One day left

Today takes the cake. It really does. I graduated from my course at Sammelweis this morning, and for dinner, our Hungarian friends took us to dinner at a fun Pub in Budapest. It really was the most fun I've had here. It was nice to relax and talk with our friends over dinner and drinks. We covered every topic under the sun, from movies filmed in Budapest to American poses for photos. If you had told me a few weeks ago that I would have such wonderful friends here in Budapest, I would have told you that you were crazy. It amazes me that, in such a short time, I have met such incredible people from all different studies and walks if life. I met a dressage rider who is a physiotherapy student, a paramedic, a tourism major, and two midwives. They have all been so friendly and hospitable that I felt unbelievably sad when I had to say goodbye. There were hugs all around and many promises to keep in touch, which I hope we will do. I gave Kristina strict instructions to keep me apprised on her dressage riding and I will keep her posted on my wrist's progress. It's little things like that which make me smile and make me feel confident in the relationships I've built here. Even though we have so many differences, we also have many similarities that connect us.

One interesting thing that happened was when Erno cut his finger. Once it circulated around the bar that he was hurt, Erno was surrounding by Zoli, the paramedic, and all of us nursing students trying to stop the bleeding and bandage his hand. I guess it goes to show that we're always thinking medically no matter where we are or what we are doing.

I don't have much else to say about today, because I spent a good bit of it asleep in bed due to the 'Bilal-fluenza' that is going around our little group. It's just a minor cold, but it's annoying and knocked me flat on my back for a few hours today.
Tomorrow is my last full day in Budapest and I may or may not post on my blog tomorrow. It's a rather full day and we're leaving the hostel at 4 am on Sunday. Wish me luck!!

Jess

"Is that a mosquito? What is that cocktail called?"
-Zoli

Do I have to care for the plant?
-Dr. Hollòs


Maybe the physician was a crazy man- you never know.
-Dr. Hollòs

Cannot be greener the garden in the neighborhood.
-Dr. Hollòs

My god. I think I need the more oxygen, you know. To my brain. You know the billobillo?  "The biloba?" Yes the biloba!
-Dr. Hollòs

The food grow up!
-Dr. Hollòs


It is a critical life dangerous situation
-Dr. Hollòs




"When I'm a grandma, I wanna be called Mimi, cuz I'm Michaela."

A smile is worth a thousand words

Today was my last day of clinicals here in Budapest. I'll be honest, I kinda just glazed through the day. I didn't even really realize that I'm not going back to the military hospital again until just now. I said goodbye to the wonderful doctors and nurses, and acquired the email addresses of some of my favorites. It didnt even hit me when I turned in my keys and badge or cleared out my locker. I wish I could have more time here, but I'm glad that I have pictures, journals, and notes to look back on.

Ready for my brief account of my day? Here goes.

Mornings never get easier. They just don't. They're especially hard when a fire alarm wakes you up thirty minutes before your alarm. Lest you think that we let this rouse us out of bed, I assure you that, had it been a real fire, we would all be nurse-kebabs right now. I remembering asking Laura if we should get up, and she grunted a response that I took to mean no. Accordingly, I rolled over and covered my head with a blanket so that I could sleep for a few more minutes.
Oh the good life choices I make when sleep deprived.
In my defense, I would like to think that if we were truly about to get cooked, the staff would have started yelling or something. That's what I've been telling myself anyway.

When I finally did drag myself out bed, I was regaled with Michaela's dream in which I apparently dumped a syringe of something on her. Thank goodness for my entertaining roommates because we then spent the next 30 minutes debated possible meanings. We never actually settled on one, but it was fun to speculate about.

