A busy week

The weekend is here...and hubby is not. :( He had to work overtime this weekend. I have studying to do, and I plan on running today, but it's been nice to wake up slowly and relax. I've been getting caught up on my blogs.

This week was very busy. We all gave presentations on Tuesday and Wednesday. (Let me tell you, listening to powerpoint presentations for 6 hours is a bit much.) I had 2 presentations to give: one a case study presentation on multiple sclerosis and anesthesia implications, and one in pharmacology about the anticonvulsant (antiepileptic) drugs. That was about 30 minutes, about the cellular pathophysiology of seizures, and many of the drugs used to treat them, mainly about their pharmacology, drug interactions, and anesthesia implications. If you hadn't thought about it before, anesthesia has interactions with many drugs that people take routinely, and many underlying conditions that people have. So those presentations were big deals. Then we had a pharmacology midterm (on antibiotics) and got back out test on central line placement, so now we can place central lines--woot! (With direct supervision, of course, while we are students.)

I placed my second spinal block yesterday, too. That is a very satisfying thing to do--getting the needle placed correctly and getting that CSF back just feels like you've really done something, and then when the block works and the patient tolerates the surgery with just a little sedation--that is super cool.

I was reading in one of the other blogs about the idea that you can defeat your band by drinking while you are eating. This is the main basis for the no-drinking-with-meals rule--you'll render your band ineffective, basically, and eat way too much. But I have discovered that if I drink after I eat (and usually I don't) I actually get more full. Especially if what I have eaten is something that can swell with moisture, but it seems to happen with most things. I avoid drinking with meals now mainly to avoid overfilling my pouch and stretching it. There are times, though, mainly when I take a break from clinicals in the morning, and I want to eat my breakfast AND I MUST get some coffee in...and the coffee is too hot, but I only have 15 minutes...I drink the coffee after I eat. You know, it seems I don't get hungry any sooner than when I don't drink. (Ha, you thought a bandster couldn't eat in 15 minutes? You never met a bandster anesthetist!) I think many people can "wash the food through" their pouch with drinking, and I am not recommending trying it. I'm just noticing for myself, it doesn't seem to work that way. But then again, I never get food stuck or PB, and I still seem to have restriction. So it seems some of the usual band things don't apply to mine.

Okay, time to get my day going...