Hearts

Physiology midterm tomorrow. I feel pretty prepared but I want to look over muscle contraction again and create some concept maps for blood pressure maintenance. I'm really digging this class- the material and the professor. The office hours seem to pass by so fast. He's such a positive upbeat guy. His wife is pretty sick and sometimes he picks up calls during office hours and we overhear him giving the person on the other end an update on his wife, like all the tests that they are running on her. Today, he relayed to the caller that he wouldn't be home to feed his dogs because he needed to go to the hospital. Did I mention that the hospital is in San Francisco? He's been commuting every day after his lectures and office hour. What a guy.

Two cool factoids from our discussion:

Diuretics are prescribed to patients with high blood pressure because diuretics cause an increase in urination. More liquid out means less steady-state volume, or more specifically for the CV system, less arterial blood, which equals less arterial pressure.

The military gives people who are hemorrhaging injections of Sodium Chloride to decrease the loss of fluids. I think he said that the ions diffuses into the vascular system which produces the osmotic pressure to cause flow into the blood vessels from the interstitial fluid compartment, reducing filtration and increasing re-absorption. Neat.

Right after that discussion, I headed straight to my clinic class with my classmate. Preceptor coordinator gave an impressive presentation in all the details and planning that goes in to arranging doctors to become preceptors for the clinic. After that I stayed behind for the Susan G. Komen grant committee presentation. Most or all of the members are leaving or graduating soon and they were looking for new people to continue with the spread of breast health. It sounds like a lot of work but I think that I might apply for a position. The fact that it is paid is a plus.

After that, I walked across campus to take the bus home, there was loud music playing and hundreds of people in line for something. Seeing all the shivering college girls in their not-so-weather proof mini dresses jogged my memory that Snoop Dog was here today for a concert. Lol, I was tempted to name this blog title, Doggy Style, but decided against it. I completely forgot that today was Valentine's day, I thought it was tomorrow. I suppose it's a good thing that this midterm-induced haze has made me completely desensitized to the holiday. Oh well, cardiovascular physiology has already given its heart to me. ♥

Random last note: The Merriam Webster Dictionary site word of the day was "canoodle". Cute.