Upon arriving to the hospital, our presenter opened with, "I am a cardiac surgeon here at the hospital. I will give you a brief presentation over the history of cardiac surgery and then you may come with me to the OR because I am doing a mitral valve reconstruction and my patient is right now on the table." I think all of our jaws hit the floor. His patient was ON THE TABLE and he was casually explaining the history of bypass machines AND ignoring his phone which was ringing incessantly. He was obviously a very intelligent man (and very arrogant) but I think we all breathed a sigh of relief when another surgeon came in and said that he was going to begin the procedure so that the patient wouldn't have to wait. I wasn't in the group chosen to go to OR because I've already seen several open heart surgeries (I can't believe I just said that so casually), but David was, and he said that there were actually 4 cardiac surgeons in the room during the surgery and that the patient was doing very well upon PACU admission. The surgeon is one I've met before and he genuinely seems to enjoy teaching, so he is very helpful from that angle.

Dr. Hollòs let us pick which unit we got to work on today, so my group unanimously requested the CICVU, which is where Dori, our favorite nurse works. She was thrilled to see us, and we were grateful to get the chance to learn from her again. While we were all standing next to the nurse's station catching up with her, the patient in bed six was cheerfully waving at us and smiling from under his mask. When we walked over there, Dora asked him, in Hungarian, if he would like anything from us, but he told her that he simply likes people and wished to welcome us. It doesn't take much to make us smile, but that sweet man had us grinning from ear to ear. It's nerve racking to be on a unit  where we're unable to communicate with the patients, but when a patient is that sweet, it's impossible not to try. We did communicate with him through a translator and he continued to be so kind and uplifting. Happy patients really are the best.
One of Dora's other patients, the man in bed 3, was spiking a fever during the shift, going from 36 to 38.6 during a very short period of time. Dora went to go draw his blood foe a culture, and he got a pinched, uncomfortable look on his face when she told him what she was going to do. I know just enough Hungarian that I walked over to the other side of the bed and introduced myself, placing my hand on his so that he could hold it if he wanted to for comfort. He looked quite surprised that I knew any Hungarian at all, and responded with a smile. Dora translated it as the equivalent, "Im sending you my kisses," which is how most of the locals seem to express gratitude. He grabbed my hand and held it until I was called to leave the floor. Even though we didnt speak for most of that time, he seemed to calm down when I was there, and it definitely made me glad that I was there. The nurses are so overworked that they not always have time to simply sit with their patients, and so it was nice to be able to help them out by watching out for him for even a little while. We placed ice packs on his neck and shoulder to bring his fever down and administered more IV nitroglycerin to decrease his blood pressure. Over the next little while, his temperature started to decrease slowly, which helped me breathe a little easier.

One of the head cardiac nurses took us to tour the cardic floor, which us nothing new to us, but I was, as seems to be the theme for the day, truly touched by one of the patients I met. When we entered one of the larger rooms, which contained 4 patients and the nurse was explaining the specifics of he care provided, a patient waved me over. I walked over to him and the first thing I noticed was the smile with which this man greeted me. He said something in Hungarian, and when I shook my head and replied, "Im sorry, I speak English!", he laughed and nodded to communicate the he understood. He then grinned a little wider and said "Good luck!" In this sweetest voice possible followed by a string of Hungarian sentences. By now, the nurse had finished introducing the equipment so I waved our translator over to help interpret. She said the man was a miner previously and he wanted to wish us luck with our studies. All that from a man that we had not even spoken to! I thanked him for his kind words, and, when I left the room, I noticed that I too was grinning uncontrollably now. Patient enthusiasm is contagious.

I can't begin to explain how grateful I am for the kind patients we had today. It makes me wish that I spoke more Hungarian so that I could talk to them more.

Overall, my day was, once again, incredible. I hope that tomorrow, despite the final exam, is just as interesting.

Goodnight from Room 2,
Forever changed

More cardio

Every day that I spend in the hospital, I find new things to be amazed over. Sometimes it's heart surgery, but today it was the simple way the nurses prevent pressure ulcers on patients' heels by setting them on water filled gloves. They were ashamed of us seeing this because they saw it as primitive, but we thought it was so creative! In the states we 'float' heels by placing a pillow under the patient's calves, but here, they don't always have extra pillows for every bed bound patient so they come up with these nifty ways to reach the same goal for their patients. I need to sit down and make a list of things to take back to my unit for our patients. It's refreshing to see a different take on patient care than the one I've been raised with for the past few decades.

