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This week has been one of the roughest I have ever been through my entire life. I haven't experienced death much...especially of a loved one. My grandfather died when I was 5 and my yorkie died in 8th grade. I'm still not quite sure how to handle this whole situation.

On Friday may 20th, I was home from school and just waking up from a nap. I grabbed my computer and logged on facebook. One status catches my eye with the name of my ex boyfriend. "Please pray for Cory...he was in a horrible motorcycle accident and is in critical condition." I immediately started shaking in fear of knowing how bad the accident actually was.

If you are a follower of my blog, you may have remembered a previous entry about him. You can read it Here

I immediately messaged his best friend and asked him how bad it was. A 17 year old had pulled in front of Cory while he was riding his motorcycle. He was thrown off the bike which in return fractured both hips, his femur, caused a collapsed lung, and bilateral lung contusions. He was airlifted to a nearby hospital and placed on a ventilator. "Oh Lord, please let him make it through this. He is such a fighter, he has already battled cancer, please get him through this," I prayed.

On May 21st at 3:41am I lost someone so near and dear to my heart. Words cannot express how broken my heart is. Cory, the sweetest, most caring, loving, devoted, humble, strongest, determined, and, loved God..his family and his friends. I was fortunate enough to share so much with him and he has taught me so much. I am forever grateful. God called him to heaven and I will miss him always. Please pray for his family and friends everyone.

I would also like to take this time and say how amazing he is. Cory battled cancer since 2007. He was able to share with me his testimony which I will post below. He never once complained about the cancer but saw it as a blessing in his life. He will always be in my heart and always be someone that touched me dearly. Please take a look at his testimony.


In April of 2005, I was in an automobile accident when my vehicle struck a tree. My injuries consisted of a collapsed lung, head contusion, damaged spleen, broken ribs, and a dislocated right hip. The orthopedic surgeon that had patched me up said that I would never be able to run again. By the Grace of God, I am running upwards of 8-12 miles a day now.

-Psalms 146:3 “Put not your trust in princes, nor in the son of man, in whom there is no help.”

In May of 2007, I was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s Lymphoma. I was staged at a IV-B, the worst stage of Hodgkin’s Lymphoma. After 6 months of chemotherapy followed by nearly 2 months of radiation, the cancer was declared to be in “remission”. Due to the size and spreading of the cancer before treatment or the biopsy procedure performed to gain evidence of my having cancer, my left phrenic nerve was severed. The phrenic nerve is a nerve that supplies movement to the diaphragm. The left side of my diaphragm was paralyzed and could no longer contract and relax, preventing my left lung from expanding and deflating during inhalation and expiration of breaths. Once again the doctors said that I would never be able to run long distances again. By the Grace of God, I am running upwards of 8-12 miles a day now.

- 2 Corinthians 12:7 “And lest I should be exalted above measure by the abundance of revelations, a thorn in the flesh was given to me, a messenger of Satan to buffet me, lest I be exalted above measure. And He said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.”

I believe in my heart that God has a reason for everything that happens in our life whether it be good or bad. God permits us to go through many trials that we may look to Him for healing and comfort. We are to glorify His name through the healing.

- John 11:4 “When Jesus heard that, he said, This sickness is not unto death, but for the glory of God, that the Son of God might be glorified thereby.”

From verification through another biopsy, the cancer has returned once again. The doctors are telling me that my only option for survival is bone marrow transplant with high-dose chemotherapy. I followed the physician’s advice and paid a visit to M.D. Anderson in Houston, TX over the summer. They’re well known all over the world as the “cancer center”. My visit to M.D. Anderson was not a pleasant one. The physicians told me that if I did not do the treatment that I would surely die and that there was no hope without it. I found one of the physicians, the stem cell transplant specialist, to be scornful and not open to any other means of fighting the cancer. The chapel inside the hospital was very open to all religions, from Muslims to Buddhists, and was ecumenical in the extreme being decorated with every manner of religious symbol. A decision to receive treatment from there did not seem right according to my beliefs. 1 Kings 11: 1-9 (King Solomon)

-Psalm 1:1 “Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor stands in the path of sinners, nor sits in the seat of the scornful.”

A PET/CT scan shows a lymphnode with a diameter of about 2in in my chest. However, I show no signs or symptoms related to Hodgkin’s Lymphoma. I feel I am in no need of a physician at the present time, but I pray that God will let me know when it is in fact time to seek the help of a physician.

-Matthew 9:12 “But when Jesus heard that, he said unto them, they that are well need not a physician, but they that are sick.”

Given my situation I can’t help but think of the story of Job. God even said that Job was a “perfect and upright” man. God believed in Job so strongly that he was willing to let Satan test Job’s faith by afflicting him with a horrible disease. Job 2:8 says how Job used pieces of broken pottery to scrape the boils that covered his entire body. His own wife and friends did not even recognize him because he was so diseased. Even after his wife left him and his three friends accused him of committing a horrible sin to bring about such a horrible state, he never lost faith in God. Though Satan tried Job’s faith in hopes of making him blame and curse God for his disease, he never once lost faith in God. Job 2:10 says “In all this did not Job sin with his lips”. Job remembered all the blessings that God had given him. Blessings are a gift from God, not comforts we have earned, and we should prepare ourselves spiritually for the days of testing that surely will come to us. If it is the Lord who blesses us, then He has the right to withdraw His blessings. We do not merit his goodness, so what right do we have to complain when he withholds it? Job 1: 21-22 ‘……the Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away, blessed be the name of the Lord. In all this. Job sinned not, nor charged God foolishly.”


