This topic has been weighing heavy on my heart today. I am amazed by how much sickness is involved in every day life. This post isn't to depress but to merely express my feelings about the situation.

When I was 5, my grandfather passed from prostrate cancer. Then at the age of 13, my mother was diagnosed with fibromyalgia. Something I didn't quite understand at that age. I know many of my friends who suffer from anxiety and the list goes on of people I know who deal with different diseases or sickness.

However, one of the hardest things I had to deal with is someone that I loved and dated that had been diagnosed with Hodgkin's lymphoma half way in to our relationship. I remembered where I was standing as I received the news over the phone. I backed myself up into the corner of the kitchen and listened to him tell me these words. I could tell he was upset but didn't want to deal with it as he said, "Well, I am going to go play some basketball." I stood shocked..basketball??

You see I knew this could of happened..but we as humans always hope for the best in relationships. He had been previously diagnosed when he was 21, did the chemo, then went into remission. This time around, no chemo--he wanted alternative.

Alternative medicine is not something that has been programmed in my noggin. Do I think there are some great uses for it? Yes. However, I also think it should be used with the medicine we have today.

We struggled back and forth, cried together, laughed together, prayed for one another, and loved one another. We would do anything for each other. I even told him if he needed a bone marrow transplant I would donate my marrow. To make things more difficult, I lived in FL and he lived in Louisiana. I could go on and on about our story.

So how does this tie in to being a PA? Well, I have this incredible urge to help people and when I can't, it makes me sad. In this situation, my ex boyfriend (yes, we broke up after realizing it was best for the both of us). My ex, was in control of his own body and his own decisions. No matter how much I begged, cried, pleaded that he do something else, in the end, it was his choice.

With patients, I will be able to educate and walk them through, but I won't ultimately be making decisions for them...its their own.

In August, it will be one year since the break up. To this day he says he is doing fine..not in remission but as healthy as you can get with having cancer. To this day I am still asking about this treatment and PET scans. He is an amazing person with an incredible heart and faith in God like you wouldn't believe. I honestly have learned so much from him..especially to put my faith in God more than I ever was.

What are your thoughts? How do you deal with diseases and sickness?

Sometimes people question if they are taking the right path to the career that they have chosen. On May 14th, I did my first venipuncture. For my readers out there who may not know what that is, it's drawing blood from a patients vein. I know this may seem like a little task that is done everyday to all sorts of people. However, for me it was a big step! Not only do you want to make sure your patient is comfortable, but you also want to make sure you get the vein on the first time so you don't have to stick them again.

I was fortunate enough to have an MA here at work volunteer herself. She was so patient with me and walked me through everything. I used a butterfly needle much like the one above.

I was nervous and held the needle close to her vein while the tourniquet was on her arm. I kept repeating "I don't want to hurt you." Finally, I got the nerve to just do it. I counted down "3, 2,1" and in slid the needle in her vein.

Once it was in and I saw the blood go in the tube, I got a little too excited and let go of the needle to say "yay." She quickly corrected me by saying, "keep ahold of the needle because you don't want it to slide out."

You would think I won the lottery because of how excited I was!!! I can't wait to be a practicing PA. WOowhoo! Who knew sticking a needle in someone could be so joyful. ;)

This was it, my last interview. I had already done 3 previous interviews. Two in NY and one at Nova Jacksonville. My goal was to stay in Florida, because after all, I call Florida home. For privacy purposes, I am keeping my school name private.

Rewind to November 2009: The acceptance to Touro came at a difficult time in my life. I had already put my $1500 deposit down, but something didn't feel right. Everyone around me was excited, but I was not. Don't get me wrong, I was more than thrilled of being accepted into school, but I don't know if my heart was prepared to move to NY. I had the choice of going in January 2010 to the school in Long island, or waiting until August to start the school in Manhattan. I made the decision initially to go in January, plus the school months were shorter at that campus. I started looking for apartments, cost of moving, etc, still something didn't feel right. (Remember, I had only been accepted to these two schools and was still waiting to hear from Nova). Then, November 10th, I decided to defer my acceptance. Touro rejected my deferment but said they could transfer my deposit to the other campus and I could start in August at Manhattan. Great I thought..and this put me a little more at ease.

