unManic Monday

Monday was a relatively easy and pleasant day! I arrived for anatomy lecture a bit early, which gave me time to start working on my chemistry homework for Wednesday. We finished discussing the physiology of digestion (for Wednesday's test), and started on the anatomy of the kidney, for the section on the urinary system. And thank goodness, because our class is so far behind, lab was confusing last Friday (it didn't help that I was not feeling well that day).

We finished discussing proteins in chemistry lecture (for NEXT Wednesday's test), and started discussing enzymes in more detail. My professor cancelled the chemistry lab for today. Something is going on with him this semester- he has cited home trouble and illness for a few homework assignments and class notes which he posted late, as well as canceling lab once already this semester.

The canceled lab did allow me to go to open anatomy lab much earlier than I had anticipated. I spent quite a bit of time communing with the cross section of the kidneys (model only, didn't look at wet tissue this time.) I did not examine the other organs (intestines, bladder, etc.) because they should be a little bit easier to learn via Dr. Allan Forsman of East Tennessee State on iTunes U (he is such a wonderfully thorough and clear instructor) and on paper.

I feel as though I spent my afternoon goofing off, though in reality I studied anatomy and biology and a little bit of chemistry, all interspersed with a fair amount of online play. I just didn't have the usual rushed and overworked sensation. I actually took my anatomy book outside and sat in the warmth of the last of the sun outside my apartment. I cannot wait for the real return of true warm weather!

Digestion in the Sun

A typical weekend for the ambitious science student: lots of studying!

Actually, I substitute taught 5 hour long ballet classes in a row yesterday as well, ranging from 3 year olds to preteens. No break in between! I kept it light to conserve my energy, a little bit of technique practice interspersed with lots of fun dance songs and games. Every class also started with the necessary recital practice, because the recital is in May. I started off the day by getting a large container of orange juice, and sipped frequently to constantly fortify my energy reserves. By the end of my 5 hours I didn't really feel any more tired than I do after my usual 3 hours in a row, because I usually teach after a long day of classes. My voice was a little more tired, but not as sore as it is in the Fall, when I first go back to teaching after summer break.

I did manage to get some more sleep this weekend. I actually quit studying at about 9:40 Saturday night, and watched a couple of episodes of Big Ideas for a Small Planet on my computer via iTunes before falling asleep. (I do not own a television.)

Sunday was a morning to sleep in, complete chores, and study anatomy (digestion) out in the sun. I love the return of warm weather!

My health is fine, my new theory is that I may have suffered from a touch of temporary lactose intolerance. I had an extra large serving of pudding for dessert before bedtime. Symptoms can include "nausea, cramps, bloating, gas, and diarrhea." I never used to be lactose intolerant, but my dairy consumption is not what it once was. Some sources claim that an adult can slowly reintroduce dairy into their diet to acclimate themselves. Maybe that ought to be on my agenda!

Appendicitis

Warning: This Blog contains graphic details about personal body functions and the symptoms of appendicitis.

I awoke last night with severe abdominal cramping in my right lower quadrant- a feeling unlike other types of cramps or gas that I have ever experienced. I realized that I needed to get to the toilet to void my bowels in a hurry, and that I felt nauseous. I was still more than half asleep, or I would have been much more worried. In the morning I overslept, but decided to pay to park in the parking garage by the science building, rather than parking in the more distant student parking lot, thus avoiding the slightly more lengthy commute and shuttle bus ride. With my new found spare time I decided to actually eat something for breakfast before class, which is an extremely rare occurrence. I was only able to force down half a container of yogurt, which also should have worried me more than it did. I took Pepto Bismol to guard against diarrhea and nausea during class.

In class I performed well enough on my anatomy lab quiz, considering I slept through the hour of morning time I had been planning on reviewing histology of the liver, stomach, and pancreas. My right side still hurt. I felt very tired (reasonable, after all my long hours of studying), and a little nauseous still. We covered the lower abdominal region, intestines, and appendix in class. Appendix. . . Appendix!

I left class early to be able to go home before work, still feeling physically bad, now finally feeling worried. I Googled burst appendix, appendicitis, and found some really helpful resources, like this one. Uh oh.

