A LONG Week!

Orientation week was pretty crazy. Colby was gone everyday from 8-5 sitting through introductory lectures, computer training and Basic Life Support and then had a social event every evening. I got to go along to a few and just the 3 that I went to made me tired. We had a wonderful time getting to meet new people and really like the people in his class. I joined the spouses association, so hopefully I'll be able to meet some other wives and be able to help out with class support and make some new friends. We decided that we haven't been this social since we were at Baylor, nor have we had so much free food since then!

I also had my Chemotherapy certification workshop and testing at the hospital on Tues/Wed. so now I'm good to go with administering "safe chemo." That sounded like the biggest oxymoron the whole time, but I do feel like I know a whole lot more about it and will finally be able to do everything independently on my floor once I'm checked off of the actual administering.

Here is a picture of our nametag collection from the week from all the events. Keep in mind we even threw away a few before deciding to save them on the dashboard. :)

-JB

Colby's First Day!

Today was Colby's first day of medical school. Okay, so it was just a week of orientation, but he looked so handsome and professional that I made him pose for a few pictures. I had just gotten off of work, so excuse the tiredness. I totally wanted to him to stand on the front porch with his backpack just like all of my first day of school pictures, but he quickly informed me that he didn't have a backpack and that all the neighbors were probably staring wondering what we were doing at 7:30am having a photo shoot. Oh well. I at least appreciated the participation that I got and told him that he would be very happy when the day comes for me to take a picture of his last day of school. I am SO proud of him and he has worked so hard for this day to come. I can't tell you the amount of time, effort, prayers, etc. that has gone into medical school and I'm sure we can quadruple that once it begins. Thanks to everyone that has helped us along the journey. And so it begins.....!!!

Student Doctor Brownlee (haha, isn't that a funny term!?!)

Getting in the car

Backing up

And off he goes into the world of medicine!!Ok, I just had to give you the play by play so that everyone could feel like they were there and can share in our excitement!!! :)

-JB

Last Weekend of Freedom!

We spent the weekend at Lake Proctor with Colby's family. He starts medical school orientation on Monday, so we had a fun time relaxing, fishing, swimming, boating, and camping out before the reality of busyness will hit.

Rocky had a wonderful time running around everywhere, chasing the cows and even a bit of swimming, although he hated that part, definitely not a water dog even though we always try.

We went to a fishing hole on Sat where there were huge catfish. It made for a super yummy catfish fry on Saturday night!

There's just nothing better than sleeping under the stars and a weekend at the lake!!!-JB

Origin of Osteopathy

Well, orientation is Monday thru Friday and then the fun begins as I set sail on my medical journey the next Monday, July 28, at the Texas College of Osteopathic Medicine. I was just flipping through a few pages of one of my many obese textbooks and reading about the origins and principles of osteopathy. I am thinking that most people have a pretty good understanding of physicians and what they do, but I am willing to bet that most don't have much knowlege about the brand of medicine known as osteopathy. So I just decided that over the next four years I will occasionally post something on the subject that I have recently learned, whether it be interesting or strange, or that I think will help others understand. And I hope that I have enough MD friends that will read and comment in order to discuss the similarities and dissimilarities of our medical education and philosophy of medicine hoping that in the meantime we all become better physicians.

With the intro aside, I want to define osteopathy in this first post with the help of Foundations for Osteopathic Medicine (second edition):

Andrew Taylor Still, M.D., D.O., the founder of osteopathic medicine and the term itself, began using osteopathy to describe his practice and philosophy in the 1880s. The words roots simply break down as 'osteon,' meaning bone, and 'pathos,' meaning to suffer. He reasoned that the skeletal system was his starting point to determine the cause of pathological conditions. He said that "bones can be used as levers to relieve pressure on nerves, veins and arteries."

However, "osteopathy is not only a neuromusculoskeletal-oriented dignostic and treatment system, it is also a comprehensive and scientifically based school of medicine that emabraces a philosophy," which according to A.T. Still is "a scientific knowledge of anatomy and physiology in the hands of a person of intelligence and skill, who can apply that knowledge to the use of man when sick or wounded by strains, shocks, falls, or mechanical derangement or injury of any kind to the body," and "the object of Osteopathy is to improve upon the present systems of surgery, midwifery, and treatment of general diseases." (Remember he wrote this in the late 1800s)

Also an important emphasis made in Osteopathic Medicine is found in the following quote from Still: "To find health should be the object of the doctor. Anyone can find disease." And in finding health the Doctor of Osteopathy is taught the importance of the full scope of health including mental, emotional, and spiritual aspects of life alongside the pathophysiologic issues.

I will try to keep these shorter in the future and hope they don't bore anyone outside the medical field.

-CB

Happy Birthday Ames!

I want to wish a very Happy Birthday to my sweet Amy. Our friendship began on the very first day that I moved into the dorm at Baylor when we were right across the hall from each other. That high-maintenance California girl with 4 inch heels, mini skirt, and glitter on her eyes turned out to be a huge blessing in my life. Love you girl, hope your day is wonderful!

Another old one from the memory books....

It's Official!

Today I received my official license as an RN in the State of Texas. I took my boards on July 1st and 5 hours later, I passed!! Of course, I had to sit around and wait in anxiety for a few days before I got the passing results, but now I'm a Registered Nurse! Once you graduate, you are a GN (Graduate Nurse) and can work a certain amount of time on that permit before you take your boards and convert over to RN. My cousin Elizabeth also came into town to visit and was able to help me celebrate with a Pomegranate Mojito, yum.


Work has been going good, just hard adjusting back and forth from nights to days. I really like the people I work with and the kids are so precious and have been a lot of fun. Overall, I've learned just how resilient kids are. They can have so much going on and don't complain at all like we adults do. It makes me reconsider many things that I whine about. Newly on my mind is my patient from this past week. I was lucky to have her 2 nights in a row and she is the cutest little 6 year old ever! Sadly, she had to be in the hospital on the 4th of July, but was able to go out and see the fireworks. She has been newly diagnosed with a brain tumor and went in for her surgery on Monday. I go back to work tomorrow and can't wait to check on her, but please remember her and her family in your prayers if you think about it. She sang songs for us and pranced out of her room at 5:30am to come over to give me a hug. Just melts your heart and hurts it at the same time when you know what she's going through and the road will just get longer in the days to come. I know God has placed me on this floor for a reason, so I hope I can bring joy and comfort to my patients for at least the 12 hours at a time that I have them. It's just hard not to bring it home and think about them, but I do feel called to pray for them and know that the Lord brings them to mind for this purpose. Anyhow, just wanted to announce that I am official!

Futbol

Colby joined a men's indoor soccer league and I had a fun time watching him play in his first game. When we lived in San Antonio, Colby played soccer every Saturday with many different friends, so he's been itching to be able to play again. I've even gone with him out to the park to kick the ball around and I'm terrible at trying to get the ball away from him b/c he's so fast. It makes me wonder how I ever played soccer. Either that or I'm just really out of shape. I felt like such a soccer mom out there with the camera, but he was so stinkin cute that I just had to take a few to share. :)