My Breakfast Towel

Santiago and I get in my car one evening to go grab some dinner. He gets into the passenger side and has to move a bunch of dish towels that are laying on the seat.

"Why is your car covered in dish towels?"

I just look at him, because I know that the explanation of why I have 6 dish towels in my car is going to make him break out into hysterical laughter.

"Those are my breakfast towels"

He glances at the pile of towels and LOSES IT. Crying laughing to the point where he is inconsolable.
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So here's the back story:

It's a 45 minute commute to the hospital where I did my surgery rotation. That's a LONG drive! A drive where I could be doing other things. Like eating.

I have to wake up at the buttcrack of dawn to leave for the OR, so naturally I set my alarm for the last possible minute. This gives me 20 minutes to get ready and zero minutes to eat breakfast.

I HATE eating first thing in the morning. It's like I have an early morning ileus where my gut is hibernating and refuses to digest food.

But the thing is, I MUST eat breakfast or my blood sugar drops and I go crazy and want to die.

So I grab breakfast to-go.

And because I am a classy lady and don't want oatmeal goo all over my clothes, I would bring a towel with me.
To put on my lap and serve as an oatmeal shield. Or a bagel shield.
So that I don't drop molten hot cream cheese on my thigh while forcing food and coffee down my gullet.

Then, of course, I forget to bring the towels in when I get home.
My breakfast towels.

That time I passed out in the OR

Yeah, that happened.
I'm sure you remember seeing this picture posted on facebook on the first day of my surgery rotation:

It all started in the doctor's lounge at the hospital. We were getting the Dr's 7am pre-surgery Diet Dr Pepper. He casually mentions, "Oh, if you start thinking to yourself 'is it hot in here or just me?' then you're going to pass out. That's what they all say".

Psh. surgery is awesome! who passes out during surgery??
Everyone, apparently.

I scrub in for my first surgical case ever: a laparoscopic cholecystectomy. I don't really get to do anything but I'm excited because I'm all sterile and get to touch the forbidden sterile stuff.
I watch on the monitors as the surgeons locate the gallbladder and take down some adhesions. The case progresses slowly since this guy's gallbladder is so massive that it's hard to grasp with the laparoscopic tools. As I shift my weight around to get a better look, I can feel that there is sweat running down my back, and I think "huh, is it hot in here?"

And then I process that last thought and go NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO NOT MEEEEEEE!!!!!

So basically I don't want to be the idiot student that passes out face first into a patient's bloody abdomen. I calmly ask for a stool to sit on so I can regain my composure. I sit down and continue to watch the case.

Then I'm dreaming. I can't remember about what. But then I start to hear my name in the background.
Stephanie!       Stephanie!      STEPHANIE!!!
I open my eyes and there are 3 nurses standing over me (just like in the movies).
and of course, my first thought is "fuuuuuuuuccccccckkkkkkkkk"
my second thought is "ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!"
They've ripped my gown off and put a pillow under my head. My scrubs are soaked through with sweat.
I don't even try to get up, I just lay on the floor of the OR with my arms crossed over my chest, pouting.  The floor of the OR is so nice and cold, it feels awesome.
My surgeon looks back over his shoulder to ask if I'm ok.
"Yeah, I can see the monitors much better from down here!"

Two nurses help me up into a wheelchair and they drag my sweaty butt out of the OR. I get a nice little bed in the recovery bay to hang out while my surgeon finishes up the surgery. I'd like to sleep, but instead I start puking. A LOT. (but not like ALOT)
*side note: chocolate banana protein shake tastes JUST as good coming back up as it does going down....

So the surgeon finishes up his case, expecting me to have made a full recovery from my fainting spell, only to find me sweaty and barfing my guts out. Drugs may or may not have been procured for me and I may or may not have received lots of IV fluids...either way, I felt much better 2 hours later.
*side note: Zofran is an AWESOME drug. totally unrelated. just sayin'.

All of the OR nurses came in to check on me and tell me about a time when they had passed out in the OR. It was so sweet! they brought me juice and puke buckets and cool compresses for my forehead. One of them made sure to tell me that I didn't break the sterile field when I fell over. NICE. So I didn't totally screw up.

I bought those nurses a cake. Because nurses love cake. And because it's better to be remembered as the girl who brought in the delicious bundt cake than the girl who got sicker than any other student in the history of OR fainting spells.