overcoming the inevitable

Whether you know it already or not, there are no more successful bioterrorists than children.  Petri dishes, they certainly are.  The faculty told us up front that it was basically inevitable that we'd be sick at some point on our pediatric rotation, and they were spot on.  And as DFW schools open their doors, the kids employ the Kindergarten lesson of sharing.  Everything.  Including their adenoviruses.  So I coughed and sneezed for a couple days, had a 24 hour fever, and that was about it.  All in all, if I HAD to get sick, that's probably one I'd pick.

Which bring me to scabies... another thing kids are learning to share, and one I would NOT pick.  It's a microscopic mite that bores into and then lives in skin, causing unholy, supercontagious, frustrate-you-for-weeks-because-you-absolutely-cannot-sleep kind of itch.  The textbooks nickname it "The 7 year itch."  Enough said.  So when we get kids coming in for checkups, and as we finish up the whole exam and mom says, "Oh and by the way, he has these itchy bumps on his arms..." we gasp under our breaths and say a quick prayer that their scabies do not become our scabies.  Then we quarantine the room for the rest of the day.  How lovely!  A rare infestation that we saw I think 5 times last week!  Luckily I didn't catch it, though I doubt I've seen my last scabies patient.

*Fellow students, when a parent says "Oh by the way..."  it's never good, haha. ;)

Spanish is coming along really well.  I'm starting to pick up the little connector words and phrases, so I sound like less of a robot.  Starting a calendar year ago, we began taking medical spanish classes a few times per week.  Man was that a great class!  Our prof Cristina had the task of teaching to everyone from fluent speakers to those who could barely order at Taco C, and I was somewhere in between.  But today I got a nice compliment from a dad on my spanish!  So at least I'm now good enough to be able to recognize a compliment.  All props to Cristina! :)

Peds is fun.  I like kids.  Well, not the punks.  But I like most kids.

grace & peace