November 11th, I received my interview invite from my current school. I was beyond thrilled and knew my deferment was the right thing. I set my interview up for January 29th, 2010.


January 29th: Same blue skirt suit I had fallen in love with in the Dillard's dressing room, same pearls, and hair slicked back in a pony tail. I had prayed that God would guide me through this because this is where I wanted to be. I knew if it was in His plan, He would keep me here.

I got to the school early and I was sick from being nervous. I drove to the nearest dunkin' donuts to calm myself down. When I arrived, everyone was already there crammed in a small conference room with water. "Was I late," I thought? I was on time according to the clock on the wall.

There were 11 of us that day interviewing...what were the odds I thought? Only 24 accepted and 11 interviewing today.

We were all moved into a conference room and I quickly sized up my competition. We were all in this together and we were all going to be here for at least 4-5 hours. The ADCOM explained we would be split up in groups. Group 1 would go into single interviews, group interviews, and then we were to switch with Group 2. After that, we would go on a tour of the facility, sit in a classroom, have lunch with the current students, then have a financial aid meeting.

The ADCOM called out the students into groups..and she couldn't decide if I should be in Group 1 or Group 2. The paper said Group 2 but she said I really belonged to Group 1. She said "I know you're interviewing first Ashleigh with _______ (I will need to leave this blank due to privacy, I will name this person AJ) Yikes!"

"Did I just hear her say Yikes," I thought? That only raised my nervousness by 10 notches.

It was time, and I was first to single interview with AJ. AJ make me nervous..Yes. Was AJ intimidating..yes. Did I feel confident in my answers..Yes. AJ didn't seem to like my personal essay what-so-ever. AJ also asked me to relax and I said "Ok" with a smile on my face and didn't move a muscle. AJ said it again, and literally sat back in the chair..so I did the same.

AJ: "Did you write this paragraph?"
Me: "Which paragraph AJ?" (after all there is a lot of paragraphs on my application).
AJ: (Reads the particular paragraph)
Me: "Yes, I wrote my whole essay."
AJ: "Have you ever taken an English class?"
Me: "Yes, I did a lot of writing in undergrad."
AJ: "Well why don't you want to be a doctor?"
Me: I said, "that's a tricky question AJ, because essentially I have to say why I don't want your job since you are a physician."
AJ: He laughed, "I guess you are right."
Me: I give AJ my answer
We go on for about 15 minutes. AJ doesn't really ask me many questions. AJ said every question they really wanted to know was either in my application or written in my letter of recommendations. I figured that was a good thing. :)

I wait for the rest of my group to finish, and get the chance to talk to the other applicants as we wait to do group interview. We switch rooms and do group interview. Just some advice for pre-PAs out there, if you are doing a group interview, do not answer the same question with the same answer as everyone else. Make yourself stand out...

Campus tour was great and I really liked the atmosphere of the campus and the ADCOMS and students. The campus is small, so I don't have to trek across the campus. The school is all in one building. What I really love about the school is everyone in the building is there for science or medicine. How cool is that? The library is all based on science and anatomy etc. There is even a clinic downstairs that public or students can use or that we will get to practice in one day. We even got to go into the cadaver lab which was the first time I saw a cadaver... It wasn't really what I expected.

Lunch was great because we got to ask questions with the current students. I talked a lot with the current president of the 2011 class. At the end of the summer, we will be assigned with someone and they will be mentoring us and giving us advice. I can't wait to see who I get. :)

February 3rd, 2010 I found out I was accepted. I was so so so excited. I was literally running around the current office I work at trying to find someone to tell! It was 7am and no one was here. I called my mom too!!

