Feb. 1, 2017
“Jude Law…he looks just like Jude Law.” That’s the phrase I uttered at least seven times to an entire team of health care professionals years ago when coming out of surgery. Yes – seven times, while pointing at one of my nurses. At least that’s what they tell me. Another time, I apparently came out of it filled with anger and proceeded to yell at everyone around me. So last Friday, waking up from anesthesia after knee surgery, the first thing I asked the nurse was if I had behaved myself. Being out of control is one of the scariest parts about surgery. It takes a huge amount of trust in doctors, nurses and modern medicine that you’ll come out the other side fine – even if you’re muttering about Jude Law.
Everything went fine and I’m well on my way to recovery. I’ve had a few medical things to deal with here and there and I’m always astounded at the skill and dedication of my providers. It truly takes a village just to get one patient through even the most minor of procedures. There are check-ins, lab tests, IVs, pre-op, post-op, anesthesia, pain management, medical equipment and, well, the list is exhausting. Staying well requires a huge team of players – and that’s just the day of surgery. Imagine all the other people – engineers, scientists, chemists, teachers and more who all play some role in keeping people well.
It’s only been a few days and already my pain is really manageable. In fact, I moved to plain ibuprofen the evening I got home. Ibuprofen is such a normal part of most people’s lives that we don’t really think about it, but just imagine how much research and science it took to make it safe and effective for use.
Madison “Maddy” Jenner is a junior majoring in chemistry who, even as an undergraduate, is already conducting exactly that kind of research. The work she and her colleagues are doing with aromatic compounds could lead to large-scale applications in drug development. I don’t remember exactly what I was doing at her age, but I’m pretty sure I wasn’t doing major chemical research. Read her STUDENT VIEW: A broader view, to learn more about this impressive young Spartan scientist.
The doc who did my surgery told my husband I probably wouldn’t be a runner – which is fine since I wasn’t before surgery. While I’ll certainly be able to do plenty of sports and exercises that don’t pound my knee too much, I’m thinking football is probably also out.
Football will most definitely be in this weekend when much of the country will tune in to the Super Bowl on Sunday. Even people who never watch football will find themselves at a party, eating snacks, watching the half-time entertainment, maybe watching the game, but certainly rating the commercials. Super Bowl commercials have become “a thing” that’s often bigger than the game. In fact, MSU’s professors of advertising will gather for the 20th consecutive year to rate them on quality, production value, creativity, branding and strategy execution.
Ayalla Ruvio is a professor of marketing and resident expert in applied consumer behavior in the Broad College of Business. Check out her FACULTY VOICE: Super Bowl, super marketing, to read about her thoughts on the phenomenon from a business perspective.
It really is amazing to me how much research goes on at MSU. I swear it’s practically impossible to find a major world challenge that Spartans aren’t working on. Just in the last week, we’ve covered stories about developing malaria treatments, improving med school curriculum for better performance, helping Michigan’s elderly with in-home care and sequencing mushrooms to potentially create medicine – and those are just in the field of health care. Spartans are also working incredibly hard to clean the environment, solve food shortages, make the world safer and educate young minds. Sometimes you have to put your trust in others to take care of things. Spartans can be trusted to take care of the world. Spartans Will.
Lisa Mulcrone
Editor, MSUToday
@LMulcrone
Photo by Derrick L. Turner