Disaster drills and what not

April 15^th – 21^st

Monday was a fun day! I got to meet an FBI agent! He was the head of the violent crime departments cyber division, or something along those lines. He is also a TWC alumni, hence us getting the meeting with him. He interned with the Sergeant at Arms, which is like the head of security for congress, or something like that. Anyways, after graduation, he went on to work with the Capitol Police Department, and eventually joined their SWAT team, which is pretty much the best in the nation. He told us his 9/11 story, which was insane. On 9/10, his bosses had a meeting with the SWAT team and said they were no longer needed since it was a changing world and SWAT was out of date. Obviously, after 9/11, they redacted that statement. He eventually switched over to the FBI, where he is today.

Tuesday may be the highlight of the week. I got to sit in on a Supreme Court oral argument! That was quite the surreal experience. I got up at 5, got in line to get my ticket at 6:20, got my ticket at around 7:30, grabbed some breakfast at Union Station, got back in line at 8:30, and got in around 10. Unfortunately, I did not make the cut for getting a seat for the day. I had to get in the 3-5 minute tour line, which was not what I wanted. As per usual when I do things by myself, I met some cool people. The lady in front of me worked in the Attorney’s office in South Carolina that dealt with the case. Her husband was an administrator at some college, or something like that. The case was really interesting! It was about who gets custody of a Native American child when her mother died or something like that. The father said he did not want anything to do with the child before she was even born, so she was put up for adoption. Later, the dad said he did in fact want custody, and because of some law, she was taken from the adoptive family that would have cared for her better given to the dad. I am a little hazy about all of the details, so don’t take my word for it. The lady in front of me worked with the adoptive parents, and ironically enough, there was a lady farther up the line who worked for the dad’s side. After that, I waltzed over to the Library of Congress and had a look around. When I was walking around, I saw possibly the most important book of modern times: the Gutenberg Bible. It was essentially the first book ever printed by the first fully operational mechanical printing press. It signifies Europe’s exit from the Middle Ages to modern time, where knowledge and history is free to anyone since books can be widely printed. That is probably at par with seeing the Supreme Court oral argument. On my way back to Union Station, where I was going to hop on the Metro, I heard some feint drum rhythms off in the distance; I decided to follow the sounds. Low and behold, there was a parade!! It was the Emancipation Day Parade! Needless to say, I stuck around there for quite a while. By the time I got on the Metro, got home and charged my phone, it was two. I decided a nap was in order, which was amazing despite the fact that I had a dream that a nuclear bomb went off here in DC while I was here. It was a weird dream. I think it was caused by the Boston Marathon bombing that happened the day before. That was a terrible tragedy. It sickens me to see the evil side of humanity like that. Despite that evil act, I loved seeing the goodness in humanity at the same time. On the videos, you can see people running to the scene right after the explosion to help those in need. It was great to see the average Joe help out his fellow American in need like that. My heart and prayers go out to all of those effected directly and the family members of those people as well.

Wednesday was a blur, and Thursday was fairly blah too. The only major thing we did those two days was a tornado drill on Thursday. It was a city wide thing. The VAMC would turn into a disaster center if something severe were to happen, so we practiced that. The Patient Advocates’ office will be a family reunification center, so I put some spread sheets together and slapped them on a poster board so that we could keep track of missing people and who is looking for who. It was supposed to be a big thing, and everyone in the facility was supposed to partake in the disaster drill; unfortunately, no one really took it seriously. It was a bit of a let down.

Friday, I only had to go in from 8:30 to 9:15. Originally, we were planning on being actors and helping with the decontamination part of the disaster drill, but no one got back to us on that, so Diane let Lauryn and I go home early. That evening, I went to the Kennedy Center’s Millennium Stage and enjoyed some free music! The band performing was this four piece fusion band from New Orleans called the Mike Dillon Band. It was quite the unique sound! The band consisted of drums, baritone guitar, trombone, and a dude who played the vibes and a whole slew of other percussive instruments! Both the trombone and vibes used some pedal effects, which was quite unique! That was the first time I have ever seen vibes or a trombone play punk rock. lol it was great!! I want to get their CD once I get some cash flowing.

