Do not wish to be anything but what you are, and try to be that perfectly.
-St. Francis de Sales
Today was rather uneventful. I missed my first class because I didn't feel so hot, but I felt fine later so I think it was more psychological. I did go to the next two...nothing to fun about those. I had my lab this afternoon and for the first time in a LONG time I LOVED IT!!! We learned how to intubate a patient. I'll try to add some pictures as to what that is at the end. It was amazing. It's more surgical and you feel very important. Can I say I loved it again? And more than that...I was good at it! It's a lot like a skill I had to perform as an EMT, so I already had the feel for it, but this is so much more intense. You have 30 seconds to find the vocal cords, flip the epiglottis, and then guide the endotracheal tube into the opening, take they stylette out, inflate the cuff and then resume bagging the patient. I was timing myself, and I got it down to about 10-15 seconds. I definitely want to work at a hospital that allows the RT to do this. Up until now I haven't really been sure about what field I wanted to work in, but now I'm definitely leaning towards the OR and ER.
Anyways, I have lab now with a group of people that I adore...Tom, Lauren and Lindsay mainly. I'm no longer allowed to sit near them or across from them. We all know how immature I can be (i.e. I laugh every time I go to 'Dick's sporting good store'), but I was way over the line today. First off, anytime the word 'lube' is said I would get the giggles (with intubating, you lube a lot), then I'd see Tom or Lauren or Lindsay giggling and it would make me laugh, then laugh harder. Then one of our naive instructors defined the word "tromboning", and not only did I find the word hilarious, but the action was even funnier. Then there was a whole issue about the baby dummy with balloons as lungs...it was a fun time in lab. Either RT school is becoming more fun, or we have officially lost our marbles.
This is what we use to move anatomical structures and flip open the epiglottis, a laryngoscope.
In the left hand is the laryngoscope and in the right is the endotracheal tube being guided into the trachea.
Another shot of insertion. 
And this is what it looks like when we're looking down into the trach! I think this is amazing!!!
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