Week 1 Down

First of all, I'd like to begin by reflecting on how there's nothing quite like the feeling of a pill wedging sideways in one's throat to wake you up in the morning. I'd like to know who's idea it was to make Levoxyl with sharp little corners. You KNOW someone had to think that up. And then, at the ad agency, everyone else hears the pitch and thinks, "Wow! What a GREAT idea! It TOTALLY looks just like a thyroid!" Then they make it. Then us pill poppers spend the rest of our lives gagging on their totally-awesome idea.

As of roughly 5:00pm today, my first week of medical college is over. Things that I didn't expect:

1. How many kickass people I'd meet--and even remember their names the next day, especially fellow Oregonians.
2. That even MY formidable organizational skills are being run through the ringer.
3. That my cadaver ("Vivien") is not nearly as aromatically challenging as I expected, but a whole lot greasier than expected.
4. That I'd have to get up a full 3 hours before lecture to re-read the powerpoints.

So a day typically runs like this:

7:00am out of bed, shower, dress.
7:30am feed my and Gunther's faces, let Gunther out; simultaneously keep up on email
7:45am peruse powerpoint lectures (2nd pass)
9:15am let Gunther out again; make lunch
9:30am drive to campus
10:00am lecture begins
12:00pm lunch with my fellow sandwich-toters
1:00pm changed and in lab, greeting my new pal "Vivien"
5:00pm head home, let Gunther out
5:30pm feed my and Gunther's faces
6:00pm 3rd pass on today's lecture notes; 1st pass on tomorrow's; practice random things like nerve plexuses, anatomy flashcards, muscle attachments and actions, etc.
10:00pm let Gunther out, rinse off lab aromas; bed

Despite all this, I still feel woefully behind and/or wholly ignorant, especially regarding anything neuro. I've made it a point to hang out with the guy who's training specifially to be a neurosurgeon, because he already knows he needs straight As and a damn near perfect board score. I figure it might rub off.

Next week's goal is to try and integrate 30 minutes at the gym every day.