Mile 5318: Exploration - Part 1

Above: One of the best highlights on the road was the "All Jacked Up" truck on Northbound I-65 in Indiana.

MYSTERY CREATES WONDER, AND WONDER IS THE BASIS
OF MAN'S DESIRE TO UNDERSTAND.
Neil Armstrong, Apollo 11.

At the Kennedy Space Center (KSC), I met Bob Springer, an astronaut that participated on a couple of Space Shuttle missions with NASA. At the KSC, guests are able to interact with real astronauts and ask them questions. With my curious (and sometimes over-curious) personality, I decided to pull a question on him and immediately raised my hand when the floor was open for questions.

A man with a microphone walks over, and puts the black device in front of my face. Looking up at him on the stage from my seat, I then asked, What types of medical monitoring are done on astronauts in space?

As the man pulls away the microphone, Mr. Springer on stage starts to talk about the types of research astronauts have performed in space. Although he probably misinterpreted my question (I was asking about measuring heart rates, respiratory rates, etc.), he produced a very intriguing answer as he started talking about how astronauts have studied the effects of bone density in space, the concept of "space motion sickness," and effects of gamma radiation on astronauts in space. I couldn't tell you how much that stuff started to spark my medical neural pathways.

I got to meet Mr. Springer firsthand at a photo session afterward. After he told me that I asked a great question, I told Mr. Springer that I would definitely look some of this research up when I got home. The task is still on my list.

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After leaving Miami last Friday, I had a week off between rotations. I decided to take it to explore places, do things, and basically not be a medical student for 1858.7 miles on my journey. (If you were wondering why I didn't blog for a week, that's why.) I did everything from learning to ride on a Segway, getting my car stuck in the sand on the beach, seeing the space shuttle on its pad ready for launch, seeing how airlines train their pilots & staffers, and even meeting a cashier at Wendy's named Zzyzx. I took a week to do stuff I would never get to do in the hospital.

But my journey wasn't just about what I saw or experienced, it was also about the people I got to meet along the way. I visited people I haven't seen in a while, friends and former supervisors/advisers that really made my experience on the trip. I thought that a hearty visit would be more than appropriate to thank them all for all that I have done so far. But for me, when getting involved in loading my brain with medical info, I have found it easy to forget myself. Seeing all of them was a good refresher, as many of them reminded me of who I am as a person and what personal qualities helped me get to where I am today.

At first it might seem rather superfluous to include my vacation miles on my journey, but for me, time to explore more about myself (and be myself too) is a huge part of my development as a doctor. I'm not just a doctor or a provider. I'm also me. So, tomorrow, I'll tell you more about some of the specifics of my journey, but for now, my Ford Focus and I are going to get some sleep. There's a lot to process from my week retreat.