On Saturday, I was supposed to do this civic engagement thing, but I didn’t get an email telling me the specifics even though I emailed the lady twice. Regardless, I went down to the National Mall and tried to find them, but I couldn’t find them! After walking around the national mall for a while, I went to my friend’s house out in Virginia and we watched Modern Family, played video games, ate pizza, and just relaxed for the rest of the weekend. It was great!! 

A big ol' church

April 8^th – April 14^th

This week was a fairly stressful week. Work wasn’t bad or anything. There was just a little confrontation with a roommate, and we wound up getting some mediation. Hopefully it will be all good from now on out! I am ready to come home now. I miss my family, my friends, my drums, and my bed that I actually fit in comfortably.  Plus, I will have my awesome summer job to return to!! I am really looking forward to working at the pool and seeing my favorite patrons again.

This weekend was a good weekend! I explored the National Cathedral with a friend. We met up at the Woodley Park Metro station, got us some drinks, and then trekked to the Cathedral. As far as the Cathedral itself is concerned, it was like the other cathedrals I have seen. I have seen Notre Dame de Reims and Notre Dame de Paris as well as West Minster Abbey, St. Peter’s Basilica, Sacre Coeur, and The Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception, so it wasn’t as jaw-dropping as it was the first time I saw a Cathedral in Reims, France. Having said that, the grounds of this cathedral were possibly the best I have seen! The gardens were absolutely incredible!! Plus, one of the grotesques, which is like a gargoyle but does not drain water from its mouth, was the head of Darth Vader! I though that was so cool how they incorporated American lore and an evil being into the old ideas and designs.

Only a few more weks and then I am home! I have had such an amazing experience and time here, but I am ready to get home. haha

PTSD sucks.

March 25^th – March 31^st

So Monday was fairly boring. We had to go to some science and technology company to sit through a lecture on pursuing a career in technology, none of which was applicable to me. Lol Tuesday was rather uneventful as well. The most notable part of the day was passing out surveys in Radiology which assess how happy employees are with their jobs. The answers for the questions were just agree, neutral, and disagree. I honestly think a Likert scale or something similar would have been better. Having only those three options is really limiting. A Likert scale would give greater feed back on if the VA was doing amazing in some areas, where they are doing good but could still improve, and where they just suck. Haha But that’s just my opinion!

Wednesday was the highlight of my week!!!! I got to sit in on a neuropsychological evaluation! It was so cool. Obviously, I cannot say anything about the individual due to confidentiality, but I can talk about to the process since it is standard! Dr. McCarron, the neuropsychologist I talked to a while back who works in the polytrauma department, interviewed the person extensively and then administered a number of tests that test cognitive skills like memory, attention, and executive function. There was an effort test as well to make sure the person was not malingering, which basically just means faking it. It took about 3-4 hours to complete! Now Dr. McCarron has to analyze the test results, and then she will give the person feed back, which I will hopefully be able to watch as well. That afternoon, I got to sit in on the Polytrauma department meeting! The different people sit around  a table and discuss the different patients and cases. It was really cool to watch! That afternoon I also interviewed a potential intern for the VA! That was a fun experience too.

On Thursday, I was able to sleep in and just relax. Diane gave Lauryn and I Thursday and Friday off. After sleeping in and getting ready, I went in to work anyways because I am such an over achiever! Jk, I went in to conduct another interview and meet with Dr. Cueva, the psychologist I accidentally skipped a meeting with a while back. We talked for close to an hour! He is the head of the trauma department, which pretty much just deals with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). We talked extensively about what he does there and how treatment for PTSD has improved significantly over the past few years! He gave me two pamphlets that discussed the two manual treatments for PTSD. One has to do with repeat exposure to the event that helps modify behaviors. It is a very cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) oriented treatment plan. The person determines certain behaviors that are a result of the traumatic events, like fear of sitting with a back to a door or fear of crowds, and then exposing their self to that behavior by sitting with their back to the door at home, then on a bus, then at a restaurant, etc. or going to the mall during the afternoon three times midweek, then in the evening mid week, then on the weekends, etc The other one deals more with fixing false perception and seems to be more of a psychodynamic treatment. They figure out what emotion or thought is a result of the trauma, like guilt or survivors remorse, and then walking through it and determining how that thought or feeling is wrong. It was extremely interesting! We also talked a lot about the schooling process as well. He added some more insight and ideas to what other psychologists have told me so far.

