Two plus two is ten

Two weeks until I leave my job! Three weeks until student orientation! Five weeks until classes start!

I AM EXCITED! CAN YOU TELL I'M EXCITED?! Inside my head I am pretty much running around in giddy circles, like, ALL THE TIME now (except when I look at my financial aid paperwork and sort of stop breathing for a while because my 2011-2012 loans are singing to the tune of $53,000 and oh my god SO MUCH MONEY UGH UGH UGH) and I've become very, "lol whatevs!" at work, even with the stuff that used to piss me off. It's kind of a nice headspace to be in, actually. I like being amused by things that used to frustrate me. It's refreshing.

I spent most of today transcribing chart reviews for one of Dr. Z's site visits. As massive as these reports are, I can't help but find them fascinating, usually because I get to look up interesting medical conditions in an effort to figure out how they're spelled. Today's illness of interest was rhabdomyolysis, which is a condition that develops when myoglobin from damaged muscle tissue starts fucking up the kidneys. Physiologically, it's pretty complex, but at its most basic level the problem with rhabdo is twofold: 1) when muscle tissue is damaged or dying, fluid moves from the blood into the muscle tissue, which not only reduces blood volume and can lead to shock, but also reduces the amount of blood going to the kidneys and limits their ability to flush solutes; and 2) myoglobin is a big-ass protein, so it collects in the kidney tubules, starts to block them, and this can eventually result in tubular necrosis or outright kidney failure. Rhabdo shows up a lot in trauma because of the damage to skeletal muscle, and crush injuries -- especially closed ones -- are particularly susceptible.

~* the more you know *~

(I know, I know. Probably no one cares about this. But I think it's interesting and it's my stupid lj, so a paragraph of rhabdo rambling it is!)

I had to get some blood drawn today for my antibody titers, ( and this next part might be mildy freaky for people who have needle squicks, so I'm cutting it just in case. )

Anyway. I'm really looking forward to my mini-vacation between work and school, mostly because I'll actually get to spend a lot of time with Nate (before I hole away studying in my office for the next 15 months, ahhhhhhh) and that's always nice. Also, I'm trying to finish a knitting project I started last year, because I am FAIL when it comes to knitting things in a timely manner.