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new site... [Jan. 4th, 2007|11:02 am]
Hey everyone! I've decided that it makes more sense to stick with blogspot than livejournal because I can put pictures there for free. So go check out my site, 'cause I won't write here anymore.

goingsarah.blogspot.com
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Christmas pictures!! [Dec. 26th, 2006|07:30 pm]
Hey everyone! Check out some Christmas and December pictures at hhtp://goingsarah.blogspot.com
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(no subject) [Dec. 14th, 2006|08:32 pm]
Check out http://goingsarah.blogspot.com for some pics from the last week or so!

Here's some lessons learned and things seen in my clinical rounds so far:

- How a quadreplegic lives
- How a family deals with the news that their mother is dying of cancer
- a code blue (when they try to resuccitate someone who's died) as a result of violence
- xrays of asbestosis and pneumonia and fluid on the lungs and a baby's pneumonia
- learned how to deliver a baby using a plastic pelvis and doll :0)
- got an idea how a new mom feels after giving birth
- helped take out stitches and change wound bandages
- saw vacuum dressings on bed sores bigger than I ever imagined possible
- attempted to figure out how a doctor deals with psychiatric patients with obsessive compulsive disorder, severe anxiety, depression, and/or panic attacks
- got to refer a patient to see my Mom for nutritional help :0)
- what VON nurses do
- retaining sutures that held together an abdominal wound after the patient had coughed and burst all his stitches open following abdominal surgery
- helped bathe and dress patients
- filled a LOT of syringes for flu shots
- learned that there are a LOT of French people in Dartmouth!

It's been a full two weeks, that's for sure! Tomorrow I'm at the IWK for the morning and then I have the afternoon off -- first time in a LONG time!
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You may see something in the news... [Nov. 30th, 2006|01:18 pm]
And if you do, don't panic. I'm not involved (yet). Hopefully it will stay that way.

What on earth am I talking about??

All of the specialist doctors in Quebec are putting pressure on the government to pay them more money. Reason: Quebec specialists are paid 40% less than specialists in the rest of Canada. They want a 30% increase in pay. They can't strike to fight for it, so instead they've opted to CANCEl and AVOID all teaching to med students. Sooo... For third and fourth year students, that means no classes and no teaching since 95% of third and fourth year students work side-by-side with specialists of all types. Which explains why the situation is REALLY bad -- they may graduate a year later than supposed because they can't learn anything when the specialists aren't teaching. For second and first year students like me, it's not so bad -- just means that for some of the first year's they won't be able to observe specialists during our clinical rotations, and possibly that some classes won't be taught.

Why the bit about the news? On Friday (tomorrow) afternoon all the med schools in Quebec are rallying in Montreal for a march/demonstration to express their displeasure with the event and to increase pressure for SOMETHING to be done so that they aren't missing their education. I'm not going. I'm writing an exam. And my clinical rotation is in NS, so I'm not affected (praise God!). And I am praying that it will all be fixed soon so that I WON'T be affected come January.

Just thought I'd let you know in case you saw something on the news.
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La Pathologie... [Nov. 30th, 2006|10:31 am]
EST FINIE!!!!!!!! WAHOOO!!!!!

So this is how my morning went. I woke up out of a deep sleep, stumbled into the living room and noted what a beautiful sky there was and that the sun seemed to have risen faster than usual. Then I thought...uh-oh...OOOHHHHH NOOOOOO!!!!!!! Yes, that`s right, folks, I set my alarm for an HOUR LATER than I was supposed to, and I had now missed my bus and had 15 minutes to change, eat breakfast, get snacks ready and run to the bus stop to catch the next bus which would get me to the CHUS only slightly late for my exam. Ugh... Needless to say, it was a rather stressful morning. HOWEVER -- I think the exam went really well. I felt much more confident about it than BioMed1 and it covered much more of the stuff I knew that what I had expected, which was extremely reassuring, especially after the time I had getting there...

Micro and Immuno left, and then I COME HOME....
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Also Just Got Mail... [Nov. 29th, 2006|12:32 pm]
And it went something just like this:

Madame,

Il me fait plaisir de vous offrir une admission sans condition à l'Université de Sherbrooke au programm indiqué ci-dessous.

