Let the countdowns begin!

5 days until break, 11 days until Thanksgiving, 19 days till Finals begin, 26 days till the end of the semester, and 37 days till Christmas!!! With so many countdowns in the near future it is sometimes hard to concentrate on what is at hand. It is also hard to believe that my junior year is almost halfway completed! Where has the time gone? It seems like just a few days ago I started writing these blogs unsure of what I would be able to write about from week to week.

Tick tock!

Looking back, I can see that I have grown better at writing my blogs and while doing so have gained an immense amount of knowledge about epidemiology over the last 13 weeks or so. Before taking the class, I did not even know what epidemiology was, let alone all the different facets it encompasses.  This class has been eye opening and I have found interest in several aspects of health that I had not considered interesting before which is also refreshing. Looking back on the semester, I have gained a better knowledge of different topics such as the flu of 1918, how case studies are done based on the type of disease, the different types of tests and surveys that are done to study diseases (especially graphs and charts), how diseases are spread from animals to humans, how bad traffic injury is in India and Africa, how infant mortality is directly linked to a country’s overall health, how to compare different statistics and so much more!

I will be taking away more from this class, than I think I originally "signed up" for on MyMadison last spring, and I could not be more thrilled.  So many of my friends have asked me about epidemiology and what it all entails and I love that I am now able to inform them correctly.

Finally, as these countdowns all come spiraling down quickly, I can't begin to tell you how much I am looking forward to being united with family and friends back in my hometown, Hampton, VA. I also look forward to my mom's home cooked meals (even though JMU's dining is awesome), spending time with my boyfriend and his family, and going shopping and baking holiday treats. And once we get back from Thanksgiving break, we only have two short weeks until Winter break, which is always my favorite time of the year! With that being said...On your mark, get set, go...! Let us begin counting down the days!!

Itching for More Information

Friday was like any other Friday for me.  I met with one of my groups for another class to work on our case study paper, went to class, did laundry and cleaned my apartment.  Friday night I had winter semi formal for club swim team that I went to, and then Saturday came…I woke up around 10 am, ate breakfast and soon after I started to feel very itchy.  My scalp, neck and upper back were red and had little raised bumps on them.  At first I thought I just needed to shower and clean up.  However, after my shower the itching got worse and spread to my stomach and chest.  It appeared that I was having an allergic reaction to something and as a result was experiencing hives. It was an annoyance and very irritating to be so itchy.  However, after a few hours of intense itching it seemed to go away.  Sadly, later in the day the itching returned, but in new places on my body.  The itching became so bad that I decided to go to the drug store and buy Benadryl and anti-histamine itch cream to help reduce my symptoms.  Again the hives stopped itching. Then on Saturday night the hives returned once again while I was working for SafeRides.  Again the intense itching became almost unbearable to deal with.  I eventually fell asleep late Saturday night and was able to sleep through the night without waking up.  Sunday morning, I started to break out in hives again. They did not show signs of improvement. If anything, they were getting worse.  Now it is Sunday afternoon and the itching seems to have stopped for now thanks to the Benadryl and anti-itch cream.  One of the side effects of Benadryl is drowsiness, though, which I am currently experiencing and am therefore having difficulty doing my homework.  

In regards to epidemiology, trying to find the cause and reason behind my hives is quite difficult.  When trying to determine the cause of a disease (hives for instance) you need to ask yourself/the person many different questions such as when did you first start to experience symptoms A, B, C, etc.?  What did you eat in the past 3 days? Did you eat anything different than what you normally eat?  Did you change the type of detergent you use on your laundry? Did you walk around in the woods or a grassy field?  These are just a few of the many questions you would want to ask to try and narrow down possible causes for the hives.  I myself answered all of these questions and more, and have not been able to pinpoint the direct cause of my hives.  In fact, I dumbfounded that I have hives because I have not had them since I was a little girl.  I am just “itching” to know what could have caused this type of reaction. 

Over the next few days I will continue to monitor my symptoms.  If the hives do not go away by mid-week I will go see a doctor and see if I might have some other disease.  For now it is a waiting game and I hope the pain and itching will soon go away without any medical help. 

Hallow-homecoming!

This past weekend JMU celebrated homecoming. All last week there were fun events leading up to the big game day on Saturday such as the annual passing out of the “Purple Out” t-shirts, pimping your ride with JMU spirit, and the pep rally on the Commons.  It was a time when students got to really show their school spirit and love for JMU and see alumni.  It was also Halloween weekend so there were festivities for the holiday as well.  In fact, many people were calling last weekend “Hallow-homecoming.”  There were many activities going on between Halloween and actual homecoming.  It was a fun, yet busy weekend!

Ducks swimming in the arboretum pond

On Friday, my boyfriend (who attends Virginia Tech), came to visit.  The weather was so nice Friday afternoon we decided to go for a walk in the arboretum and enjoy all the pretty fall colors in the trees. After yet another stressful week, it was nice to get away from the hustle and bustle of school and enjoy Mother Nature and her beauty.  Hiking and being outside is one of my favorite things to do to de-stress.  While on our walk we were able to see a few different types of animals as well.  We enjoyed feeding the ducks by the pond as well as seeing different types of birds.  We even spotted a ground hog crawling around not too far from us. In my opinion, there is nothing better then being able to listen to the trees rustle in the wind and hear different animals communicate.  Being in epidemiology I have become even more interested in the environment and how diseases can spread within the environment and between animals.  For instance, I did a blog in the beginning of the semester on an outbreak of dolphin deaths in my hometown, which sparked my interest.  I was also interested to hear about the spread of bird diseases in African from one of our guest speakers in class.  Events such as these are interesting to me and are not only important to study for the animal’s health, but even human health. 

Let's go JMU Duuuukes!

Next came Saturday and the homecoming football game! My boyfriend and I not only went to the game, but we also enjoyed tailgating beforehand.  While tailgating I was able spend some time with my older brother, John, who is an alumus of JMU, and also see other fellow alumni that I knew who graduated last year. The actual football game was fun too.  The Dukes won against Villanova and afterwards it was time to celebrate! Overall, the weekend was filled with fun, memorable activities, and a big part of what made the weekend so enjoyable was the beautiful fall weather!