Friday was very relaxing! I slept in, worked out, hung out, and then went to my friend’s house. We hung out, watched Modern Family, which is incredible, and ate some good pizza. On Saturday, we made a day trip to Baltimore! We explored the Inner Harbor, watched some street performers, ate at Dick’s Last Resort, which was quite the experience, and went to the National Aquarium. It was so cool!!! We were supposed to go in at 3:15, but we decided to sneak in early. It was so freaking crowded at first, which was quite annoying. It reinforced the idea that I do not want to have children for a long time, and when I have kids, they will be better behaved than most of those kids there! While there, I got a text from my dad saying he was in my back yard, and he meant Baltimore. He didn’t even know I was there! We tried to meet up before I left, but I did not work out. On Easter Sunday, my friend and I were going to hit up the National Cathedral wearing suits, but we did not realize that we had to reserve a space. Instead, we got Wendy’s, which I have not had since I got here, and killed zombies. That evening, when I got home, my roommate Sean made an Easter meal, so that was nice! I had Easter with some TWC friends. 

The visitation

March 18^th – March 24^th

Since I am writing this a bit late, Some of the details are a little bit fuzzy. That Monday, I came back from NYC! I had to get up super early in the morning again.  My friend and I got back around 12:30, bad some Fuddruckers, and then went our separate ways.

Tuesday was back to work! Well, after meeting with Congressman Jim Bridenstine. That was quite the experience! He was a fun guy to talk to. He was in a military subcommittee meeting, and had to be pulled out. When we went to where the meeting was, protesters were being detained! It was pretty sweet! But the main focus of our discussion were the negative aspects of ObamaCare. For starters, people cannot as personalized insurance plans; they will be what the government wants them to be. A good example is how a 90 year old lady will have to pay for contraceptives since they will be covered on her insurance plan. Also, It will be cheaper to pay the fee for not having insurance than paying the premiums themselves! A lot of companies wont insure their employees anymore because it will be more expensive than paying the fee. Some people will just get insurance when they get sick and then drop it once they are better and just keep paying the fee. It has been a few days since we talked about it, so I am a bit hazy on the details though. Don’t quote me on any of that. Haha Also, I believe it was that day that I met with Dr. Hull, one of the neuropsychologists at the VAMC. We just talked about what she does and her path to there. She works in the War Related Illness and Injury Study Centers (WRIISC). It is pretty self explanatory as to what they study there. She conducts neuropsychological evaluations and interviews, and does research. She was very insightful about how graduate school works.  She told me about how I should do some research while still in my undergraduate, because that will help me get into graduate programs. Also, she told me about the matching process for getting a doctoral internship. I won’t go into the details, but it boils down to that you don’t pick the exact site, and the sites don’t pick the exact interns; an algorithm matches the site to the intern. She also informed me that for picking a doctorate program, I should look at the mentors in that program, see what research they do and if I would like it, and then see if they are taking students. She was very helpful about the whole graduate school process!

That Wednesday was a blur in the morning! I was just excited for my parents to get here. I left work early and picked them up around 2:30! After that, we trekked back to Silver Spring, got them checked in, ate at my favorite local restaurant, My Big Greek Café, and then just hung out and talked. It was so nice to see them! They are the fun type of parents that are fun to hang out with.

