Thanks for the encouragement, (e:peeps); the last exam went well. I got 90%, which i am totally not complaining about... but it is the lowest score i have since starting this training.

Next Tuesday is another exam. This one is on the brain, epilepsy, the endocrine system, the urinary system and generals of immunity. Seems a bit more scattered in subject matter, but i think they stuck all the last bits together.

Then, comes a final. Egads!

I should be studying.

Instead, i called the woman in charge of the Health Benefits Office to see if our insurance has kicked in. It has. Yesterday. Wow. For the first time since i moved to the US in 2001, i have health insurance.

Pretty good timing, since i think i need to see a doctor. When learning and practicing doing the basics of taking vital signs, i was a guinea pig for having my blood sugar tested, since i am one of the few that does not mind needles (yeah, people were actually afraid of the little bing of the pokey thing for getting blood sugar tested on a glucometer!). Needless to say, the results were alarming. I have incredibly high blood sugar. And i have to say, it scares the shit out of me. I can only hope i was getting false readings....

But, it does bring me back to the fact that i can no longer use the "i just quit smoking" excuse for my weight gain.

Which brings me back to the fact that i am procrastinating...

Back to the books...

This week's exam is tomorrow morning... on The Cardiovascular System, the Respiratory System and Vital Signs. For some reason, i find myself unfocused and unable to absorb all this information. Particularly, as usual, the medications. I seem to be getting vasodilators and antiarrythmics and digitalis preparations all mixed up... can i not just say they are all heart meds and be done with it?!?! No? Ok... back to the books...

i am so over being under the weather

i am up at 4am not because i was out having fun, but because i am sick. been sick for a while and i thought, like it has in the past, my body would heal itself. i no longer think this cold is just a sore throat. i think i may have infections, probably both ears and maybe my throat. been about 10 days of pain and now, i think things are getting worse. sucks since my health benefits for work haven't kicked in yet... and, of course, i wait 'til a holiday weekend to want to see a doctor. and, of course, i have no idea where to go... does the US have walk in after hour type clinics or is the only option an emergency room? i reckon (e:uncutsaniflush) will probably... *sigh* i just want to cry.... but... it hurts too much... waahh... what a big baby am i!

I did ok on my first exam, meds I, II and III (but do NOT ask me what the Kefauver-Harris Amendment of 1962 is until the finals, pleeease); got 94%. BUT, we had over a week to study.

Now, i have less than 48 hors to learn all the bits of the Gastrointestinal System as per the instruction and papers i received on Tuesday. The exam is tomorrow morning. So, i am taking a break/procrastinating.

I am not so great with all this medical jargon. And although i know what some of these things actually are, it can be difficult to remember official definitions... like digestion. Go ahead, try (not you, (e:Jenks), you better know!) and do it without using the word "digest".

I've got flatus though... not the actual gas, but the definition. Gas formation in the intestines; expulsion of intestinal gases.