Hey there!
So my dad just e-mailed me telling me that he can't wait til my next blog post, so I decided to take the hint and write a new one. :P
This week has been amazing! I got to Madrid late Wednesday night/early Thursday morning, and immediately went to sleep once I got to my hostel. In the morning, I took advantage of the free breakfast/maps they provide, and started to plan my day. They offer a free tour in Madrid, so I headed out, with the goal of making it to the 2:00pm one. I had about two hours, so I took the long way around, and saw some super cool stuff! Madrid doesn't have as many obvious attractions as places such as Italy or London, but it was still awesome. My favorite is probably a tie between the El Prado museum and Parque del Retiro. The next day I got up and went back to the airport to wait for the Atlantis Project representative (the hotel we stayed at was a ways away from the Madrid city center, so the Atlantis Project coordinator said that that would be the easiest/cheapest way to find my way to the hotel). Three other girls (Lucy, Maycee, and Sarah) arrived at the same time I did, and we had a fun time getting to know each other on the right to Hotel Alcala Plaza.
Once we got to the hotel, we dropped our things off, and headed out to see Madrid. Another girl, Christina, who got there around the same time also joined us. We had a fun time wandering around -- mostly to places I'd seen the day before. Once we got back, we relaxed, and didn't do much the rest of the night. I also met my roommate, Alice. She goes to UCLA, and is pretty cool. :) The next day we had orientation - it was super fun!! We all found out where we're shadowing - -I got Urology, Palliative Care, and Intensive Care. It wasn't exactly what I was hoping for, but they all sound super interesting.
After orientation we had lunch, and then some people went out to Madrid, while I stayed at the hotel. The next day we had a few hours before our train left, so we explored Alcala de Henares, the suburb of madrid where our hotel was. When we got back, we took a bus to the train station, and then took a train to Ourense. :) It's sooooo beautiful here!!! I was expecting a small town with little to do, but it's amazing - -I love the architecture, and we're right in the middle of the city center so we're close to everything. We got to Ourense pretty late, so we checked into our hotel (a different one than where we are now, because this one was sold out that first night), and called it a night. The next day we had a tour of Ourense, and moved our stuff to the hotel that we'll be in for the rest of the three nights. It's pretty nice, and I was one of about half of us who gets an individual room. :D I love it!
Tuesday was our first day shadowing. I wasn't sure what to expect with Urology, but was definitely excited when Alba (our local coordinator) told me and Sarah (who was also on Urology this week) that we'd be going straight to the OR. That first day we saw two bladder tumor resections. Super cool! They do it endoscopically, so we were able to see everything they did up on a screen. After that, we had lunch, and then went back to the hospital so Alba could show us where volunteering is -- all of us volunteer twice during these three weeks in the children's area of the hospital -- basically we just play with any of the kids who come in. My first day was supposed to be Wednesday, but our group activity got moved to that afternoon, so I just stayed Tuesday and volunteered with Sophie and Alice. We didn't have any kids come in, but we were able to talk with the other volunteer, and the volunteer coordinator - it was super fun!
After that we went to dinner...there are so many amazing places to eat here! We've found an Italian place, a place with great octopus (which Galicia, the province where Ourense is, is known for), etc. I love the food here! Anyway -- we ate dinner, and then went to bed. (Dinner here is at like 8:30-9:00, so we don't get back til around 10:30 and we have to get up early so we don't usually do much after dinner). The next day we got to go back to the OR, and we saw four Botox injections in the urinary sphincter (meant to help with urinary incontinence), and 4 prostate biopsies. It was super cool! It was nice to see so many of the same procedures, because we got to see what aspects stayed the same and what were different. Later that afternoon we went to the hot springs -- sooooo awesome!!! I think we're all planning to go back some time -- probably to different ones (Ourense has a lot of hot springs), but wherever we go it should be awesome.
Thursday we saw four more bladder tumor resections...it was cool to see how each was different. Not too much else to mention from Thursday...we did have a great group dinner though. :) I love our group - -we all get along really well, and have lots of fun together. Friday was probably my favorite day so far -- we got to watch a laparoscopic radical prostatectomy. It was amazing!! The other tumors we've seen have involved little blood and have been minimally invasive, so this was my first 'intense' surgery. They made five small incisions; one had a camera in it, and the others had devices with holes through which different instruments could be inserted. It was so cool! we got to see the intestine (at least that's what I think it was) and adipose tissue as they found their way to the prostate. It was a lot bigger than I expected, and I actually originally thought it was the bladder. :P Once they found it, they started the process of identifying the bladder neck, and then started removing the prostate. After the prostate was removed, they started what I think was the coolest part of the procedure -- performing a urethral anastomosis (they took two parts of the urethra, and sutured them together). It was amazing!!! After the surgery was over, we had a bit of a break, and then watched part of a catheter change before heading back to the hotel. Later, Sierra and I went back to the hospital for volunteering. It was super fun!!! After that we had dinner, and went to sleep.
Today's been a pretty relaxing day....we had a late breakfast, and then went to the mall here in Ourense (one way you can tell that we're an all girl group -- we were all excited to find out that there's a nice mall here. :P ) Two of the girls went to Barcelona for the weekend and left last night; the other 8 of us stayed here, and right now 6 went to watch the start of a cycling race. :) Once they get back we'll probably have dinner at the hotel, and call it a day. :)
So yeah - -this week has been awesome. Urology turned out to be a hidden gem. I wasn't sure how I felt about shadowing an area that focuses mostly on the urinary system/male reproductive system, but it's been awesome! I'm sad to leave it, but am looking forward to palliative care next week.
Also, while my laptop was working long enough to write this, it unfortunately didn't work enough for me to post pictures. :/ maybe soon though! :)
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