We'll begin with the stressed out half of Freak-out. I received an email a few weeks ago about a research study at the medical school about meditation and its impact on... something else. I really zoned out on the second half of the study's purpose because all I could think about was the meditation part. Meditation? Reducing something? Count me in.
It turns out that the second half of the study is about pain management. I'm a participant in a study on meditation and pain management. And there are at least three groups to which I could be assigned: meditation, topical lidocaine, or the control group. That gives me a 33% chance of being randomly assigned to the meditation group, in which I would learn how to meditate and hopefully I could break up with Stressed Out, forever ending the union of Stressed Out and Control Freak. I'll take my chance.
I'm in the lidocaine group. Nuts.
Nonetheless, the study is quite interesting, and I get to have two MRIs as part of it! (Speaking of which, I had my first MRI this week, and, sadly, the researcher did not exclaim, "WOW! This is the most AMAZING BRAIN we've EVER SEEN!" Even after I asked if it was the most amazing brain he'd ever seen.)
I reported for my first appointment this week at the hospital. Enter Control Freak, who decided she would rather drive to the hospital herself than take the free University shuttle to the hospital. Why? Because she felt as though driving herself would allow her more control - over when she got there, when she left, whether or not she picked up lunch along the way, how fast she got there, etc.
I arrived at the hospital at approximately 9:30 am. For 30 minutes, I drove in circles around the hospital trying to find the building where I was supposed to report. I had been told the road it was on, the building it was next to, and that there was a statue of Bowman Gray in front of the building. I drove in circles for 30 minutes, but darnit, I was in control.
Finally, I decided that I would enter one of the parking garages and that an attendant in the parking garage could help me find my way. Welp, automated entry to the parking garage does not provide the opportunity to speak to an attendant. Forge forward, control freak, you'll get there. That's okay, I remember which direction the street is (where that building is SUPPOSED to be, but I have yet to find it), so I'll just start walking and figure it out.
Walking. Walking. Walking. 25 minutes of walking. From one end of the hospital's campus to the other. I stopped at an information desk about 10 minutes into my walking. They knew where the Gray Building was, but they made it seem as though that is a building where I should NOT be going...
"What floor?"
"Well, I'm headed to 4087 Gray Building."
"I don't think that's a room number. I think that's the address for the building."
Shaking my head.
With map in hand, I headed to the Gray Building. After successfully making it to the Gray Building, I unsuccessfully tried to board an elevator and use the stairs. You might be wondering how that's possible. Well. Elevators are card access only, and to enter the stairwell was easy, but to exit the stairwell onto any of the floors required card access too. I made it to the fourth floor, but I could not escape the stairwell, so I headed back down to the first floor where the only door that I could open led me outside to a bed of pine needles. No sidewalk. No walkway. No dirt path. Pine needles. I drudged through damp, squishy pine needles to the front entrance of the Gray Building. And guess what? It was card access only too.
The good news is that I finally found the statue of Bowman Gray - you can't see it from the road. And I also found the building next to the Gray Building, which you also can't see from the road. Awesome.
Finally, I called a classmate to get the number of the research assistants for the study (you see, I do not have a smartphone and didn't have access to my emails with their contact info). I called the research assistants to apologize for being late - it's now 10:25 am - but I'm outside the building and can't figure out how to get in.
"Sorry, I don't really know how to give you directions to get here."
WHAT. I'm at the front entrance of the building. By the Bowman Gray statue, where you TOLD ME TO GO.
Did I mention it's lightly drizzling?
Long story short, I finally made it to my appointment - about 15 minutes late, after spending an hour trying to find the place. All because I didn't want to take the shuttle, WHICH I found out later would have dropped me off at the exact door where I needed to enter.
I'm headed back for my next appointment tomorrow. I'm driving myself. Because not only am I a stressed out, control freak, but I'm also stubborn, and by golly, I'm going to find my way to 4087 Gray Building if it's the last thing I do. New celebrity couple name: Freakout McStubborn. And perhaps, in a few years, I'll be Freakout McStubborn, PhD. We'll see.
Peace, love, and pine needles--
EMILY :)
