Burned Out -- Days 21-32

The countdown to the end of my stiff summer challenge has begun and we commence in five days. Here’s a review of what I’ve experienced since last I divulged.

There was a lot of sawing during the head and neck unit. We’ve already scalped the skull, removed the cap to examine the brain and features of the inside of the braincase, chiseled an orbit, and wack-o-moled (yes it’s a verb) the ear region. The jaw was no exception as we used a hand-held rotary to break off the jaw above the level of the teeth but below the joint. From this aspect we could see the various muscles responsible for chewing and many additional blood vessels and nerves to follow. This was fun, but the real kicker was sawing the head in half. Yes, that is right. Everybody took hands with a hand saw and we bisected the skull to see what everything looks like from the inside. Picks and blades uncovered sinuses and air cells. I know understand what hurts when I get a sinus headache. And of course, following blood vessels was like crack and I did it with gusto.

I’m not impressed with how I did on the second module exam and I was down as a result. I went out with other students in the program and we had a really good time at a local bar with great happy hour prices. I milked my three drinks over five hours and was nicely buzzed for the whole of the evening. When I got home I realized just how tired I was though and tried to go to sleep with little success. I harassed via email before realizing my recipient was on the road, woke up several times throughout the night to check the time, and finally drove to the train station at 6AM to catch a train into the city for breakfast with a friend from highs school and a productive day of work at the American Museum of Natural History. That’s right – I took a day off from dead people for dead fish!!! I also slacked the following morning and bonded once again with womping friend at the Target® -- what an amazing store.

The following Sunday I was back into the swing of things dissected the brachial plexus, tying colored threads around the trunks, divisions, and cords of the network of nerves responsible for everything our arms can do. Three more days of arm muscles and I feel more equipped to work out properly and prevent my arms for taking the shape that all other women on the maternal side of my family possess later in life. I already have the precursors of arms that wave twice and I will rectify the situation with simple exercises designed to keep my shoulders back and my arms toned. I should just finally start those exercises.

The hand lab was pretty interesting too. We’ve been awed by pulling on tendons and making the fingers wave. It freaked one guy out when I pulled the flexor digitorum profundus and caused all the fingers to curl inwards like an old crone – he shivered and I followed up with “I’ll get you my pretty,” and my best witch’s cackle.

The final stretch of the course is the lower limb. So last Thursday we dissected the ass and back of the thigh… Let me tell you ladies, Pilates is our friend. The most fat we removed from Penny’s body was around her rear and thighs. My lab mates and I all held about 5 lbs in our hands at one point. It was thick, yellow, and dense. We filled up a decent sized bucket with all of it the in end. Beneath the exceptional lipid layer were muscles that were not well developed, but not as atrophied as those in her arms. And because she was preserved in fat, her muscles weren’t jerky like.

I learned that my knees are knocked most likely cause I have wide hips and my femur (thigh bone) has a pronounced angle from the hip-socket. I may also have a problem with popping beneath my kneecaps for the same reason – a problem that has persisted since around junior high. As I developed my ‘curves’ the muscles on the sides of my legs pulled the kneecap from its natural tract across the other bones in my knee.

The next few days will be below the knees – I’m really interested in learning more about the feet.