I feel God has a reason for allowing me to have this cancer. I know He has a plan for my life. I don’t believe God would put me through so many trials if He didn’t. I consider this diesease a blessing in hopes of sharing with others what God has done in my life, and what He has blessed me with. He has gotten me through so much in my life. I pray that He allows me to use this disease to witness to others showing that God does answer prayers. I am training to run a marathon in February. I love to run, and I thank God for allowing me to continue to run considering everything that has happened to me. I feel God has allowed me the ability to continue to run to glorify Him through my running and witness to others. I plan to show others that even with this pestilence, I will finish the race.

-Psalms 91:1-3 “He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty. I will say of the Lord, He is my refuge and my fortress: my God; in him will I trust. Surely he shall deliver thee from the snare of the fowler, and from the noisome pestilence(disease).”

-1 Corinthians 9-26:27 “Therefore I run in such a way, as not with aim; I box in such a way, as not beating the air, But I discipline my body and make it my slave. So that after I have preached to others. I myself will not be disqualified.”

Im siting in class this morning and realizing...sometime this year I will be suturing someone up. I wont be suturing pigs feet, or pieces of masking tape, but real people once rotations begin.

102 days until my first rotation. For my benefit, I made a countdown.

Another question I get is how do you fit studying in if you have 4-6 tests in one week? It took me a while to realize that when it came to studying, I had to take one test at a time. Now, I am not saying that it is like that for everyone, but it is what works for me. I honestly was never like in undergrad. I would study all weekend for multiple tests in undergrad.

I had a friend who gave me the advice to take ONE test at a time. I thought he was crazy. There is no way I am going to be able to do that. I also had to realize that I was not going to know ALL the information. There is only so much you can learn and its OK that you aren't going to know all of it. Sometimes, you surprise yourself and do amazing on exams that you didn't think you would do well on. Then there are other times you studied your tush off and you didn't get a good grade at all! Welcome to PA School!

5 Finals, 3 days, 14 hours of sleep over 3 days, and great grades to prove it!


Finals week is over for 2nd semester. Thank goodness. A lot of hard work went into finals week. I really wanted my grades to improve from last semester. Last semester, I was on the brink of A's going into final week, and non of those A's were received which really saddened me. I had worked hard ALL semester and because of a B on a final it would put me in a B category. At my school, a 89.99 is still a B. They do not round up, and they are very particular about that.


On Monday, I had my Psych exam and Surgery exam which I received A's on both of those. On Tuesday, I had Pathophysiology and Pediatrics. Pathophysiology is hard and I ended up getting a B on that final and an A on my pediatrics final. On Wednesday, I had my Pharmacology II final which I was really stressing about. I need at least a 90 on the exam to make an A on the exam to get an A in the class. By the time I woke up wednesday morning at 5, I was still not feeling good about the final. I was then shooting for a B because I wasn't sure I could even make that. There were just so many drug names to remember (18 pages worth) and what each drug did. By the time it came to take the final, I was feeling sick. I really wasn't feeling good.


50 questions later, I had 6 questions circled that I was unsure about. I only had room to miss 5. Please Lord, let me only miss 5 questions. After going through the question 2-3 times..I finally decided to submit.


Okay, one more step to see your grade, I thought. I clicked OK and I see a big 90 on the screen. I was so relieved!


Thank you Lord for letting this finals week end the way it did. You are so loving and so bigger than I will ever be. You always know what is going on even when I think I know.

First semester-46 exams
Second semester 39ish exams

Glimpse of second semester schedule since I never posted one for 1st semester. (Click on the link to make the picture larger)

Today at 1:00 will be the mark of my Easter break! After we come back, we have a week of class then finals! 2 weeks and 9 exams stand in my way of 2nd semester being done! Wow. Seriously everyone, it goes by so fast. I feel like I just started this 2nd semester.


This semester has been quite interesting to say the least. I feel in a way im in so many classes that I can't keep up with what day I have a certain class. We have crunched in a lot of subjects. Pathophysiology has included Cardio, Pulmonary, Renal, and Hematology. My trilogy course has included: Geriatrics, OBGYN, and Peds. Add on to that pharm II, Physical Diagnosis II, Human behavior and psychology, and surgical principles.

We are getting to the point where new information is coming in, some old information arises, and you search your brain for old pieces to piece together with the new ones.

I have to say that by this time in school, I teach myself a lot of the information. Sure, I listen in class, but a lot of it is self taught too. I have definitely learned my limits as to when I need to study, or what I will learn in a certain amount of time. As I have said before, it is important to take time to yourself while your in PA school. If you study study study all the time, you will go crazy. I think every student goes through this phase.

The most stressful times for me are finals week. I am always on the brink of receiving an A in the class or have an A and have a chance of losing it. In the end, grades dont really matter. As long as you pass, you are golden. Of course you dont want C's across the board. I know at my school we have a probation period if you get below a certain GPA. So therefore, you want to at least get A's and B's. But like I said, grades in the end dont matter. When you pass the PANCE (your boards), jobs dont ask for your transcripts or grades.

Next blog will be about talking to the staff about rotations (very weird to be at that stage already) and also will be about finals week.

If you have any questions, please feel free to ask!