Speaking of interesting things, we had a patient on Friday that was admitted to the CICU who was actively having a heart attack when we were on the floor. He was intubated, sedated, and had an incredibly unstable heart rhythm. We thought he was going to make it through through the transfer to the floor, let alone through the next few hours. So when we entered the unit today and his bed was empty, my stomach dropped. Thanks to the hard work of those nurses and doctors, he not only made it through that shift, but he was walking around and talking today! It's patients like that who inspire me to be a nurse and to work in the hospital. I'm so glad that he's doing o much better, and I hope he continues to improve.

The doctors and nurses at the military hospital have been such wonderful hosts to us. They have truly taken the time to explain details for every patient, situation, or diagnosis, and have been more than willing to take the time to answer every question we ask. They have definitely made our experiences in the hospital so memorable and I can't thank them as much as they deserve. Today, for example, the doctor and head nurse in the CICU took the time out of their days to go through every patient with us and explain the intricacies of cardiac patients and EKG monitoring.  The doctor quizzed us to assess our knowledge levels and help us learn. I learned never to give nitrates to patients with a posterior inferior MI or aortic stenosis and I learned the specifics definitions of sustained and unsustained ventricular tachycardia. The doctor in the pacemaker OR showed us a variety of different pacemakers and ICDs and their evolution though the years, letting us handle and examine their extras. In addition, he also showed us the different types of guide wires used when implanting devices into he heart, which was riveting. It was neat to be able to handle the different wires and devices for us hands on learners. There are so many things I've gotten to do here that I never would have gotten the chance to do back in the states!

Other than the intensive cardiac lesson today, it's been a pretty chill day. I went to Cafe Torino for a few hours to do homework before dinner, and as soon as I finish the, I have to work on my presentation for Friday and start packing. It's crazy how time flies! I keep wishing I had just a few more days here in this city. I don't want this to stop! I still love the sunset and the people. So, to maximize my time for the next few days, I'm going to try and do most of my work tonight so that I can go to the Cafe Torino party tomorrow,  cruise the Danube Friday, and enjoy the farewell party on Saturday. That being said, it's time for me to start packing! Goodnight everyone!
See you soon!
Jess

Kùssi

Traveling to another country, I expected to learn words in the native language. I knew that I would be trying new foods and seeing the world through a different lens. I knew that I would build stronger relationships with my classmates and meet new people.
I didn't expect breathtaking views to stun me into silence. I wasn't expecting the locals to make me feel at home. I didn't know that I was going to make friends with the Sammelweis students. I didn't know I was going to dread leaving them. I didn't truly know how much this whole experience would mean to me until today.

We've slipped into such a routine that I forget that this isn't normal. Chicago feels like a lifetime ago, and Georgia seems to be even more distant. I've grown accustomed to staying up late with my roommates comparing clinical days and food choices. I look forward to walking around this beautiful city every day and talking to my 'local' friends. Somehow, I know that I will just as easily slip back into my routine back home, but I don't think this experience will soon be forgotten. I hope to never forget the sunset on the Danube, the view from the top of the Basilica in Ezstergom, or the architecture. I want to always be inspired by Annita and Dora's passion for their patients despite the lack of supplies and support. I want to remember the stories of the Holocaust victims and the incredible doctors and nurses who worked in the underground hospital during the wars. I have too many memories from this trip that I keep grasping at in the desperate hopes that they won't fade. For some things, I know that pictures will be the only link I have to that moment in time. Other memories have dug themselves into the core of my brain, never to be willingly lost in the battle against time. My brief homesickness that I struggled with over the weekend has been replaced by a strong desire to soak up every second. This week is flying by and I'm struggling to cram everything I had planned to do into the few remaining days.

