You have to read the title in a Borat accent. Rob does the best one I've heard. Or, if you haven't seen the movie, see it.
Anyway. I HATE ICE. We had a lot of snow this weekend, but I have been able to dig my car out, as well as crack the thick ice that covered the windshields and windows (albeit at the expense of my longtime scraper, whose teeth broke off since I chiseled so hard). However, I have STILL not been able to move my car, which is incredibly frustrating to me. It just limits me, when there are several things I need to do this week mainly concerning a bridal shower we are having for Katie, Erin, and Tia this weekend. I don't like not being independent and having to rely on people for rides/transportation, or anything else for that matter (even though I have incredibly generous friends who offer their cars).
The deal is that my car is sitting ontop of about an inch of compacted ice, so that when I try to reverse the car out of its spot, all that happens is that the wheels spin. I've tried rocking the car forward and back. I've tried reversing while someone pushed. I've prayed. I've stepped on the gas so much that I smell that burning rubber smell when I get out. Not good. Lesley and David gave me some plastic mesh thingies to try to place behind the wheels for traction. This I will try. I stopped some guy salting the sidewalks this morning and asked him what he would do about this unfortunate situation. He told me to try kitty litter. I may try salt as well. Or some combo of those. Or, as someone else suggested, just pour a bunch of boiling water on the ice to try to temporarily melt it long enough to get out. However, this may just compound the problem since it will just refreeze-- I think our temps are staying on or just below 30. Grr.
And even worse news? After reading Wendi's blog, I hear we are supposed to get maybe another foot of snow tomorrow. This is urgent! It is imperative I get my car out and move it to the sunnier side of the parking lot so that I have a chance of being able to use it for the rest of the winter!!!!!!!!!!!!! I gotta run!
Tuesday, February 27, 2007
Monday, February 26, 2007
SNOW and my first trip (as a patient) to the Saint Mary's ER
We have gotten a ton of snow in the past 2 days (for pictures, please see Wendi or Kristen's blogs). I think there was 14 or something inches on the ground yesterday by early afternoon, when I decided to take a little expedition. With my newfound vow to buy minimal amounts of groceries and wanting some fresh air/exercise, I decided I would trek to the Hyvee by Barlow Plaza and buy a bag's worth of fresh fruit and veggies. To walk seemed perfect because I would be limited by the fact that I would have to carry my purchases home, although the store is less than a mile away. So I donned two pairs of pants, fleece, my big winter coat, and boots and set out on my way.
It was really quite a pleasant walk... until about 2 blocks from the grocery store. It was still snowing and there were very few sidewalks that were shoveled, so I ended up walking in the street for most of the trip, but it was very warm (i.e. around 30) and I was enjoying being outside. Then, when I got up 11th Ave., I saw this German Shepherd darting between this house's driveway and the street, nearly getting hit by oncoming traffic, and barking up a storm. I was walking on the same side of the street that this dog apparently "belonged," but I just tried to keep calm, keep walking, and not let the dog "smell" my fear.
That didn't work too well. I made it past the driveway but then felt its teeth sink into the flesh of my left leg. I heard someone yell for the dog and it ran around to the back of the house. Rather than thinking through things, going up to the house and asking about rabies vaccination, I just wanted to get the heck out of there, so I continued walking to Hyvee.
Once there, I did check out the wound. The dog's teeth had punctured my windpants and broken my skin, but my workout pants underneath didn't seem to have a hole in them. So, although the wound hurt and was a bit bruised and swollen, as well as bleeding a little, I tried to convince myself that I didn't need to seek medical attention because there had been a "barrier" between the dog's saliva and my skin (again, proof that I am a terrible patient). Lesley called and, after relating this to her, she came right away to Hyvee to pick me up. After looking at my leg, she felt like I should probably go to the ER and get it looked at to perhaps get antibiotic prophylaxis (animals' mouths carry all kinds of funny organisms like Pasteurella) even if I didn't need rabies immunoglobulin. So to Saint Mary's we went. To give you an idea, here's a picture of my leg, taken once I got home.
It wasn't too bad of an ER experience. Actually, it was quite interesting being on the "patient" side of things. I was there for about an hour and a half (luckily, I had a book [you may ask, who brings a book when she's walking to Hyvee for groceries and back?! But I always have one, for situations just like this one]). I learned that the steps I needed to take were to go back to the house, see what the animal's rabies vaccination status was, wash the wound, and take some ibuprofen for pain/ Amoxicillin for 5 days. It was actually quite funny when the PA was interviewing me-- he saw all these rabies shots in my immunization record and, thinking I had been bitten lots of times, thought I should "reconsider my career choice or something." I had had many (prophylactic shots) growing up while living in Asia, where there are many stray dogs. And I got a tetanus and rabies vaccination in 2005 before going to Peru.
In any case, once we left Saint Mary's, Lesley and I went back to the culprit house to talk to the owners (I was so glad I wasn't alone!). Lesley got out of the car wielding an ice scraper as a weapon should we spot the wild animal, and we knocked on the door. The owners were really surprised that "Hannah" had bitten me, as she never has bitten anyone else, and there are several children that live in the house. She is usually confined to the backyard but must have escaped due to the high snowdrifts. The owners did confirm that she has had her rabies shots. Someone I talked to today said that I should totally make them pay for the ER visit when I get my bill. This didn't really cross my mind yesterday and I realize that I don't have the owner's last name (she scribbled her first, as well as her phone number on a slip of paper for me). But I'm not sure that this is appropriate. I guess it was my own fault for walking past this dog. I don't know. In any case, I'm supposedly in the clear for rabies for now, unless this dog becomes very sick in the next 10 days. Tell me if you think I start acting crazy or if I have foam coming out of my mouth.
