I don't think so

You paid attention during 100% of high school!

85-100% You must be an autodidact, because American high schools don't get scores that high! Good show, old chap!

Do you deserve your high school diploma?
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Paid attention in high school? Not. If I had, I wouldn't have scored nearly so high. Most of what I know I learned by paying attention to life - and reading good books.

I did pay attention in Band, though. Mr. Pindell wouldn't tolerate anything less.


Hat tip to Shoe Money Tonight for the quiz.

Slow news day. I went back and "corrected" my answers until they were all wrong - including the ones about age and gender. Those apparently get marked right no matter what you put, so the lowest possible score is 17% - and the comment for that one is:

17-33% I hope you don't vote, because that would be irresponsible. You know high school education is free in America, right?

New on the Sidebar

And way past time. I've been reading them pretty much every time they post for quite a while:

Trauma Queen - EMS on the other side of the pond. I'll feel much safer knowing he's about if I ever get over there. Great stories too.


The Lawdog Files - a peace officer somewhere in the US who really knows how to tell a story. It's generally advisable to swallow before you start reading.


Crass-Pollination -- ER Nurse Blog

Hope

"Please, just tell me that it's not hopeless."

The dad had walked up just as the echocardiogram technician uttered the words, "Bad. That's very bad."

I'd caught his expression at the time, but he just walked away without saying anything and saved his request until she left. There wasn't much I could say.

The tech had showed me the defects she saw and it looked pretty complex, but I really didn't have any information that would be helpful to him. The cardiologist hadn't even seen the echocardiogram yet - it was still being transmitted to the world-class pediatric cardiology center (WCPCC) where we were planning to transfer the baby.

I took a deep breath and said a silent prayer. How to leave him with at least a little hope, but no promises? It's never easy.

"I can't promise you anything. Even the cardiologist at WCPCC can't give you answers until she reviews the echo, examines the baby, and maybe not until she does a cardiac catheterization or other studies to find out exactly what's going on. I can tell you that we're sending your baby to the hospital where I'd want my baby to go in this situation -- and that they can fix things now that nobody could fix 20 years ago. Your baby was born at the right time, in a part of the country where we have several nearby cardiac surgery centers. Your baby is going to the best one. It's not hopeless."

Then I watched him walk over to his wife and promise her that everything would be fine. I wondered if I'd said the right thing.

The transport team arrived shortly afterwards to take the baby to WCPCC. The next evening, we heard that the baby did have a correctable defect. She would require several surgeries before her heart was completely repaired, but it was definitely not hopeless.

Grand Rounds

A special edition for July 3 is up at Over My Med Body.

Tiny Turtle

My son found him in the back yard this morning. The shell is 36mm wide and 40mm long. He gets to stay with the understanding that my son keeps a journal and does most of the maintenance work involving the turtle - that means he'll have to do some serious reading on the subject.

The last turtle we found was about half this size. We kept that one healthy until he got too big for the 10 gallon aquarium where he spent most of his time. He was about 4x6" at that point. A friend invited us to release him on his many acres of land, which included a strawberry patch and a pond. In a couple of years, this one may get to join him.

One thing we learned about turtles the last pass is that they absolutely love ant larvae. No shortage of those around here.

Supporting the families of the troops

A friend of mine is sponsoring an effort to support the families of deployed Marines. She's organizing an effort to send care packages to moms of babies born while their dads are deployed.

Operation Marine Corps Kids will send care packages to the families of deployed troops when babies are born. The packages might include a hand-crafted baby afghan, cap or bonnet, booties or toy. With sufficient resources, we'll also be able to include a handmade toy for other kids in the family. It's a small, but significant, gesture of love and support for those who keep the home fires burning alone.

I'll be adding them to the side bar as well. Donations of hand-crafted items or hand-made toys very much welcome. More information on the Marine Corps Kids web site

Pediatric Grand Rounds!

Shinga, of Breath Spa for Kids, has the current edition of Paediatric Grand Rounds. There's a little something for everyone - beginning with a photo finish, ending with a review of the autism/vaccine hearings and including a very brief post of mine.