"The abdominal pain usually

• occurs suddenly, often causing a person to wake up at night
• occurs before other symptoms
• begins near the belly button and then moves lower and to the right
• is new and unlike any pain felt before

"Other symptoms of appendicitis may include

• loss of appetite
• nausea
• vomiting
• constipation or diarrhea
• the feeling that passing stool will relieve discomfort"

But I did not experience pain that

• "gets worse in a matter of hours
• gets worse when moving around, taking deep breaths, coughing, or sneezing"

or

• "inability to pass gas
• a low-grade fever that follows other symptoms
• abdominal swelling"

I did not have all the symptoms. I checked my temperature. I took deep breaths and jumped around. Everything I was reading said that if you are not sure, you should get to a doctor, but I didn't want to be a hypochondriac. Well the website also explained a few tests that the doctor would perform to test your response pain based on pressure and movement. I was able to administer the tests to myself: all negative. I decided to check my appetite again, so I broke out the baby carrots and was able to eat just as many as I had as a snack the other day when I felt fine. Somewhere else I had read that it was hard to lie down on your right side, so I tried- no problem. I still felt tired and just bad, but my nausea was actually dissipating as I ate the carrots. I stayed in bed for the remaining half hour or so that I had before I had to leave for work at the preschool.

I was so tired that while I was patting the last little girl to sleep, I fell asleep for a moment myself. I was tempted to lay down on the floor and nap while they did, but I know from experience that afternoon naps make me feel groggy and out of sorts when I wake up (except when I am listening to a power nap meditation). I felt a little better as the day wore on, although I still have a little soreness in my right side, much like the sensitivity remaining in a calf muscle after a sudden leg cramp.

After all the mommies and daddies had collected their children, I headed back to the parking garage by the science building. (It is free for students with parking passes to park there after 6pm.) I headed upstairs to the anatomy hall, and stretched out on one of the benches until 6:30 when my study group was scheduled to meet. We worked together to complete sample test questions for next weeks lecture test, and headed home.

I am giving myself the night off. Granted, I just got home at 10pm, but my plan for the rest of the night is to do something just for fun (like Blog!), and go to bed early.

And yes, although my pain and discomfort have receded during the day, I will still be a little extra vigilant for the next two days, as an appendix is most likely to burst within 24 hours of the first symptoms of appendicitis.

Froggy Fun!

We dissected frogs this morning. It was fun! As much as I love working with the human cadaver in anatomy, I am sorry that it is already dissected- I'd like to learn that, too. So it is fun dissecting the lower order animals, even though they are so much simpler. I hadn't dissected anything since high school biology classes in 1994-1995. I had two people "working with me" one of who helped collect tools, and watched while I cut and peeled and poked and prodded, the other sat a fair distance away and said "I can see from here. . ." Well, there are pictures she can look at in the lab manual. At least she wasn't as bad as another girl in the class, who felt it necessary to loudly and repeatedly exclaim her disgust and marvel that it didn't bother some of us.

Lecture today consisted of me succeeding on a test of the collective Phyla of Kingdom Animalia. It was not my best, but it should still be an A. Next week we get to start studying tissue and body systems in greater detail- basic anatomy topics. I am excited because it'll be a nice (though topical) review of anatomy and physiology subjects that I haven't examined in a while. Then, too, since I've had much of the information before, the next test should be a breeze!

This evening I taught ballet, tap, and pre-pointe. I finished teaching both of tonights recital dances last week, so this week they were able to dance all the way through. Both classes did need a little help with the endings, but if they practice during the week they should know it for next week. Time to really get started with correcting technique, and making them look good- at least as good as your average 5 or 6 year old dancer can look while still enjoying dance.

We worked on a few new resistance band exercises in pre-pointe. Some also involved standing on a balance cushion. I have three now, so they have to take turns using them, but it's better then the single one I had last year. I hope to collect one or two more next year. Eventually I will have enough that everyone can have one to use at the same time. Maybe.

During the second half of the hour I spent some time teaching my pre-pointe dancers about the basic bone structure of the foot. I gave them paper and pencils, and had them trace the outside of one of their own feet. Then they palpated their feet to try to draw what the bones might look like inside. They acually did a pretty good job indicating the short bones of the toes and the long bones of the foot. A few who were in my pre-pointe class last year remembered the calcaneus, and tried to draw that as well. Then I got out three books: The Dancer's Foot Book, Dance Kinesiology, and Anatomy and Kinesiology for Dance Teachers. (I love having these specialized resources, so I don't have to worry about the kids flipping through the book and seeing "inappropriate images!")

I also pulled out my small desktop skeleton, and a leg from my larger 32" hanging skeleton. Using pictures from the books, and the models, I showed them all of the major bones in the foot, where they are, and explained why some of them are named what they are named. (I also answered some other questions they had about the knee and hip. I love that they enjoy learning about anatomy!) Some of the dancers updated their foot drawings to reflect what they learned.

