Wow..I'm not very good at this blogging thing. I seem to have plenty of time for reading other people's blogs but just never enough time to write on my own. Maybe that is because writing on my own takes more creativity and brain power than just reading somebody elses. Anyway, many people have been nagging me for months to move back up north to be closer to them and I have finally decided to make the change. After working at Dixie Regional Medical Center for a year and a few months, I went in Tuesday and told my boss that I was quitting. Of course, he and everybody else have here has been trying to bribe me into staying somehow. We decided that I will stay until the end of September. I am starting to get excited for a new job, new roommates, and new adventures-expect for the part about moving to Salt Lake right before winter hits. But I am also very sad about leaving St George. I love it here. I love my hospital and my job and the weather and all my friends. I will miss them very much!
p.s. I was going to post about something I did last weekend but never got around to it. I finally went horse-back riding again! And I did it voluntarily, because I wanted to, which is a huge victory for me because I am pretty much deathly afraid of riding horses. :)
Sunday, August 31, 2008
Friday, August 1, 2008
New Favorite Quote
"Heavenly Father is not too big to hear the smallest of prayers."
-www.maraadams.com
I have the spent the last few hours pouring over the details of the life of six-year-old Mara Adams. She is my friend's niece and was diagnosed last year with a very rare form of cancer called diffuse intrinsic pontine glioma or DPIG. There are only about 200 cases diagnosed per year and the median rate of survival is about 12 months with treatment consisting of chemotherapy and radiation. The disease is a result of a braim tumor that grows on the brain stem and prevents normal development of certain nerves and muscles. There are several other websites that highlight the lives of other children and their families and their fight against DPIG. It is amazing to me to read these stories and learn about the strength and faith of both parents and cancer victims, as well as all the good that other people in the world have done to help ease their suffering. I suppose it also makes me contemplate the role that I play professionally since many of the laboratory tests that I perform on a daily basis with dictate the course of treatment for many people. I hardly ever interact with patients so it is easy to forgot that each sample I run is from a real person. Learning about real people and their experiences in real life helps me to not become complacent in my job but rather to do my best each day so that I can have a positive influence on somebody somewhere.
-www.maraadams.com
I have the spent the last few hours pouring over the details of the life of six-year-old Mara Adams. She is my friend's niece and was diagnosed last year with a very rare form of cancer called diffuse intrinsic pontine glioma or DPIG. There are only about 200 cases diagnosed per year and the median rate of survival is about 12 months with treatment consisting of chemotherapy and radiation. The disease is a result of a braim tumor that grows on the brain stem and prevents normal development of certain nerves and muscles. There are several other websites that highlight the lives of other children and their families and their fight against DPIG. It is amazing to me to read these stories and learn about the strength and faith of both parents and cancer victims, as well as all the good that other people in the world have done to help ease their suffering. I suppose it also makes me contemplate the role that I play professionally since many of the laboratory tests that I perform on a daily basis with dictate the course of treatment for many people. I hardly ever interact with patients so it is easy to forgot that each sample I run is from a real person. Learning about real people and their experiences in real life helps me to not become complacent in my job but rather to do my best each day so that I can have a positive influence on somebody somewhere.
Sunday, July 20, 2008
Alma 32 Insights
I guess since today is Sunday I should post something gospel-related. So I will post an insight on Alma 32-you know, the chapter about planting the seed in our heart. But I cannot take credit for this insight because it was shared with me by a co-worked. He just walked up and said, "You know, in the scriptures when they talk about the gospel being a seed, it could be plural-seeds." Then he explained as follows:
He loves gardening. And mostly he plants things that he will harvest and use to make salsa. So he plants many different seeds-onions, tomatoes, different kinds of peppers, etc. that will become parts of the whole in a few months. But if he were to make salsa out of just tomatoes or just onions it would not be salsa. So, he reasoned, let's say the true gospel of Christ is like salsa-made up of many different kinds of vegetables, or doctrines. If all the doctrines aren't present, it cannot be the true gospel. Other churches may have some true doctrines; so they can make something out of that, but they can't make salsa because they do not have all truth, or all the ingredients.
