Have you ever been so sure that you were going to do something but when the time came, you end up not doing it? Last night I was so set on waking up early, go to the gym and start my day fresh but when my friend gave me a wake up call the decline came automatically. I was told, on several occasions, that you should snooze because it would bring in a new sleep cycle yet I repeatedly do it.
Today was the clinic/OR/tour/movie rotation. I didn't get picked for the OR this time and since I have already been to the clinic and the tour, I had to stay and watch a movie. The movie that we watched is called "Wit", it's about a professor, Vivian Bearing PhD, who has ovarian cancer. The doctor who delivered the news to her was a rude man who did not consider how she is handling the news. He quickly jumped into persuading her to do a trial treatment and did not give her any other choice. The treatment is for research purposes and won't better her quality of life. Before proceeding, she had to sign an informed consent form which basically says that she knows what she is getting herself into. I felt like she wasn't very informed because the doctor did not tell her of the risk or the alternatives. One of the doctor who was treating her is actually her former student. During her stay at the hospital she was treated like a guinea pig by everyone except for the nurse. Finally she died and the doctor tried to save her in the name of research even though she is a DNR (Do Not Resuscitate). After the movie, Jake gathered everyone and we discussed the movie. I really can't believe how those doctors were treating her, for example in one scene they all stood around her bed and converse like she wasn't in the room, then they had the audacity to lift her gown, without warning or even asking for permission, and started feeling her abdomen. The doctors in the movie had the worst bedside manners and I thought that they did not deserve the title. I believe that a doctor should be someone who cares for their patients, someone who is compassionate. Becoming a doctor means that you save lives but in a way where you consider about how your patient may feel and not treat them like just another person.
Our afternoon class was taught by Jake. He talked about dyslipidemia which essentially means bad fat in the blood. So cholesterol is the building blocks of all lipid cells and they can be HDL (High Density Level) or LDL (Low Density Level). HDL is more protein and less fat while LDL is less protein and more fat. As you can guess, having a high level (> 40) of HDL is good while LDL levels of more than 100 is not something to aim for. To raise your HDL level, you should exercise, not smoke, and eat healthy food while one would do the opposite to raise LDL level. Statins is a drug used to treat patient with very high risk. What it does is that it inhibit the liver from sending out more LDL so there will be more HDL to get rid of the cholesterol. After Jake's lecture, Dr. Joyce Johnson returned to give us another lecture on cancer, colorectal to be exact. Colorectal cancer is cancer of the colon or the rectum. While the development of these cancers is extremely similar the symptoms and treatment are way different. They can only be treated with surgery and they have a 90% survival rate when local but if it spreads then it's only 65%. They are most likely to occur in adult ages 50 and above. Males have a slightly higher risk than females, as usual. One way to detect the cancer is to screen for polyps via endoscopy and if polyps are present they are removed to prevent cancerous growth. Some other ways to prevent colorectal cancer is to limit red and processed meat intake while increase fruits and veggie intake, don't smoke, don't consume alcohol, and ,of course, exercise regularly.
For the last hour of class we read article to prepare ourselves for another team based learning class. I'm very excited because the last one turned out great and I really like the articles this time also. It's about how the economy affects obesity and also how your neighborhood may affect your health. During free time today, Kathleen, our proctor, ordered pizza and we watched a movie. She also taught some girls how to do make up which I wasn't interested in. I can't wait for the team based learning class tomorrow and the instructors have a lot of great lectures in stored.
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