final goodbye to summer

Well, the votes are in: summer has finally ended, the cold fall rain is upon us, and I think I went camping for the last time this year last weekend (I kept thinking, ok now I will finally wash my sleeping bag--but then I just kept going camping again and again...). For reals, we are back to school--in fact, we've already had 2 tests (going on #3 this monday). It was kind of sad once the summer ended because it was probably THE MOST awesome summer ever--the first time I didn't work in many years, and I just played and played. But then, I also had no cause to complain in coming back to the grindstone. I probably camped more than I ever have in my life in one summer and spent as much time outdoors as possible. I even had a weekend to go backpacking with dad--an annual tradition now since I was about 12 years old. This time we went up to Mt.Hood, which was very cool and would have been even more awesome if it didn't rain (we saw the mountain for, oh, maybe 15 min...the rest of the time it was socked in). It was wonderful to have some daddy-daughter time, and even though it was miserably wet, dad and I wore super rain gear (i.e. bright yellow firemen-type pants=dork!) that kept me reasonably dry and the rain kept away any neighbors. The wildflowers up at Paradise Park were spectacular as well.

By the way, I am loving my housing arrangement for this year!!! I live in a house with another Christian gal from my class and then a Christian couple, the husband who is in my class and also my co-CMDA leader. We have house dinners once a week and sometimes spend evenings jamming on our guitars together. My commute to school isn't bad -- in fact, downright refreshing sometimes to bike or run to school. CMDA has been really great. We started off the school year with a breakfast-FEAST bonanaza at our house followed by a hike at horsetail falls. We've also had a great response at our weekly Bible studies with students and even staff from various departments/schools. We're studying the life of Peter right now, and it's been really great to get into the mind of disciple and watch how he was transformed by Christ. A few weekends ago, Brian, Julie, and I led a camping trip for a CMDA retreat on the coast. It was a great time for bonding with other students/residents over fire-baked potatoes, hot homemade chili, smores, and a hike along the bluff. We're looking forward to what God is going to do through and in this group this year!

A few weeks ago I went to San Antonio, Texas with a local doc to lead worship at a WIMD (women in medicine and dentistry) conference. WIMD is a ministry of CMDA; at the conference it was so encouraging to see so many Christian women in medicine. I heard some great talks, ate good food, and met a lot of amazing women who love the Lord. Leading worship was fun too--I practiced a lot this summer for the worship part, and I think people really enjoyed the music as did I. There were a few other lady docs who we added to the team who were great musicians too.

You mustn't think that my life is all play and no work. Indeed, school has started...I just kept playing, and added the studying part. I joined the annual Teeny luau on the harbor for labor day, which I hadn't been able to attend in years (even did a little karaoke). Like I mentioned, I've been camping even since school started (we have about every-other-weekend to play and not worry about a test). I also went to a wedding. It's crazy...all of sudden my friends and family are getting married; I must be getting old?

So what have I been doing during the 4+ hours I spend at school each day? This year started out with pathology--i.e. "when stuff goes wrong," particularly in the heart, kidneys, and lungs. It's been pretty interesting now that we're finally learning about what really goes on when we say "heart attack" or "v-fib" or "renal failure". Most of this stuff I knew close to nothing about before med school, and we get to use some cool tools--like we practiced doing echocardiograms (heart ultrasound). My housemate, Brian, even brought a portable ultrasound machine home one day and ended up playing with it for hours! I also have a new preceptorship for this quarter (last year was family medicine): pediatric oncology/hematology. People always respond with "whoa, that must be hard." Indeed, there are definitely some things that are hard for me to see and that I'm not used to seeing, like poor little babies hooked up to tons of machines and kids who stay in the hospital for a month at a time. One evening after preceptor I had such a hard time--I was crying at seeing their suffering (and the parent's too), not because I thought that God was terrible for putting them through that, but because I feel like maybe that's a tinge of what God feels when he sees his kids suffer. But there's also a lot of hope--those babies wouldn't hardly have a chance at life if not for those machines, meds, and nurses, and same with those older kids. ALL (acute lymphoblastic leukemia) has almost a 85% chance of cure with some types. And it's great when you see them smile and laugh--very cute for sure. So the docs do a lot of counseling with parents, and it's very interesting to hear about all the complicated medical stuff that goes on too. In short, it's a good quarter so far, and it's definitely making me think more about doing something that involves pediatrics. I'm taking an elective right now that introduces all the major fields of medicine to help me in my process of figuring out what I want to do with medicine, which is a pretty big question that won't be resolved for awhile.

It's raining now, and I enjoy the pitter-patter outside my window. Makes me feel all warm and cozy...