Insanity

I knew I hadn't posted for a while, but I didn't realize I went nearly two months without posting, so here we go.

Me: I finished off my minimum premedicine prerequisite classes for most medical schools. Some schools require more than what I've taken, but the vast majority don't. These include physics, general chemistry, general biology, and organic chemistry (1 year's worth of credits, each). I took the intensive summer organic chemistry course, which amounted to 12 quarter credits, and met for about 18 hours a week, but finished in 8 weeks. I managed relatively well, coming out with 3 of 4 grades I wanted. However, I would not recommend this course to anyone unless they have a high ambitious drive and a lack of distracting commitments. The atmosphere toward the end was extremely tense, as the remaining 8 (of 12 initial) students and the professor were all upset over grading schemes and the amount of work. I'm very happy to have the course out of the way, and I admittedly enjoyed much of it, though in the moment, the stress was overwhelming even for me.

That class finished on 8/15, and then the following Friday I took the MCAT. The MCAT is broken into 4 sections: physical sciences (general chemistry & physics multiple choice), verbal (read passages and answer multiple choice questions), writing (two 30-minute essays), and biological sciences (biology & organic chemistry multiple choice). Unfortunately the PS section managed to hit several of my weaker topics for those two areas, although I feel as if the other three went well. I do not find out my scores until approximately September 23rd.

The MCAT is graded roughly on a bell curve. The minimum score that generally gets anyone accepted is ~30-32 composite, with 10+ in all multiple choice sections. The writing section is graded separately. My verbal score should exceed 10 easily, but I am very doubtful about my PS section. This has huge ramifications if my score is not high enough, because it means I need to take some more courses this year to catch up with changing entry requirements. I will have to take genetics and biochemistry. Dangerously, I don't even get my results until the day most of the colleges start classes. So I am trying to figure out whether I want to preemptively enroll myself in those courses or rather search for a job as had been intended.

The process of applying is highly in limbo, requiring a lot of flexibility. Even if my PS section is a 9 (instead of 10), I may be granted some interviews. If it is, however, a 7 or even an 8, I'm likely not to be granted any interviews.

Time will tell.

Mom: She is doing quite wonderfully. The recovery from her megadoses of chemotherapy is a long slow process. She came home mid-late July, after about 5.5 weeks in the hospital, and I initially came home on weekends to help care for her. However, immediately that really only involved helping her get around the house (weak and shaky on feet) and running errands. Her vision was blurry so she couldn't drive and she could only eat soft foods. However, over about 4 weeks, she has improved dramatically. Her senses are largely back to normal, and she is gaining strength collectively. She is driving and eating most food, regardless of texture. Her hair, though, has barely grown.

It has been decided that she will indeed go on Rituximab soon as a maintenance therapy. It has not been proven to work, but the idea is that it holds off a future recurrence of her cancer. Evidently it is the standard treatment in Europe, and is becoming more widely used in the states.

Because my mother had a transplant, there are many restrictions in place. For example, she cannot travel for 3-6 months, nor by air for about a year. She cannot garden, or have any sort of animals around her, and she must avoid certain foods. She is not planning to return to work until perhaps January. Interestingly, her workplace has relocated to a new facility, in which her department is arranged in cubicles, rather than proper offices. This is disadvantegous because she needs to avoid such potentially pathogenic air circulation (common air) so there will need to be some accommodations when she finally returns.

We are hoping that the cancer is gone and no other cancer has been triggered by all her treatments. Again, time will tell, but she is certainly on the rebound.