Just some cool links today:

http://news.discovery.com/tech/artificial-intelligence-domestic-abuse.html

http://news.discovery.com/tech/fda-approves-implantable-telescope-for-eyes.html

http://news.discovery.com/tech/lightning-artificial-blood-vessels.html

The World's Worst Cold

Father, mother, teenage daughter, toddler son.

A normal, happy, family.

The two-year-old caught a common cold,

No big deal.  Chicken soup and Tylenol.

But ten days later he still had a fever 

And his cough was getting worse.

In the waiting room that afternoon, two paths crossed:

Someone's daughter dropped her doll;

Little Boy picked it up for her;

Two-year-old already such a gentleman,

Good job, mom.

But the doll gave the boy whatever the girl had,

And for two days

The kid couldn't keep anything down.

Now it's Sunday and they can't reach their doc;

The kid's still in dry heaves hours later, in the ED.

A white coat comes in to give a standard IV

But the stick misses its mark and nicks an artery.

Try though they might to stop it, he's bleeding out.

Then some poor fool forgot to check the blood type twice

Hell broke loose, then

Flatline.

Two days later, the mom buried her baby.

Empty eyes, mirroring the void inside,

Barely see the coffin disappear.

Mom goes upstairs "to be alone;"

Minutes later, she rejoins her son,

Her life snuffed out with father's gun

The very day the daughter turned fifteen.

Some dozen years have passed.  Today, I met the daughter

In the psych ward, her home since that day,

And her empty eyes told me how a bunch of white coats

Helped a kid's cold kill his whole family.

More than I could chew?

So I haven't posted anything funny in a really long time.  Trust me, it's not for lack of material...it's time!!  Lack of time!!  Don't worry though, I'm not going to forget my funnies.  I've got 'em sketched out in one of those awesome Moleskin notebooks of which I am so fond.

See, here's the thing.

1. I'm in the process of moving (to an uber-cute apartment!) out of necessity, and it's consuming a ridiculous amount of time
2. When my physician was reviewing my past medical history before she put me on ADHD meds, she discovered something that could potentially be a problem.  She sent me to a specialist to rule out this problem, but, alas, his precious little test was not going to allow me to be so lucky.  Well, technically I guess I shouldn't say that, because I am really, really grateful that my doc caught this before it got worse.
3. So now I'm in the process of moving, AND I have to schedule surgery!  
4. Did I mention that I was in medical school?
5. With unmedicated ADHD?

So if my posts are sporadic, it just means that I'm too far behind to draw!  But I'll catch up...maybe over Christmas?!

Medical Professionals and Suicide

Not really surprised by this article on medical school and suicide.  Greatly saddened, but not really surprised.

In honor of our upcoming heme/onc exam:

-Later!

Disease of the Day

"Christmas Disease"...somewhat surprisingly, NOT more prevalent in shopaholics. 

https://health.google.com/health/ref/Hemophilia+B

Note to Self:

Setting an extra alarm on your computer as a backup would probably be more effective if the computer were not on "mute."  You know, just for future reference and all.

Life is complicated. Forms are more complicated.

So, ADHD is a bitch.  Getting meds for it is worse, apparently.  The doc gave me a script yesterday, and I dutifully dropped it off at a local pharmacy.  Came back to pick it up after doing the adult thing and buying groceries for the week, and turned out the doc had written the script wrong (that particular strength didn't come in "extended release" apparently).  So, got it switched out successfully today and dropped it back off by the pharmacy.  Went back to get it, only to find out that it wouldn't be ready for at least three days because the insurance requires pre-authorization.  *sigh*  Paperwork.  Don't they know that people with ADHD don't do paperwork?  Can't do paperwork?

I can barely function at a high enough level to go to the grocery store.  I used to wonder how I got into med school when I couldn't navigate the aisles at the local convenience mart.  I mean, there I am, list in hand, but no clue where to find ANYTHING that's on the list.  So I end up walking down each aisle anyway, scanning the rows for some visual clue to the location of the item for which I was so desperately searching.  And who exactly thought it was such a grand idea to have so many product choices?  It takes me 30 minutes to choose a breakfast cereal for the week!!  The choices are simply overwhelming.

Paperwork is also overwhelming.  Recently, I filled out an application for an apartment.  It was a physical strain to concentrate long enough to remember the information and put it in the correct blank.  I finished, sweating from the rigorous mental exertion, and handed it with a proud smile to the lady behind the desk.  The first apartment application I've filled out all by myself!!  I think I'm actually becoming a responsible adult!!  My ego was quickly crushed when the lady, her eyebrows cocked suspiciously, asked me in a withering voice to "Please, sign the application.  We canNOT process the application without your signature."

Life doesn't make a whole lot of sense sometimes.  I just don't understand how it is possible for me to function at such a high level during emergency situations and simultaneously fail so miserably at the things teenagers do without problem....for instance, I am ashamed to admit how long it took me to learn to write a personal check.

To this day, I hate going to a new restaurant because I don't know what to choose.  I also don't like going to parties.  I am best with one-on-one conversations, but I can successfully handle small groups...say, four individuals tops.  After that, I get so swamped by the multitude of conversations going on around me, I can't decide which to focus on, so I usually end up staring at the wall in panic, hoping someone will come rescue me and just tell me what to do.

*sigh*  "Responsible adulthood" still seems like such an unattainable dream.  Shoot, I can't even remember to turn off the stove.

DAMNIT!!  I GOTTA GO TURN OFF THE  STOVE!