Learning by doing

Well, as most of you know, I've been doing a little experiential learning over the last week or so. Last Thursday I went into the hospital for appendicitis and ended up having surgery on Friday morning. Unfortunately, because the area was so inflammed, they also had to remove part of my large and small intestine (a little bit of each, should have no clinical implications). I was discharged on Wednesday this week, after 4 days of clear fluids only, I am 12 lbs lighter and I don't quite have a spring in my step just yet. While I managed to muck up my exam schedule quite a bit, I am writing one next Friday and will write the others in early January so that I'm not completely behind! So I guess most of my holiday visiting time happened while I was in my hospital bed. :> Overall though, I must say I'm very glad for the experience. Going into surgery is scary! Especially when your family isn't at the hospital yet and you've just had an allergic reaction to some IV antibiotics pre-op. I was pretty teary heading into the room but the anesthesiologists were great! My classmate's fiancee was there to wish me luck and they were all very kind. It will be good to be able to relate to the patient from firsthand experience a bit more. And, of course, times like this give you that much more of a reminder of what's REALLY important in life - family & friends, not stuff. A very Christmasy message, don't you think? Though I must say, my favorite brand of toothpaste makes a big difference too. :) School has been very supportive and accommodating and my classmates have been wonderful, contacting everyone for me before I was "with it" enough to do it myself. My parents were pulled away from painting my Vic apartment to my hospital bedside and then promptly commenced packing my Vancouver apt, in between hospital visits. The movers are scheduled to come on Dec 23rd. Yes, I know, I'm very fortunate to have such great parents. I owe them A LOT.