Braaaaaains!

Well, it's just after midnight .. which means it's my birthday! Jean-Marc and I are currently driving to my hometown (Courtice, Ontario). We got on the road even later than we wanted to because it took some time to get all the suitcases and boxes packed into the car. We probably won't get in until almost 4am. I'm pretty sure my father would be proud though if he saw all the stuff we stuffed into my tiny vehicle. Haha.

Today was quite stressful. I woke up with just as many boxes around me as the last couple of days. As much packing as we'd done, there was still so much to do. By 9pm, I did manage to get all my personal things into boxes, but I had to leave most of them in a closet because there just wasn't enough room in the car. The nice part is that half the packing of my apartment is done for the official move in August. Yay!

Today was also my last day at work. And what a day it was!! So, I work at the Montreal Neurological Institute, which is world famous for the work done there by Dr. Penfield (burnt toast heritage moment anyone?). A colleague of mine has been trying to get me into the viewing room to watch a neurosurgery for years. And finally, on my last day ever, it happened!! This morning I made my way up to the hospital, through a really tiny corridor, past the nurses station, and straight into an episode of Grey's Anatomy. Nah, it wasn't really like Grey's - the surgeon was definitely no McDreamy, but the scene was incredible. I was observing OR #1 - the original Dr. Penfield operating room. I was the only person in the viewing room. They had just cut back the scalp and were controlling the bleeding. The patient had had a tumor removed before and you could see where his skull had previously been opened up. I couldn't help but think about Hannibal Lector, and it felt a little surreal to be watching them remove a piece of the skull, but when I got right up to the window, there was only about 6 feet between me and the live brain. And you know what? I saw it move. A live brain "breathes"; and this causes a small movement as it's oxygenating. Sort of like a pulse (yes Jon, a pulse☺). It was amazing. I was completely awestruck. I get to play with brains all the time through my involvement with Brain Awareness Montreal; heck I even used to have a cow brain in a jar on my bureau. But this was the first time I'd seen one live and it was phenomenal. On top of this, my labmates brought in a pear au chocolate dessert to celebrate my birthday and my last day. It was the perfect end to my 3.5 years at the Neuro.

Since it's my last day and all, I'd like to thank everyone, particularly my labmates, at the Neuro and McGill for the great memories. As many of you know, getting my Masters was not an easy process, but it was made just a little more bearable by working alongside and getting to know such wonderful people. So thank you! You will be missed.

Jennika