  We polished off our bagels with Razzy Fresh and were uncomfortably full...

Friday continued with dinner at Josiah and Anna's place.  We whipped up a salad quickly and walked on over, with a freshman and college nalgene full of Uncle Buck, classic.  Lyssa was able to meet the whole crew, which was rockin, and she thought that we were practicing wizardry because we kept saying "Zel, Zim!"... 

Lyssa trying out Josiah's Bango... should have used the creepy finger picks!

Paul met us there and was able to grab a bite to eat and watch the Packer preseason game we had streaming on the internet for a while.  We followed him home to our apartment and shot the breeze over country music.  I believe the exchange went:  "Lyssa, do you want to go home and listen to country music?"  "Yes." Hahah, dirtball.  We watched Paul (Geppetto) fix his new watch with his recently purchased watch kit...

The evening continued down to Walnut St where a majority of the med school class was, man there was a crowd of people.  It was sufficiently awkward/fun... and we shared a few laughs with new peeps. Sean and I rehashed our first few weeks because we're in all of the same groups together, haha.

I have the Bec's squint going on...

Sean, Zel, and Lyssa shooting some ball...

The night finished with Alto Dairy mild cheddar cheese and wheat thins and a solid night's rest.... Fun had by all.

MSTP Retreat at Bedford Springs, PA

We had to skip out on Friday of our first week of class to participate in the MSTP retreat.  This occurs annually and starts with a poster session for all students in the MSTP to display their work and mingle with research faculty and our mentors.  It was wonderful!  I was able to catch up with Dr. Hackam briefly and I had a lot of questions about my poster and summer research.  Apparently, the Western blots I was so worried about turned out just fine!

During lunch on Friday the power went out and we were able to hear a talk by Dr. Thomas Starzl, the father of modern transplantation.  It was an interesting talk, and oddly enough, his wife gave him a jingle just letting him know that time was up! After lunch we hit the road and beat the floods on the way to our resort.

Bedford Springs

The resort was beautiful!  It was an older building, and I cannot remember what year, but somewhere in the 18-1900s, haha.  The rooms were amazing, furnished perfectly, and had modern antiques!  We unpacked and headed quickly to cocktail hour and dinner.  After dinner we engaged in some interclass competition... meaning, we sent Alex up to play the saxaphone in leopard pants, and he stole the show as you would assume!  MS1 = Winners!  We celebrated in fashion and went for a swim in the indoor pool later that evening where Josiah blasted his knee, yeowch.

Josiah, Annie, Zel at cocktail hour...

Wisconsin props... Thank you Lyssa for the state flag! Whoot!

Saturday morning everyone woke up a little slower than usual, haha was a mess of talks and other presentations, we had some free time in the afternoon and I capitalized on the outdoor pool.  We then went to a really nice dinner with talks given by recent alumni.

Our Winning Sexy Sax Man (middle).... MS1s!  We're all here!

Alex and Johannes! Surprise attack!

Sunday, started with a delicious breakfast and then some sun bathing with Annie!  Back to Pittsburgh... back to reality!

Not too shabby huh?...

First class, over!

Our first class was called "Introduction to Being a Physician".  It was a great course with opportunities to meet patients with various chronic illnesses and talk about their experience with the healthcare system.  We were able to speak to a variety of different physician panels and hear a lot of perspectives on the patient-doctor relationship.

The number one rule: Listen

Sounds like a plan to me!  We had a good week trying our our crisp white coats and dressing up in business casual.  The first class went by rather slow and steady, but it changed rather quickly...

Medical Anatomy

First week of Med School...

First week, day one, was orientation... and a premature slap on the wrist to behave ourselves!  There were a billion social events, of which I participated in mainly one, a night out at Doc's Place (I refuse to call it Mario's).  That evening was mainly a social fiasco between me and Anna, while Josiah had to watch us in fear of our Wisconsin blood exploding on Walnut street.  I laughed so hard I almost peed, and maybe I did a little, I can't remember.  I do however remember being significantly rushed the next morning and smelling like an armpit as I showed up fashionably late for class.  Excellent display alyce, nice work.

Pittsburgh evening skyline, thanks for the picture Nupur!