I don't know if I explained that well enough to be understood by anybody other than myself but I thought it was pretty insightful. And I told him that he should bring chips and salsa to his sunday school class next week when he teaches the lesson on Alma 32. :)
He loves gardening. And mostly he plants things that he will harvest and use to make salsa. So he plants many different seeds-onions, tomatoes, different kinds of peppers, etc. that will become parts of the whole in a few months. But if he were to make salsa out of just tomatoes or just onions it would not be salsa. So, he reasoned, let's say the true gospel of Christ is like salsa-made up of many different kinds of vegetables, or doctrines. If all the doctrines aren't present, it cannot be the true gospel. Other churches may have some true doctrines; so they can make something out of that, but they can't make salsa because they do not have all truth, or all the ingredients.
I don't know if I explained that well enough to be understood by anybody other than myself but I thought it was pretty insightful. And I told him that he should bring chips and salsa to his sunday school class next week when he teaches the lesson on Alma 32. :)
Saturday, July 5, 2008
Happy Fourth of July!
Okay, so it's true that the 4th of July is over, but that is what I am going to post about today. I drove up to Provo on Thursday night and stayed with my sister, Emily. We went and saw the movie "Emma Smith: My Story", which I highly recommend. I learned some new things about Emma's life and just enjoyed being able to watch a good movie without ever worrying about the content of it. There should definitely be more movies like that.
But the best part of my weekend was, of course, Friday! And that is because my little sister, Amy, got home from her mission. She flew in from Boston around 10:30 on Friday morning, so we all went to the airport dressed in typical freedom colors. I brought my camera so that I would have pictures to post, but the battery died before Amy even got off the plane. I guess I should have checked it beforehand. One of these times I think my family will be banned from picking people up at the airport because we always bring a big group and we always seem to get some annoyed looks and a little reprimanding from airport officials about not blocking doors and walkways. But, we always have fun. Besides, my family only has one more missionary to pick up so they can be patient with us through him. Anyway, it was fun to see her again! Then we went to my aunt's house and had a huge family BBQ and introduced Amy back into Babylon by teaching her to play Guitar Hero and other games on my cousin's wii. Later, we did fireworks at our house. Mostly we made fun of all the fireworks because for some reason they aren't quite as exciting as they used to be. All in all, it was a fun day and I am pretty much convinced that I have the greatest family in the world.
But the best part of my weekend was, of course, Friday! And that is because my little sister, Amy, got home from her mission. She flew in from Boston around 10:30 on Friday morning, so we all went to the airport dressed in typical freedom colors. I brought my camera so that I would have pictures to post, but the battery died before Amy even got off the plane. I guess I should have checked it beforehand. One of these times I think my family will be banned from picking people up at the airport because we always bring a big group and we always seem to get some annoyed looks and a little reprimanding from airport officials about not blocking doors and walkways. But, we always have fun. Besides, my family only has one more missionary to pick up so they can be patient with us through him. Anyway, it was fun to see her again! Then we went to my aunt's house and had a huge family BBQ and introduced Amy back into Babylon by teaching her to play Guitar Hero and other games on my cousin's wii. Later, we did fireworks at our house. Mostly we made fun of all the fireworks because for some reason they aren't quite as exciting as they used to be. All in all, it was a fun day and I am pretty much convinced that I have the greatest family in the world.
Sunday, June 22, 2008
Elder Russell M. Nelson
Today I started reading the biography of Elder Russell M Nelson. I am only a few pages into it but I can tell it is going to be so good! Right now I am reading about his ancestry and how his family came to join the Church in the 1800s and came to America. His grandpa was even born and raised in Ephraim, Utah-near my home! Anyway, I just wanted to share a story from the life of one of his great-grandfathers named Johan Andreas Jensen. Johan was was living in Norway when he first learned about Christianity and he believed the teachings so much that he spent many years distributing his wealth to the poor. Even before he learned about the LDS church he would preach repentance in the streets of Norway and he even published an article calling the King of Norway to repentance. Of course, for this, he was thrown into jail. Six weeks later, he recieved roommates there-two Mormon misisonaries who were also jailed because they were caught teaching repentance! These two missionaries spent their time singing hymns, praying, and reading the scriptures. In the end, their actions served as the foundation of Johan's testimony and it was during his time in prison that he felt that the Church was true.