Faculté de médecine et des sciences de la santé
DOCTORAT EN MÉDECINE

Comme vous avex rempli les conditions requises, nous sommes maintenant en mesure de donner une suite favorable à votre demande d'admission.

:0) :0) :0)

English translation:

Madame,

It gives me great pleasure to offer you an unconditional acceptance to the University of Sherbrooke to the program mentioned below.

Facuulty of Medicine and Health Sciences
DOCTORATE IN MEDICINE

As you have fulfilled all the requirements, we are now able to follow up with your request for admission.

Six months later, one physics course, two physics exams, one needle, many forms, several thousand dollars, and two courses later, and I am FINALLY officially ACCEPTED as a med student at Sherbrooke. HALLELUJAH!!!!! "Sometimes what God does in you while you wait is just as important as what it is you're waiting for." Hmmm... :0)
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HOSPITAL!!!!!!! [Nov. 28th, 2006|01:42 pm]
HEY GUYS!!!! GUESS WHAT I GET TO DO IN KENTVILLE????!!!!!????!!!!

I GET TO SPEND A DAY IN SURGERY, A DAY IN OBSTETRICS, A DAY IN ICU, A DAY IN A MEDICAL UNIT AND A DAY IN THE ER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!AAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA AAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

It's my dream come true!!!! I'll be dead tired and so wired I can't sleep after all that!!! And I'll get to see babies born and what the inside of people looks like and what the ER is like and and and EVERYTHING!!!!! AAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
(I've lost all sense of articulation at this point...)

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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Moi, aussi, j'attends la neige [Nov. 28th, 2006|11:54 am]
This is a poem that's been mulling through my head for awhile now. My tutor one day nonchalantly made a comment about waiting for the snow. She said, "I, too, wait for the snow." And that really struck a chord in me with a deeper meaning. So here we go. The poem is translated into English if you scroll down. Blessings!

Moi, aussi, j’attends la neige
- Sarah Hudgins, le 28 novembre, 2006

Quand les feuilles changent de couleur
On comprend qu’on arrive à la fin
De quelque chose
D’un été
D’une saison

Et pendant qu’on regarde les feuilles qui tombent
Lentement, tellement lentement
On sent un peu de tristesse
Il faut remettre tous nos jouets
Nos shorts et nos maillots
Nos tentes et nos feux de camp
En attendant…quelque chose d’autre

Est-ce que ça se peut que « l’autre » soit « mieux »?
Est-ce que ça se peut que « l’autre »
Soit même plus beau, plus fort, plus réel?
On attend la neige

Qu’est-ce qui se passe quand la neige tombe du ciel,
Couvrant tous les morts de l’été
Dans un couvert si brillant?
C’est comme Tu nous montre
De l’espoir
Pour l’avenir qui vient

Quand on voit la neige, c’est une fin
Et un début
Sous la neige sont tous nos espoirs et nos joies de l’été
Enterrés
Et sous la neige reposent tous l’espoir du printemps
Moi, aussi, j’attends la neige

Quand je vois la neige
Je sais que j’en ai pas trop long temps à attendre
Pour ce qui va ramener le printemps encore
L’espoir et la joie vont revenir avec le matin
Et la vie va encore pousser du sol mort
Moi, aussi, j’attends la neige

Quand je vois la neige
Je peux relâcher tous l’histoire
C’est caché, lavée, et oubliée
Au-dessous de la neige
Et je peux recommencer encore

C’est comme le salut
Toute la vie ancienne mit à mort avec Jésus
Et tout Sa vie nouvelle
M’es donné
Avec la neige
Qui me lave aussi blanc et aussi nouveau
Que la neige qui tombe chaque matin à nouveau
Moi aussi, j’attends la neige

Pour vous aussi, il y a de l’espoir
Toute la peine de nos rêves non-réalisés
Et la vie heureuse qu’on ait autrefois
Peuvent être laissé ici, sous la neige
Comme au pied de la croix
Où tout est renouvelé

L’approche d’hiver ne veut pas dire
La fin de la joie
La fin de l’amusement
Mais il y a une certaine fin à la vie comme on le connaît
Pour laisser place pour la nouvelle vie
Qui s’en vient

Moi, aussi, j’attends la neige
Moi, aussi, j’attends le printemps
Moi, aussi, j’attends pour voir
La vie nouvelle
L’espoir réel
Et la deuxième chance
Que Tu me donnes
Avec la neige



