Tri-3, Wk11, Day 179 - Super HIGH BP

I could tell by the way I've been feeling and my agitation levels that my blood pressure was probably high but, I had no idea how high - I checked my blood pressure after I got home AND after just sitting still for a good 10-15 minutes it still read an astounding 212 over 106 with a heart rate of 95 bpm. No wonder I've been wanting to get my hands on some Valium lately!

More study & good grades could go a long way in easing tensions but, my current state isn't all that conducive to a high rate of retention. Non-the-less, we have a Micro test on Wednesday that I have to study for. There's a vaccine seminar tonight & I wish it was only 20 minutes long but I believe it's 2 hours long ....

There were a fair number of people that skipped this morning's Public Health class to study for our 2nd hour Pathology test. I went to my class. I'd like 100% attendance for the week so I have *something* to feel good about. :)

- Today's Class Summaries -

Public Health - We got a new handout on Healthy People 2010. Apparently, new goals are set every 10 years by Health & Human Services as to what our Nation should be striving for in terms of health. The US has never met any of the Healthy People goals.

Pathology - I'm on the bubble. I got about as low of a grade as I could while still passing. I thought I did a little better than my final grade reflected. Right now I'll give myself about a 60% chance of making it on to Tri-4

Diversified II - I just have a lot of work to do for this class & still need to catch the teacher to inquire about my midterm grade.

Basic I - We started with x-ray marking and the class was rather interesting. We learned how the x-ray machine needs to be dead on straight and not off to one side or the other. It reminded me of watching a baseball game. If the camera showing you the pitches is off to one side then you get a skewed view of the strike zone so, pitches that may actually be a ball might look like a strike from a perspective that isn't directly in front of or behind the catcher.

Anyway - the x-ray film needs to be centered with the tube and the tube needs to be centered with the "bucky". What the heck is a bucky? I don't know, haven't learned that yet. I'm not even sure if I'm spelling it correctly at this point. Also, the floor needs to be level as well.

Physiology II - We went through slides #7 through #33 today on our third Renal ppt.

I think I might almost like the extreme detail we go into in Physiology more than the somewhat more conceptual take we're getting in Pathology. For Pathology, it looks like it's enough to know that endocarditis & cardiomyopathy are predisposing factors for heart Thrombosis without actually knowing too much about endocarditis or cardiomyopathy. But, this is our first pathology class so I'm sure there's a lot of groundwork that needs to be laid before we delve into a lot of detail. For me, just having words without meaning makes it hard for me to memorize those words and make them mine. I'll figure something out - hopefully sooner rather than later.

It's time for Micro! Today's pic ...hmmm, let's look for a bucky!!!

looks like a Bucky is a device that moves the grid while an x-ray is being taken.

According to the caption - this pic is a Siemens X-ray bucky table Typ Multix TOP manufactured 1998.