Bottoms Up - Trichuris suis self treatment

Day 1 (6/19/2016)
The purpose of this post is to document my experiences with whipworm self medication. Whipworms (Trichuris suis) from pigs have been used to treat autoimmune disorders and severe allergies. I am giving it a shot, because I desperately want to get rid of my allergies. This year I've spent about $500 on allergy medications, and I am miserable so much of the time, so I think it's worth it.

Pig whipworm supposedly only survives in the human gut for 2-3 weeks; therefore one must re-treat every 2-3 weeks with a new dose of worms. One dose of 2,500 worm ova are $250, so this will get pretty pricey. I plan to harvest  my own worms to save money. Some people use human whipworm, but this, in my opinion, is more dangerous because the worms colonize and survive in the gut for a much longer time.

Specimens: Tanawisa Company (Thailand; www.tanawisa.com) 

TSO2500 - approximately 2500 organisms; Batch #B29071501, stored in 15mL of PBS pH2.7

I calculated approximately 0.16 organisms per uL, and I wanted to get a look at the little critters, so I've taken a 100uL (should be about 16 organisms) aliquot to fix and stain with phalloidin actin dye. Here is what they look like:  

Based on the pictures, I concluded that the product is fairly pure (I didn't see any other organisms in there), so I was willing to consume it.

I consumed the 15mL of fluid, and it tasted like lemon water. It's strange to think about all of those parasites working their way through my digestive tract. But in comparison to the bacteriophages, bacteria, viruses...it's just another bug.

Day 2 (6/20/2016)
I feel fairly normal today. I had my regular morning allergies and took an Allegra as well as a nasal spray. My stomach feels a little strange, it's hard to explain. My heart feels like it's beating a little bit faster. 

First teaching experiences

This past month I was the luckiest graduate student in the world, because not only was I asked to teach a class, but I was asked to teach a class IN THE BAHAMAS! I taught a group of 18 undergraduate students an advanced molecular biology class on a small island for 3 weeks. The research station we stay at is the Gerace Field Station, San Salvador, Bahamas:

One of my life goals is to be a professor at a small liberal arts school, so this experience was absolutely perfect for my resume.
When I imagined my first teaching experience, I always pictured myself preparing for months in advance. I knew that I would have my grading philosophy completely set in stone, as well as have a good idea of disciplinary plans. One lesson I've learned as a graduate student is that nothing goes as planned. My first teaching experience was almost a 180 degree turn from how I imagined it going. I panicked a little bit at first because this was a lot of responsibility for a student only a few years older than students in the class I was teaching. I had a lot of questions - would they respect me? What if I lost someone? What if someone was eaten by a shark? I knew that it only took one strong-willed student to make the class extremely difficult for me, and I was worried about that too.

I was given 1 week to prepare. I was asked as a last resort when the current instructors had complications that didn't allow them to leave school. I spoke several times to "The Professor" and we came up with a game plan. Students would work in the lab in the mornings and focus on their individual projects. In the afternoons I would take them into the field and we would snorkel. In the evenings we had journal clubs and discussions.
I had the freedom to formulate schedule around that regarding which papers to read/discuss, and where to go to snorkel.

The two weeks I spent with the students were awesome. It was fun and inspiring, and every day was exciting. The thing I didn't realize was how exhausting it would be. Because I was with the students ALL DAY, every day, I was never allowed to turn off. Students would ask me questions about lab while I was eating breakfast! In the future I will have to remember to make it a rule that there will be no lab-related questions while the professor is eating. My favorite thing though was spending time with the really enthusiastic students. My dad used to tell me that whenever I had interviews, I should always be enthusiastic, but I never realized just how much of an effect it could actually have. I'd argue that it's one of the greatest feelings to explain something to an enthusiastic student, and then watch how their brain is processing the information to think of the next step or the implications of the concept they just learned.

This is something I definitely want to do in the future. I think I could be really good at it.

Discovering the science blogosphere.

I was recently inspired to start writing my thoughts and feelings in blog form after reading an article about the under-representation of women in science.
The author encouraged women to speak up and start speaking up early in graduate school while the world was not so threatening yet. My goal for this spring semester is going to be to ask a question at every seminar - I will gain respect as someone who has intelligent things to say and will not be afraid to share them. The author stressed that this practice will help the students' overall career by building confidence and developing communication skills.

Another way to develop these important skills is through writing - and that is when I decided to start my own blog.

Here it goes.