Two more days

Congratulations to my brother for graduating college. There's no way I could ever have gotten a physics degree, or taken half of the math classes he took (I actually squirmed out of taking ANY math in college), so I can't blame him for taking his time to get through school.

I've ended up studying at the public library (they allow drinks with tops and small snacks, so that solves the have-to-eat-and-drink-while-studying problem), The Brewing Grounds coffee shop in Leonardtown, and Panera, all of which have wireless internet. All are good places to study.

Hello to one of my blog stalkers from Maryland; I heard your mother presented Paula with my pictures from her wedding at Michelle's wedding this past weekend. I have no idea who you are, but that is a really cool it's-a-small-world story.

And hello to stress making me sick. I have had an itchy ear canal for over a week now, for which I finally went to the doctor yesterday, just in case it was a weird outer ear infection or something. The doctor said it was allergies and prescribed me Nasonex, but we were told by our school advisor to not start or stop any medications in the month before boards. You never know how you're going to react, right? And I think I do pretty well on loratadine alone. Plus, since Nasonex is a corticosteroid, it's going to take at least a week before it takes full effect anyway. So that means I shouldn't have any weird reactions in the next few days, right? It also means it won't help me at all in the next few days so why not just play it safe and not start it yet? Argh.

I also have two spots of cellulitis on my arm (lesson: don't scratch with dirty fingernails) and a patch of impetigo on my nose. This is the third time I've had a staph infection on my nose since December. I think I have MRSA. Except my infections usually go away on their own, using just regular triple-antibiotic cream, so that speaks against MRSA and more to just plain old Staph aureus, right? I'm obviously a nasal carrier either way... Anyway, the triage nurse yesterday asked why I was being seen, and I told her about my ear and said, "I also think I have a little patch of impetigo on my nose," to which she asked, "And why do you think you have impetigo?" to which I replied, "Because I'm a medical student" and gave a little grin. I meant "I'm a medical student which means I'm stressed out and a hypochondriac who knows better but can't help it" but I think she thought I meant "I'm a medical student so I know everything." Which is TOTALLY not what I meant, so I felt bad, but she was mean to me after that anyway.

So the doctor told me to put bacitracin on my nose and arm, and wrote it on a prescription. I checked with the pharmacy to see if there was a prescription-strength bacitracin ointment I could get, or if I should just use over-the-counter stuff. They said it was just OTC, so then I asked if a triple-antibiotic ointment would be the same (Neosporin/triple antibiotic has bacitracin, neomycin, and polymyxin B, but some people are allergic to the neomycin so doctors tend not to advise using the triple combo). THAT put us into a whole "No, it's the not the same, Neosporin has two other antibiotics in it that the doctor didn't write for, and you're going to sue us if we tell you it's OK and you have an allergic reaction to them" / "But I already own Neosporin and I'm not allergic to it and all I'm wondering is whether the triple antibiotic combo is somehow de-synergistic compared to bacitracin alone and I'm not going to sue you, I'm just trying to have an intelligent pharmacology discussion with you over the non-allergic relative benefits of bacitractin therapy alone or adding an aminoglycoside and polymyxin to a most-likely gram-positive infection" conversation. They were not interested in intelligent pharmacology discussions.

So here's to hoping that my nose infection doesn't turn out to be MRSA (Treatment? Vancomycin or linezolid!) and that my cellulitis doesn't turn into necrotizing fasciitis or toxic shock syndrome (toxemia with bacteremia, unlike staphylococcal TSS!) or post-streptococcal glomerulonephritis (nephritic syndrome: hematuria, azotemia, and mild proteinuria) and that I stop being such a huge dork (Cure? Take my test on Friday and get drunk at that wedding on Saturday!). Only two days to go!