Gross.... anatomy....

On friday I began my long journey towards the center of my cadaver. It honestly wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. On the way to school that day on the shuttle (where many other medical students live), people were taking bets on how many people would pass out at their anatomy tables. They were estimating at LEAST two or three, but when it came down to it, everyone was okay. I certainly felt a little queasy when we started - washing the body and cutting her hair short so we could shave her head was a little uncomfortable. But when it came to starting on cutting into the back, it was amazing how quickly we all got over our disgust and started in on the task. By the end of the lab, we were all working away so diligently that we didn't even notice that it was time to leave until we looked around and saw a bunch of people wrapping up their cadavers.

Another interesting thing that I noticed is that working with all that formaldehyde made me hungry. Honestly, while I was working in there I thought I would never eat again, but then I found myself snacking like crazy as soon as I got home. Was it the chemicals? Or perhaps it was a life-affirming event - eating to affirm that I can still do things that living people do after working with all that death? I'm not sure, but it is a little creepy.

Yet another thing I learned is that fat is even grosser on the inside of the body than it looks from the outside. Yucky bright yellow balls of greasiness. I keep looking down at my thighs and think: "I know what you little fat cells look like. You're gross. I'm going to go to the gym and make you shrink!" Well, I think that. But my fat cells have the last laugh (after all, I am REALLY hungry after dissection!).