It's been quite a while since I've posted on here...mostly because I've been super busy. I had a week of Spring Break where I went to the mountains and went snowboarding. My parents came out and spent the majority of the week with me as well, so that was nice. The only mishap during this trip involved a pile of rocks (not covered by snow), my lungs, and my thumb. You may be able to piece this together, but...I was riding along, just minding my own business, and as I came over a little hill I came upon a patch of ground not covered by snow. Of course, my board stopped, but I didn't. So I face planted into the snow while my body fell on top of all the rocks. I got the wind knocked of me and also landed on my thumb, apparently stretching a tendon. At least the doc thinks it's only stretched and not torn. I'll keep my fingers crossed.
So after my break came to an end, I started my next internship rotation at The Children's Hospital in Denver. It's been a great experience so far. I spent one week with the Cystic Fibrosis dietitians and another week in the kidney center learning all about pediatric kidney failure and replacement modalities. One patient even came in for a regular clinic visit on Monday only to find out her name had come up for an available kidney! So she went into surgery to have a kidney transplant early the next morning. How exciting!! Unfortunately, the child wasn't putting out any urine after the transplant, so they were worried that the kidney wasn't working. A quick test later they found out that there was simply a leak between the kidney and the bladder and her urine was leaking. She went back into surgery yesterday, and now everything is working beautifully. It was really neat to see all that happen, and so quickly!! Tomorrow is my last day at Children's, and then I head back to the Springs for the rest of my internship.
Today, though, was quite an exciting day. I got up and went in to work like every other day, but this time the roads weren't packed with cars; I hardly stopped once for traffic. It was amazing! Ironically, that reality soon changed. There was snow expected to move in, and it definitely moved in! With real authority. Weather reports were looking really bleak, and I even got sent home early from work. After arriving at 8:30, I was told to go home around 11:30, and I'm glad I was. This spring storm had turned into a full blown blizzard. Snow was falling at a rate of 2" per hour, winds were gusting up to 40-50 mph, visibility was awful, and it was freezing! I was advised to stay off of highways and interstates because many were closed or backed up due to accidents. I-25 and I-70 (the two main interstates around the area) had large sections closed, and the radio reported a 30-car pile-up and other multiple car accidents. I've never experienced that in my life. So, needless to say, I went through town to get home, and it really wasn't much better. I didn't see any accidents, but the roads were extremely slick, it was pretty much white-out conditions, and the wind was out of control. I felt like my car might blow away! That's some intense wind. What usually is a half hour drive turned into an hour and a half drive, and it started out so smoothly. As I got closer to the main area of town, traffic picked up, but also slowed down...if you know what I mean. I think a span of 3 blocks took at least a half hour. We were crawling. Cars and semi-trucks were stuck on hills in the middle of town, and vehicles were sliding everywhere and landing in ditches. I even slid out into the middle of one intersection, but luckily it was just as the light changed, so traffic wasn't moving yet. I just backed up to get out of the way. It was the most intense drive of my life - no joke!! I was seriously scared. My windows were relentlessly covered in snow making it hard to see anywhere but in front of me, and the moisture on my windshield kept freezing every time I sat at a light. All I can say about that is I'm glad I got my wipers changed with my oil last Saturday instead of going snowboarding. It would have been absolutely miserable trying to drive across town with my old wipers. I really don't think I would have been able to actually. The Big Guy really is looking out for me, even in small ways. :o)
So that is a quick review of my past three weeks. Pretty exciting and eventful compared to my typical week. Hopefully I won't go as long before my next post. Have a good one, and stay warm if you're in CO!
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