Some kind of pseudo-prosopagnosia

Currently I am in the psychiatry block of my curriculum. As a treat I've been placed into a psychiatry small group that interviews patients in PCCC (Providence Continuing Care Centre) which was formerly the Kingston Psychiatric Hospital. It's been pretty fun... I haven't really been surprised by anything the patients have had to say so far. I kind of expect a weird patient population in Kingston anyways, since we have the penitentiaries here, the army base across the lake and all the preteen undergrads.

Last Thursday, however, was a different story. In our small groups, each individual gets to interview the patient about one component of the mental status exam. So when it was my turn to assess the patient's thought content, the first thing she asked me was, "haven't I met you before?" I didn't get particularly freaked out, but it was funny because I get this all the time. If I'm at the shoe store, the shoe salesman will ask "were you here last week?" If I'm forced to buy lotto tickets for my parents, the lotto ticket salesperson will ask "don't I know your friend?", or the best one I've had is "aren't you Wendy from McDonald's?" Even one of my classmates thinks I have an uncanny resemblance to his sister. People! It's flattering but I'd like to think I don't look like every other Asian girl out there!

At any rate, I've got one more week of class to go before exams. I still figure that's lots of time to study so I was lucky that Mike was able to come up this weekend. I cooked a lot and made my new recipe for bolognese sauce. I think it's my yummiest creation yet! Besides studying and watching movies (including the new Walk the Line - go folk music!) we also had time to browse through Indigo, where we found the cutest Christmas tree in the children's section. They had a really cool school donation program there - on the tree were paper ornaments with a child's name and age on it, with a book they wanted for Christmas. We thought it was such a good idea, so after much deliberation we decided to purchase "I Have to Go!" for a little girl named Faith. Of course, this is the wonderful book by Robert Munsch that's all about the waterworks, i.e. peeing! There was another girl that really wanted a sweet valley high book but I couldn't find one. I was disappointed because I remember when I was young... I loved babysitter's club books and all that jazz.

Well now it's Monday and it's back to reality. I'm going to make an unprecedented move right now and hit the gym. Meanwhile, look carefully before you think somebody else is me!
p.s. World AIDS Day events were a success! We were able to raise $200 for HIV/AIDS Regional Services Kingston.
p.s.s. Prosopagnosia = difficulty in recognizing familiar faces

Today's newly discovered medical fact: While reading some neurology trivia, otherwise known as "questions you will often be asked by attendings that are not important for understanding science or taking care of patients and you should not have to answer them", I found out what crocodile tears are! After damage to the facial nerve, such as in Bell's palsy, regenerating fibers may become misdirected such that impulses to the mouth and lips instead stimulate the lacrimal gland which secretes tears. As a result, chewing food may cause a patient to cry. The expression comes from an African folktale in which it was believed that crocodiles felt compassion and remorse for their prey and wept with sorrow whenever they ate. Isn't that so cute?!? Also, research shows that crocodiles sometimes secrete a fluid from their eyes when they kill prey.