They let me near the bone saw! (Adventures in Brain surgery)

Another school year, another round of blogging! Now that the summer is officially dead, it’s time for my 4 bagillion things to start again in full swing. Oh, Hopkins, it’s good to be back…

So, first things first. Let’s talk about the most amazing thing ever that I got to do this summer: shadow brain surgeries.  My Woodrow Wilson Fellowship project involves studying the long-term effects of the NeuroPace device on epilepsy patients. The Hopkins Hospital where I work is part of the clinical trials, and we had 2 NeuroPace implants in August- so into the O.R. I went! Dr. Bergey (the PI for the lab and my mentor) arranged it all so I could stand in the O.R., literally 4 feet from an open skull. The surgery was performed by Dr. Jallo, who was really nice about the fact that I was standing there, watching his every move. Whenever I had a question about what was going on (“What’s that white stuff in the syringe?” “What’s that you’re squirting onto his skull?”, etc), he was happy to answer. The first patient I saw had already had a previous partial lobectomy, so Dr. Jallo called me in close to see the resection of the patient’s hippocampus- it was amazing. In the 2nd surgery, they had a portable MRI machine, which was really awesome. “How does a portable MRI machine work?” you ask? Well, the patient has markers (that look like metal Life Savers) taped to their head, and an MRI is performed. Then, all of the MRI data is loaded into this portable MRI machine , and it’s wheeled into the OR. The portable machine has 2 cameras on top that can track and locate the markers on the patient’s head, along with other known markers (a bracket on the OR bed that has 3 gray balls on it, or this gray, stick-looking thing). So, if you point the stick-thing at the patient’s head, the camera will be able to tell where you’re pointing it , at what angle you’re pointing it, and will be able to display exactly what part of the brain you’re pointing at and through. Trust me- It’s cool. (Though you’re probably not that inclined to trust me after my explanation included the phrase “gray stick-looking thing”…. Oh well). Anyway, it was amazing.

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Throughout the course of the summer, I went through the “moving out of my apartment and into a house” process. When I say “process”, I mean process. It took me 6 weeks to finally actually move. Isn’t that absurd? It’s because I got a little excited with the home-improvement projects. As I was surveying my new room, I noticed that parts of the wood floor had holes in it, so I went to Home Depot and picked up some wood putty. After I filled in the obvious holes, I took some sandpaper and started sanding down some uneven areas. Well, doing that with one piece of sandpaper wasn’t really working, so I got a hand sander from one of my fellow housemates. Then I realized I was never going to get the exact shade of stain for the sanded areas to match the existing stain….so I just ended up sanding, restaining, and repolyurethaning the entire floor. Ty Pennington, eat your heart out.

After the floor fiasco, getting new paint on the trim and walls, gathering my third- or fourth-hand furniture from various houses, and buying a frame for my amazing new queen bed, I finally moved in.

On the walls, I have a combination of framed art along with posters and props from all of the theater productions I’ve been in here. If you’re ever looking for ways to decorate a dorm wall, kids, just join a theater group. You’ll have more promotional posters than you can shake a (gray) stick (looking-thing) at.

Speaking of theater things, I’ve been involved in what may be considered an unhealthy amount of theater things so far this year, and it’s only the 2nd week. Oh dear. My most exciting news: I’m directing one of the Freshman One-Acts! The FOAs are a series of one-act plays where we cast only freshman in the roles. It’s a way for freshman to get their first taste of theater at Hopkins, and for the upperclassmen to scout out the new bunch of little ’uns. My FOA experience was great- it was my first time ever doing acting in my life, and I had a blast. You instantly make 20 new friends, and the cast parties are a ton of fun. To any incoming freshman that ever thought about maybe doing theater- audition! You’re only a freshman once. ( / shameless plug)

I’m also in the first Witness Theater showcase of the semester, attending staged readings for new plays, taking 2 acting classes, a theater history class, and applying to study abroad in London…. for acting. I think I might be forgetting that I’m actually a neuroscience major? Oh, no, WAIT, Cellular and Molecular Neuroscience is kind of a pain of a class. I haven’t forgotten entirely.

So, I’m off study some serious biochemistry. I have a test coming up and I’m feeling a little McGuilty about not studying that much yet. We’ll see how this turns out.

Comments

[Julia]

Ok, i LOVE that you managed to incorporate "McGuilty" into your blog entry. This has actually made my day. oohhh Grey's!

[margaret brown]

i think the gray stick looking thing is called a wand. this is the first thing i have typed on this computer,the keyboard is so senative to touch. I read everyones blogs,so much humor in them.one day at a time .. love mom

[Katy Smith]

Aww, your mom commented! That's awesome. And congrats on making the director for the FOA, and for, you know, being great at life.

[JHU_MichelleB]

Haha, HI MOM!

(She's typing on the laptop that my sisters and I gave her for Christmas! http://hopkins.typepad.com/michelleb/2005/12/a_florida_chris.html )

Love you too!

[Mark]

outstanding!

[Admissions_Daniel]

ok, I almost passed out while reading your description of being in the OR. So people are made out to be doctors, and then there is me.