I am constantly wondering what will happen in my future.
This past week, we took a test to see what our personal colors were. I found out that my top two colors are green and blue. Green people have trouble with many things. We constantly worry, and ponder, and think about everything that is going on. I find myself always thinking of what is to come and what I need to do. This is one of my flaws.
Even though I have high grades, and I almost without a doubt know what I want to do with my life, I still wonder.
Through this mentorship, I have realized something very valuable about myself. I love to help people but I can not stand to just be in a doctors office. I have had the great experience of being able to go in to open heart surgery. This turned a major light bulb on in my head. I know that for a fact I want to go into surgery. I would go crazy if I was never able to see the magnificent inside of the human body. It completely fascinates me. I find myself thinking about the human heart beating inside the chest very often. The memory of the blood rushing back into the body and seeing the heart beat after so many minutes of being stagnant continually replays in my mind.
I know without a doubt that this is my ultimate desire to fulfill in my life. However, after talking to so many surgeons and doctors, I am finding out that it will be harder for me to develop other aspect of my life that I want to happen. I want to have a family. I want to get married and have children. I want to be able to support my family (which I will most definitely be able to do) but most importantly I want to be able to spend quality time with my husband and children. This longing begins to seem further and further out of my reach since I want this prestigious career as well.
I am always wondering about my future but only time can tell.
Tuesday, March 30, 2010
Wednesday, March 17, 2010
Cardiology
Hello everyone. I wanted to let all of you know about my mentorship. I am interning with a group of cardiologists. It is an amazing place. They have so many interesting patients and I love learning about the heart. We have recently had something occur that the doctors had never seen. A patient came in for an echo cardiogram which is an ultrasound of the heart. During the echo, there was a mass on a "stem" discovered right below the aortic valve which is at the top of the heart. This valve allows for the heart to pump blood in and out. With each pump of the heart, this mass would move up and down depending on the flow of the blood from within the heart. The cause nor the reason the mass was there is known. Another interesting thing which I had personally never heard was a mechanical valve. When a valve begins to leak at a certain rate, there is a need to replace or fix the valve in order to prevent the heart from not working properly and causing it to stop. There are several choice as to what to replace the valve with but the most common ones are animal valves or mechanical valves. In certain patients, a mechanical valve is necessary. A patient came in that had to have a mechanical valve. Since I am younger and my hearing is still at its peaks, I could hear the ticking of the valve a soon as we walked in to the room. It ticks just like a clock because the blood flow causes the flaps of the valve to open and shut thus causing the ticking noise. I was also able to listen to the heart beat through the stethoscope. It was amazing the difference from a "normal" heart to the heart with the mechanical valve. The second beat was drastically different from the two hearts. In the "normal" heart, there was a muffled second beat but in the mechanical valve heart, there was a very loud second beat. I was completely fascinated, of course I am fascinated by everything new that I learn. I have really grown to love the everything about the office I am at as well as the patients that we see. The heart is amazing and there are so many things to learn about it that is the thing that I love the most about cardiology; there is always something new. This internship makes me excited for my future. I can't wait for medical school but most of all, I can't wait to be in a practice seeing patients lovely faces every day.
Sunday, March 7, 2010
A Mystery
Hello everyone. It's time for a research blog.
My blog is on something very personal to me; multiple sclerosis.
As an overview, multiple sclerosis also known as MS is an autoimmune disease which is where the immune system mistakenly attacks and destroys healthy tissue. MS specifically affects the brain and the spinal cord ("Autoimmune Disorders"). Therefore, It interferes with the communication between the brain and the rest of the body. Ultimately, this may result in deterioration of the nerves themselves, a process that's not reversible (Multiple Sclerosis).
As I mentioned before, this illness is very personal to me. The reason this is, is because my Grandma has it. She was diagnosed with it 19 years ago. In an interview with her, she stated that the symptoms to this disease are very hard to detect since it masks a lot of other diseases as well as it affects different people in different ways. When she had her first attack
, it seemed as if she had actually had a stroke. This is often the case due to the fact that MS is like "plaque" on the brain that affects many muscles which may seem like a stroke (Thompson, Linda). Other results of multiple sclerosis are muscular symptoms, bowel and bladder symptoms, eye symptoms, speech symptoms, sexual symptoms, numbness, tingling, pain, as well as many other symptoms ("Autoimmune Disorders").
Although multiple sclerosis can occur at any age, it most often begins in people between the ages of 20 and 40. Women are more likely to develop multiple sclerosis than are men (Multiple Sclerosis). Doctors and researchers don't understand exactly why multiple sclerosis occurs in some people and not others. A combination of factors, ranging from genetics to childhood infections, may play a role (Multiple Sclerosis).
