Clinicals in psych

Another pretty low-key week for the Andrew family. Dani felt quite a bit worse after our weekend travels, and it's been discouraging that she felt so good and now feels lousy again. We're at 20 weeks, and we expected that at least halfway through the pregnancy she'd be feeling awesome again. It's frustrating that she'll take two steps forward and slide another step back.

On Monday I took a shift for Morgan EMS but spent the day studying at the station. It's nice to have a full 12 hours to get homework done, but whenever I'm on call I really hope for some action.

On Tuesday my clinical rotation was in adult behavioral health. I worked with the nurse in the psychiatric intensive care unit (PICU), an area that typically has more difficult-to-handle psychotic patients; they may be violent, aggressive, or agitate other patients enough that they need to be more secluded. One of our patients was obsessed with working out, and spent most of the day on the floor attempting pushups as he yelled out with each rep. The day was pretty uneventful until the evening, when one patient with dementia started to become combative with the staff. They had to hold him down while I gave him an injection of an anti-agitative medication. After a few minutes it didn't seem to make much of a difference (after deciding that barricading his door with his bed wasn't enough, he cracked the door open and peed in our direction), so we gave him another dose and he calmed down just fine.

Last week I worked in pediatric behavioral health, and although it's a totally different world working with psychiatric patients, I don't think I'd enjoy it for very long. Next week I'm in OB/GYN, so we'll see how that goes!

Finally an adventure!

Early last week Dani felt somewhat better, and we were able to go for a short walk on a trail near our home. However, she relapsed later and felt pretty crappy again. With this warm front a lot of the snow has melted and I just had to get outside, so I soloed Adam's Canyon to the waterfall.

This week Dani felt quite a bit better so we went camping! All of Utah was in a downpour, but after our rain-or-shine adventures in Juneau we were not daunted. We planned a visit with Jacob and his fiancée Karlee this weekend, so we figured we could break up the trip in two days (car rides aren't so good for pregnancy puking) and have some fun doing it. We drove up Provo canyon Friday night to look for a camping spot and finally found one at Deer Creek State Park. It had been raining so hard and so much snow melted that the ground was waterlogged, so we put the seats down in the Subaru and "roughed it." In the morning we headed out of the canyon (the long detour thanks to two mudslides) to stop by the Hansens for a nice visit and then to Grandpa and Grandma Andrew's with Jacob and Karlee. With the wedding preparation they have been doing they were looking for a central location to hold a reception after the wedding in June, and it sounds like they've chosen my grandparent's beautiful summer backyard for their venue.

Dinner on the stove

On Sunday we took a quick trip to Logan for Hannah's homecoming talk! It was so good to see her and my cousin Mark (who is studying at USU) and catch up with the rest of the Duersches and my sister Anna.

Two roads...

This week I started my second semester clinical rotations at McKay Dee Hospital, an Intermountain Healthcare facility in Ogden. My first day was in the OR, and I have to say I don't think I'm cut out to be an OR nurse. I think everyone in the OR has fun except the nurse - the surgeon is running the show, the techs have their bloody hands right in there with the surgeon, the patient is dreaming away, and the anesthetist is making sure the patient doesn't die. But not the nurse, they get to sit at the computer, chart, and occasionally run for extra supplies.

The previous times I've been in ORs I've been shadowing the anesthesiology department, and they have a pretty fun job if the surgery isn't too long. They are talking with the patient beforehand, bringing them back into the operating room, administering the anesthesia and intubating them (placing the tube down their throat to control breathing while they're unconscious), and monitoring vital signs. If the surgery is drawn out, then I'm sure it can get monotonous, but I imagine that the rest of the excitement makes up for it.

Also this week I had the opportunity to shadow a functional medicine nurse practitioner. My career will either lead me to become a nurse anesthetist or a nurse practitioner, and I'm trying to get as much experience in both fields to know what I want to do for the rest of my life. If I become a nurse practitioner, I would want to do the same things that my dad does in functional medicine, so I looked up a family NP who has her own practice in Salt Lake and sees patients who haven't found the answers they need from traditional Western medicine. Her business is successful and thanks to Utah laws enjoys as much freedom as doctors do. She is well respected by colleagues and patients alike. It was great to get an idea about what my life might be like if I continue down this path. If I do, I'll already have a head start on what takes most functional doctors and NPs years to discover, as I already have a background in wellness.

