YES, I AM STILL ALIVE AND KICKIN'!!

I know, I know......I KNOW!! It's been forever and a day and a half since I updated my blog. I apologize. I used to be so good about it, but life tends to get a bit hectic in my world and it seems as though, this time, the bloggity blog got the boot to the back burner. I'll try to make sure it doesn't happen again.

To be totally honest, there aren't a heck of a lot of new developments in my life. I'm sure all of you married folk who are reading this, have on the forefront of your minds right now - "I wonder if ol' Lou is dating anyone or if she is still the same lame single that she usually is". Welp......drumroll please...............SHE IS SINGLE!! I've dated here and there, but if you know me at all you know that I always have eleventy seven(that is A WHOLE LOT) things going on at once and have more important things to focus my attention on right now.

My health is on the up and up! I haven't had any major episodes since the incident that left me with stitches and a subsequent scar above my right eyebrow that makes me look like a bloody BAD A DOUBLE ESS!! A few weeks ago I did start having some strange circulation problems. Don't act all surprised that I would have some really random health issue suddenly appear out of nowhere. It is rather intriguing though. It was like, one day my circulation was F.I.N.E. fine and the next day it was jacked up. Anyway, it isn't anything major or dangerous......just odd. It is called "Raynaud's disease" and it just causes parts of your body to feel numb and cool in response to cold temperatures or stress. Basically, what happens is the arteries supplying blood to the skin narrow which decreases the blood supply to affected areas. So far it is just my fingers and toes, but it's actually kinda funny to look at. All of a sudden I will start feeling my toes go numb and if I were to take my socks off I may have 1 or 2 random toes on either foot that are completely white and as cold as little ice cubes. You'd have to see it to appreciate the humor of it. It looks like I have fake fingers or toes when it happens. Other than that though, things are good. The ticker and still tickin' and Percy seems to be doing her job as of late.

I guess really the only new thing in my life is the fact that I have decided to apply to medical school. I have always wanted to do it, but kinda felt like my window of opportunity had passed and it was too late. A couple of my doctors, along with a handful of family and friends, talked me into it. My doctors laugh at me because they say they've never had a patient that can come into their office and tell them what the main problem is, what tests they should probably run and then suggest possible treatments. I say that I've had better medical training in the last 8 years of my life than I will ever get in medical school. The only credit I still need to complete my pre-med requirements is organic chemistry. I have already started studying for the MCAT and in the next few weeks I am going to start doing rotations with my cardiologist to see patients and sit in on some surgeries. Once I take Ochem and the MCAT I plan to apply to Wake Forest, UNC and Duke medical schools. Keep your fingers crossed for me folks! I have a fun job now, but I NEED to help sick people. I don't feel as though I am helping people on a large enough scale. I plan to go into cardiology and what I would really like to do, eventually, is open my own clinic that is specifically for patients from infancy through early adulthood with cardiac conditions. It seems like the end result is so far away, but I can't wait to get there!

I hope everyone is well. I promise to try and do better at keeping this thing updated.