1600 people applied and only 24 accepted. It just so happens, 6 of us were accepted out of the group I was with.

I couldn't be happier with my school!!

On Friday, I received a package from the American Academy of Physician Assistants (AAPA)--I joined about two weeks ago along with Florida Academy of Physician Assistants (FAPA). For those who know nothing about these organizations, I would encourage you to take a look at their website. They have great articles, symposiums, and just general information about PAs. They also have a great student rate if you are already accepted into a school and the membership lasts the entire time you are in school. I paid $75 for AAPA and $50 for FAPA.

You would think I was a little girl in a candy store when I got my package from the AAPA. I received some brochures, a pin, and a maxwell quick reference guide!! I thought "Yes!!! The first things to go on and in my white coat." Plus the maxwell reference guide has a pocket eye chart on the back, something that is required from our supply list.

So what is Maxwell quick reference guide you may ask? It is only described as your medical bible. It has six different sections in the book and it is very small and lightweight. The red section is for ACLS Algorithms. The orange section is for labs, drug levels, fluids, equations, tubes, unit conversions. The yellow section is how to write notes. The green section is for delivery notes, APGAR scoring, glucose tolerance, etc. The blue section is for history and physical exam. The purple is for a neuro exam, mental status exam, glasgow coma scale and dermatome maps.

Little things amuse me..what can I say? :)



PS: Happy Mother's Day!!!

I received my supply list a couple weeks ago in the mail. We will most likely be spending around $700-$1,000 in supplies. I'm sure some of you are wondering what exactly does a PA student need for school (I will include the list at the bottom if you're interested) ??

We also received a letter about computers. I think I will be running a poll on my blog about which computer you guys have/think would be best-make sure you vote! The school recommends a dell and they also have a contract with dell--aka we get a discount! That is nice, but I called and ran a price check on the certain specs they want us to have and the computer ran at about $1300.

If I chose to go with apple, which I have never been a mac user, I could run into compatibility issues, and a more expensive computer.

I know the students both have macs and dells in the classroom but I really need decide which one will be better. Any thoughts? Feel free to leave comments. :)

Supplies:
We recommend you purchase the following materials prior to your arrival:
• Taylor Reflex Hammer and/or Buck Neurological
• Pen Light
• Retractable Tape Measure
• EKG Calipers
• Safety Pins
• Cotton Balls or Q-tips
• Alcohol Prep Pads
• Mints or Breath Strips
• Hand Sanitizer
• Case/bag for your medical supplies
We recommend you speak with your student advisor further about the following supplies:
• Stethoscope
• Adult Sphygmomanometer (Blood Pressure Cuff)
• Ophthalmoscope/Otoscope
• Tuning Fork (128Hz & 512Hz)
• Pocket Eye Chart
Other items the school recommends that may be nice to have:
• Protective Eyewear
• Utility Shears
• Tourniquet
• Latex Gloves
• Tongue Blades
• Medical Tape

PA school is becoming ever so near-113 days. Yes, I am counting down. I receive an email or a piece of mail from the school about once every two weeks. It's weird to think that in 113 days I will be meeting all my classmates. I am part of a small class..24 to be exact, 8 boys and 16 girls. Many of us are already friends due to facebook. We have all been in contact and even plan to maybe meet each other before school begins.

Today, I was talking with a classmate of mine from undergrad. We were actually partners with each other in Microbiology lab. Who would have thought both of us would be in PA school? She is attending another school and started in January. I was talking to her about the class work which made me curious about what my curriculum would be in the fall.

22 credits. Yes you read it right..twenty-two credits!! How intimidating. My curriculum is as follows:

Research Methodology 2
The Physician Assistant Role in Modern Health Care I 1
Physiology 4
Neuroanatomy 2
Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases 3
Gross Anatomy with Lab 6
Physical Diagnosis I 3
Clinical Pharmacology 1

Stressful..yes. Exciting? Yes. Scary? Yes. So worth the reward in the end? Totally!!