The skull bone's connected to the...WTF?!!!

So I had a patient today, very tragic, young man with a head trauma.  He already has logged 3 weeks in the hospital with no end in sight.  It was however, the coolest thing I've seen so far.  They had to remove a large piece of his skull, I'd say about 6 inches by 3 inches, to do surgery and allow the brain room to swell without doing further damage.  We need our skulls though, if you haven't heard they're kind of a big deal.  So while they wait for the swelling to go down enough that they can replace the piece, what do you do with it?  Freeze it, put it in some sort of preservative?  Newp... That puppy is right there in his abdomen.  Apparently the blood flow there is sufficient to keep it nice and healthy for a couple of months, and there's none of that annoying freezer burn.  Now I just need to use this to convince Denise that the best place for all of the steaks in our freezer is in mah belly!

This whole procedure is something that wasn't possible even 10 years ago, but now may very well be responsible for saving this young mans life.  This is why I'm going into nursing.

Teenagers I don't hate

As I've mentioned on more than one occasion I hate teenagers.  I've hated them ever since I was one.  They're arrogant, rude, lazy, and smell bad.

Since going back to school I've been surrounded by the little bastards.  More times than I care to remember they've proven me right.  I've had disastrous group projects because they can't take a couple hours to do their part.  I've heard all of the rediculous boyfriend/girlfriend drama.  I've seen petty abusive pranks and insults that are rivaled only by what my friends and I do to each other.  The difference is these kids do it because they're idiot teens that don't know any better, my friends and I do it because we're adults and we do whatever the hell we want damnit!

I am however much more tolerant than I expected.  For the most part they are actually quite amusing, usually when they're trying not to be but whatever.  All of the stupidity that used to drive me crazy is mostly just harmless fun, or genuine stupidity that is still mostly harmless.

I have accidentally become quite fond of a few of the young people though.  My nephew isn't too bad, but that's mostly because I beat the stupid out of him.  It's always a great time when we get to do something though, he can be fun without being a little disrespectful careless douche, unlike most boys his age.

There's a girl in one of my classes, Bre, who is exactly what I want my daughter to be like if I ever have one.  She's funny, intelligent, innocent, and gullible enough to provide me with an endless source of laughter.

Another girl from school, Steph, isn't a teenager but close enough.  She usually acts older (except when it comes to guys, then she's pretty much full retard), and has been my lunch partner most of the semester.  We have a very similar sense of humor so we pick on the kids a lot.

And then there's my step-wifes daughter, Cait.  I like her because she knows that a woman's place is making me a sammich, she understands that Jesus loves Tim Tebow more than He loves Aaron Rodgers, and she has enough damn sense to know when I'm joking, unlike any of you that took the sammich comment seriously.

Really, if that made you mad then you are obviously a woman, and you should be making me a sammich right now instead of reading this.  That's just science.

Walking in Memphis

Last weekend I went to Memphis to visit the sis in law.  With finals approaching and the new job it probably wasn't the best use of time, but it was a nice break.  It sucks that the trip was so short, we spent more time driving than doing anything else, but we were busy at home, they had stuff to do, so even if we had stayed a week we probably wouldn't have seen much more of them.

I really do love that town though.  I know Kansas City still has a reputation as a cow town, but when you compare the two KC has become a commercialized yuppie haven.  Everything here is part of a big label.  Every single shopping district has the same stores, same restaraunts, and same people shopping at them.  Memphis isn't too much smaller than us, but they still have that hometown feel.  Chain stores are the exception, not the rule.  The town itself, while it might be a little older and dirtier, has a feel of history.  It's very charming in it's own way, just like me.  And by that I mean no one there likes you, but they'll gladly sit down and eat some bbq and get drunk with you.

I fully expect to end up there once I'm done with school.  Denise and I both like the city, the weather is slightly better, and it'll give D a chance to live near more of her family.  We have more than enough to worry about right now so it's not anything that we're actively planning, but I still think it's gonna happen.  Inspired by my recent visit, (and blatantly stealing an idea from Chris Zeigler), I'm gonna work on a new recipe.  I don't usually do desserts but his idea for a Dead Elvis intrigues me.  So coming soon,  peanut butter banana chocolate cheese cake.  nomnom