It was really quite a pleasant walk... until about 2 blocks from the grocery store. It was still snowing and there were very few sidewalks that were shoveled, so I ended up walking in the street for most of the trip, but it was very warm (i.e. around 30) and I was enjoying being outside. Then, when I got up 11th Ave., I saw this German Shepherd darting between this house's driveway and the street, nearly getting hit by oncoming traffic, and barking up a storm. I was walking on the same side of the street that this dog apparently "belonged," but I just tried to keep calm, keep walking, and not let the dog "smell" my fear.
That didn't work too well. I made it past the driveway but then felt its teeth sink into the flesh of my left leg. I heard someone yell for the dog and it ran around to the back of the house. Rather than thinking through things, going up to the house and asking about rabies vaccination, I just wanted to get the heck out of there, so I continued walking to Hyvee.
Once there, I did check out the wound. The dog's teeth had punctured my windpants and broken my skin, but my workout pants underneath didn't seem to have a hole in them. So, although the wound hurt and was a bit bruised and swollen, as well as bleeding a little, I tried to convince myself that I didn't need to seek medical attention because there had been a "barrier" between the dog's saliva and my skin (again, proof that I am a terrible patient). Lesley called and, after relating this to her, she came right away to Hyvee to pick me up. After looking at my leg, she felt like I should probably go to the ER and get it looked at to perhaps get antibiotic prophylaxis (animals' mouths carry all kinds of funny organisms like Pasteurella) even if I didn't need rabies immunoglobulin. So to Saint Mary's we went. To give you an idea, here's a picture of my leg, taken once I got home.
It wasn't too bad of an ER experience. Actually, it was quite interesting being on the "patient" side of things. I was there for about an hour and a half (luckily, I had a book [you may ask, who brings a book when she's walking to Hyvee for groceries and back?! But I always have one, for situations just like this one]). I learned that the steps I needed to take were to go back to the house, see what the animal's rabies vaccination status was, wash the wound, and take some ibuprofen for pain/ Amoxicillin for 5 days. It was actually quite funny when the PA was interviewing me-- he saw all these rabies shots in my immunization record and, thinking I had been bitten lots of times, thought I should "reconsider my career choice or something." I had had many (prophylactic shots) growing up while living in Asia, where there are many stray dogs. And I got a tetanus and rabies vaccination in 2005 before going to Peru.In any case, once we left Saint Mary's, Lesley and I went back to the culprit house to talk to the owners (I was so glad I wasn't alone!). Lesley got out of the car wielding an ice scraper as a weapon should we spot the wild animal, and we knocked on the door. The owners were really surprised that "Hannah" had bitten me, as she never has bitten anyone else, and there are several children that live in the house. She is usually confined to the backyard but must have escaped due to the high snowdrifts. The owners did confirm that she has had her rabies shots. Someone I talked to today said that I should totally make them pay for the ER visit when I get my bill. This didn't really cross my mind yesterday and I realize that I don't have the owner's last name (she scribbled her first, as well as her phone number on a slip of paper for me). But I'm not sure that this is appropriate. I guess it was my own fault for walking past this dog. I don't know. In any case, I'm supposedly in the clear for rabies for now, unless this dog becomes very sick in the next 10 days. Tell me if you think I start acting crazy or if I have foam coming out of my mouth.
Sunday, February 25, 2007
Hair Scare
About once a year, usually as springtime nears (the timeline sometimes needs to be modified due to winters in Minnesota), I try to highlight my own hair. Now, some people may say "you get what you pay for" and recommend going to a salon to have this professionally done. Although I had one bad experience back in high school when I used a highlighting kit and ended up with blonde streaks, earning me the nickname "skunk," I generally disagree. And I'm cheap. So, for the past 5 years or so, I go to the store, buy some permanent strawberry blonde-colored hair dye, and streak my hair in my own bathroom.
This color has worked well for me. Because my hair is so dark, I usually leave the dye in for about 5-10 minutes longer than the instructions "recommend" (usually it's blonds or light brunettes that want to go redder). I mix it as the instructions indicate, squeeze it out onto the provided gloves, and randomly pick chunks of hair to cover from root to tip. I try to do some around the part so that it is noticeable when I wear my hair down. But I try to concentrate on my "top layer" of hair (when I put it up in a ponytail) because that's what sees the sun and gets lighter with exposure. It's always worked out really well.
So, house-bound yesterday, I thought it would be a good time to try to lighten my hair (I bought the dye a couple of weeks ago). I didn't do 48-hour patch test that the instructions indicate one should do before every hair coloring. But I have never reacted to any brand of hair color, nor is my skin especially sensitive, and it's kind of annoying to, when I decide it's time to do the hair, do this test, wait 48 hours, and then go for the real deal. So I just took the risk of systemtic hypersensitivity. I'm such a bad patient.
The brand (L'oreal) I bought this time was a new one, and it had this nifty comb-like appendage you could add to the bottle top. I thought this would be perfect for highlighting purposes. So I went ahead and squeezed that to the roots around my part and used my hands to spread the dye down to the ends of my hair, in the front, etc. Then, as I was to wait 30 minutes before washing the stuff out, I went to watch yet another episode of Scrubs.