On Thursday, we went to Union Station and had crepes for breakfast, walked to the Capitol Building, went to the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum, had lunch, went to the top of the Old Post Office Pavilion, hit up the Smithsonian American History Museum, and ended with the National Gallery. The National Gallery was possibly my favorite place that day. I got to see the only Da Vinci in the Western Hemisphere. I have seen a few of his other works at both the British National Gallery and the Louvre. On top of that, I say some lovely Impressionist paintings. I got to see some works by Cezanne, Monet, and Van Gogh. Van Gogh is probably my favorite Impressionist painter, especially when it comes to landscape works. I am not so big on his still-lifes or portraits. My favorite of his works there was “Olive Orchard.” Again, I have already seen several works by these works at the British National gallery and the Louvre. For Monet, I saw his famous Water Lilies at L’Orangerie in Paris. I think those are my favorite works by Monet. Anyways, this blog is not about my favorite pieces of art, so I shall go on.

Friday was the Caleb Demarais Death March. In the morning, I took my parents to the VAMC to meet my boss and coworker, Diane and Lauryn, as well as other people at the VA. They got to sit in on the SAVE training I coordinated. After Diane gave them a tour, we went to Arlington National Cemetery, which began the March. We walked from the guest center to the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, which was a surreal experience. After that, we walked back. Then we walked to Georgetown, ate at a nice Italian place. From there, we walked to Foggy bottom, hopped on the Metro and got off at Federal Triangle. After that, we went from there to the George Washington Monument, passing the White House on the way, went to the Lincoln Memorial, walked to the MLK Memorial, walked around the tidal basin to the Jefferson Memorial, and ended at the Smithsonian Metro stop. That night, we went to Columbia Heights and walked to the Adams Morgan area to go the Bossa, my favorite club here. We got home around 1:30! We walked over 10 miles that day!

Saturday was not a death march day. Lol We slept in, got some food, hit up the Natural History Smithsonian, and split up so dad could go the Holocaust Museum and mom could go the National Gallery again. We didn’t have nearly enough time to see it all last time, so both her and I wanted to go back! That evening, we got some good food and just relaxed.

On Sunday, we went to the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception for Palm Sunday! It was quite the enriching experience! That afternoon, I dropped them off and did nothing. I was sad to see them leave. As much as I hate to say it, I am a somewhat ready to go home. I have explored DC, seen the monuments, been to the museums, explored the nightlife, and had many great experiences! But it is weird not doing stuff like that without my family and friends from home. The saying “ you never really notice something until it’s gone” (or something like that) is true. I have an amazing family and group of friends! It is going to be weird going off to grad school after next year and having to find a new group of friends. But I already went on a rant about that in a previous blog. Once it warms up more, I will go and explore more parts of DC! I know the rest of my time here will just fly by. 

New York, New York

March 11^th to March 18^th

Monday was awesome!!! My program went to the FAA headquarters to meet with the department that regulates and licenses privatized space flight! IT was so cool. I met some aerospace engineers and what not. No big deal. A lot of people think that NASA regulates American space travel, but that is not entirely true. The Air Force regulates military space stuff, NASA deals with civic space stuff like the International Space Station and experiments, and the FAA regulates privatized space travel. A lot of people give Obama flack for retiring the shuttle and say that he is limiting America’s future; I used to be one of those! In all actuality, what Obama did was push more for the private sector to take the lead. The government uses private companies now to ship stuff to the ISS and will eventually use them to send people. One of the things the FAA does is inspect launch sites and the space vehicles, including a spaceport in Oklahoma! That night, I also went to a comedy night at a local restaurant. It was pretty funny!

Tuesday was pretty interesting. Lauryn and I went on a trip with one of the veterans at the Community Living Center (CLC), which is pretty much just a nursing home. The guy had some brain trauma and had some problems with words, but he still functioned really well. We had to get him some ink for his printer. He is a phenomenal artist! He started using computer programs, hence the need for ink. Lol He was a super smart dude! It was really cool.