I know that Sunday morning will come far too quickly and that, unless I get the opportunity to return to this amazing city, these next few days will be the last time I see some of my new friends. I know that I will miss the cobblestone streets and beautiful hills. I know that I will always carry this experience near and dear to my heart. I know that, though I will be happy to see my family and friends again, I will miss it here and I hope that someday I will be lucky enough to return to the banks of the Danube and the sunny parks. I hope that I can find some way to express my intense gratitude to everyone who has made this experience so incredible, but I know that I will never be able to find words that even come close to adequately relating my thoughts.

I am relieved to be able to say that I do not yet have to say farewell. I still have a few days to soak up the Hungarian sun and gain new experiences. Even with projects and final exams, we still find time for fun. And, to end this week on a good note, the Hostel is throwing us a party on Saturday night to which all of our friends have been invited. We are ending this trip just the way it began, with one heck of a bang.

Killer Views

Ready for the daily update? It's gonna be another brief post and will probably just cover the highlights but its already 11 and I have to be up again in a few hours for clinicals. Ready? Set. Go.

Today was the day trip to Esztergom, which is on the Hungarian/Slovakian border, and happens to be Zoli's hometown, so our tour was given by a true local. It's a quiet little Hungarian town with STUNNING scenery. There were rolling hills that stretched into distant mountains and had been splashed with trees. This is exactly how I pictured Hungary before I got here.
Our arrival was via bus, which provided over an hour of these beautiful hills and spacious  pastures. The town itself blended into its surroundings perfectly with quaint cafes and historic buildings. As we were ambling through the town square, Zoli let us know that Esztergom is over 1,000 years old, so we were scouring every building for the telltale stone work that identified its date of construction. The cobblestone roads just added to the town's charm and won our hearts over. The true beauty, however, was apparent when we ventured to the top of the Basilica, which is the tallest building in Hungary.
To get to that incredible view, we had to climb hundreds of stairs which were constructed as steep spiral staircases with a serious lack of any rails. To make matters worse, Megan is deathly afraid of heights, so it took a lot of teamwork and coaxing to get her up those stairs. Fear of heights or no, all of us were pretty dizzy by the time we made it to the top from the stairs alone, and looking down several hundred feet over the town made our heads spin for a minute, but once we adjusted, it was well worth the walk. I tried to find other life events to compare the view to, but Stone Mountain can't hold a candle to this breathtaking view of Ezstergom, rolling hills, the Danube River, and Slovakia. It was stunning and terrifying at the same time. To be up so high doesn't feel quite right, but the view was priceless.
I wasn't exaggerating when I said that Megan is deathly afraid of heights. I am in complete awe that she had the strength and the will to make it to the top. It was heartwarming to see our group form a cohesive support system to help her reach that goal. Bilal and I stood with her when she struggled with the decision to leave the stairs for the Cupola and walked with her around the Cupola as she gripped the wall. On the way down, Laura made sure to walk in front of her down the stairs, giving her a 'wall', and Morgan and I stayed close behind so that she would feel secure on both sides. Once she was finally back on the ground, she definitely did a happy dance and I think that whole experience definitely brought our group closer together. She's one of us and we definitely worked to support her while helping her step out of her comfort zone. What  else are friends for?
We celebrated this accomplishment by booking it across the bridge to Slovakia for some traditional Slovakian food and sunshine. It was a wonderful meal, but I didn't find Slovakia to be as nice as Ezstergom. It had a slightly more suburban feel, which contrasted deeply with Ezstergom's countryside charm. Instead, I felt boxed in by touristy shops and loud music, most if which was American in origin.
Overall, it was a very peaceful day. I spent most of my time ogling at the view and trying to burn the image into my memory. I took boatloads of pictures, but they don't even come close to replicating what I saw.
As per usual, I'm completely worn out so I have to go to sleep. I promise I'll write more eventually!
Exhausted and amazed,
Jess

Climbing mountains

I have less than 7 days in this country. 7 days. It's now crunch time for planning things to do. We have to fit so much into these next few days that I don't know how we're gonna do it. Day trip to Slovakia tomorrow, Clinicals and Buda Castle on Tuesday, then, from Wednesday to Friday I have to fit in a research project, final exam, clinicals, and my book review. Friday night is a boat ride on the Danube at sunset and Saturday I have to run around doing last minute stuff!

