Thursdays are the best days!

Today was an excellent day and here's why!

1. I went shopping and realized overalls are back in style. I knew this day was coming, but I hadn't seen them in stores yet. Overalls are the best. I'm SO excited to dig out my old pair(s)... 

2. I found a new restaurant I like! Okay, well it's not new, but it's still delicious. I see you VooDoo Taco.

3. I picked up my veggie bag today. Thursdays are the best! (More on that later)

4. I've been babysitting this week and Mr. Owen had a great day today at the park and blowing bubbles. Kids are funny :)

I think that sums it up pretty well...

OH WAIT!

5. I received word today that I got into a certificate program at the UNMC College of Public Health, so I will be starting classes in just a few weeks on maternal and child health (from a public health perspective). Soon I will also be applying to get my masters in public health from there with a concentration in public health promotion.

Lots of changes this summer, but I'm SUPER excited to be staying on the UNMC campus. I hope everyone else had a great day too! 

Take Steps for Crohn's and Colitis

I'm so excited because finally the pictures are in from our walk the beginning of June! Thanks to everyone who supported me by getting a t-shirt or coming to the walk! 

Team Intestinal Fortitude.

Megan is REALLY serious about power walking. :) 

The Burrs bringing up the end of our group with the babies! 

Guest Blogger: Part 2

Our VIP guest blogger, Jim, has finally graced us with a follow up to his first blog about his journey towards getting a cochlear implant last month. It's been quite the journey, but I'll let Papa Jim tell you all about it.

As the Ears Go By: Plugged In, But Not Clued In--The second in a series on one man's experience in getting a cochlear implant

Well folks, it’s clear I have issues with written assignment deadlines. You needn’t take my word for it, since I have dozens of educators who will vouch for me. But enough groveling, because I have big news to announce. I have an installed cochlear implant! I had the surgery to install the implant at Boys Town National Research Hospital in Omaha, NE, June 16th. 

I had to report to the hospital at 8:20 a.m. that morning, so my wife, Deb, and I left Hastings, NE at 5:30 a.m. Ugh. Deb drove, and I snoozed, and my daughter, Jenny, who lives in Omaha, met us there. Once checked in, it was straight to my…umm…guest room, I guess, for a quick change into the traditional backless gown. I was then given a valium, attached to an IV, followed by a injected dosage of muscle relaxant. I crawled onto the little patient cart, and was gently pushed into several stationary objects on the way to an elevator. Once in the elevator, I passed out, and awoke in my room again. I think this is the first time I wasn’t conscious going into the operating room. That staff knows its muscle relaxants. It felt like it only took five minutes for a scheduled two and a half-hour procedure that wound up taking four hours. 

The major negative concerns going into this procedure were the remote possibility of developing meningitis, possible damage to the vestibular system, and possible facial nerve damage. Well, I had two boosters to prevent the meningitis, eight weeks apart, and I don’t have it now, so that worked. My first attempt to stand was surprisingly successful, so no damage to the balance system. The facial nerve issue was a bit more complex than I realized, as the cochlear sclerosis creates what was described to me as a “soft bone tissue growth”. In essence, it can enable the electronic impulses from the implant to go beyond the intended path, and activate the facial nerve. Or maybe deactivate it, because the left side of my face could have gone numb. Anyway, long story short, they tested the connection while I was under, and I was good to go, and knew it when I awoke. 

That same test also checks objectively that the auditory nerve was responding. Since it hadn’t been stimulated in a couple of years, it was a concern in my mind. It’s amazing what all I got done while unconscious. Recovery was the usual routine: take a short walk, then come back for a robe, walk again, eat jello, wash it down with chicken broth, and repeatedly make the same statements and ask the same questions over and over again as if it were the first time. Anesthesia is a wonderful thing. The procedure was outpatient, so I got dressed, and Deb and I made the trip home Monday evening. 

My head was wrapped in a Velcro strap that held the bandages, and presumably, my ear in place. That, combined with the standard post-surgical bed-head, was the look I sported for the next three days. Tuesday was no big deal, as I stayed home. Invasive as having my scalp rolled back, then having a hole bored in part of my skull, and another hole drilled into my inner ear sounds, this was as mild a surgery as I’ve ever experienced; so I put in a half-day at work Wednesday. A more critical look in the mirror convinced me to buy a shower cap for Thursday’s venture, (to cover my ear in the shower, not to wear to work), and the Velcro wrap came off. I also removed the left temple from my glasses to avoid hitting anything vital around my ear. 

Let’s move forward to June 25th, and I made the drive to Omaha again, hair mostly shampooed, this time for a reasonable 1:30 p.m. appointment for an x-ray, then a post-surgical inspection and bandage removal with the surgeon, followed by an appointment with the audiologist, whom I shall call “Jenny”, mostly because that’s her name. Jenny showed me the contents a briefcase-sized case, filled with what she said was $8000 worth of sound processors, rechargeable batteries, ear hooks, cables, coils, magnets, remote controls, and a coupon for some free “Skin-Its” just in case I want to cherry up my units. That’s right, plural. You get an extra everything, just in case repairs are needed to the primary unit. 

Anyway, the big moment had arrived. I got activated. And suddenly, I could hear…more varieties of tinnitus. That’s right, ringing in the ears, only with accurate pitches. I could whistle a scale, and I heard it pitch for pitch, but about three octaves higher. Any sound I heard that could be visually verified I checked, and I was receiving the signal in real time, no delay of any kind. The only sound I found that is virtually the same electronically as it is acoustically is cricket chirping. Now I understand why someone with developed language skills has visits with speech pathologists in his future. I’m getting sound, but none of it means anything to me. The really hard work is still in front of me.

End of the line.

It's been about 2 months since my last post. That's not to say that I haven't had lots going on, but all of that for other posts. Instead, this post is about something bigger in my life.

With lots of sadness and some outright fear of the unknown, I would like to announce that I have decided not to go back to medical school in the fall.

I want to thank everyone who has supported me along this journey. Thank you to the people who helped me get into medical school, my family and friends, the administration and professors at UNMC, Mr. Justin, and everyone else whom I've met along the way. It has been quite the adventure the past two years...definitely not how I had planned or hoped my medical school career going, but sometimes real life doesn't quite match the vision we have for ourselves.

As of right now, I am not sure what the next step is for me, although I have something in the works. I will be sure to update y'all if it comes to fruition. I do know that I will still be in Omaha for the next two years (I signed my soul over to CoxCommunications, so I'm sort of stuck here) and I am confident that I will find a vocation, and maybe even a career, that will allow me to be happy and fulfilled.

I am so proud of my friends who just completed their Step 1 USMLE tests and are getting a crash course in patient care before heading to the wards later this week. Good luck to my rising M2 friends during 2nd year and boards studying! Thank you all for inspiring me every day to be a better person and caregiver.

In other news, I'll be needing a new title for this blog, so shoot some my way if you've got 'em!