Tri-3, Wk8, Day 164 - Monday!

I really need to do all I can for my pathology test tomorrow but, I also think it's important to stick with the plan I had set which includes providing a summary of my classes for the day.

OK - so here goes...

Summary of Today's Classes

1. Public Health - ...amazing - I went to the class and I know I took notes but I can't find them right now. Maybe I misfiled them. Anyway - We got a handout from Chapter 26 of our Microbiology book which is a chapter on Applied Microbiology which has to do with Preventing Disease Transmission & Food Spoilage. It's probably not the most exciting stuff but probably a good class for me to pay attention to since I'm sort of like one of those guys that hasn't traditionally always adhered to the best food prep practices. So, in that respect, I rather appreciate classes like todays. :)
2. Pathology I - We went through the rest of our Inflammation powerpoint presentation today from slide 127 to slide 136. And our test is tomorrow - fun, fun, fun :) We started with Laboratory findings in inflammation and this is where you need to know the difference between your fire trucks, police cars, ambulances and tow trucks - each one may be an emergency type of vehicle but each also has specific responsibilities. In pathology these vehicles have slightly less familiar names. The Neutrophil shows up when dealing with a bacterial infection & they're usually the first on the scene. Lymphocytes show up for a viral infection. Leukopenia makes it's debute when there are many viruses ...I guess they are like the National Guard and Eosinophils like to party with parasites & allergies.
3. Diversified II - This is our adjusting class. Today seemed a bit like a review as we went like a machine gun through every adjusting technique we've learned since the beginning of the trimester. I need to do a lot more work in this class.
4. Logan Basic I - Good ol' Dr. Montgomery's Class - and the man really is a treat to have as a teacher. We always seem to learn something new & fascinating. ...now I just have to remember what that was today! Ah, I typed my notes out straight into my laptop. We covered some Hip Joint Disease, biomechanics of the pelvis and also learned a few things about Joe Montana and Bo Jackson. It seems one of Joe Montana's IVDs (intervetebral disc) was a bit undersized. Dr. Montgomery was a consultant for Montana which makes me wonder if there were any HIPPA violations from him telling us about Joe but, with Joe being such a celebrity I'm thinking much of what was said was probably public knowledge. Dr. Montgomery also told us about a patient he'd been working on for the past 6 - 8 months. A 40 year old female, slight build who's coccyx was injured when the girl was 6 years old. At that time the sacral area is in about 14 pieces and after the injury, since no chiropractic care was given that area of the lady's lower back ended up fusing together as a flat plate instead of having a nice curve. This has given the lady problems her whole life and the lady was on several tranquilizers to help subdue the extra neural stimulation from her spine being out of whack. With Dr. M's treatments, the lady's MD's were able to take her off two of the tranquilizers she's been using. However - chiropractic can only do so much with a body part that was fused together the wrong way - The option the lady is now facing is surgery to break the sacral/coccygeal bones and then have them set the way they should have been set & fused when she was younger. With this lady, I think I'd seriously consider having the surgery if I was her.
5. Physiology II - We finished up chapter 18 from the Tortora book on Hormone Regulation. I have a TON to do for this class. I have something interesting in my notes, it says "Open Your Eyes - Don't Be Such A Passenger!" I guess you can think of that as a title of a book or article. I was falling asleep pretty hard in that class today and, quite frankly, I'm surprised I haven't been to bed yet for a nap. But, I was thinking that concept of don't be such a passenger might be a good axiom for life in general.

Instead of just letting myself fall asleep, I kept telling myself over and over to open up my eyes and stay awake and pay attention. I think sleep won in the end but not without a fight. I recall things my grandma has said to me about people not fighting enough. Fighting illness, sickness, rough luck or anything of that nature. I was thinking of another classmate who was held behind and seems to have relationships or problems thereof on her mind a lot. I can relate from similar times in my life. Anyway, I don't want to be a passenger and get blown around by circumstance. I guess that's part of the reason for the structure I'm engendering into this blog.

OK - on to Pathology - we have a TEST tomorrow - so much to learn. I'm figuring on 4 or 5 hours sleep - I think I'll study a bit, maybe an hour or two, then sleep maybe 4.5 hours (3 sleep cycles) then get back to it. For a class I like so much I should have better grades.

I know I need to get my flashcards done sooner. I'm thinking of planning for later on this week to get in the next set of flashcards for our third exam. I realized yesterday that I can go through my Pathology Secrets book and easily make flashcards out for each chapter. I just have to remember everything I come up with because it's good stuff and I'm willing to put it all in practice, I just have to remember it all.

OK - I've got that task up on my white board. Another thing that could help is to make sure I'm academically prepped for each upcoming day. I was missing some handouts & powerpoints for some of today's lectures. I need to look ahead the night before and make sure I'm in shape and ready to go for school the next day.

I'll keep getting better. I am grateful I'm in a situation which requires improvement. I think I've always tended to gravitate towards such things.

Today's picture is ...hmmm - how about a Neutrophil!

ya know what? My computer has already crashed once since i've gotten home and the pic i was trying to download was taking too long - I need to get to studying -

it was a cool pic and showed transmigration of a neutrophil across a blood vessel wall.