At the end of class we had a brief discussion about common foot problems that dancers, especially ballet dancers on pointe, experience. One of the dancers teasingly accused me of trying to scare them away from wanting to go on pointe, but I assured them that I think it is important for them to be familiar with their feet while they are healthy, and to be vigilant and know the signs of potential problems. If they do have a problem, I want them to be able to nip it in the bud!

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Pad Thai with a Side of Biology

After discovering the beautifully animated Cassiopeia Project website (http://www.cassiopeiaproject.com), I downloaded their whole evolution series via iTunes. I watched about half of them while working on my biology essay question material last night. (I never did get to the chemistry lab work.) So of course, I failed to get to sleep early!

Anatomy came way to early this morning, although I could probably have slept about 10 minutes later, since my teacher was about 10 minutes late. My thoughts about the level of detail necessary for our look at metabolism was correct: we only need to know the processes of glycolysis, the Krebs cycle, and oxidative phosphorylation in a more general way, highlighting only certain key steps.

I had brunch at a nice little coffee shop (NOT a big chain coffee franchise) near the science building, and completed my chemistry lab homework. In chemistry lecture we continued our discussion of proteins (amino acids and peptide bonds). Some of it was already familiar information, such as the primary, secondary, tertiary, and quaternary structures of proteins. Next week we'll finish proteins, move on the related topics of enzymes and vitamins, then prepare for our test. We're behind schedule, so the next chemistry test will not include an additional chapter that was originally scheduled (nucleic acids).

Now that we are behind schedule in all of my classes, my careful scheduling for the remaining month and a half of this semester has been thrown off! I cannot be sure of any remaining test dates (or topics), so the days that I requested off from work in anticipation of heavy study days may no longer be as relevant. The problem is that my teachers are now planning the rest of the schedule as it comes along, so that increases my stress levels!

Add to this my end of year duties as a dance teacher. Yes, we are coming up on recital time. The music has been picked. The children have been measured. Costumes have been ordered, delivered, tried on and sent home. MOST of my dances are complete. But I have one class left to finish choreographing. It is one of my larger classes, and they just happen to have the longest song of all the ones I chose this year. A couple of the students are actually quite good, but an equal share simply cannot pay attention or remember something that I corrected for longer than 2 minutes. I already told my studio owner that their dance will NOT be done by this week, which was the goal. She seemed understanding, but I know I need to complete it ASAP.

For the rest of tonight though, its pad thai for dinner with a side of biology study! (I got the type with Arthropoda in it- shrimp!)

HONC if you love biology! by Keartine
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Biology and Children

I have the weekly luxury of sleeping in on Tuesday mornings, since my biology class does not begin until 11:00 am. I frequently have the admirable aspiration to wake up early (or at least the same time as usual) to study before class. This morning, I actually did manage to rise a little early. This enabled me to avoid rushing through my morning preparations, check my online social networking profiles, and still leave early to get to school. After saying good morning to the security guard (my school is in an urban environment) I headed upstairs to a sunny table and finished reading my biology chapter.

In class it turned out that my paper was not actually due until Thursday, but I am glad I have it done early, so I can concentrate on test study. Our test is Thursday, and I still have a lot of work to do! I still need to memorize 1: a list of 10 animal phyla, traits common to all animals, and evolutionary trends from more "primitive" to more "advanced" animal characteristics 2: the definitions of coelomate, acoelomate, and pseudocoelomate, along with the significance of coelomation; 3: the difference between bilateral symmetry of coelomates , depending on whether one is a protostome or deuterostome. I also need to review basic information and vocabulary related to these and related topics.

Biology was my only class today. I spent the rest of the day working at the preschool. Rather than bring in my whole backpack today, I opted to pull out the sheets of notebook paper with the aforementioned lists on them from my binder. I quickly folded them up and put them in my coat pocket to bring in and study while the kids were napping. I arrived right at the end of their lunch, and the start of nap time. They actually went to sleep pretty quickly today, and after cleaning the room and getting their afternoon snack ready, I determined that I had a half an hour left to study. I retrieved my notes, opened them up, and began to read about the evolution of terrestrial autotrophs. . . I had grabbed the wrong notes! So I found some blank paper and a pen, and began listing from memory. I didn't actually get too far before I realized that one of my young friends had had a potty accident and needed my help. After that the rest of the class was waking up, so it was snack time, then time to read books, and then time to go outside and play.