After the episode was over (they are about 20 minutes long, so this was 10 minutes before the time was "up"), I went back to look in the mirror to see if I could see anything happening, and nearly jumped out of my skin. My roots were bright reddish! I wondered if it was the dye changing color with time or whether that was the real color of my hair, but I immediately dunked my head under the faucet to wash the stuff out. I was really nervous that my hair had gotten super (skunk-like) light and started freaking out even more when, even with wet hair, I could see the red streaks (usually they are less noticeable when my hair is wet and dark). I then rushed to blow it dry, something I rarely ever do, to see the "end effect" when my hair dried.
Luckily, it doesn't look horrendous (to my eyes). You can definitely tell that I lightened it, especially when my hair is down, but it actually looks "softer" with my hair dried. It also looks much brighter under the hot fluorescent bathroom lights than in regular light. But I know I'm going to be slightly nervous the next time I try to do this on my own. I'd be interested in hearing your honest opinions about this outcome the next time you see my new auburn-streaked head of hair :)
I can't write any more right now, but stay tuned for another scary story tomorrow...
This color has worked well for me. Because my hair is so dark, I usually leave the dye in for about 5-10 minutes longer than the instructions "recommend" (usually it's blonds or light brunettes that want to go redder). I mix it as the instructions indicate, squeeze it out onto the provided gloves, and randomly pick chunks of hair to cover from root to tip. I try to do some around the part so that it is noticeable when I wear my hair down. But I try to concentrate on my "top layer" of hair (when I put it up in a ponytail) because that's what sees the sun and gets lighter with exposure. It's always worked out really well.
So, house-bound yesterday, I thought it would be a good time to try to lighten my hair (I bought the dye a couple of weeks ago). I didn't do 48-hour patch test that the instructions indicate one should do before every hair coloring. But I have never reacted to any brand of hair color, nor is my skin especially sensitive, and it's kind of annoying to, when I decide it's time to do the hair, do this test, wait 48 hours, and then go for the real deal. So I just took the risk of systemtic hypersensitivity. I'm such a bad patient.
The brand (L'oreal) I bought this time was a new one, and it had this nifty comb-like appendage you could add to the bottle top. I thought this would be perfect for highlighting purposes. So I went ahead and squeezed that to the roots around my part and used my hands to spread the dye down to the ends of my hair, in the front, etc. Then, as I was to wait 30 minutes before washing the stuff out, I went to watch yet another episode of Scrubs.
After the episode was over (they are about 20 minutes long, so this was 10 minutes before the time was "up"), I went back to look in the mirror to see if I could see anything happening, and nearly jumped out of my skin. My roots were bright reddish! I wondered if it was the dye changing color with time or whether that was the real color of my hair, but I immediately dunked my head under the faucet to wash the stuff out. I was really nervous that my hair had gotten super (skunk-like) light and started freaking out even more when, even with wet hair, I could see the red streaks (usually they are less noticeable when my hair is wet and dark). I then rushed to blow it dry, something I rarely ever do, to see the "end effect" when my hair dried.
Luckily, it doesn't look horrendous (to my eyes). You can definitely tell that I lightened it, especially when my hair is down, but it actually looks "softer" with my hair dried. It also looks much brighter under the hot fluorescent bathroom lights than in regular light. But I know I'm going to be slightly nervous the next time I try to do this on my own. I'd be interested in hearing your honest opinions about this outcome the next time you see my new auburn-streaked head of hair :)
I can't write any more right now, but stay tuned for another scary story tomorrow...
Saturday, February 24, 2007
House-Bound amidst the storm
If you haven't heard, aren't living in Rochester, or if I haven't talked to you on the phone today (see below), we are currently getting hit by a massive winter storm. After my adventures in Denver in December, where it snowed about 36 inches in 48 hours or something, seriously screwing up travel, it's hard to get fazed by winter storm warnings of 10-17 inches. I take it back. This is some seriously bad weather.
It started up last evening but wasn't terrible-- by the time I left Erin's house (where Tia, Rob, Erin and I had a fun night of Mexican Trains), there was a couple of inches of wet, slippery snow on the roads. But there was enough bad weather to prevent Nicole (who I was supposed to pick up from the airport) from flying back from Australia to MN-- luckily, she is stranded in LA (yes, guys, she gets to enjoy even more time away from Rochester!), where she has family. Anyway, today, I slept in (till 8!) and puttered around, not having any real reason to leave the apartment. I worked on my poster for a while (which is frustrating me because I'm having a hard time fitting all the figures and tables in!), watched one of my netflix movies (Sweet November- just ok), read a bit, and then decided to venture outside to see if I could make it to the gym.
Well. This is one of those times when a garage would be a good thing to have in Minnesota. My car, along with the parking lot, streets, etc. was covered in about a half inch of ice. I couldn't get the key to turn in the driver's side lock. Although I was able to key open and bust open the passenger's side door (I just wanted to see if it would open-- at this point, I knew I would NOT be going anywhere but I want to know if there's a chance I would be frozen out of my car), I knew my car would need some serious scraping when the storm did let up. I came promptly back inside and resumed my spot on the couch, under a blanket. It's that kind of day.
