Eyeballs- Week 1

Well, I was definitely in for more than I bargained for! I've learned plenty this week, saw MANY procedures (who would have thought ophthalmology would be known for procedures), managed to terrify myself, and looked at lots of eyes.

I'll start with the things I've learned:
1. Take care of your eyes- there really is a point of no return. Pay attention to your vision, and if you note changes, call your eye doctor up. There are treatments within a reasonable time frame.
2. Contact lenses are really not that great for your eyes if you don't wear them the recommended way. I'll be honest, I definitely don't wear them the recommended way. You can get a corneal ulcer and then you won't be wearing contacts for months. I have been lectured by more than one of the docs already. For example, wearing them for 24 hrs a day, is bad. I don't do that now, but during residency I was pretty much planning on keeping them in since I'll be awake. Wrong. Apparently, I'll need to update my prescription so my glasses can be updated (they're circa freshman year of college). I'll be making a visit to these guys before I leave for residency.
3. The cosmetic side is very interesting. Botox, Juvaderm, facial laser treatments, and the surgeries. I'm seeing a blepharoplasty (eye lid tuck/brow lift) on Monday.

Ok, onto the things I've seen. If you are squeamish or hate eyeballs, consider yourself warned.
1. On my first day I was floored at the amount of things I saw. For starters, a man came in with a retinal detachment. This is BAD. Think of it as the back wall of your eyeball (on the inside) coming loose off the wall. The symptoms are a black curtain coming over your vision. The treatment is not nice. To start, the eyeball had to be numbed with lidocaine. This meant an injection onto the eyeball. The lidocaine made a bubble on the eye. (My mouth was hanging open). Then he froze the back of the eye with a cryotherapy technique, by basically shoving this thing alongside the eyeball. Then he injected a gas bubble inside the eyeball so that it would push the retina back up against the wall. This means that for 4 days, the patient has to lay in a position forcing the retina back where it should be. For him, it was his left side. Worst case scenario- laying on your face for 4 days. And yes that does happen.
2. Eye surgeries do not mean that the patient will have general anesthesia. For somethings, they just get a valium beforehand. In other cases they get some Versed. This means they can talk to you and move their eyes while operating. Very strange.
3. For wet macular degeneration, the only treatment is an injection into the eyeball. Some patients get these monthly. I was pretty disgusted by the first one, but they are SO common, that I now think it's a normal visit.
4. Lasik is pretty quick. It's not as scary as I thought it would be, but I'm still not interested for myself. I'll continue the road of cornea eating contacts.

The Eyeball

The eyeball is the one thing that I think is pretty disgusting. I hate looking in them, and Lord help me if there is some sort of trauma to the eye or I need to go digging in the eye. Tomorrow I start my rotation in ophthalmology/facial plastics. I am going to have to keep my gag reflex under control and hopefully I don't pass out in the OR, when we operate on them. The worst part about all of this: I have to fake it to my preceptors. They cannot know for half a second that I hate eyes. So you might ask why I'm doing a rotation in eyeballs when I hate them so much. Well, it's 15 min from Jake's place (I guess it's ours now) and I needed a surgical elective. This counted. So I'm doing it.

Welcome 2011

Happy New Year! This is a year I have been looking forward to for a long time. It's quite hard to believe that it's here actually. Here's the list of things I'm looking forward to this year:
1. Graduating medical school and officially becoming a doctor on June 3rd! This is something I've been dreaming about for a very long time. When I think about all the things I have learned since starting medical school, I'm amazed! My family is renting a house in Arizona for the event so we can party it up and celebrate for awhile!
2. Jake getting his PhD! We're not quite sure yet when this exactly will be since his boss decides, but we are sure it will be this year. Then he will find a job and make real money!!!! Jake is also contemplating starting a company based on his research.
3. Moving to an unknown place! As I've previously written about The Match, we won't know where we are going until March 17th.
4. Buying a house! This is very very exciting for both of us. I am looking forward to having our own place where we can do what we want. Plus we desperately need more space. I am constantly on realtors' websites checking out homes for sale.
5. Getting a puppy! Jake promised me that within 30 days of us living together in our new place, I will get a puppy. Our plans are to get a german shepherd pup. I have never had a dog so I'm sure I'll be jumping up and down like a child when I get it.
6. Finally starting my training in being an OB/GYN! If you talk to any 4th year med student, they will tell you how they are so sick of all the extra rotations, when all you want to do is start residency. I am enjoying my time off though.

I can't really complain about 2010. It was a good year. I learned a lot, spent a lot of time with Jake, celebrated Thanksgiving and Christmas with Jake and the rest of my family, and most importantly moved in with Jake. To celebrate NYE, we stayed in, watched movies and made cheese fondue! Today we went and saw Black Swan. My, this was a strange movie, but I'm so glad I saw it.

Anyways, I am looking forward to 2011.