Wait...2 days to go...what?

Finally...down to the final couple of days. I started this countdown on September 8, 2010, and it was a whopping 296 day countdown. I'd love to say that it flew by, but it really didn't. I felt each day, each rotation, each evaluation, each project. I'm incredibly ready to be done.


But, looking back, there's no way that I can imagine going straight into an entry-level position without the internship. The things that added on to what I learned in undergraduate work are astounding. Even though the last post was discouraging to me, I haven't cried since then (luckily...knock on wood). The fact that I had one of the most difficulty staff relief positions was initially daunting, but now that it's completed I can say that I was shoved into the pool, and I learned how to swim (well, tread water well, anyway). 


As far as my staff relief, I'm down to the last two days and hopefully my BMT patient load will go from 2 patients to 1. I'm really hoping that one of our patients will be able to go home while I'm still here. She's been in the hospital for over a month now, battling gastrointestinal graft versus host disease (GVHD). She has a horrible history of chronic diarrhea (over 3 liters a day), cramping, and not being able to eat anything. We have her back on a pretty bland diet of crackers, rice, plain chicken, plain cereal, lactose-free milk, etc. Hopefully she can keep up the good work and get home! Plus, she invited me to her graduation/celebration-of-being-out-of-the-hospital party...I felt honored.


The general service is booming as usual, but nothing insanely outlandish that would be worth putting in the blog. Mostly just kids with fevers, urinary tract infections, rash, monitoring, etc. The kids on that service just blaze in and out faster than I can keep track. There may be a few consults here and there for nutrition-related things, but more along the lines of kids being picky eaters and/or having food allergies. 


So what's next for me after Friday? You'll have to wait for the next post to find out - as for now, time for bed!