Update!!

Hello everyone, and Happy Belated Holidays!

Our Christmas was splendid as usual, and we went skiing in New York with my mom's family. My aunt fractured her humerus very badly, though- the ball joint is shattered in 15 places and they might have to replace her shoulder, so we're all hoping that's not the case.

Sorry for not blogging, school has been quite busy and the play is this weekend. I said "Macbeth" about 15 times in the theater because I was discussing a field trip I had last year- oops!! Hopefully the show isn't a catastrophe! (Although to be honest it probably wouldn't be much different than it is now.) Well, just kidding. The cast and crew are doing a great job but "Museum" is not very funny for a comedy!


Uncle Brian has a new painkiller for his stomach cramps! Percocet is a combination of Oxycodone and Acetaminophen. The dosage is given as two dosages.
Ex: 5mg Oxy/ 325mg Acetaminophen. Uncle Brian says 10/500 would probably sell better on the black market, for those who are interested. Contact him for more information, all leftover Percocets go to the highest bidder!

Congrats to Aunt Robbie for a successful unplugging! And congrats to Uncle Brian because the chemo is working!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

YAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Huzzah!!!!!!!

Meet Zolpidem Tartrate

I know you all were anxiously awaiting a new drug to study over your breakfast coffee, in the car, on the job, etc. Well, here it is!

Zolpidem Tartrate- a non-benzodiazepine hypnotic of the imidazopyridine class. [zole-PI-dem TAR-trate]

Study Guide Mayhem! And an insult

Ginger, my dad's cousin, has noticed some errors in the Handy-Dandy Study Guide! It is actually "Leucovorin," not "Feucovorin" (the pronunciation guide is correct). Also, sometimes the pronunciation is different than the word! This is because I couldn't find pronunciation for the word Uncle Brian gave me, so I used the pronunciation for its other name. Ginger also gave some useful tips on how to remember things: anything ending in -mab is a monoclonal antibody, and anything ending in -platin is a platinum-derived drug. So that ought to be useful for all you dedicated students!

My dad, Kevin also noted that the drugs (but not the Complimentary Turkey Sandwich) make a mnemonic "zap off'd". Sadly, thanks to my typo it doesn't work, but you can still use it if you ignore Ginger's comment. :)

Jill suggests singing "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star" with the drugs as words! "Dexamethasone, Leucovorin, little Fluorouracil" seems easy enough to remember, right?

I would be happy to take any other suggestions for study guide improvement. Dance moves, maybe? A rap? A sonnet? The possibilities are endless!

Here's a random Shakespearean insult for today:
"Thou beslubbering reeling-ripe giglet!"
I could not find a definition for beslubbering or reeling-ripe! A wiglet is a small wig, though. So translated, this means "You (verb)ing (adjective) small wig!" I'm sure that was very helpful to you all.

UPDATE: My dad pointed out that I put a definition for wiglet, when the insult said "giglet". A giglet is a giggling, playful girl. Not really the same as a small wig, but that's okay.

Word of the Day: Oundahsi

There has been another word-related challenge! This one comes from Jill, the mom of Vicki’s friend Brian. The word “oundahsi” was given to me, and I am supposed to provide a definition! After careful consideration, I have determined that “oundahsi” comes from following roots:

Os (Latin)- mouth, face
und (Latin)- wave
a (Latin)- not, without
sei (Greek)- shake


Word: O und ah si
Root: os und a sei
Meaning: “Face” “wave” “without" “shake”

So the definition is….DRUMROLL *drum drum drum drum drum drum*:

Oundahsi- (n.) a photograph of a group of people whose faces are not blurred.

When trying to take a picture of a crowd, photographers have trouble getting everyone to stay still. When the picture is taken, usually a few faces are blurry. “Oundahsi” is a term for the rare picture that does NOT have this problem. That is, the wave of faces does not shake!

“It took me a couple of tries,” said Vicki, adjusting her camera lens, “but I finally got an oundahsi of everyone after Thanksgiving dinner.”

