Rain, Rain Go Away :/

To be very honest, I do not really remember what happened yesterday at school. I got there early, as usual, and we went into the lab to process samples. The techs in the lab have gotten used to us hanging around and are always pulling samples aside for us to look at! They pulled a urine sample aside and waited for us to make a wet prep out of it. What was inside?! A little creature, swimming along while waiving back at us - they're so fun to see in the urine...well, fun for us.This is Mr. Trichomonas.... aka STD. Both men and women can be infected, and its not too much fun. Well, what STD really is? They're super cute to watch under the microscope until you realize what it means to the patient when you report it out.... The whispy flagella are their motor system, and they move across your microscope slide :) You get to follow them around and see where they go. Ah, the joys of being a nerd.

Our practical went really well. I think I finally understand how to function in a clinical hematology laboratory! After our practical, we took a little break and headed back to the lab. We started working on what's called the Iris IQ.This is the Iris. You put samples on the right side, and the machine measures color, turbidity, clarity, specific gravity, as well as a whole slew of chemistry tests, such as glucose, ketones, pH, etc. This helps us know what's wrong if anything. There are quite a few methods that are applied within the testing for urine samples. Lets say that you have a positive protein result on your urinalysis - you don't just report it out; you get to do the SSA confirmatory test. So, its not as easy as just pushing "GO" but almost :)

The techs yesterday also pulled aside a urine sample for us to observe - a waxy cast was found on the urine wet prep. A waxy cast... hm...how to explain! Waxy casts are indicative of renal failure, renal meaning kidney. We don't like to see these:

The IRIS is a really cool instrument. It takes 500 pictures per minute, classifies the elements in the urine, and then shoots those pictures over to the analyzer. I never really understood how you could automate urinalysis, but I guess this is how. The analyzer measures and inspects the contents of the elements as it photographs them - then you review the pictues to make sure it called bacteria bacteria and not mucus strands. Because of this set-up, we can attach pictures to our report, giving the physician a clear picture of what contents are really in the urine!!

FUN STUFF:
So, now onto real life :) I took a beautiful 2 hour nap yesterday after leaving school! Wonderful! I woke up, took a shower, and Ty finally came home from work. We decided to hit up Rumbi's - which I definitely recommend - for dinner! Then, we went to a concert in Brigham Young Park, just east of Temple Square - for FREE!


They had chairs set up and everything - so we pickniced in the park with our yummy dinners! The show lasted almost an hour and a half and it was so fun! The weather was spectacular! The performers were from a barbershop-chorus, and featured a female quartet that took 8th in their novice division after having only been together for 9 weeks :) Im not necessarily biased, but I perfer men over women's barbershop any day, even though both groups performed so well!
Our favorite part was the tribute to the armed forces : they brought out the flags for the Army, Navy, Coast Guard, Marines, and Air Force (in that order) and placed the American flag in the middle. They started with a medly of "America the Beautiful" and then branched out, singing one anthem at a time - when they sang the Army anthem, all of those in the audience that had served were to stand up! Did I mention that we were the youngest couple in the park by nearly 40-50 years? As each song was sung, everyone would turn around and look at who had served - the Air Force swept the audience with those who stood! It was so emotional, I had to try the entire time not to tear up. I had just been thinking about how our generation knows nothing of the sacrifice of an entire World War. Sure, we know all about the war in Iraq - I sent a marine to that fight in 2003 - trust me. But we don't know war in our own country, on our own people - 9/11 was the first taste our genereation had. Today, we feel like we deserve something for sacrificing. Those men and women who served during the World Wars came home and simply said that they sacrificed because it was their duty and their honor. I feel honored to have those gentlemen in my own family. It was a wonderful experience.

The concerts are every Friday and Tuesday in the park - everyone is welcome :) Check out the schedule - this Tuesday, Broadway tunes will be the theme!

Tyler and I were going to go running today (trying to fit into my wedding dress = needed exercise) but its pouring....rain, rain - go away! haha

Hope you're having a great weekend!