Thankfully, I don't have to decide which road to take for a few years at least. After I finish this program, all other masters/doctorate programs require a couple years of clinical experience, so I will have plenty of time to determine my future in medicine.

It's a boy

At our appointment with our midwife this week, she asked us if we wanted to find out the gender of our baby. Surprised, we said "sure, but we thought we couldn't find out until week 20 and that's a month away!" Well, it looks like we're having a son!

People sometimes asked us if we "had a feeling" about the gender before we knew. I've always wanted a boy as my first, but if I had to guess I'd tell them a girl because of a goofy dream I had before we were even off birth control. It went like this: fast-forward to Dani being full-term and delivering a healthy girl in the hospital. Dani isn't discharged for a few days, but I get to take our girl home from the hospital the day after she's born. So what do I do? Take her hiking at two days old of course! She's a trooper in her baby carrier as I'm tromping all over sandstone dunes in Southeast Utah, not one peep. Only catch is we are on a short leash, as we have to get back to the hospital every two hours for mom's milk.

So anyways, we'll have a hiking baby - but we'll probably wait at least a little longer than 2 days to take him on his first adventure.

On Thursday we're officially 16 weeks and 4 days, making our official due date July 10th. We're pretty darn excited! Below is a clip of the ultrasound - he does a little jab with his elbow.

In other news, Dani's brother Jacob just got engaged to his girlfriend Karlee! We are so excited for them. Karlee is fun to be around, perfect for Jacob, and we couldn't be happier that she's joining the family. Their date is June 22nd in the Payson Temple, and we're so looking forward to their summer wedding.

Klondike Derby

This week our troop put the finishing touches on our race sled and we headed out to East Canyon State Park for our annual Klondike Derby winter campout!

The assembly crew

That night we chowed down on hobo dinners and dutch-oven peach cobbler. The other leader and I were only woken up once from a boy who was too cold, and after getting him up and moving he slept the rest of the night just fine. In the morning before the sun was up over the mountain we enjoyed a balmy 14 degree morning before the sled races! Unfortunately, one of our boys fell while pulling our sled and we didn't make it very far in the preliminaries. We might've only had four boys that were able to come, but we sure had a good time together!

The racers

Back home with all extremities and digits intact

So much snow...

We seem to keep getting storm after storm and the snow is just piling up. I love it!

This week was pretty rough for Dani. We know there's no magic date for the "morning" sickness to go away, but it was discouraging for her to feel better for a little bit and then go back to feeling lousy.

On Tuesday my buddy Todd and I drove up Little Cottonwood Canyon to snowshoe to White Pine Lake. Todd used skins on his splitboard and he let me borrow a pair of snowshoes. We were one of the only ones to hike that trail since the last snowfall, so we were breaking trail most of the way. I realized pretty quick that I am out of shape! It felt like wearing flip-flops in knee-deep water while sinking down into mud, except with heavy winter gear and all snow. It was all I could do to keep up with the guy who's been fighting fire as a hotshot all season! Regardless, we enjoyed catching up and breathing the smog-free mountain air. It was incredible hiking through the blanketed trees and deep snowdrifts with white mountain peaks surrounding us.

Our trail through the trees

This week I had my first ride-a-long with Morgan County EMS. I will be volunteering with them just like I did down in Moab. Morgan is a small community of less than 10,000 residents about 25 minutes away from my house. Our call volume is pretty small, so sometimes it can be boring around here. I usually just bring my homework and hang out at the station until we get a 911 call. It will be a good way to force me to take a full study day for the week while still doing what I love on the ambulance.

The call we had that day was for a woman with a kidney stone in extreme back pain. She was at the Morgan Health Center and we transported her to McKay Dee Hospital in Ogden. We don't have a hospital locally, so we take all of our patients to Ogden. A fairly uneventful day, but I love being back on the ambulance.

What's a quinzee?

Igloo: built of blocks of hard snow
Snow cave: shelter dug in deep drifted snow

A quinzee is a shelter made by piling snow into a mound and then burrowing into it. I've always wanted to build one and sleep in it, but living in Moab I never saw enough snow to make one. That all changed when we moved to northern Utah! I spent the day after our white Christmas making a huge snow pile, and the next day carving it out. It was long and wide enough for two people to lay flat! I spread out a tarp and threw out our sleeping pads and bags and Dani and I slept that night perfectly cozy.