For example: my profile picture for this blog is a lovely oundahsi!

Uncle Brian's Study Guide

Uncle Brian, as you may have noticed, is threatening a test on his meds! Well, here is a handy-dandy study guide to all these medical terms. Here are the things that entered Uncle Brian’s body/were prescribed on the first day of treatment:

Fluorouracil (5FU)- a pyrimidine analog, C4H3FN2O2, used in the treatment of certain cancers. [floo r-uh-yoo r-uh-sil]

Feucovorin (folinic acid)- a crystalline, slightly water-soluble solid, C20H23N7O7, produced by fermentation or derived from folic acid, used in medicine in the treatment of certain anemias. [loo koe VOR in]

Oxaliplatin- a platinum chemotherapy medication in the same family as cisplatin and carboplatin. [ox AL i pla tin]

Avastin (bevacizumab)- a monoclonal antibody against vascular endothelial growth factor. [be vuh SIZ uh mab]

Protonix (pantoprazole)- proton pump inhibitor drug used for short-term treatment of erosion and ulceration of the esophagus. [pan TOE pra zole]

Zofran- a serotonin 5-HT3 antagonist used mainly as an antiemetic to treat nausea and vomiting following chemotherapy. [ZOE-fran]

Dexamethasone- a potent synthetic member of the glucocorticoid class of steroid hormones. [dek-uh-dron]

Complimentary Turkey Sandwich- a sandwich with a turkey filling made available for free to those in the Big Chemo Chair. Their family members, however, must pay for said turkey sandwich. [kom-pluh-men-tuh-ree tur-kee sand-wich]

http://www.dictionary.com/
http://www.reference.com/
www.wikipedia.com
http://www.umm.edu/altmed/drugs/leucovorin-075500.htm#Pronunciation
http://www.umm.edu/altmed/drugs/oxaliplatin-094740.htm#Pronunciation
http://www.umm.edu/altmed/drugs/bevacizumab-015503.htm#Pronunciation

Thanksgiving! Woot!

I am already pumped for some Thanksgiving fun! Of course, this is a bit early to be focusing all my attention on turkey and stuffing. But I can't help myself. I am making some Thanksgiving predictions:
1) There will be a turkey! Probably courtesy of Aunt Robbie. Yummmmm
2) There will be stuffing, cranberry sauce, etc! Wow, my predictions are really out there.
3) There will be two (2) batches of chocolate pudding courtesy of Nana, as well as some soup. (This I know because she told me.)
4) There will be some kind of pie!

Currently I should be doing homework, cleaning my room, or unpacking from my trip which ended a week ago. But Thanksgiving is looming ahead...what is a hungry girl supposed to do?

Update: Uncle Brian and I have come to a conclusion that a phlebotomist is a unicyclist trained in drawing blood. Finally, a definition that makes complete sense!

Another Update: "My Semi Colon Story" has 14 followers! Oh my! And one of them is Nana, who has started her own blog, "nanasoup"! 'Tis a tech-savvy world.

Shakespeare: "[Thou] mad mustachio purple-hued maltworms!" -Henry IV, part I.
Mustachio= mustache
Maltworm= a tippler
Tippler= one who tipples (*sigh*)
Tipple= To drink (alcoholic liquor) or engage in such drinking, especially habitually or to excess
AHA!!! So this insult means:
You crazy, mustached, purple alcoholic!

Phlebotomist and other funny words

Ah, a challenge! Uncle Brian told me to look up "phlebotomist" today. At first I just laughed, but then I actually began to wonder what it was! As it turns out, a phlebotomist is an individual trained to draw blood for lab tests or donations. That came from Wikipedia, however, so a phlebotomist may well be a professional unicyclist for all I know. I've had this blog for slightly over a day, and already I am using sketchy sources! Tsk tsk to myself.

Here is another Shakespearean insult:
"[Your] brain is as dry as the remainder biscuit after a voyage."
-As You Like It

I'm very happy to hear from Uncle Brian. Once again, good job thus far! You rock!