Seattle for Thanksgiving

I drove up with a classmate to Seattle early Thursday morning, arriving at my Aunt and Uncle's just in time for Thanksgiving dinner. It was a full house w/ my Mom, her 2 brothers (my uncles) and their families. I got to meet some distant relatives for the first time. Not to mention dinner was delish. Pumpkin pie was probably my favorite. Too bad I hated it growing up..... I really missed out. It was nice to have so much down time and catch up with everyone.

Friday we went to the famous Pike Place Market and wandered around for a while as well as watched the dudes throw fish around. On the way back home my Uncle took us to a European art museum. I was excited to see some amazing art. Except he didn't realize they'd replaced it with some junk modern art exhibit. We had a good time making fun of the "art" anyway. It was ridiculous.......not a fan. That night we went to an outdoor parade in Bellevue w/ drummers, lights, music, and fake snow. It got me in the Christmas spirit!

Saturday we did some shopping at the Outlets and Nordstrom Rack. I FINALLY found some running shoes I like, and only for $25. Sweetness! I have a hard time finding running shoes I like. I only do Nike, but I feel like most of them are seriously ugly. And I have a hard time spending that much money on something so ugly, even if I do need them. I bought a pair for $100 that I absolutely loved back in April, but they had poor arch support so I returned them. Haven't been able to find a pair since then that I like. Until yesterday!

Goodbye Tiffany

First my awesome roommate, Katie, moved out. Then my other awesome roommate, Tiffany, just moved out. Now there is no awesomeness left, except me of course. Ha, I kid. I truly miss them both. So much fun together and the best roommates. We had a goodbye dinner for Tiffany last Sunday. A few of us are pictured here. Then I realized I didn't even get a picture w/ Tiffany. Tiff, you must come back!

Kristina Anderson, PA-S, diagnoses and treats her first patients

......with help of course. Last night was my first night as a PA! I got to see my very own patients. IT WAS SO MUCH FUN! Once a semester we are required to work at the Essential Health Clinic, which is a clinic providing free care to those who would otherwise be unable to afford it. It was a really great experience and I wish I could go EVERY night. It's connecting the dots, you know, from what we learn in school. Actually seeing things first hand and doing allows you to REALLY learn. I saw 2 patients of my own and then was paired up with another student while she went and saw her 2 patients. Thus, I got to see 4 patients total. And bonus.....I got to use my Spanish! And I realized just how much work it really needs. Not speaking it for 6 months is a huge detriment and I regret not keeping up on it.

The cases I saw myself were pyelonephritis, which is a UTI that has moved up into the kidneys, and then otitis externa, an ear canal infection. The latter case was a Spanish speaker and they had translators available, but I was able to see the patient on my own. Booyah! I struggled with "cutip" and "puss," but was able to see and treat the patient adequately. He left w/ some ear drops and strict commands not to use cutips any more.

With the other patients I saw rosacea, tinea corporis, pitting edema, GERD, and neurofibromas. The pitting edema was insane! It can be a sign of many things from heart failure to lung problems. So this guy came in for a rash and then was like, "oh by the way, look at this. I push my skin in and it leaves a dent." He thought it was pretty cool, but that type of edema is not normal. We sent for some lab tests and will mostly likely refer him to primary care. Then the neurofibromas are what we call "zebras" - the very rare diseases that you are unlikely to see in your whole career. This guy had cyst all over his back. The problem is they compress nerves and he loses feeling (mostly to his legs), causing tingling and even shooting pain like being stabbed w/ pins & needles. You all know what it's like to have a foot wake up from "falling asleep" I imagine it feels like that, but much worse. Anyway, it's pretty crippling for him. He's had it since he was 5 yrs. old and has already had 15 of them removed. There's not really a cure either, just symptomatic treatment.

Anyway I saw some cool stuff. I was also put on the spot a lot, being asked questions like what do you think the diagnosis is and what do we do to treat it. Oh man, I struggled remembering things we've learned in class that long ago. But after seeing patients with these conditions, I will never forget it. That's what the whole clinical year is for, but when my preceptor starts "pimping" me as they call it (asking questions to test my knowledge), I might be stumbling as much as I was last night. It's all about the short term memory at this point. One class at a time.

Something's happening to me...... I said I NEVER wanted to work in primary care, EVER. But as I've been in school learning about SO many different cool things and really learned how important patient care is, I think that's what I might actually want to do. I mean, who doesn't want variety in their job? This is where the real challenge is. And I love a challenge! I'm thinking 3 days in primary care and 2 days in the ER. How exciting!

PA School Humor

Warning: this might not be funny to you....

So a couple friends and I were studying over some pad thai in a pho restaurant close to my school, vigorously preparing for one of the hardest tests ever....cardiology. We ended up drawing some pictures on our styrofoam to-go boxes to better help our discussions make sense. Well, my one friend started drawing a liver......after which she said something to the effect that she could not believe she just drew a round liver. The 3 of us just thought that was the funniest thing ever. Then my other friend stopped and said, "Wait a minute guys. Do you realize what just happened? Reality check. We just busted up at the fact that she drew a round liver." Yeah, life has definitely changed since starting school. Nerd alert!

Then, the other day I ended up leaving school the same time as one of my professors. So we had a nice chat out to our cars, in the course of which we discovered we took the same back country farm road to get to school everyday. Now, you have to understand this guy is a character. He's Canadian, always has something funny to say, and is well loved by the class (reminds me a lot of my Uncle David). So he said, "Great! Now I can flip you the bird!" I could not stop laughing. That road gets frustrating as people drive pretty slow OR take it fast around some pretty sharp corners. Apparently he had seen a car flip a 360 just that morning on one of the curves. He told me he'd keep his eye out for me :)

So the next morning, I was one of the last ones to walk into class and this professor was standing in the front of the room and in front of everyone said, "I didn't see you this morning! I couldn't flip you the bird!" Then explained the whole thing to the class about being a crazy Canadian driving down the road. Everyone got a pretty good laugh out of it, followed by "Poor Kristina." I love that guy - hilarious!

Halloween 2011

I knew long beforehand what I was going to be this Halloween. And to a lot of you, it won't surprise you..... I have never dressed up as 80s, so I figured it was time. The three of us dressed up as 80s rockstars. It was so much fun!

Halloween regional dance.....went and danced the night away!

Then at school I dressed up 80s again, but a little different outfit this time. We had a Halloween party for lunch......who says you're too old for that??

Then our beloved professors played some tunes for us. It was rockin'!!