Spinal Tap

Yesterday, when I was working at the hospital, my doctor sent me up to the HIV clinic, where another doctor (who I share a last name with) showed me around and invited me to view a lumbar puncture and then to aid him in drawing blood from the femoral vein. I felt bad for the person getting the lumbar puncture, but it was really neat to learn about. You have to go in between the L3 and L4 vertebrae, and if you don't go into the direct center, you will keep on striking bone, which was what my doctor did until another one of the assistants helped to scrunch up the patient more so that he could hit the spinal cord and drain out some fluid for tests. It was really weird to see people who were all infected with HIV because some of them didn't look very sick at all. I helped in both procedures by opening cleansers, sterilizing the area, and handing over various medical equipment--even preparing a shot of lidocane. I can't wait until I become an intern. Only seven more years...

Pachabel Canon in D

Life is so ridiculous nowadays. I do not understand how people have 4.0 science averages. I cannot imagine that at all. I feel like I am never going to get all As in a semester here unless my classes are very different from now. There is just too much work to be done. I am listening to classical music because it makes me feel smarter and puts me into a better mood most of the time.
Yesterday, when I was at the hospital doing my internship, the elevators were all stopped because of a baby alarm. Baby alarms occur when the hospital is concerned that someone is trying to steal a baby. I had to do a tour of the building with Dr. Cooper, my head supervisor, so we had to walk all the way up to the 12th floor and then back down. Immediately after the tour, I followed Dr. Wright, the resident and the fellow around on rounds. We, of course, had to get back to the 12th floor--on foot. I didn't sit down once the whole 4 hours I was at the hospital, and that doesn't even include my having to walk there and back. Needless to say, it was exhausting--but that's how residency is going to be so I should start learning how to tough it out. At least I know I have that to look forward to after my undergraduate years.
Today, in chem lab, my partner was great, so we got out relatively fast and did it well. Teamwork ROCKS. I also talked to my advisor today about my possible major change. She was pretty excited for me. I have to actually do my bio report now.