Study abroad is a marathon, not a sprint.

Today's portion of the marathon, however, started with one heckuva nap. Some of the group went on a day trip to a neighboring town, but Morgan and I had other plans, so we got to go downstairs in our PAJAMAS. It was the most fabulous feeling ever. And while half of our little group left breakfast to go trudge around in buildings, Morgan and I got to go back upstairs and curl up in bed. Morgan was productive with her time, but I was so tired that, after I found two sources for my paper, I rolled over and fell asleep for another two hours.

Can I start every day that way?

Morgan's face popped up next to mine on the top bunk. Mo was ready to go out and about, so after dragging my lazy butt out of bed, we set off to get lunch at our favorite spot, Anna Cafe. We spent our lunch watching the creepy cutlery saleswomen swarm people in an attempt to pawn off their goods. They were so intense about it that they would follow people across the street. I thought that the 'victims' displayed a grand amount of patience by not decking those people in the face.

Following lunch, we walked across the Liberty Bridge and hiked up to the top of that mountain with the Liberty Statue at the top. I'd like to say that the view was amazing the entire way up, but dang there were a lot of steps. A. Lot. Think Stone Mountain, but all steps. We stopped to take pictures ever couple hundred steps because that view was so amazing. It's right across the Danube, so, at the top, you can see all of Buda and Pest including at least three of the bridges. It was completely breathtaking. I sat down on a stone wall and relaxed in the shade while taking it all in. Technically, the top is actually the 'Citadel' but my limited grasp on Hungarian means that I was unable to read the signs so I can't tell you what the significance is.
Halfway up the mountain, there was a really neat Roman Catholic Church that's called the Cave Church. It's carved IN the side of the mountain. Going inside actually required twisting through a couple of hallways where the walls hadn't ever been smoothed out. It was totally worth it to follow the beautiful harp music and angelic voices. It was incredible and I was once again humbled by the beauty of the service that we watched. I got a souvenir smushed coin in the hopes that I won't forget that experience.

I'm so sorry to cut this off short, but the storms are getting pretty loud and I'm afraid the Internet is about to cut out again. I'm sorry for the choppy post, but I'll cross my fingers that I have more time and Internet access tomorrow.
Ciao!
Jess