So how have I passed the time? I am fairly good at occupying myself at home. I read some more, watched episode after episode of Scrubs (sooo glad I got Season 5 from Tia last night!), and TALK, TALK, TALKED on the phone. I literally was on the phone from about 1:30 until 5:30, requiring an emergent recharging of my previously-charged phone (this had not happened before). Who did I talk to? Here's the list: Justin, Cathleen, Molly, Nicole, Lesley (briefly), Erin, Mom, and Dad. Somehow this took four hours, which is some fairly serious talking from someone who was never a big phone person. But if you read this and are bored or want to be added to the list (especially if you have Sprint service :)), call me. I'd love to chat :)
I probably need to go to the store in the next few days for some fresh food (I got rid of some at our "save the leftovers"potluck last night [see Wendi's post]). But since I've been trying very hard recently to use up stuff from my cupboards/thaw stuff from the freezer, I wondered how long I could go without restocking, i.e. if this weather stops any travel in the city for more than a couple of days. Seriously, I bet I could last a month house-bound! I think, from now on (storm or no storm), I'm only going to buy fruit and lettuce at the grocery store and see how long I can go on the other stuff :)
How long am I going to be house-bound in this stretch? Well, I checked the weather and the forecast for every hour for the next 36 hours has the word "snow" next to it. It's not looking real good for any expeditions in the near future. And eventually scraping and digging out my car with a foot or more of snow ontop of this ice is going to be some serious aerobic exercise. Nicole, Natasha, Hans, and other people supposed to be coming back here are probably, unfortunately, stranded in strange places or airports. But I'm totally content right now. Candles are lit, it's very warm and hygge (a Danish word meaning something like "cozy") in here as I listen to the wind whistle outside, and I don't have to go anywhere for a long time...
It started up last evening but wasn't terrible-- by the time I left Erin's house (where Tia, Rob, Erin and I had a fun night of Mexican Trains), there was a couple of inches of wet, slippery snow on the roads. But there was enough bad weather to prevent Nicole (who I was supposed to pick up from the airport) from flying back from Australia to MN-- luckily, she is stranded in LA (yes, guys, she gets to enjoy even more time away from Rochester!), where she has family. Anyway, today, I slept in (till 8!) and puttered around, not having any real reason to leave the apartment. I worked on my poster for a while (which is frustrating me because I'm having a hard time fitting all the figures and tables in!), watched one of my netflix movies (Sweet November- just ok), read a bit, and then decided to venture outside to see if I could make it to the gym.
Well. This is one of those times when a garage would be a good thing to have in Minnesota. My car, along with the parking lot, streets, etc. was covered in about a half inch of ice. I couldn't get the key to turn in the driver's side lock. Although I was able to key open and bust open the passenger's side door (I just wanted to see if it would open-- at this point, I knew I would NOT be going anywhere but I want to know if there's a chance I would be frozen out of my car), I knew my car would need some serious scraping when the storm did let up. I came promptly back inside and resumed my spot on the couch, under a blanket. It's that kind of day.
So how have I passed the time? I am fairly good at occupying myself at home. I read some more, watched episode after episode of Scrubs (sooo glad I got Season 5 from Tia last night!), and TALK, TALK, TALKED on the phone. I literally was on the phone from about 1:30 until 5:30, requiring an emergent recharging of my previously-charged phone (this had not happened before). Who did I talk to? Here's the list: Justin, Cathleen, Molly, Nicole, Lesley (briefly), Erin, Mom, and Dad. Somehow this took four hours, which is some fairly serious talking from someone who was never a big phone person. But if you read this and are bored or want to be added to the list (especially if you have Sprint service :)), call me. I'd love to chat :)
I probably need to go to the store in the next few days for some fresh food (I got rid of some at our "save the leftovers"potluck last night [see Wendi's post]). But since I've been trying very hard recently to use up stuff from my cupboards/thaw stuff from the freezer, I wondered how long I could go without restocking, i.e. if this weather stops any travel in the city for more than a couple of days. Seriously, I bet I could last a month house-bound! I think, from now on (storm or no storm), I'm only going to buy fruit and lettuce at the grocery store and see how long I can go on the other stuff :)
How long am I going to be house-bound in this stretch? Well, I checked the weather and the forecast for every hour for the next 36 hours has the word "snow" next to it. It's not looking real good for any expeditions in the near future. And eventually scraping and digging out my car with a foot or more of snow ontop of this ice is going to be some serious aerobic exercise. Nicole, Natasha, Hans, and other people supposed to be coming back here are probably, unfortunately, stranded in strange places or airports. But I'm totally content right now. Candles are lit, it's very warm and hygge (a Danish word meaning something like "cozy") in here as I listen to the wind whistle outside, and I don't have to go anywhere for a long time...
Friday, February 23, 2007
Derma-holiday
It is the last day of my first week of Derm. Now some people may think I'm doing this rotation just for its reputation of being an "easy" one, much as the "lifestyle" of practicing dermatologists (along with anesthesiologists, ophthalmologists, and radiologists) is viewed to be. This is not true. As a family medicine doctor, I will be seeing a ton of skin complaints, so I really do want to get more exposure to dermatitis, rashes, lesions, etc. I want to be able to take care of "lumps and bumps" in my office, so I wanted to do some more biopsies, sewing, freezing, etc. It makes sense to do this rotation. But it is totally cake.
I usually come in around 8 a.m. and have been done around 4-4:30 (sometimes with 2-hour lunch breaks!) most days. It's very chill. Although I am totally comfortable going in first, taking patients' histories and doing an exam, and then talking to a resident/consultant, this often just backs things up. Most of these things are very fast, straightforward, and so visual that it is generally more efficient to just go in together. And, despite being a fourth year and supposedly "beyond" shadowing, I don't really mind the passivity of the learning that is going on. I really don't care anymore (about much of anything!). I'm seeing, I'm learning, I'm doing some little procedures. It's fairly mindless. But it's all good. I'm not sure I can take any more than 2 weeks total of full-time checking out and scraping weird rashes (I prefer to have it "sprinkled in" among other stuff), but it's a very relaxing way to spend a couple of weeks towards the end of the fourth year.
