(no subject)
Finished the Veronica Mars DVDs the other day. Whee, that was fun. The bit I liked the most was that Luis got interested in them too. We'd watch it together when I got home from work. When I had to go to bed last night, he actually stayed up and finished the series. He doesn't want anyone to know that he liked it, but it was really exciting to actually have something to connect with him over. He, apparently, has been under the impression that I don't like him, which isn't true but we just haven't had anything in common yet. So that was very nice. Also, he has a huge bag of jasmine rice that he makes every night, and he lets me have some, which I appreciate.
Last week there was a really sad case, that I wound up talking to Sarah about for a while, since she works with schizophrenics. This young guy, 21 years old, who was an IB student and played football in high school, was found walking naked along the street where he was hit by a car. He didn't have any physical injuries. When we initially interviewed him, he admitted to anxiety and paranoia, with some auditory hallucinations (he thought someone was listening in on a phone conversation) but denied other hallucinations and seemed relatively put together. He couldn't remember the incident very well. The next morning, I spoke with him and his mother and he still seemed pretty well put together, although he could remember the incident. But a couple hours later, when we went back in with the team, it was so different. He was still telling us the same story, but it was crazier. He told us about visual hallucinations. He said he had been walking down the street naked because he thought he was God. He had been "pretending" to go to school for the past semester. The phone conversation with his dad had lasted two hours, during which he occasionally phased out and hallucinated that his dad wasn't there any more. When we got up to leave, he tried to follow us out because we were "more logical." The attending just shook his head. This was a first break. This young guy, intelligent and previously functional, has schizophrenia. That was always the scary thing about it. Those initially affected are young, often smart and with promising futures. And then out of the blue they are struck down by a debilitating mental illness that robs them of their ability to function normally. Even those with good support may never be able to hold a job, live on their own, keep off the street, have a relationship, etc. Meds may or may not help, and if they do they have have side effects that become intolerable. The mom was there and she was really worried about what was wrong with him, and it broke my heart that the only thing we were going to be able to tell her was schizophrenia. Ugh.
So that was sad. But the other schizophrenic on the service, who has some sort of tremor most likely caused by long term use of antipsychotics, is doing much better. He is much more oriented and can answer my questions appropriately, although he isn't able to make it out of bed in time to get to the bathroom (always a nice present in the morning, let me tell you). His tremor responds to medication, fortunately.
There has definately been some interesting pathology on this service, but I have to say I'm really looking forward to being done with third year. I've sent off a request to a publisher for permission to put on a real production next year. I'm so excited about this play, "Patient A" by Lee Blessing. Bonni's been talking about it for three years and we finally have a copy. It's about one of the people infected by the dentist, and it's very nicely done--not too sappy or heavyhanded, but it feels very honest. I was thinking Bonni would be perfect for the role, but she pointed out that she's hoping to be visibly pregnant by Februrary next year, and since there's this whole thing about how the character is a virgin that it wouldn't be quite right. I'm a little nervous about that, since while I was reading the play I was thinking that I wasn't sure I could handle the emotion of a character who's facing her own mortality. Hopefully it won't be too expensive to put on, and we'll be able to get funding.
Last week there was a really sad case, that I wound up talking to Sarah about for a while, since she works with schizophrenics. This young guy, 21 years old, who was an IB student and played football in high school, was found walking naked along the street where he was hit by a car. He didn't have any physical injuries. When we initially interviewed him, he admitted to anxiety and paranoia, with some auditory hallucinations (he thought someone was listening in on a phone conversation) but denied other hallucinations and seemed relatively put together. He couldn't remember the incident very well. The next morning, I spoke with him and his mother and he still seemed pretty well put together, although he could remember the incident. But a couple hours later, when we went back in with the team, it was so different. He was still telling us the same story, but it was crazier. He told us about visual hallucinations. He said he had been walking down the street naked because he thought he was God. He had been "pretending" to go to school for the past semester. The phone conversation with his dad had lasted two hours, during which he occasionally phased out and hallucinated that his dad wasn't there any more. When we got up to leave, he tried to follow us out because we were "more logical." The attending just shook his head. This was a first break. This young guy, intelligent and previously functional, has schizophrenia. That was always the scary thing about it. Those initially affected are young, often smart and with promising futures. And then out of the blue they are struck down by a debilitating mental illness that robs them of their ability to function normally. Even those with good support may never be able to hold a job, live on their own, keep off the street, have a relationship, etc. Meds may or may not help, and if they do they have have side effects that become intolerable. The mom was there and she was really worried about what was wrong with him, and it broke my heart that the only thing we were going to be able to tell her was schizophrenia. Ugh.
So that was sad. But the other schizophrenic on the service, who has some sort of tremor most likely caused by long term use of antipsychotics, is doing much better. He is much more oriented and can answer my questions appropriately, although he isn't able to make it out of bed in time to get to the bathroom (always a nice present in the morning, let me tell you). His tremor responds to medication, fortunately.
There has definately been some interesting pathology on this service, but I have to say I'm really looking forward to being done with third year. I've sent off a request to a publisher for permission to put on a real production next year. I'm so excited about this play, "Patient A" by Lee Blessing. Bonni's been talking about it for three years and we finally have a copy. It's about one of the people infected by the dentist, and it's very nicely done--not too sappy or heavyhanded, but it feels very honest. I was thinking Bonni would be perfect for the role, but she pointed out that she's hoping to be visibly pregnant by Februrary next year, and since there's this whole thing about how the character is a virgin that it wouldn't be quite right. I'm a little nervous about that, since while I was reading the play I was thinking that I wasn't sure I could handle the emotion of a character who's facing her own mortality. Hopefully it won't be too expensive to put on, and we'll be able to get funding.