The treatments for this illness range greatly. Since there is no known cures for multiple sclerosis at this time, there are things that can help with the different symptoms and slow down the progression of the disease. There are many medications that are taken on a long term basis to help with the symptoms, progression, and severity of the disease. Other things such as different types of therapy help with the disease as well ("Autoimmune Disorders"). There are other treatments that are specialized to different symptoms. Some ways to treat muscle soreness is through vitamins, water intake, and exercise (Castleman, Michael). Ways to treat the muscle spasms themselves are through things such as ice, vitamins, and stretching (Gottlieb, Bill). There are numerous other things such as the afore mentioned that can also treat other symptoms of MS.
In order to get a diagnosis, a Neurologist reviews cat-scans and MRI scans that reveal MS ("Autoimmune Disorders"). The prognosis for Multiple Sclerosis is different for every patient due to the fact that the disease differs from person to person. Some people deteriorate faster than others and some never get sever symptoms (Thompson, Linda).
As a summing up, multiple sclerosis affects everyone in different ways, there is no known cure for this life changing disease, and there are treatments for the symptoms just not for the disease itself.
I also just want to add that all of my sources are very valuable and creditable. I used different medical websites, medical books, and I interviewed a sufferer of Multiple Sclerosis as well. I personally believe that these are some of the best sources on this topic.
Bibliography:
My blog is on something very personal to me; multiple sclerosis.
As an overview, multiple sclerosis also known as MS is an autoimmune disease which is where the immune system mistakenly attacks and destroys healthy tissue. MS specifically affects the brain and the spinal cord ("Autoimmune Disorders"). Therefore, It interferes with the communication between the brain and the rest of the body. Ultimately, this may result in deterioration of the nerves themselves, a process that's not reversible (Multiple Sclerosis).
As I mentioned before, this illness is very personal to me. The reason this is, is because my Grandma has it. She was diagnosed with it 19 years ago. In an interview with her, she stated that the symptoms to this disease are very hard to detect since it masks a lot of other diseases as well as it affects different people in different ways. When she had her first attack
, it seemed as if she had actually had a stroke. This is often the case due to the fact that MS is like "plaque" on the brain that affects many muscles which may seem like a stroke (Thompson, Linda). Other results of multiple sclerosis are muscular symptoms, bowel and bladder symptoms, eye symptoms, speech symptoms, sexual symptoms, numbness, tingling, pain, as well as many other symptoms ("Autoimmune Disorders").
Although multiple sclerosis can occur at any age, it most often begins in people between the ages of 20 and 40. Women are more likely to develop multiple sclerosis than are men (Multiple Sclerosis). Doctors and researchers don't understand exactly why multiple sclerosis occurs in some people and not others. A combination of factors, ranging from genetics to childhood infections, may play a role (Multiple Sclerosis).
The treatments for this illness range greatly. Since there is no known cures for multiple sclerosis at this time, there are things that can help with the different symptoms and slow down the progression of the disease. There are many medications that are taken on a long term basis to help with the symptoms, progression, and severity of the disease. Other things such as different types of therapy help with the disease as well ("Autoimmune Disorders"). There are other treatments that are specialized to different symptoms. Some ways to treat muscle soreness is through vitamins, water intake, and exercise (Castleman, Michael). Ways to treat the muscle spasms themselves are through things such as ice, vitamins, and stretching (Gottlieb, Bill). There are numerous other things such as the afore mentioned that can also treat other symptoms of MS.
In order to get a diagnosis, a Neurologist reviews cat-scans and MRI scans that reveal MS ("Autoimmune Disorders"). The prognosis for Multiple Sclerosis is different for every patient due to the fact that the disease differs from person to person. Some people deteriorate faster than others and some never get sever symptoms (Thompson, Linda).
As a summing up, multiple sclerosis affects everyone in different ways, there is no known cure for this life changing disease, and there are treatments for the symptoms just not for the disease itself.
I also just want to add that all of my sources are very valuable and creditable. I used different medical websites, medical books, and I interviewed a sufferer of Multiple Sclerosis as well. I personally believe that these are some of the best sources on this topic.
Bibliography:
"Autoimmune Disorders." Google Health. Web. 08 Mar. 2010.
Castleman, Michael. Bottom Line's Complete Book of Integrated Health Solutions. Stamford: Boardroom Inc, 2000. Print.
Gottlieb, Bill. Alternative Cures: the Most Effective Natural Home Remedies for 160 Health Problems. Emmaus, Pa.: Rodale, 2000. Print.
"Multiple Sclerosis - MayoClinic.com." Mayo Clinic Medical Information and Tools for Healthy Living - MayoClinic.com. Web. 07 Mar. 2010.
Thompson, Linda. Personal interview. 5 Mar. 2010.
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