I've seen a lot of dermatitis, exacerbated especially by the fact that the air in MN is soooooo dry in the winter (on a personal note, I'm allergic to this Avaguard water-free scrub that's all around, so I end up washing my hands about a bazillion times a day, and I myself have to use Vanicream [this is a cream that is only sold in Rochester!] around the clock). I've seen a good amount of acne in teenagers-- it boggles my mind how many different washes, creams, pills, etc. people try for this. I've seen my share of questionable fungal rashes although I have yet to see a positive KOH prep. There are a lot of skin checks and skin cancer follow-ups. There have been two young children with fairly large periorbital hemangiomas which, although bothersome to parents, generally involute spontaneously and should just be watched. And a couple of weird things, such as nephrogenic sclerosing dermopathy (NSD), sprinkled in. Yesterday, I had the most spritely 75-year old woman I had ever met bounce around the room while she told me about all these "growths" (seborrheic keratoses) that were just "soooo irritating!!!" and that she just wanted "OFF!!!", which was quite amusing. I've also had a couple of patients with virtually nonexistent tiny telangiectasias on their cheeks that they just had to have lasered off because they were so disturbing. This I don't have too much patience for, but there is patient demand.
Another cool thing (related to dermatology) is that the speaker at the Internal Medicine Grand Rounds on Wednesday was Dr. Michael Oxman, the primary author of the New England Journal of Medicine article that spearheaded my research project! He spoke on the findings of the Shingles Prevention Study, one which showed that a new Merck vaccine (Zostavax) was extremely effective in reducing the incidence and burden of illness of herpes zoster (shingles) in adults over 60 years of age. The FDA has now widely approved this vaccine for all immunocompetent adults in this age range. My research project involved determining the epidemiology of (and risk factors for) zoster in renal transplant patients in case such a vaccine might be of use in this population.
So I will be working a bit on the layout of my research poster this weekend. And, because I don't have to go back to the clinic until Monday morning, I will surely be enjoying my weekend off! Yay for derma-holiday.
I usually come in around 8 a.m. and have been done around 4-4:30 (sometimes with 2-hour lunch breaks!) most days. It's very chill. Although I am totally comfortable going in first, taking patients' histories and doing an exam, and then talking to a resident/consultant, this often just backs things up. Most of these things are very fast, straightforward, and so visual that it is generally more efficient to just go in together. And, despite being a fourth year and supposedly "beyond" shadowing, I don't really mind the passivity of the learning that is going on. I really don't care anymore (about much of anything!). I'm seeing, I'm learning, I'm doing some little procedures. It's fairly mindless. But it's all good. I'm not sure I can take any more than 2 weeks total of full-time checking out and scraping weird rashes (I prefer to have it "sprinkled in" among other stuff), but it's a very relaxing way to spend a couple of weeks towards the end of the fourth year.
I've seen a lot of dermatitis, exacerbated especially by the fact that the air in MN is soooooo dry in the winter (on a personal note, I'm allergic to this Avaguard water-free scrub that's all around, so I end up washing my hands about a bazillion times a day, and I myself have to use Vanicream [this is a cream that is only sold in Rochester!] around the clock). I've seen a good amount of acne in teenagers-- it boggles my mind how many different washes, creams, pills, etc. people try for this. I've seen my share of questionable fungal rashes although I have yet to see a positive KOH prep. There are a lot of skin checks and skin cancer follow-ups. There have been two young children with fairly large periorbital hemangiomas which, although bothersome to parents, generally involute spontaneously and should just be watched. And a couple of weird things, such as nephrogenic sclerosing dermopathy (NSD), sprinkled in. Yesterday, I had the most spritely 75-year old woman I had ever met bounce around the room while she told me about all these "growths" (seborrheic keratoses) that were just "soooo irritating!!!" and that she just wanted "OFF!!!", which was quite amusing. I've also had a couple of patients with virtually nonexistent tiny telangiectasias on their cheeks that they just had to have lasered off because they were so disturbing. This I don't have too much patience for, but there is patient demand.
Another cool thing (related to dermatology) is that the speaker at the Internal Medicine Grand Rounds on Wednesday was Dr. Michael Oxman, the primary author of the New England Journal of Medicine article that spearheaded my research project! He spoke on the findings of the Shingles Prevention Study, one which showed that a new Merck vaccine (Zostavax) was extremely effective in reducing the incidence and burden of illness of herpes zoster (shingles) in adults over 60 years of age. The FDA has now widely approved this vaccine for all immunocompetent adults in this age range. My research project involved determining the epidemiology of (and risk factors for) zoster in renal transplant patients in case such a vaccine might be of use in this population.
So I will be working a bit on the layout of my research poster this weekend. And, because I don't have to go back to the clinic until Monday morning, I will surely be enjoying my weekend off! Yay for derma-holiday.
Wednesday, February 21, 2007
RANK DAY!!!
Trusting even when it appears you have been forsaken;
Praying when it seems your words are simply entering a vast expanse where no one hears and no voice answers;
Believing that God's love is complete and that He is aware of your circumstances, even when your world seems to grind on as if setting its own direction and not caring for life or moving one inch in response to your petitions;
Desiring only what God's hands have planned for you;
Waiting patiently while seemingly starving to death, with the only fear being that your faith might fail--
"This is the victory that has overcome the world."
This is genuine faith indeed.