My goal tonight is to finally work on memorizing those lists in preparation for Thursday's exam, and to complete some chemistry lab homework that is due tomorrow. A secondary goal is to try to get to sleep earlier, as I have a (bad?) habit of staying up too late to finish studying. Wish me luck readers!

Digesting Information

I am now in the second half of my Anatomy and Physiology class, and we have studied most of the major systems of the body: Integumentary, Skeletal, Muscular, Nervous, Endocrine, Cardiovascular, Lymphatic and Respiratory. We are currently studying the Digestive system. What's left? Only the Urinary and Reproductive systems!

So in anatomy lecture today, we finished our discussion of the structures and functions of the digestive organs, and began a review of glycolysis and the Krebs cycle. (It is a review because those topics were covered in the Biology 101 class which was a prerequisite for A&P.) Now, I struggled with the details of glycolysis and the Krebs cycle last Spring, when I first encountered it, so it was with great trepidation that I approached the topic again. I started viewing lectures on these processes from UC Berkeley on iTunes U, and reading the chapter on digestive processes in my Anatomy and Physiology for Dummies book over the weekend. Thankfully, I don't think I need to know the information with the same level of detail that I did before, so this test should be easier.

Monday is also a major Chemistry day for me. I am pleased that we are studying biochemistry right now, carbohydrates, and lipids, just as we are studying digestion in anatomy! The topics blend nicely together. In the 45 minutes between my chemistry lecture and lab, I dashed to the open anatomy lab for a quick review. I had just about enough time to observe some fellow students working with the digestive organs and Hepatic Portal System in the cadaver (and help them out a little) and look at a few models of the liver, spleen, stomach and associated ducts, veins and arteries before heading back to chemistry. One of the benefits of attending the community college is that my science classes are on different floors of the same building, so it doesn't take too long to get from one to another!

Back in chemistry lab, we observed the results of a carbohydrate fermentation experiment we started last week. A couple of our results were definitely off- the yeast managed to ferment when mixed with only water in one case! The rest of the lab was devoted to a few tests of lipid solubility (with seven different samples) and saturation. At the end we created lotions. Some groups were instructed to deliberately omit one vital ingredient, rendering our mixtures useless as a moisturizer. We tested the pH of our creations, as well as of several commercial moisturizing lotions. While some of our lab creations and commercial moisturizers were a bit too acidic or basic, the Lubriderm lotion that we sampled had a perfectly neutral pH of 7: nice and gentle for the skin.

After chemistry lab it was back to the open anatomy lab. This time I geared up with lab coat, goggles, and gloves to handle the cadaver myself. One of my classmates and I reviewed the wet tissue that we are responsible for knowing this week, then repeated the litany again when another student joined us. Repetition, repetition, repetition! After that I spent a few minutes examining microscopic slides of the liver, stomach, and pancreas. Finally, I reviewed a myriad of models of the relevant organs, first on my own, then with a small group of fellow students who joined me.

Tonight? I am working on my biology paper concerning the plight of the red wolf (its loss of species status has jeopardized its position as endangered), and watching UC Berkeley iTunes U lectures of Dr. Diamond teaching the digestive system.

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Introducing: Keartine!

It has been just over a year since I started actively pursuing a new degree.

I am learning to balance heavy course loads, often with two or more part time jobs at a time. My first degree was a BA in Dance Education, and I still work in the field. From August through May, I teach ballet and tap to children at a relatively young but successful dance studio. (I have also taught two years of dance in a High School program for gifted art students, and one semester of ballet at a University.) I also work as a teachers aide in a preschool/ daycare program. The kids in my room range from two to four years old. During the summer I am a studio assistant for an artist who creates beautiful leather masks by hand. Late August through October, I spend my weekends managing several sales locations for his products and managing several carnival style games at a Renaissance Festival.

I have wanted to return to school for a long time. My original idea was to work for a while, save up some money, and possibly audition for a Masters program in Dance Composition or Dance Technology. However, after a few years of working, it became decidedly apparent that I either had to work so much that I did not have the time or energy to attend dance classes, or I could not afford classes. I was not ready to give up my dreams of acquiring my Masters degree, so I have adapted my plans.

I am now on the way to an academic program in physical therapy. My end goal is to practice Dance Medicine: I want to help injured dancers recover and continue their dancing career. So far I have been attending the local community college and completing coursework in chemistry, biology, and anatomy with some math, health and psychology classes sprinkled in. I do not know which Masters program I am going to choose to apply to, so right now my future is open to a certain extent. I know that whatever program I choose, I will have a lot more work ahead of me!