I, too, Wait for the Snow
- Sarah Hudgins, November 28, 2006

When the leaves change their colours
We understand that the end has arrived
The end of something
Of a summer
Of a season

And as we watch the falling leaves
Slowly, falling so slowly
We feel a touch of nostalgia
Time to put away our toys
Our shorts and swimsuits
Our tents and campfires
As we wait…for something else

Could it be that the “something else” is “better”?
Could it be that the “something else”
Is even more beautiful, stronger, more real?
We wait for the snow

What happens when the snow falls from the sky
And covers all the deaths of the summer
In a shimmering blanket?
It’s as if You are showing us
Hope
For the future that is coming

When we see the snow, it’s an ending
And a beginning
Under the snow rests all our hopes and joys of the summer
Buried
And under the snow rest all the hopes of the spring
I, too, wait for the snow

When I see the snow
I know that I will not have to wait long
For what will bring the spring again
Hope and joy come with the morning
And life will once again burst forth from the death earth
I, too, wait for the snow

When I see the snow
I can release all of the past
It’s hidden, washed, and forgotten
Beneath the snow
And I can start again

It’s like salvation
All the old life dead with Christ
And all His new life
Is given to me
With the snow
That washes me just as white and just as new
As the snow that falls fresh each morning
I, too, wait for the snow

For you, too, there is hope
All the pain of our broken dreams
And the happy life we once lived
Can be left here, beneath the snow
Like at the foot of the cross
Where all things are renewed

The approach of winter doesn’t mean
The end of all joy
The end of all fun
But there is an end to life as we know it now
To make room for the new life
That is coming

I, too, wait for the snow
I, too, wait for the spring
I, too, wait to see
The new life
The real hope
And the second change
That You give me
With the snow.
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(no subject) [Nov. 26th, 2006|01:26 pm]
I actually got a Christmas card...! And goodbye hugs this morning at church. I'm actually going to miss them... I'm really enjoying getting to know my church. Their stories are starting to touch my heart too: Manon, whose doctor found a lump in her lung and has to operate before Christmas to determine if it's cancerous or not. Alexandre, whose brother-in-law just had a double-lung transplant because he has cystic fibrosis. Synthia who is leading a team to Haiti in the winter. And little Marie-Eve, who at the age of four months likes to pull hair and play with coat buttons already...

At a Christmas supper with my class on Tuesday I found myself in an interesting group of people. I only knew Natalie H. I was pretty discouraged by the time I left the table, and really wished I could DO something to make a difference. They made fun of some people and gossiped about others, vented their frustrations about people who are afraid of homosexuals and declared that they should get up to speed with the times -- it's the 21st century after all, which apparently means that the rules to the game of life have dramatically changed (I, for one, disagree).

Thursday I had a marathon of classes: 2 hr. tutorial on viruses, class on tuberculosis, lunch break/prayer meeting, class on viruses, class on diagnosing viruses, class on granulomous diseases (ie TB). Kawtar came home and hung out with me for awhile before we went to our tutorial supper. Had an AMAZING chat with Marie-Rose, Gabrielle, and Kawtar. We talked about why we do/don't like parties, different social roles of women and men in developping countries, and lots of other stuff. I learned some things:

I'm not the only one who doesn't like med parties where everyone gets smashed and does whatever they feel like doing. Gabrielle made an interesting point: she said she thinks med students feel somewhat trapped in this profession where we always have to be responsible and mature and looking after others. They use the parties as an excuse to make it seem like they have a social life and to "break loose" because it's the only time they can. I can see some truth in that, especially for the 19-year olds who haven't really had much of a real life up to now, so to speak, (without meaning any offense to them). And I can understand the need to NOT be the responsible mature one once in awhile. But I disagree with their way of expressing it. It was interesting, though -- Gabrielle was disappointed with what she saw in med students: drinking, promiscuity, poor nutrition, poor sleeping habits, etc. Some med students don't apparently practice what they preach. And that REALLY bothers me. How can we convince someone else (a patient) to follow a practice (ie stop smoking, get your rest, eat healthy) that we ourselves won't do?

Friday I went to La Jeunesse. Oh, how I LOOOOVVVVEEEE the music!!! I could stay all night and worship!!!