-George MacDonald
All human wisdom is summed up in two words: wait and hope. - A. Dumas
Today is "Rank Day," the last day (deadline is 9 p.m. EST) to make changes to our personal rank order list (ROL) of residency programs. Most of you know that I have struggled immensely with the decisions that are "due" today. I feel that it has been the weightiest choice I have made so far in my lifetime-- I hope that it's the most difficult one I'll ever have to make although I'm not sure how likely that is. I certified my list for the last time last night and decided that I would not let myself go back to make any changes today (and Molly is coming over later to keep me occupied :)). Having some paranoia, I did enter the site today to make sure everything was still just as I intended it to be and to print the list, as proof I did put things in a certain order should something get messed up with the server. However, it is now out of my hands until we hear on March 15th where we've matched. Although the thought of finding out (in several weeks) which random place I will be moving to come June is pretty scary to me, I do feel relieved in that the decision is no longer up to me and the ball is out of my court. Phew. I'm hoping I chose correctly and trying to have faith that I will end up where I will best serve and be served.
Faith (Patrick Overter)
When you have come to the edge of all the light you know
and are about to step off into the darkness of the unknown,
Faith is knowing that one of two things will happen:
There will be something solid to stand on
or you will be taught how to fly.
It is also Ash Wednesday today, which commences the spiritual reflection and repentance that characterizes the period of Lent. Let the spiritual reflection continue.
Praying when it seems your words are simply entering a vast expanse where no one hears and no voice answers;
Believing that God's love is complete and that He is aware of your circumstances, even when your world seems to grind on as if setting its own direction and not caring for life or moving one inch in response to your petitions;
Desiring only what God's hands have planned for you;
Waiting patiently while seemingly starving to death, with the only fear being that your faith might fail--
"This is the victory that has overcome the world."
This is genuine faith indeed.
-George MacDonald
All human wisdom is summed up in two words: wait and hope. - A. Dumas
Today is "Rank Day," the last day (deadline is 9 p.m. EST) to make changes to our personal rank order list (ROL) of residency programs. Most of you know that I have struggled immensely with the decisions that are "due" today. I feel that it has been the weightiest choice I have made so far in my lifetime-- I hope that it's the most difficult one I'll ever have to make although I'm not sure how likely that is. I certified my list for the last time last night and decided that I would not let myself go back to make any changes today (and Molly is coming over later to keep me occupied :)). Having some paranoia, I did enter the site today to make sure everything was still just as I intended it to be and to print the list, as proof I did put things in a certain order should something get messed up with the server. However, it is now out of my hands until we hear on March 15th where we've matched. Although the thought of finding out (in several weeks) which random place I will be moving to come June is pretty scary to me, I do feel relieved in that the decision is no longer up to me and the ball is out of my court. Phew. I'm hoping I chose correctly and trying to have faith that I will end up where I will best serve and be served.
Faith (Patrick Overter)
When you have come to the edge of all the light you know
and are about to step off into the darkness of the unknown,
Faith is knowing that one of two things will happen:
There will be something solid to stand on
or you will be taught how to fly.
It is also Ash Wednesday today, which commences the spiritual reflection and repentance that characterizes the period of Lent. Let the spiritual reflection continue.
Tuesday, February 20, 2007
Fun Photos and Phenomenal weather!
Who would have thought that, less than one week after I, very depressed, wrote a whole post entitled "When it's too cold to do much of anything," I would be writing about phenomenal weather in February in MN?!! More on that in a sec. Let's move onto equally fun stuff.
My friend Jesse recently told me about a couple of really cool websites. The first, pandora, is a music geneaology site where you can enter one artist or group and then the site recommends similar music that you can continue to rate to tailor your own listening pleasures. I can see this being a huge time sink, so I haven't delved into it too much yet, but if you like music, check it out!
The second is a site called flickr where people can upload and share photographs. You can tag them and search under various subheadings as well as send yours to friends and family. I got hooked on browsing these the other day, especially the "favorites of the day" part. Some of these are truly unbelievable-- I'll entice you below.
Snowdrops
Sunrise from the VA
Mt. Jefferson
My friend Jesse recently told me about a couple of really cool websites. The first, pandora, is a music geneaology site where you can enter one artist or group and then the site recommends similar music that you can continue to rate to tailor your own listening pleasures. I can see this being a huge time sink, so I haven't delved into it too much yet, but if you like music, check it out!
The second is a site called flickr where people can upload and share photographs. You can tag them and search under various subheadings as well as send yours to friends and family. I got hooked on browsing these the other day, especially the "favorites of the day" part. Some of these are truly unbelievable-- I'll entice you below.
Don't Go. Avani B. Patel
End of the Day. Creative Sam.
Hiding in Color. WMWRose.
And then, two days before rank day, Katrina sends me beautiful, flickr-quality photos from Oregon. Hmm. Wondering if this is a sign to figure in. Or not. Aren't these cool?! She and Rob are great photographers.
Winter Gorge- Crown Pointe
Snowdrops
Sunrise from the VA
Mt. JeffersonKatrina and Rob at Timberline Lodge
Okay, back to weather. While you'll notice that it was snowy in Oregon, it was beautiful snow. Our snow here, however, is not so beautiful because it's all gray and dirty from MELTING!!! You heard me right-- we finally got above freezing (I really was jumping up and down when I saw that on the weather report). It got up to 37 yesterday and may hit 40 tomorrow. It really is unbelievable. Twenties and thirties feels WARM, I kid you not! Lisa and I were able to go running this morning, which was great. Although there were some ice patches we had to dodge and ended up running for most of it in the street, it was totally worth it. She and I both love working out in the morning, and with the weather like this, we plan to go at least 2 more times this week! It's so warm that I actually wore a skirt to clinic today (no long johns required or allowed with that outfit). Wow. I really hope spring is around the corner :)
Monday, February 19, 2007
New in the old
It is really hitting me hard that things are about to change quite dramatically for me and for most of my friends here in the next few months. Rank lists are finalized on Wednesday (February 21). From there, it's waiting until Match Day (March 15) to find out where we are all going. I have been very emotional lately, realizing that I will soon be leaving Rochester (Graduation is 3 months from TODAY!) and all the amazing people I have gotten to know during my time here. Although I am excited to have the opportunity to start on a new journey and "start over" in a new city, I know I will miss it and everyone who has been part of this chapter of my life-- which has held for me both some of the best and also some of the most difficult of times. Interestingly, despite having lived here for almost four years, I also continue to discover and learn new things about the city and Mayo. Perhaps knowing that I will be soon leaving has helped "open my eyes."
