Rats

I am trying to study anatomy. We are learning about the upper extremities. Though it is interesting, I have trouble focusing when reading Greek and Latin - neither of which I know to any usable extent. May you never need to memorize the brachial plexus. At first I thought our professor was making a joke. When I realized that he really does expect us to be able to draw it I wanted some Valium, a comfort blanket, and a little vodka.

My little rattie - Emmett has sustained neurological damage. Emmett got gravely sick about 11 days ago. He was fine and playful in the morning, and by evening I thought he had acute failure of something vital. He was barely breathing, immobile, and his face was crusted with porphyrin. I couldn't find a vet, so we had to wait until morning. By this time my little one was honestly starting to get stiff and cold. He was breathing a tiny bit. He had nothing to eat or drink for almost 24 hours. The vet was a jerk. He picked up my dying baby by the scruff and pronounced him "pneumonia." He injected him with Baytril and I requested some subcutaneous fluids. We took him home and waited for him to die.

Emmett didn't die. He did teach us that one can get really creative with baby food in order to hydrate and get nutrients into a sick rat. He got better, but he didn't. He was breathing fine and eating fine, but he couldn't follow my voice, and he was acting like he couldn't see. His pupils didn't respond to light. He is very sweet, but not playful anymore. I do believe my little rattie has come out a bit retarded from this experience.

Anyone who doesn't believe that all living creatures have a soul - I put him back in the cage with his brother (Martin). Martin is a very playful and instinctive little beast. I thought perhaps he might eat Emmett - thinking he was going to get them killed. In the wild, a disabled rat is like bait. Instead he started cleaning him and then cuddled up with him. This has been the pattern ever sense. He knows. He's being so gentle.

Another rat story - Martin decided that his fluffy "couch" should be in his purple house/nest. He dragged it into the house, and the next day, Georges (one cage over) did the same thing. He's almost three! It's not like he decided to do this all of the sudden. I do believe he learned from the other rat. And we think indiscriminate animal testing is okay. Stupid unfeeling rabbits and guinea pigs and rats. They are practically considered compost. Don't even get me started on mice. I hate it. I hate they way we do animal testing. There are so many things we can learn from tissue testing. We can keep growing tissues and cells in culture. Once that's well defined, then kill a critter. I wish we never had to do that.

And now - I go to the store to get foods for my Georges rat who is on antibiotics and hates them.

G'nite.

Mercury and Vaccines

Today was a very mixed day. I failed my first exam - totally my own doing. I didn't study. So, I will be mending my ways. I'm not too upset. I just need to remember in the future that no medical school class is a blow-off class.

Also, today I participated in giving free health screenings to the under served. I was part of the blood pressure crew. I learned how to do it, and then I did several. It was just so gratifying to do something clinical - to work with people instead of sitting at my desk and studying. The participants were all very nice. I can see why a physician would choose to help the under served - it's a much different population. They were all very grateful and really seemed to want to take ownership of their health. Nobody came in with "yuppie disease." You know - "I'm allergic to soy, and my son has ADHD and Asperger's." Did you read in the news - people are pissed about chelating treatment for Autism being cancelled. That's where a chelating (tight binding) agent is administered into the bloodstream, in this case to sequester (grab) mercury molecules, because these people are convinced that vaccines containing mercury (more about that in a moment) "gave" their kids Autism. More likely - it's caused by excess opioids in the brain due to something vital missing - probably from a genetic mutation. This is similar, in my opinion, to Adrenoleukodystrophy - where one can't process certain long chain fatty acids correctly, and it causes all kinds of problems.

Some vaccines contain a mercury (thiomersal) compound. This is okay, because it is broken down in the body and eliminated in a maximum of 120 days. Small doses of mercury aren't going to harm a person. Remember when you played with an old broken mercury thermometer? You're okay, right? However, a fungal infection from the vaccine would kill a person. Additionally, you wouldn't think twice about using this compound if bitten by certain spiders or snakes. There are dying people who would love to have had these vaccines. People are ridiculous.

Anyway, I need to get back to biochemistry. You know, I'm sure glad not to have diphtheria (see photo - get your kid vaccinated!)

One Down. . .

Today was the first exam of the quarter - it was beloved biochemistry. I was quite apprehensive - being that it was the first exam. I went in there quite prepared, and I'm very proud of the score I received.

Tomorrow is another day, and histology and anatomy are nipping at me for some attention. I better not get too confident, because the pile is getting higher and deeper, but this was a good way to get started.

I'm tired. I will have to write more at a later date. Is it bad to drink coffee, because I like it, and then have an alcoholic beverage so I can sleep? Hmmm, probably not something I should do too often.