On Wednesday, it was just Lauryn and I manning the ship while Diane was out of the office. I was kinda nervous about it at first, but it was actually pretty easy. I made a flow chart for the Code Blue cart that we had worked on (see previous blogs), met with a neuropsychologist to talk about career options, paths, and possible shadowing opportunities, sat it on some meetings, worked on the Healthcare Equality Index stuff(again, see previous posts), and then called it quits. The veteran who we went to get some printer ink with the day before swung by and brought us some food to try that he made! He is a cool dude. Since the new Pope was elected, I walked down to the Basilica of the Shrine of the Immaculate Conception! Diane recommended it. That place was amazing! There were reporters everywhere and it was super busy. I have been to a few cathedrals and basilicas in my day, and I have to say, that one is pretty high ranking! It was so ornate and decorated! You could tell that it was built a lot more recent then many of the ones I have been to. It just looked a lot newer and modern. There weren’t any flying buttresses or Gothic architectural features. That evening, I went to Union Station, got two fantastic crepes (I was starving, don’t judge), and then headed off to an event. I had the privilege of attending the opening ceremony for the building for a Student Veterans Association at George Washington University! It was pretty cool. I got to take a picture with General Casey, he was the Army Chief of Staff between 2007-2011 I believe. He has done a lot of other stuff too! It was an honor to meet him.

Thursday was spent ushering around the film crew again! They had to film my boss, Diane, and a little bit of the narrative medicine group meeting. I got so engulfed with it that I completely forgot my meeting with a staff psychologist! I felt so bad! What a crappy first impression. I sent an email that morning making sure he was on for that afternoon… I felt like a complete idiot. After apologizing profusely, I asked him if he would mind rescheduling; he agreed to reschedule! Friday was an interesting day. My boss, along with the programmers who were developing the app, presented the Mt Capitol VA mobile application to the director and the rest of the quadrad. That was an interesting experience. The app’s landing screen called it something along the lines of “The VA Healthcare Network,” which was not what he wanted. He really wanted it to say My Capitol VA. The application was being made for the DC VAMC first, and then it was going to be used as a template for the other VAMC’s. The generic landing screen was just so it could be used easier later on for the other locations. The director thought that we had developed an app for the whole VA and not just the DC VAMC, so he was not so happy since it was using DC VAMC money. Eventually, things got straightened out and he realized that it was being developed for the DC VAMC and then to be used as a template for the other VAMC’s. The DC VAMC is the center of innovation, so we do that a lot. The DC VAMC pioneered doctors using tablets for charting as well as using telecommuting for talking to doctors and getting a consult.

The weekend was the highlight of my week! I got up at the crack of 4:45, got ready, met my friend from Virginia, and then hopped on a Metro bus to Chinatown, where we boarded another bus to NEW YORK CITY!!!!!! A lot of friends from the RSU Honors Program were on a Study at Large trip to The Big Apple for spring break, so my friend and I decided to go visit them! It was a blast! I really missed those people, and it was great to see them again. My best friend Tommy was on the trip too, which was probably the best part! We arrived at Penn Station around noon, met up with the group, went to Time Square, ate some great food, went to the St. Patrick’s Day parade, went to Central Park, went back to their apartment and dropped off our bags, explored Brooklyn, ate at a pub, and then just hung out the rest of the night. It was snowing for a large part of the day, which made the parade and Central Park really beautiful! I got some great pictures. On Sunday, we went to the Natural History Museum and Planetarium, walked around some more, ate at a nice French Restaurant, and then hung out some more. I honestly think I was more excited about seeing my friends more then I was about seeing NYC! Two days was not enough to fully see NYC, obviously, so I knew I would have to make a trip back there in the future. But it was really fun to hang out, play cards, watch some movies, and explore with my peeps. It was fun hanging out with Dr. Ford and Dr. Gray, the Honors Director and his wife, who is also a professor at RSU. They were the ones chaperoning the trip! Got some good life lessons from the two of them! Haha All in all, the trip was amazing, the week was busy, and I am ready to kick the next week in the butt!