Yesterday, I met Rachel for coffee at Dunn Bros. This coffee place is less than a mile from where I lived first year and although I haven't lived up in "Northwest" for quite some time now, I had never been there in all my years here! It was very cozy. I tried a flavored "steamer," which consists of steamed milk and cream, with optional (yes, please) coffee and flavored syrup (I had mint- mmm). Although I consider myself quite a connoisseur of hot drinks-- with water, herbal tea, caffeinated tea, chai, coffee, cider, hot chocolate (less of a fave) all being things I commonly imbibe, this was a new one. It won't be the last time I have it either!
I'm also learning about poster preparation at Mayo. The abstract that I submitted to the American Transplant Congress in San Francisco (May 5-9th) got accepted, so I will have to put together a poster both for that presentation and for the Research Symposium we do as fourth years during our didactic block. This is a very new process to me. Kristi and I found out today that there does exist a powerpoint template online so that one can sort of arrange things as desired before having media support services proof and print it. The alternative was to send them a word document with the different poster sections and have them try to create a poster for you, which requires more time in terms of review and revisions. In any case, I will be learning a lot of new things as I try to put this thing together in the next week or so.
Later yesterday, Lesley and David again generously loaned me their car (recall that mine dies on highways) to go up to the cities to meet Amy, Jacky, Derek (the Fargo Arness clan) and Derek's friend Jens at the Mall of America. They had spent the long weekend out at the Kalahari water park at the Wisconsin Dells and stopped overnight in the cities before driving back to the polar North Dakota (if I think it's been cold here, it's been way worse up there). It was wonderful to catch up with them--last time I saw them was Thanksgiving. And I was introduced to yet another new thing for me-- they took me to the store Teavana and tried this wacky bubble tea stuff where they have tapioca expanded bead-thingies in the bottom of the drink. It's Jacky's favorite, although the store said they were discontinuing it (bummer!). I'd never heard of the stuff and it's really weird to suck up these fluffy beads, but quite interesting and tasty (see pic below).
Yesterday, I met Rachel for coffee at Dunn Bros. This coffee place is less than a mile from where I lived first year and although I haven't lived up in "Northwest" for quite some time now, I had never been there in all my years here! It was very cozy. I tried a flavored "steamer," which consists of steamed milk and cream, with optional (yes, please) coffee and flavored syrup (I had mint- mmm). Although I consider myself quite a connoisseur of hot drinks-- with water, herbal tea, caffeinated tea, chai, coffee, cider, hot chocolate (less of a fave) all being things I commonly imbibe, this was a new one. It won't be the last time I have it either!
I'm also learning about poster preparation at Mayo. The abstract that I submitted to the American Transplant Congress in San Francisco (May 5-9th) got accepted, so I will have to put together a poster both for that presentation and for the Research Symposium we do as fourth years during our didactic block. This is a very new process to me. Kristi and I found out today that there does exist a powerpoint template online so that one can sort of arrange things as desired before having media support services proof and print it. The alternative was to send them a word document with the different poster sections and have them try to create a poster for you, which requires more time in terms of review and revisions. In any case, I will be learning a lot of new things as I try to put this thing together in the next week or so.
Later yesterday, Lesley and David again generously loaned me their car (recall that mine dies on highways) to go up to the cities to meet Amy, Jacky, Derek (the Fargo Arness clan) and Derek's friend Jens at the Mall of America. They had spent the long weekend out at the Kalahari water park at the Wisconsin Dells and stopped overnight in the cities before driving back to the polar North Dakota (if I think it's been cold here, it's been way worse up there). It was wonderful to catch up with them--last time I saw them was Thanksgiving. And I was introduced to yet another new thing for me-- they took me to the store Teavana and tried this wacky bubble tea stuff where they have tapioca expanded bead-thingies in the bottom of the drink. It's Jacky's favorite, although the store said they were discontinuing it (bummer!). I'd never heard of the stuff and it's really weird to suck up these fluffy beads, but quite interesting and tasty (see pic below).
Oh, the stuff you learn the more you live! Anyway, we shopped a bit and ate at the Rainforest Cafe (Jens had never been-- I'd been once, at Tysons in VA) before I had to drive back to good ol' (but with new stuff!) Roch. Here are a couple of pics from the evening.