Metro trails and puppy dog tails

It's my third week here? What? When did that happen? All the days are blending together, so I'm a little confused when people remind me that in just over a week I'm heading back to the states. It's close enough that Im already making plans for my first few days back. Family, friends, vet, dogs, horse. It's gonna be busy but I'm excited. In case you haven't noticed, I always hit the ground running. I'll sleep when Im dead, right?
Just to prove that there's no rest for the weary, I woke up early today to attend the World Dog Show, here in Budapest. One of our Sammelweis professors is a judge, so he gave us all tickets. It was NOT what I expected. When I've seen them on the tv, dog shows are always quiet and pristine. This was like chaos. There were 6 buildings with different classes going on in each one and a ton of vendors selling everything a canine could ever want. The classes themselves reminded me of a horse show. The handlers were rushing to groom their pets and rushing to pin their hair back before running up to the class gate at the last second. All the dogs pranced around while the judge examined every minuet detail of their movement and appearance, and them he picked his favorites. Also surprising was the sheer volume of dogs. In addition to the hundreds of perfectly preened show dogs, it seems like almost everyone brought their family pet along. I promise I tried to restrain myself but I just had to pet some of them. I asked their owners, of course, but they were so fluffy! I just couldn't resist.
Melissa and I wandered around for hours in search of a collar for Parker and a toy or collar for Ava. Neither of us had planned to get souvenirs for our pets, but I can't even explain how infectious that atmosphere was. The choice was either to get a toy or to leave there with a puppy, so I picked the choice that wouldn't cause my mother to want to murder me. So, we circled around all the vendors and ended up with a nice leather collar for her dog and a chewy giraffe for mine.
After that we watched a few exhibitions that were kind of reminiscent of a dog talent show. It would have been nice to know what the announcer was saying, but the dogs and their owners were incredible regardless. They were jumping around and doing all sorts of fancy tricks, but those dogs looked so happy! They were grinning from ear to ear and were obviously incredibly devoted to their owners. It was the most exciting event to watch!
I will comment that there were little to no golden retrievers or Labradors. It struck me as rather odd given how common those breeds are in the US, but I'm not a dog expert, so I have no idea if those breeds are popular here. There were spaniels galore and plenty of chihuahuas but a serious lack of goldens. I have at least 100 pictures of all the random breeds, especially the little fluffy ones and the massive several hundred pound dogs.
Alright, what happened next is supposed to be a secret between Melissa and myself, but regrettably, I feel like its a story that needs to be told. Ready for the this? You won't be surprised at all, but a few of you may face palm.

We got lost. Really lost. Sorry, was that too anticlimactic? Let me clarify. We got lost in 'downtown', where there's no English anywhere, both of us are directionally challenged and neither can read a map with any accuracy. Lets ignore the fact that my boyfriend is a GIS major and has spent the past 4 years trying to give me crash courses in reading maps. Here's the story. We thought we were smart and would get off the train at a stop that we recognized instead of trying to transfer to the other metro line. Well this is  big city, so when we got off at Astoria, all the buildings looked familiar, so we couldn't tell which direction to go in. Smart decision? Get back on the metro and take the red line to Deak fer tere to transfer to the blue lune. Our decision? Pick a direction and take the bus a stop up. Well, as it turns out, we picked the wrong direction and, upon getting off the bus, turned into those stereotypical tourist who opened up a map, frantically trying to find the street we were on, and, bad decision number two, instead of standing in one place until we figured out the map thing, WE STARTED WALKING. And we weren't even smart enough to stay on the gigantic main road. We started walking down side streets. We spent over an hour walking without any sense of direction until we ended up next to the Elizabeth Bridge and less than half a mile from our staring point. At that point, we booked it to the metro station and hopped on the red line and transferred to the blue line. The guy at Cafe Torino made us the most incredible penne and we were ravenous by the time we finally made it home, so I think we would have scarfed down anything and everything he put in front of us. (I also had my second round of coffee for the day).
So following that adventure, I'm sure no one would be surprised to here that I went back to my bed and promptly fell asleep for over two hours. Now, normally I'm a light sleeper, but I fell asleep with the lights on, music blasting, and various classmates wandering in and out of my room. It was a great nap to say the least.
My amazing sleep was interrupted around 445 by my roommates asking if I wanted to go back to city park with them. The desire to explore and get some fresh air overpowered my need for sleep (and I did not want to get lost navigating myself to dinner), so I joined the excursion. As it turns out, today wasn't just any day in the park, there was a festival of some sort going on, so there was plenty of stuff to look at and enjoy. And, go figure, I managed to find a horse in the park. He was a beautiful bay that a local brought with her pony for people to ride around the grassy area. Now, don't worry, my roommates threatened me within an inch of my life if I actually got in the saddle, but I got to hug him and get my horsey fix for the day.

Now, despite the aforementioned nap, I'm dead tired and would very much like to curl up and go to sleep, so this post will end here, but tomorrow is a chill day so I'll try to fill in the details then.
Love,
Bedtime in Budapest