This past unit has been a doozy. It's been four weeks of memorization hell. Drugs, neoplasias, immunopathology, genetic disorders, connective tissue disorders, drug metabolism, drug excretion, drug absorption, and so on and so forth. There have been so many equations and trivia flung in my direction, it's no wonder that my brain feels like it's been beaten senseless.
Three hours ago, I was high on adrenaline, high on anxiety, high on sleep deprivation. Every single muscle, and seemingly every single fiber of my being, was tense and on alert.
They don't call it the fight or flight response for no reason.
Three hours ago, I was taking one of my dreaded unit tests, and oh, I was fighting hard.
Fighting to remember which chromosomal abnormality caused that specific genetic mutation, which antibody was present in that version of lupus, and what lesions were present in the kidney.
And it was hard. I mean, there was math and long division, and units that didn't match up correctly. There was lots and lots of conjuring up images of notes, trying to remember which drug did what, and what drug caused this or that, and which drugs worked with that other drug.
And now, three hours later, it is over. Gloriously and wonderfully over.
I couldn't sleep last night, because my mind was racing with everything I had memorized. And now, I wouldn't be able to tell you how to calculate a dosing rate or a half-life, even if I wanted to. Those equations are out of my head. Those facts that I've painstakingly assembled over the past four weeks, have flown out the window and are gone forever (or at least until I memorize them again).
But it's over. I might not have done all that well, but at least it's over. And I'm now lying in bed, completely and absolutely relaxed. Without a care in the world. Watching ABC's Extreme Makeover: Home Edition. This is the life.
The sad thing is, in less than an hour, I have to get back up and start that whole school routine all over again.
Yes. Because in less than an hour, I'll have to be in my seat for afternoon class so that I can learn how to perform a thyroid exam correctly. How to assess for all those thyroid diseases that we were tested on this morning. Hashimoto and Graves' and all that wonderful stuff.
And then tomorrow, we'll start a brand new unit and the memorizing will begin yet again. Yay endocrinology and hematology/oncology.
I guess I'll sleep when I'm dead.
3 years ago