Dani had a streak of good days, and we were able to drive down to Provo to hang out with some of her friends, namely Candace who was visiting with her family from Alabama for Christmas. Nearly all of Dani's college roommates have babies, so it was nice to hear their stories and get some good advice for new parents.

Candace with Ollie, Dani, Michelle with Everley, and Laura with Josh

Unfortunately later this week Dani started feeling sick again, but she encouraged me to go hiking to alleviate my case of cabin fever. I did the Ogden Canyon Overlook trail, which starts at Snowbasin ski resort and goes up about 2.5 miles to the top of Ogden Canyon. There was quite a bit of snow but there had been enough people who skied the trail to pack it down enough for me in my hiking boots. After I escaped the overflowing parking lot of snow sports enthusiasts, I didn't see anybody else on the trail until I was almost to the trailhead again. It was a perfect day of solitude.

The Best Christmas Present

Christmas is always a joyous time of the year, but this year Chris and I couldn't be happier with our gift - a perfect little baby. That's right folks, WE'RE PREGNANT! 

Christmas Day we got a lot of snow, but Dani also got a long awaited
break from her all-day-every-day nausea. Yay!

We are so thrilled to be expecting our new best friend this July. But if we are being honest with full disclosure - being pregnant is the worst. Don't get us wrong, this little miracle was planned and we are so honored with the opportunity to become parents, but my body has yet to get on board with this whole pregnancy thing. And the first trimester is not being nice. People talk about "morning sickness" but there are no morning parameters surrounding this sickness. I have been nauseous 24/7 since finding out at 4 1/2 weeks, it has yet to let down, and I have tried EVERYTHING. I have only had a handful of good days of feeling somewhat normal (thanks to a lot of prayer, as these days have fallen around the holidays where they were extra prayed for). This has been hard because I was planning on working, eating super healthy, and exercising my whole pregnancy but clearly the Lord has other plans. Luckily my husband is really a saint and not only is he going to school and working but he has also taken on the mantle of taking care of all the household chores as well as being incredibly patient with me. He's back to his bachelor diet of quesadillas and eggs, and I am getting by on toast and applesauce. I have occasional moments where I want to try other foods and almost always regret it afterwards; because once you throw-up most foods it's really hard to want them again.

Remember to pray and remember to play,

Mr. & Mrs. AND BABY Andrew

A4M

On Thursday I rendezvoused with my boss in Richfield, where we carpooled the rest of the way to Las Vegas for the 25th annual American Academy of Anti-Aging Medicine World Congress! Dad registered me as his assistant, and we enjoyed four days of learning from functional medicine doctors from all over the world. While he was in a specialized module about weight management, I was taking notes for him with thousands of other doctors, NPs, and healthcare professionals in the general session. 

Dr. Mark Rosenberg educates the masses.

Because I've been working for my dad this year and I just finished my first semester of nursing school, I understood a lot more than I otherwise would have of this conference. I've heard all about inflammation from dad but now I know more about what triggers it and how to avoid it. I've learned the basics of statin drugs, proton pump inhibitors, and antibiotics in school but now I understand some of their unintended but serious adverse effects and some better alternatives. 

I met Dr. Rolf and Dr. Silvia Binder, inventor and CEO of Ondamed.

I learned side-by-side from Dr. Silvia Binder on one of
the machines we operate in our office.

A lot of people feel like Mark Twain when he said "the only way to keep your health is to eat what you don't want, drink what you don't like, and do what you'd rather not." However, people who decide they've had enough of crappy health and start to make some healthy changes discover what it really means to feel good and be healthy. If they are on a trip and can't find any real food, they discover how disgusting junk food actually tastes. Here are the highlights of what we talked about:

Inflammation is the root of all disease. It even triggers autoimmune disorders, cardiovascular problems, obesity, and hormonal imbalances. Gluten is inflammatory for all people, even if they if they don't realize they're sensitive to it. Limit other inflammatory foods such as dairy, corn, and sugar. Avoid exposure to toxins such as chemicals and heavy metals like those found in vaccines, deodorant, and food packaging.