To me, that is a perfect example of how the Lord works in mysterious ways. Many times, when things do not happen according to our plans we seem them as negative events, but maybe they truly are blessings in disguise-things that the Lord will use to further His purposes later on down the road!
To me, that is a perfect example of how the Lord works in mysterious ways. Many times, when things do not happen according to our plans we seem them as negative events, but maybe they truly are blessings in disguise-things that the Lord will use to further His purposes later on down the road!
Saturday, June 21, 2008
Medical Breakthrough: Stool Transplants
WARNING: this post contains information that is NOT for the weak of stomach!
Here is what C. diff looks like (a) under a microscope and (b) growing on a culture plate:
Okay, so usually the infection is treated with antibiotics and this is pretty effective. However, some antibiotic-resistant strains are starting to develop. For these, doctors often administer yogurt drinks that contain a lot of healthy bacteria. But this doesn't usually cure the patient completely. There is, however, one other method of treatment that has a 100% success rate since it was put into effect last year - A stool transplant!! I had no idea what that was until they explained it. You see, these doctors look at our waste products as organs and so here is what happens: doctors take a stool sample from a healthy donor, blend it up with some water or saline to form a "smoothie" and introduce into the patient's digestive system through a nasogastric tube. Here is the explanation again in layman's terms: the patient drinks somebody else's poop!
The idea of it makes complete sense: replace the bad bacteria that's causing disease with good bacteria so that the bad stuff can't survive. Even so, I'm not sure I could do it if I were the patient. But the FDA is working on a way to form capsules that can be swallowed instead of the liquid drink, which sounds a bit more bearable. So, my next money-making scheme? Sell my waste products to be made into pills! How is that any different than donating blood or selling plasma....
Yesterday I attended a physician's seminar about Clostridium difficile, a bacterial species that causes very severe stomach cramps and diarrhea (a disorder called colitis). The disorder occurs mostly in elderly people and is commonly acquired after a long hospitalization.
Here is what C. diff looks like (a) under a microscope and (b) growing on a culture plate:
Okay, so usually the infection is treated with antibiotics and this is pretty effective. However, some antibiotic-resistant strains are starting to develop. For these, doctors often administer yogurt drinks that contain a lot of healthy bacteria. But this doesn't usually cure the patient completely. There is, however, one other method of treatment that has a 100% success rate since it was put into effect last year - A stool transplant!! I had no idea what that was until they explained it. You see, these doctors look at our waste products as organs and so here is what happens: doctors take a stool sample from a healthy donor, blend it up with some water or saline to form a "smoothie" and introduce into the patient's digestive system through a nasogastric tube. Here is the explanation again in layman's terms: the patient drinks somebody else's poop!
The idea of it makes complete sense: replace the bad bacteria that's causing disease with good bacteria so that the bad stuff can't survive. Even so, I'm not sure I could do it if I were the patient. But the FDA is working on a way to form capsules that can be swallowed instead of the liquid drink, which sounds a bit more bearable. So, my next money-making scheme? Sell my waste products to be made into pills! How is that any different than donating blood or selling plasma....
And if you are still reading...
Sunday, June 8, 2008
"No hay rosa sin espinas; There is no rose without thorns"
I used to read all the time. But, with school and work taking up so much of my time, it has been a while since I have really just picked up a book and read for fun. A few weeks ago, a friend got me hooked on the Twilight series-those crazy vampire stories that everybody talks about. But, now I am finished with them and to satisfy my craving for another good book, I decided to read one of my mom's recommendations- called "Esperanza Rising". My mom is a T.A. for Fifth Grade and her class read this book, so it is definitely written for a younger crowd, but I like it. Here is the storyline:
Esperanza Ortega possesses all the treasures a young girl could want: fancy dresses; a beautiful home filled with servants in the bountiful region of Aguascalientes, Mexico; and the promise of one day rising to Mama’s position and presiding over all of Rancho de las Rosas. But a sudden tragedy shatters that dream, forcing Esperanza and Mama to flee to California and settle in a Mexican farm labor camp. There they confront the challenges of hard work, acceptance by their own people, and economic difficulties brought on by the Great Depression. When Mama falls ill from Valley Fever and a strike for better working conditions threatens to uproot their new life, Esperanza must relinquish her hold on the past and learn to embrace a future ripe with the riches of family and community.
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