057 sodium challenge

As an aspiring pharmacist, I plan to lead a healthy lifestyle incorporating exercise, healthy food, and limiting bad habits. I feel it is important to practice what I preach. When I tell my future patients "Have you thought about quitting smoking?" "Don't forget to exercise," "It is important to eat/drink less sugar/caffeine," etc, I best be doing the same.

One of the interns that I work with at CVS asked me if I have heard of the sodium challenge. I told her "No." and asked her to explain to me what it is. In one of her pharmacy classes, the professor explained to the class that as a health practitioner, we tell our patients to lead healthy lifestyles along with their medication. We recommend life style changes such as exercising more, limiting caffeine, fatty foods, and sodium intake. It's easier said than done.

According to the Mayo Clinic, a healthy adult should consume no more than 2.3 g of sodium. The less the better. My friend's professor challenged the class to consume no more than 2 g of sodium every day for one week. When my friend described this challenge I thought in my head, "PIECE OF sodium-free CAKE!" So I went ahead and did the challenge and finished last Monday. I haven't had the opportunity to write about this experience until now though.

OH. MY. GOODNESS. The first few days were extremely challenging because it seemed about everything in my pantry had about a block of salt in it. I remember feeling faint and famished for the first few days because I didn't know what I could eat! But as I did a little more research into the sorts of food I should be eating and with the help of calorie count, the week got progressively easier. Less salt does not mean less food.

Overall, it was a very challenging week for me but I am glad I was able to experience what some people have to be concerned about everyday of their lives within that one week. I feel for you my future renal-failure patients and I hope that when I am consulting you in the future, I will be able to empathize with you. You're not in it alone. We never are. And if you don't have ideas for low-sodium meals, I'll be able to help you. :o) Live long and prosper.

056

As of today, I have completed 76 hours of my IPPEs. I can't believe I have been interning for that long. Gregg still manages to make me feel like an imbecile but I had a good day at the pharmacy.

Answering patient questions and making recommendations are my favorite things to do in the pharmacy. Today, a mom and her son came in asking for a recommendation about itch cream. Apparently, the son had an awful rash in the crease of his arm from scratching it so often. The son refused to see a doctor and had been using neosporin to help with the itching but to no avail, the rash had gotten progressively worse. My initial thought was, "Why the hell are you using neosporin for a rash?" I directed them to the anti-itch cream and made some recommendations but made it a point to go see his doctor. Then he asked me if we carried witch hazel, which is normally used as an astringent for oozing rashes. He apparently heard from some magazine that it's good to treat baggy eyes. I stared at this self-conscious high school boy and then I stared at his prominent eye bags. I don't remember Bandy teaching us anything about baggy eyes but I recommended him to gently rub a soft toothbrush around his under-eyes to stimulate blood flow around his eyes to reduce the appearance of the bags and then I politely pointed him towards the direction of the cosmetics aisle to look for a concealer if he was really that concerned. Oh boys will be boys...

I also know what a yeast infection looks like now. After reconstituting an erythromycin cream for a patient, I asked Gregg to help me make those fancy swirls in the cream to make it look "pharmaceutically elegant" as he likes to put it and he bluntly tells me, "No matter what you do to that cream, it's still going to look like a yeast infection". I think I barfed in my mouth a little. I replied back, "I don't know what a yeast infection looks like." He responds by telling me that I'm a good girl and to be wary when I meet a dirty boy, lawlz. After looking at the cream, in my opinion, a yeast infection looks like cottage cheese.