Our bodies are 10% human cells and 90% microbial cells. Keep your gut microbiome healthy (the "good" bacteria).  Some of the ways that we damage our microbiome is by eating gluten (there it is again!), using mouthwash and antibacterial soaps, consuming sugar and artificial sweeteners, and taking antibiotics. With just one course of antibiotics, our microbiome is altered forever - and for most bacterial infections there is a better way of treatment. Some of the best ways to encourage bacteroidete or "good" bacteria growth is by avoiding sugar (more on sugar later), eating organic non-GMO food, giving birth vaginally instead of by cesarean section, breastfeeding, getting out and playing in the dirt, and consuming fermented foods such as kefir, sauerkraut, kombucha, and yogurt. Everyone should be taking supplemental probiotics.

Exercise helps maintain brain health, reduces PMS symptoms, and stimulates the lymphatic system, which rids your body of toxins and waste. Frequency is more important than intensity, and if you exercise you will live longer. So take a hike! 'Nuf said.

Chromosomes are the genetic code in our body, and they are protected by caps called telomeres, similar to the plastic covering at the end of our shoelaces. They prevent our chromosomes from binding with rogue protiens and altering our DNA. Each time our cells divide, the telomeres get shorter. Telomeres determine when we die, as the shorter they are, the more we age. It's the critically short ones you have to measure, because they are the cells that cannot replicate or become cancerous. Exercise, a proper diet supplemented with omega 3 fatty acids and antioxidants, and eliminating stress contribute to longer telomeres and a longer life.

Sugar... the greatest silent villain of disease. Nobody should be eating it. In addition to causing obesity and diabetes, it increases inflammation, feeds cancer cells, contributes to ADHD, autism, and dementia, lowers testosterone, wrecks the gut microbiome, and actually makes PMS symptoms worse (sayonara, chocolate cravings).

While I've already heard a lot of this stuff before from my doctor, it was really neat to hear it from hundreds of others from all over the world and be in a room where everyone is part of the functional medicine "tribe." It really opened my eyes to the art of medicine and I'm very excited for my future in it.

Yours in health,

Chris

Since Hawaii...

... our lives have been pretty crazy! Dani got a job (the day we flew back to Utah!) as a second grade teacher at Ellison Park Elementary in Layton, and after a few more days in Moab we moved up here. Dani was immediately swamped at work (I can't tell you how many hours I was in her classroom to help her get everything set up, I had no idea how much work it was!) and I started the first semester of my nursing program at Weber State University.

This cute woman's first day of school!

While I studied full-time Dani worked double-time (literally, 13-14 hour days, 6 days a week). Fairly soon after starting her job, Dani realized she wasn't getting paid enough to loose her sanity and knew there wasn't a light at the end of the tunnel, so she resigned so she could function like a normal person. All the other teachers told her that "It's just your first year - by your third year it will be a lot easier," but we're hoping to start a family sooner than that and we felt like if this wasn't going to be a life-long career for her then it wasn't really worth it.

Anyways, I like having my wife back.

School has been going great for me! I'm just wrapping up the semester and I loved just about every minute of it. Clinicals have been in a nearby nursing home, which although it isn't very exciting, it's been a great opportunity to practice my new skills. I'm also working for my dad on Fridays down in Springville, which I love. I've always told people that I want to become a nurse anesthetist, but since working with my dad I've discovered how much fun it is to help people in ways that not all doctors can. I'm considering becoming a nurse practitioner, and Weber just started their own NP program that I think I'd love. Anyhow, I still have plenty of time to determine what I want to do after I graduate.

Not long after moving into our new ward, they called me to my dream calling - the new Scoutmaster! I was pretty stoked to accept this new responsibility. Thanks to mom for buying me a large uniform back when I was 11 (it looked ridiculous at the time but is saving me money now), I just had to take off a few patches and Grandma sewed on my new ones! I am excited to have some awesome adventures with the boys.

I think that about sums it up! Here are a few pictures of what's been going on with us.

Our first hike in Layton was Adam's Canyon.

Adam's Canyon in the fall.

Slow shutter of the waterfall at the end of Farmington Creek Trail.

One of Dani's best high school friends Claudia was in the states from Spain (where she lives)
for a couple weeks and she flew to Utah for 24 hours just to visit us!

Summiting Ben Lomond above Ogden.

At the peak. Mantua and Cache Valley are behind us.

"The stare down"
We nearly ran into this cow moose and her calf on the trail. We didn't stick around long after this picture.