So I am a little late on wishing everyone a happy near year. A lot has happened in December and January.
I was able to go home for Christmas and surprise family and friends. Meme had no idea I was coming and seeing her reaction was great and the surprise was kept secret for several months which was even more fun. It was great spending Christmas with Meme and the East Coast family. If you want to see the video of her surprise, just ask. It is nice. :)
Before I left for the states I made sure my 100 day presentation draft was submitted, which I was successful at. I had to condense 99 pages of work into 4-6 pages. Without all the appendices and references, I condensed it down to 5, so not bad if I say so myself. It is now sent off for revisions before I submit it to my doctoral panel. Fingers crossed it goes well.
Which submitting this work has helped tremendously. About a week or two before I left for the states, I was admitted into A&E (the ER). I had a rash covering my body and the allergy meds did not help. Day one, it affected my breathing. It looked like the Kawasaki rash (I beg you to look and learn about this disease), which was my biggest concern since it started on my torso and soles of feet. Day 2 it continued to spread and have become good friends with the occupational health (OH) nurse on campus. She drove me to A&E. Luckily, I know my allergy medicine and argued with the lady at Boots that diphenhydramine is an allergy pill in the states. Over here it is classified as a strong sleeping tablet. She doesn't know benedryl doesn't make me sleep. Needless to say, this is what reduced the rash. They still are unsure what caused it, but story of my life...walking medical mystery seems to continue.
I was well enough to fly home, thankfully. Mom and a friend met me at the airport with a sign that had my name on it (Bucket list item on my end). And my first meal in Texas was Chick-fil-a, since I cannot eat much, this was good. :) Mom and I spent the next several days shopping (which neither of us like, lol), surprising people, doctors appointments, and packing for Florida. I bought scrubs, because I don't like smelling like mice and the smell lingers...so I can keep scrubs in my desk, plus scrubs are more comfortable, and bought a lot of new clothes...still hate shopping. I was able to see a lot of people, which was nice. I got to see Brett, which was wonderful. Brett didn't know I was coming and Sandra did a great job keeping it from him. I got to show him my pictures from the past year and half and catch him up on the project change and how I have made more than 6 friends. All in all I think he was pleased and satisfied. I also think he would like it here. It gets cold, but not too cold, there are movie theaters, and of course hardware stores. Mom and I went to Florida, thankfully with no tornadoes this time, and surprised Meme. The staff at her place kept it a secret and Meme was overjoyed. It was fun. Christmas was good spending it with family and seeing everyone even if it meant the 2 day car ride. On the way back to home, mom and I stopped in Houston to celebrate Hanukkah and spend time with one of my favorite professors and his family. I love this professor and his family. I do not think I would have taken my application to Dundee so seriously if it wasn't for him, and my project in his class. And I do not think I would be back over here if it wasn't for him. It was fun catching up with him and his family and having lunch and Hanukkah dinner. After that came New Years, which I got to see my nieces and nephew and sister in law. It was so much fun. Ty painted my nails in all different colors, Mattie calls me Aunt Map, and Laners loves super heroes. It was fun seeing everyone. It sounds like a crazy trip and a whirlwind to read, but thats basically how it was... nonstop.
I made it back safely and ended up moving flats (no surprise there) to a private one on campus. The students aren't back yet, but so far it has been wonderful and quiet. I had a friend of mine (one of the 6+ Brett wanted me to make) help move me in and in return he got a free lunch. Win win on both sides. :) I use to live by the train, which in some weird way the train noise never bothered me. It never blew its whistle like the train by Memes house did, and was annoying. You could just hear and time this train. It was a 3 minute walk to the train, which was very nice. I moved further on campus, which I know will come with noise. We already had a fire drill, which I hate and being 31, I'm just too old for that at 6/7am. But having friends from the lab live 30 seconds away made the fire drill tolerable. My new flat is about 3 minutes from the new lab, and 5 minutes from the current lab. I was 20 minutes away from it. This is very nice and helpful when I leave at 8-9pm at night.
My work is coming along nicely. After Christmas I worked on staining several slides (18 out of about 100+). My goal is/was to get all 18 stained and at least starting to analyze them for the 100 day viva. I have heard from several students and staff that I have a lot of data, more than normal for the first presentation, so I am happy. I have been sitting in a dark room (like one for developing photographs-with a red light) for 6-8 hours a day trying to stain these slides, and needless to say I have 16/18 done. This is very good, as I ended up back in the hospital for 3 days this past week, still with an unknown cause. Hospital stays in the UK are quite different from the USA...very different actually. The OH nurse came to visit me, which was really nice, and she brought me some stuff from my flat. She has to do a lot of health screenings on me (and other lab students) because of the nature of our work, so I am thankful she has gotten to know me real well. I can say I am lucky that my supervisor (and his wife) are so understanding, as I do not think this would have been the case on the last project. Anyways, I sit in this little dark room, and I play my music, sit with my scrubs on, and am so thankful that my professor (mentioned earlier) took the time to show me how to get better with a microscope. I do not think I would last 6-8 hours a day with this microscope if it hadn't been for his help. So thank you Dr. Thomas.
My 100 day viva is less than a month away, Feb. 21. I am last in the group to speak, which I am happy about. I am one of the four new PhD students, and the only girl. I am also the only one who doesn't have a biomedical background, but I am the only one with a strong anatomical background. Luckily, a lot of my work (and literature research) is in anatomy and physiology as well as cell biology. I don't like to brag, but I am going to do it anyways... I have been told I am an excellent dissector (Thank you University of Dundee), I have a lot of data (more than usual) to present, and am one of the best new students that this person has worked with. So that has helped a lot, when I do the math wrong and get frustrated...I just ask if I can dissect. I would prefer that anyways. :D
Thoughts, prayers, and well wishes, for Feb. 21st at 1 pm (7/8am your time) would be much appreciated.
I hope everyone is doing well and 2017 has started off as a good year for you all. If it has, I hope it continues, and if it hasn't, I hope it gets better.
Until next time, cheers.
