Boulangeries et "chirurgeries"....

And so it was week number three:

 Monday:

Monday I switched to the "grands enfants" side of the hospital floor (= children from 2-18ish). I like it, I do miss my bebes but I think it super interesting to be able to have the patients actually be able to tell us what is wrong with them (especially in their cute little french voices...). They have "maladies" that range from attempted suicide to muscular dystrophy to chicken pox. So its pretty much something new everyday, even if the rounds are super slow (the doctors and interns spend about 20 minutes talking and discussing in between each patient).
Monday afternoon we had a "mandatory" visit to a boulangerie (=where the french make/buy bread and pastries) and I was pretty excited- sounds super fun, eh? No. We pretty much just listened to this guy talk about bread for three hours and then got to eat some at the end= not fun, especially when you are hungry the whole time haha....
But dinner was good with my family and then I pretty much passed out and fell asleep as usual after doing some reading ...

Tuesday:

So Tuesday we got to do something in lieu of our "stages"... we got to watch an "intervention chirurgicale" = surgery. It was of a girl who was 18 years old and who had scoliosis- pretty much the most interesting and intense thing I have ever seen. First, well after they cut into her back a couple of inches, they put in eight screws into each side of her spinal cord. Then, they attached a spin-shaped metal rod to each set of screws... and then came the intense part... they took pliers and forced the rods to be in correct alignment by turning them towards each other and the center. It was crazy to be able to watch that live (we weren't in the room though... we had it projected onto a screen.) Geez Loius...

Then we had our first test. I think I did well... I guess... It was super super long and just kind of a hassle but I guess not too bad. Then class as usual...

After all that we decided to go to get some ice cream/crepes.. mmm delicious!

Then when I was nice an full I went home and studied a little bit and went to dinner- mmm the best dinner my host-mom has made yet= true french cuisine= meat and potatoes and dessert. C'etait parfait!!

Then skyped and fell asleep haha... wow I am sensing a pattern here...

Wednesday:

Well then it was Wednesday and back to the grands enfants... geez I just love being at the hospital. It is amazing all the things we get to see and interacting (=smiling and saying "coucou") with all of the patients. I am just so lucky to have this experience... I just can't believe even after two and a half weeks that I am even here, in Nice, and standing alongside real life doctors and interns. Crazy. Is this real life??

Anyway so after that we got to go the the "simulators" Nice Fac de Medecine (=med school). We were spilt into two groups- and the first simulator that we went to was sooo intense. So bascially the doctor that was running the simulator (= a mannequin who had vital signs and the doctor can speak through a mic to make it seem like he is talking...) well this doctor thought we were actually in med school. Even though we tried to explain "pas encore" (=not yet!!!!). Anyway, so this doctor starts the simulator and a patient who is a 69 year old male, who recently changed his treatment/medecines, smokes, and "came" in with tachycardia and having a terrible time breathing. Yep, like any of us knew what to do... haha. Also, he threw the MRI and EKG up on the screen and asked us to interpret. Again, "will anybody who knows how to do this please speak up". Again, silence... haha. Yep, we kind of felt like idiots. But I guess after alllll that he finally realized that we knew nothing about medecine and diagnosis and treatment JUST YET and so he kind of backed off... but really?? haha. Crazy intense experience.
Well, the next simulator was a lot more "hands-off". It was a "laparascopie" simulator (=mini-invasive surgery). Which was soooo amazing to get to try out- it was kind of like a video game except with medical instruments and a screen where you could see "organs" etc. It was fun because there wasn't as much pressure haha.... more like playing and learning.

Then we had the fete for Maia's 21st birthday and the little cakes and bieres were tres delicious!!! And then we just kind of romped around the streets for a bit and then back to my apt...
Then I had a lovely dinner with my host mom (with delicious cheese/potato/ham/onion baked casserole... sooo delicious! and with cherries and caramel ice cream for dessert!). Then a great conversation- its so nice to get to practice my french etc and also meet a lovely family- especially since they let me make mistakes and help me along the way!! (Def the best way to learn...)

Well so it is wayyy past my old-lady bead time...and since I have been frustrated with travel plans.... I am going to partir!

Goooood night!
Liv