Friday, May 2, 2008

Another letter at gunpoint

Since Maretta is watching her new favorite show Step it up and Dance with Jesse Spano, I guess that gives me a little time to write a letter. Sorry I don’t have any major injuries to write about.

First of all my shoulder is feeling completely better. It took about 6 weeks, but now the only thing is my left AC joint sticks up more than my right. I had to wear the sling for the first two weeks which was really annoying. It also added a level of difficulty to the physical exam practical we had to do. One part of the exam requires me to place a finger on the patients back and tap it with my other hand to listen for fluid or a tumor in the lungs. I tried to lift my arm up, but couldn’t do it and just described what I would normally do. I’m sure the evaluator looking through the two-way mirror got a good laugh.

Things have slowed down a little bit for me school wise and I’ve had more free time. With that free time I’ve decided to work off the freshman fifteen that I’ve gained since school began. My friend Preston and I have started to go to the gym every morning. Hopefully I can keep it up.

Right now instead of classes I have been working with a local physician. He has a family practice that I go to on Monday and Wednesday nights. My first night there he sat me down and asked me what year I was and then said, “Ok, I’m gonna throw you into the frying pan then. Go get a history on the patient in room 1.” It’s been great so far. He’s really laid back and is teaching me a lot. Last night he gave me a prescription pad and wants me to start writing scripts for the patients. He’ll check them after I present the patient to him and either sign them or tell me what he would have done. So now I have this list of 35 drugs that I need to memorize what they do and when to prescribe them. This is so much better than going to group or lecture. On Tuesday and Thursday I have been interpreting Spanish for the ambulatory clinic at a local children’s hospital. It’s been a lot of fun, but most of the doctors and residents speak a little bit of Spanish to get by and I’m not as busy there as I would like to be.

Last Saturday we took the young men and women to help out with the Special Olympics. We were in charge of the standing long jump event. There were a lot of competitors and it was a challenge to keep all the groups together, but it all worked out and the kids all had a great time helping out. Meanwhile one of the boys (Amir) from young mens was actually competing at another Special Olympics venue somewhere in the city. He was proudly sporting all the medals he won at church the next day. He always keeps me entertained during priesthood meetings when he yells out “KFC” or “Chicken” or “Burger King” at the top of his lungs whenever anybody mentions something related to food. Basheer and Baseer (or if you’re like their grandma and can’t pronounce those names you can call them by the names she made up for them, Tamir and Tamik) are twins that are in deacons. I pick them and their older brother Daryl up for mutual every Wednesday night from their grandpa’s house in West Philly. We recently had a basketball tournament with the stake and lost all of our games. They had a blast though and everybody scored, so I called it a success. I’ve enjoyed working with the youth so far and I hope they keep me in there for a while. I know I’ve already gone to more mutual activities here than I ever did growing up.

On the 17th Maretta and I are participating in the Great Urban Race that Eddie (Maretta’s brother) told us about. It’s basically a huge scavenger hunt around the entire city. I don’t think we’re going to do so well, but it should be fun either way. At least it will give us a chance to get out and see the city some more. Well that should do it for now. We miss you all.

Love Danny

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