Another evening that week we went on a dinner cruise which was amazing!  They poured out a little too much Kenny G while dining, but once the music started bumping, I jumped onto the dance floor.  Taylor and I played the roles of Rhianna and Eminem respectively and were going to engage in some sort of physical abuse because we were getting passionately wrapped up in singing. It was hilair.  Eric was feeling a little uncomfortable watching it go down.

Ladies over dinner!

We also had dinner at Zel's house one night which was absolutely delish!  Chinese fajitas, mmmmhmm.  It was a solid crew and we cracked a few laughs over the word "moist" and learned that a Nupur knows someone who hit Kim K's big 'ole buns.  The rest orientation week consisted of me scrambling to finish my MSTP report and submit it.  A good orientation week overall!

White Coat Ceremony

That brings us to the opening ceremony of Medical School!  My parents flew in Thursday night, and I was able to hang out on Friday and spend some time with my parents touring Pittsburgh!  I got up early for a run and we went to Mt. Washington and Frick Park!  We had a picnic lunch and toured the Frick Park free car museum which was pretty impressive!  We then left the park and went to D's 6 Pax and Dogz in Regent Square on recommendation of my lab. 

Mt. Washington by the Incline

Curty special in Frick Park

 After our return home we decided to hit up Mad Mex for their happy hour!  Mum and I indulged and we chatted about life, politics, and all the fun topics you can chat about during a happy hour!  It was a bunch of fun, and a great evening out!  The next morning I got up early and took Paul to work so we could steal the car.  Our project for the day was to get a battery for Paul's moped, then we went to the Strip District so my parents could see the madness that is the Strip District.  We were going to stick around for lunch but instead we went to the Church BREW!  Curty loved it, and it smelt like Slab City Brewery!  I'm sure it gave him the brew brewing itch, but he'll have to find a bankrupt church in Wisconsin to pick up first to really do it right!

Market District! Cheese, yes please!

Primanti Brother's!  Pittsburgh must! But, the line was too long...

Amen, the Church Brew!

After our adventure in the Strip District I was able to show mum and pops where I worked over the summer.  We made dinner and had a good Saturday afternoon!

Sunday was the big day, White Coat Ceremony.  We ran down to the Strip District after I got my hair cut, and Paul was starting to work nights that evening, so he had the day off to sleep and get ready for night shift!  I was planning to show up to the ceremony at 3, but turns out that we were mistaken and I should have been there at 1:00PM.  I split the difference and showed up fashionable late a little after 2PM.  I found out that they had people show up early to socialize with one another, so I didn't miss a thing! 

We're only and hour late, Curty isn't used to wearing ties...haha.  I'll take it from here.

The Medical School Entrance = My new home.

We were handed our white coat, filed into a different room to take our picture, of which I was frazzled, and then went into the lecture hall where the ceremony was held.  It was a nice ceremony with good speeches, even the doctor that sewed up Josiah's hand!  HAhah.  After the ceremony we went across to the Peterson Events Center and had snacks.  We went home shortly after so Paul could take a quick nap before the night shift.  Mom and Dad and I walked down to Walnut Street to grab dinner at a new restaurant in a new area.  It was a nice walk and great dinner!

Coating! I'm in the middle!

Mom, Me and Dad (sporting Paul's tie)

Me and Dr. Duerr, Director of the Inflammatory Bowel Disease Center!

Pittsburgh Medical Scientist Training Program students!

It was so nice to have mom and dad out here for my big day.  Now I have a short white coat, and Paul's coat is long and authoritative.  Another step in our career adventures together!  It's only the beginning of the craziness to come in the near future!

Great photo after the ceremony... Thanks for your support!

Our White Coat photo...

From Wisconsin to White Coat

After my trip back from Wisconsin, I went back to lab to finish up projects in what seemed like a summer that had went too fast!  That week we had our first MSTP student workshop and the first years had to stand up and introduce ourselves.  It was sufficiently awkward, but the evening went by quickly and soon we were on our way home with full stomachs, and our table had candy from winning the trivia game.

The following day I was able to stay after work and shadow in pediatric surgery.  It was a lot different from trauma, that's for sure.  Little kids having troubles is much different experience and made me appreciate those that choose pediatric surgery as their profession.  I was able to observe consults and removal of the appendix in two separate instances.  The attending even taught me how to scrub in, which was a new and exciting experience.  I was also able to see/do a stitch.  Let's just say that I'm not a natural. Hahah.  One of the anesthesia residents were on the case so he was smiling at me and trying to give me helpful advice, because Paul and I had met him earlier at the department picnic.

