something to twirl in

 

 Outfit details: Ann Taylor Loft t-shirt, F21 belt, Old Navy necklace, skirt (from India), Bronx Heat of the Nite flats (from Nordstrom)

No pretty background today as it's looking awful stormy and as such there's not much sun out. Today was my first day shadowing at the oncology clinic. It was a really interesting experience, and I'm excited to go back and learn more. For the past four years or so, my goal has been to become a doctor. My parents are, but apart from hearing the stories they'd bring home each day, I'd never really been to a clinic to see how things are run. Seeing as I'm set to take the MCAT within the next few years, I figured I needed to take a look at what I'm getting myself into.

I started the day bright and early at 8am. Dr. W gave me a tour around the clinic to start things off (I got to look inside the procedure rooms, chemotherapy area, and radiation therapy areas). Then, the nurse handed the list of patients for the day, and we began to go through charts. I had to sign a confidentiality paper first, of course. Dr. W is a great teacher, and he made sure to explain all the jargon and terms in the charts to me, as well as just generally introduce the patient before we went into the examining room. 

We saw around 10 patients today, but I'll only write about the one woman who really stood out to me.

She was old, but not terribly so, and was only just growing her hair back from chemotherapy. She wore a bright floral printed shirt, big colorful earrings, and a pair of tan wedges. She was all smiles, giving Dr. W a hug before he sat down and began to talk about her treatment. 

What made this woman special, was this: I soon found out that she had been through three surgeries and had been diagnosed with three cancers, and having undergone two radiation treatments already, was set to do one more to completely (and finally) get rid of her cancer. Also, she'd broken her ankle just a few months back (and was back to wearing wedges!). All this, and she was so happy! Nothing sad or mournful about her at all. She was truly inspiring.