Today I’m linking up with Emily Freeman to share the random things I learned over the past month. It’s been fun to write down these tidbits and I think I’ll keep it up!

Car inspection info

I had to get my car inspected this month, but it needed some work done first. So I learned that they won’t pass you if the “check engine” light is on, and you can’t have a spare tire on.

I also always forget that you have to show proof of insurance to pass inspection, and I didn’t have a hard copy. But I learned that they will accept a digital copy if you just look it up on your phone and show them. So yay!

Tubal ligation reversals

I work with a gynecologic oncologist, and his nurse was telling me all about patients she’s had who have had their tubal ligations reversed. (A tubal ligation is having your “tubes tied.”) First of all, I didn’t even know it was possible to have that reversed. And secondly, I learned a lot about why someone would want to have that reversed apart from regret. She told me stories about women who had been sterilized unknowingly and without consent due to race or poverty.

Aging and end of life

Like I mentioned in my reading recap, I read the book Being Mortal and I learned a TON about the aging process and options in America for handling old age and end of life. I think the most important thing I took away from the book were the questions you should ask when presented with a difficult decision regarding treatment of a severe or terminal illness.

1. What is your understanding of your condition and its possible outcomes?
2. What are your hopes or goals?
3. What are you fears?
4. What outcomes are unacceptable to you? What would you be willing to sacrifice and not?
5. What would a good day look like?

Monster energy drink symbolism

So, my husband is into conspiracy theories. Apparently this isn’t a new one, but of course I had never heard of it before. Apparently the M in Monster looks like three Hebrew number vavs put together, which is 666. Their slogan is “unleash the beast,” and there is a cross in the letter O which gets inverted when you drink it. Okay, I’m not saying the drink is Satanic but it’s pretty interesting!

Interventional radiology

This month I trained in the interventional radiology department at our hospital, where they do minor procedures. So I learned how they prep patients, what all types of procedures they do, and the flow of the clinic.

Berenstain Bears & the Mandela Effect

This is another conspiracy I learned about from my husband. Apparently, so many people remember these beloved books being spelled with an E, BerenstEin Bears, that they are convinced there is an alternate reality or a glitch in the matrix. The Mandela Effect is when a large number of people have the same false memory, as in when Nelson Mandela died, many people were convinced that he had already died in prison.

Random medical stuff

I learned that the blood pressure medication Cozaar can be given for Reynaud’s Syndrome. I learned what patients with insulin pumps should do when they are having surgery, since they can’t eat or drink. Usually, patients are instructed not to take insulin at all. But in the case of a pump, they are to check with their endocrinologist who may ask them to leave it on up until a certain point.

French bulldogs

This breed of dog, while super adorable, actually would not exist on its own. They cannot breed naturally because the male’s hips are too narrow to mount the female. I learned this because the wife of our new doctor at work is a vet, and he was talking about her preferences in animal breeds.

Hormones

One big thing I learned about myself is that it appears my natural cycle of hormones are coming back and are very much going to affect me in an emotional way, and not a good one. I also saw my OB/GYN and she explained to me that while nursing, estrogen is low and progesterone is high and what changes that produces in the body.