The following week was work in lab, and I found a family health practice, which means I have a doctor, mission accomplished!   The next weekend I met with Emily to chat about the CTS program and we were able to catch up over tea at 61C. 

Before I knew it, it was the following week and Paul called me informing me my car wouldn't start.  Awesome, haha.  We called AAA and got things taken care of before I had to go to class.  It held up until my parents were on their way to Pittsburgh!  Luckily it broke down again, and I took it to a Hyundai shop out of town for repair.  I investigated and found out that the battery was still under warranty!  The warranty was going to expire in FOUR DAYS!  It was luck that I was able to slide in and get a free repair!  The bill was $0! Excellent! 

I jumped in Little Richie (with a fresh new battery) and picked up Curty and Deb from the Pittsburgh airport!

My Heaven: Lake Eva & Wisconsin

After work on Friday afternoon, I jumped on the 28X to the Pittsburgh airport in search of Michigan paradise.  I made a pit stop at the Rite Aid in the airport to grab some candy (laffy taffy for Lyssa) and to burn a coupon that Paul had to the store.  The lines at security were fairly long, but I made it to the alternate security checkpoint and got through in decent time.  I was flying United, and my flight from PIT to O'Hare went off without any real delay.  I did however completely spill a fruit and yogurt parfait all over the airport tile, slightly embarrassing. Whooops!

Entering the Hancock Airport!

Once I got to O'Hare I located the trusty McDonalds over by the smaller terminals and lapped up on some Asian salad goodness and this time had a successful attempt of eating my fruit and yogurt parfait.  My flight left pretty late, so there weren't too many people left in the airport.  I was headed to Houghton (CMX) so there weren't many people in my terminal especially.  We were on a small plane and walked outside to get on.  It was actually a little bit bigger than the plane I took to Chicago, so it's all good.  The flight was a breeze and it was awesome to land at an airport not surrounded by city lights.  You could see the Houghton/Hancock center, but the airport was some ways in the distance, so we landed in darkness, the only plane at the only terminal in the airport.  Cars are allowed to pull right up to the fence and wave at the people as they taxi to the airport building.  It's really pretty sweet to fly into, especially when your friends and family are waiting for you!

Apparently this struggle happened earlier that evening, with Curty and Buck man handling the four wheeler!

I walked off the plane and through the only door, and first thing I saw was Curty double fisting the cameras, and Lyssa and Becca screaming "Yeeeeeh, hey rooms!"  It was fun to walk in and exchange hugs without the delay of running through the airport!  Uncle Buck sat quietly, but I slapped his back as a brotherly/sisterly salutation.   We then jumped in the car and headed for the Skeeeto!
 

The next morning at Lake Eva, we headed for the water and the awesome weather of the lake.  As Joel as our captain we took to the waters and did some swimming.  We couldn't have asked for a more beautiful day!  Becs was sure to get burned!

Lyssa and I playing with our noodles...

The PERCH

After a long day on the water, we headed upstairs for some grilled Wisconsin Cheese sandwiches!  George later joined us on the water, and we showed him how we cute women like to wiz.  Ooops, maybe a little too much information?

Looks as if we girls looked a little odd with our noodle placement!

Off to the skeeto for some good tunes and good treats!

Lyssa enjoying her new helment... WWII style

Joel brought up his four wheeler so we were able to hit the dusty trails of Michigan.  Lyssa had the hard core helmet on and aviators, like a boss.  We were sported up in our skeeto t-shirts and strolled in with style.  Joel had two lovely ladies on the back of his wheeler!

Lyssa and I were playing shuffle board... Buck and I dominated per ush.  Buck get's a chance to play this game a little more often than we do, so he knows the every curve and sandy spot on the run.  We had some pretty good hangers for a suspenseful skeeto shuffle game.  Lyssa and I kept the jukebox fed and I was firing up the old Alabama songs and Garth Brooks.  A classic night in the U.P. to say the least!

We had such a blast up north, and I am so happy that Lyssa, Becs, Buck and the rents were able to join me up there!  It was short, but we made it sweet!

Lake Eva, American Flag, and great friends...