Sat. I had brunch with Mathieu, Mathieu, Erika, Selene, Steve, Kathleen and Natalie C. What a great group of people to hang out with! Mathieu was telling us stories of his time in Winnipeg last year and how God provided in SO many ways. And he was also talking about the attitudes of the French towards the English. He used to be angry towards the English and supported the separation of Quebec. But after he spent time outside of Quebec, in English Canada, he grew to love the English deeply. And he wondered if the same would happen with other Quebecers: if every Quebecer actually met and befriended an English Canadian, would they still be so angry with us? Would they still want to separate?

Here is another perspective. How many people in English Canada fully know and appreciate how the Quebcers and French Canadians were treated in the past 300 years? From what I've heard, Quebecers were considered incapable of working with money and were not permitted to head up business companies. They were not allowed to work unless they could speak, read and write in English.

Now tell me, do they have a reason to be angry with the English?

I look at my circle of friends here and find it to be one of grace:

My ancestors took park in the Acadian explusion in NS and that is how they received land grants in NS. I now have Acadian friends who are dear to my heart.

I'm English and my family on both sides is English-Scottish. The English despised and oppressed the French Canadians. I have Quebec French friends who are also dear to my heart.

And in this I see some semblance of God's grace...and maybe His sense of humour too!
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Life is looking up...and much whiter than before [Nov. 20th, 2006|05:58 pm]
That's right. Whiter. 3-5cm of snow last night. Fine, fluffy stuff, not wet. And it stayed all day. -10 tonight, apparently. But then +10 for the rest of the week, so maybe it won't keep up...darn.

LESS THAN TWO WEEKS AND I'LL BE HOME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
(Can you tell I'm excited?) Let me tell you, getting through these two weeks and concentrating enough on my exams is going to be a CHALLENGE. Especially with the amount of stuff I'm supposed to know...yikes, my poor head! Currently studying viruses, herpes and hepatitis in particular.

I think next semester will be ok! Billie is still leaving, but she's not breaking the lease, which means I don't necessarily have to find a roommate, because she's still going to pay the rent! And she's not taking all her stuff with her, which means I don't have to buy a fridge or a table or a stove!!! PRAISE GOD!!!!!! That is SUCH a blessing and relief.

Hey, write this on the calendar: Billie actually VOLUNTEERED to put music on, for the first time EVER!!!! :0) We have slightly different tastes in some areas...

So I was given some information on what some Québeçois don't like about anglophones. They find us very independent and self-sufficient and not grou-oriented at all. Much more introverted in some senses. And you know what? Some of what she said made sense, especially if you could see the French background she's coming from. People here are very close, group-minded. Maybe partly out of necessity -- keep a close group to avoid losing your kids to the English culture. I think for the most part it's unconscious, though. Although, you know what? In some ways I connect more with the rambunctious, family-likeness of Québec than the independentness of the anglophone world. I can understand it because it's like my own family. And I like that. But I will admit that I like my independence too... Someone made an interesting point that their greatest strength could also be their greatest weakness -- they are so group-minded that they don't always (or rarely...) see the world around them. Most never leave Québec, and few have any desire to leave. The impression I get is that they couldn't care less what happened outside of Québec. (That may be a preliminary assumption, seeing as how I haven't talked with them in depth about it yet)

I've made some new friends at church -- Jacinthe, Manon, and Sylvie. Jacinthe is Élise's Mom. And her husband Luc is the one who heartily pumps my hand each Sunday. Lisa (John's wife -- John works with Campus for Christ) told me the church okayed my leading worship with the kids once in awhile. Usually you have to wait 6 months and become a member before you can be involved. I'm not allowed to teach, but I can help lead worship. So I'm praying that one through...

I kind of feel like...I'm on the bridge, the edge of something. I feel like God's about to launch me into something new (a new ministry?) that I haven't necessarily expected. Funny anticipation that stirs in me...I have a real sense of being prepared for something.

I've been getting to know Valérie from my ICP group more, and I enjoy hanging out with her. Tomorrow night is the Christmas supper with the whole class, and I'm hoping to go with Natalie H. and Kawtar and Mélanie and Mirianne.

Supper calls. Maybe more later -- it's been awhile! Blessings!
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