INTERESTING TIMES

The name plaques given to graduates of my school denotes us each as an alumnus, and I was just informed by a fellow graduate that this use is incorrect. I looked it up. By my assessment it is correct enough. In the English language it is quite traditional to lump females under the male gender term when combining genders in a word. My personal hobby of using she/her as the generic is still quite radical and is likely to be misunderstood. It is worth noting that the gender distribution at NCNM is significantly female preponderant.

Alumnus = a (male or generic) graduate or former student of a specific school, college, or university, or a former associate, employee or member of a group. Alumni is the male or generic plural. Alumna is the feminine individual noun and alumnae is the feminine plural. The word originates from the Latin for foster son or pupil, dating back to 1635–45. Back then girls were even less likely to get edumacated.

HOMEWORK ATSDR CSEM
Taking an Environmental Health History
atsdr.cdc.gov/csem/csem.asp?csem=17&po=o (or pdf on moodle
complete post-test questions 1-8 by next class

class on week 11 is when we get the take-home final
due friday week 12
homeworks will be reviewed over Thanksgiving
and notice given to students who haven't complete them
no homeworks will be graded late

ACAM & AAEM conference in PDX this week
Marianne Marchese is speaking, 2002 NCNM grad
her book: 8 Wks to Wmns Wellness
( notes (melanoma notes integrated from this date back, radiation notes integrated from this entry to radiation protocol) )

Pesticides, etc.
( notes )

and including Persistent Organic Pollutants and Plastics
Kids with exposure to nature have less ADHD
( notes )

Just spent the weekend studying herbs on an elective course in my program. The teachers were Nome McBride of Pharmacopia Herbals and Glen Nagel, ND. Both of these gents are awesomely knowledgeable about herbs, and fine string players. We spent the weekend camping at a property called Riversong on the Hood River between Dee and Tucker, wandering in the woods and meadows, sitting around a campfire and in a hot tub, singing and dancing, processing herbs into medicine under the group tent, swimming in the cold river. Twas relaxing and educational at the same time. Previously I said that the liver elective was my favorite, but this is my new favorite elective. Thankfully I had a tip from my friend Dr Curry who said "they never have enough jars or booze for making tinctures, so bring your own". I did, and I was glad. I came back with enough lomatium root to give the population of Oregon a pruritic rash. I was fascinated with the roots , collecting and processing Inula root (Elecampagne), Arctium (Black Cohosh/Dong Quai) and Armoracia (Horseradish). I wanted to get some Rumex crispa (Yellow dock) root to add to my gut formula but all I ended up with is seeds. I can plant some nasty medicinal weeds somewhere along a meadow edge, so that I can return to harvest it later. I didn't know that it is illegal to have or grow Hypericum perforatum (St John's Wort) in many ranching states! It causes sun sensitivity in livestock and can kill them. Oh yes, learned lots. Processing herbs and ideas still. And the FOOD at the retreat was amazing, locally sourced, fresh and whole, and magnificently blended and prepared. Doesn't get any better than that.

Photos at: https://picasaweb.google.com/107817939472480554937/CascadeMtnHerbalRetreat11?authkey=Gv1sRgCMjd2--NzZmhOQ#5641516937243346930

Finally it is done. I shook when putting in my final IV today, just as I shook when I put in the first one. But now I can remain calm and get the job done, even though my hands are shaking. They don't start shaking until after I have stabbed the vein, and usually not until after I have inserted the catheter into the vein. It is when I am taping the catheter in that the shaking really gets bad. But I've learned. I can do it anyway. I dreaded this class. I do not like needles. But I have come to enjoy the challenge. I have gotten good at palpating veins. My lover has great veins; he is fun to palpate. I look at people on the bus, people in restaurants, people on the street, and I am assessing their veins. I never knew I'd see people in terms of their veins. Saw quite a few injection drug abusers in the clinic---those are some tattered sclerosed veins, surrounded by abscesses. The damage done by needles is nothing next to the emotional pain.

It is a relief to be done with this part of my education. Drawing blood, injecting nutrients, numbing tissues, doing IV pushes and drips..... all these needles. Somehow I made it without sticking myself. My lab partner today stuck herself trying to pull saline from a bag. It is easy to do. The first time I did an IV push was in the clinic--on a patient with Hep C--and I told the doc I hadn't had the class yet but he didn't care, said just do it, so I did. The patient had poppers for veins so it was no problem. No active injection drug use. I think I have scars in both of my antecubital veins now, from repeated venipuncture. By rookies. Some missed, some stabbed all the way through and out the vein to the back. Some yanked upward and tore the vein. Some caught the outer edge of it and stretched it. I have experienced many of the mistakes that one can make when playing with needles. I suppose that is the purpose of this education. I know the story from both sides now. I have scars on my veins to prove it. And I will leave fewer scars as a result.

This class was supposed to be taken in the 3rd year of this education, but I dropped it. I had started out drawing blood in second year with great confidence, but lost my confidence when I began to shake. I didn't shake at first. The shaking started after a few blood draws. I still don't know why. I started having trouble just keeping the needle in the vein while I plugged in the various vacutainers. I did better with a regular syringe; something about working the plunger helps me not shake as badly. I have learned to drink less coffee--or none--on days that I must work with needles. And I seem to do better when I support my endogenous acetylcholine. I often will shake less on subsequent punctures, when I do several in a day. I think if I did it all day long I'd get to where I wasn't bothered at all. It is also possible that my adrenal response to being stuck contributes to my shaking while sticking. Maybe if I didn't have to get stuck so often, and were able to dissociate sticking from being stuck, I'd have less bodily agitation.

Hematology
for final know anemias, lead poisoning
( notes )