A sneaky eel in the tank next to our table
Me and Jacky 
Although med school is getting quite old, another new rotation, Dermatology, started today. I hope I learn some new things about all the different steroid creams that are out there :)
Saturday, February 17, 2007
Recital and Random Saturday Ramblings
Last night was the annual med school/grad school music recital in Gonda. It went really, really well. Although I love performing and don't mind organizing events such as this one, I'm not very big into leading things or talking in public (although I'm WAY better than I used to be!), so those parts of the evening made me a bit uncomfortable. I don't think I said or did anything too horrendous, though. We had some wonderful classical duets, including a Bach Concerto movment for violins, duets on tuba/bass trombone, as well as great vocal pieces, classical Indian, classical piano, and pop piano and guitar. Kristi and I played a Telemann canonic flute duet, which was great because it got me off the hook for public piano performance (cringe). I continue to be amazed by all the musical talent within the Mayo community and it's nice to have events like this one to showcase that. We had plenty of cookies, water, and I didn't forget anything major. We accepted donations and raised $126 (which includes 10 euros someone donated!) for the Ronald McDonald House in town (anyone here want to back me up and count the money a second time to make things official?). Kavitha, a second-year student, is taking on the organization of the event for the next couple of years to continue what has been a fun musical tradition! I'm only sorry I won't be able to attend and enjoy the great music :(
This morning, I was over at the Smiths' house for a few hours to watch the kids after Travis left for his SICU rotation at 5:30 (ugh! I can't remember what it's like to have to go in that early and to have to work!) and until Sarah came back around 8 from her night shift. I hadn't seen little Therin (3) and Kya (now 15 months!) in a while, and they've definitely grown up a lot. Therin was very insistent on watching Cars and NOT Bernstein Bears and was not very interested in breakfast. He did gulp down some oatmeal, however. Kya is really a doll. She is such a well-tempered toddler and has the greatest facial expressions-- she also loves to be held, so it was fun to spend some time with them again.
Since it was ABOVE 20 (!!!) today, I was actually able to get some errands done! I got a haircut, dropped library books off, and went to the store and gym. It really felt WARM, which is so ludicrous. Lisa and I were supposed to run this morning until I got called to childcare duty, but we plan to go this week! Yay!
This evening, I went to BW3's with Erin and TJ, who is in town for the weekend. They had a lot of wedding stuff to finish up, including choosing music, finishing up invites, packing some stuff for TJ to take back with him, etc., which made EVB even turn down an evening of dominoes (then you know they have got to be important!)! But it was fun to catch up over some good food for that little bit.
I'm hoping I can stay awake for a movie-- Lady in the Water is here from Netflix.
This morning, I was over at the Smiths' house for a few hours to watch the kids after Travis left for his SICU rotation at 5:30 (ugh! I can't remember what it's like to have to go in that early and to have to work!) and until Sarah came back around 8 from her night shift. I hadn't seen little Therin (3) and Kya (now 15 months!) in a while, and they've definitely grown up a lot. Therin was very insistent on watching Cars and NOT Bernstein Bears and was not very interested in breakfast. He did gulp down some oatmeal, however. Kya is really a doll. She is such a well-tempered toddler and has the greatest facial expressions-- she also loves to be held, so it was fun to spend some time with them again.
Since it was ABOVE 20 (!!!) today, I was actually able to get some errands done! I got a haircut, dropped library books off, and went to the store and gym. It really felt WARM, which is so ludicrous. Lisa and I were supposed to run this morning until I got called to childcare duty, but we plan to go this week! Yay!
This evening, I went to BW3's with Erin and TJ, who is in town for the weekend. They had a lot of wedding stuff to finish up, including choosing music, finishing up invites, packing some stuff for TJ to take back with him, etc., which made EVB even turn down an evening of dominoes (then you know they have got to be important!)! But it was fun to catch up over some good food for that little bit.
I'm hoping I can stay awake for a movie-- Lady in the Water is here from Netflix.
Friday, February 16, 2007
Diversity does exist in Rochester
I sometimes get disillusioned because of the lack of diversity in Southeastern Minnesota. Although we do have the occasional non-white patient come through the clinic and do have the use of interpreters, our patient base at Mayo generally consists of privately-insured Caucasian patients.
As part of this Social Medicine week, I have spent some time at the Hawthorne Education center, where I helped in tutoring and participated in health screening for some of the adult learners there (they have ESL classes for people of a range of language abilities, from those with virtually no english knowledge to those preparing to enter technical fields like nursing assisting). I really enjoyed my time there-- both because I enjoy and miss tutoring, but also because I like seeing and interacting with people from different backgrounds. About 85% of their students are non-white, with Somali and Sudanese making up the largest proportions. There is also a large population of Southeast Asians who attend classes there.
Last night, I spent several hours at the Good Samaritan Clinic held in the Salvation Army building, where clinic volunteer doctors and nurses see people and dispense some medications for free. They've recently moved to a system of capping the number of patients seen per doc per evening, because it was becoming too overwhelming. However, people still line up well ahead of the 5 p.m. open time for their turn in line. I really enjoyed talking with these patients and families, who come from much less privileged and diverse backgrounds than most of the Mayo patients (I spent time with a woman from Mexico who spoke no english, an elderly Ethiopian man with very poorly controlled diabetes, as well as a Pakistani family). I also met a resident from Nepal, who knew the small International school (Lincoln) that I attended in middle school. This clinic reminded me a lot of the kind of care we practiced on my rotation last year in Peru. I am looking forward to clinic time during residency serving the underserved and patients from all backgrounds. And I can't wait for Nigeria in March!
As part of this Social Medicine week, I have spent some time at the Hawthorne Education center, where I helped in tutoring and participated in health screening for some of the adult learners there (they have ESL classes for people of a range of language abilities, from those with virtually no english knowledge to those preparing to enter technical fields like nursing assisting). I really enjoyed my time there-- both because I enjoy and miss tutoring, but also because I like seeing and interacting with people from different backgrounds. About 85% of their students are non-white, with Somali and Sudanese making up the largest proportions. There is also a large population of Southeast Asians who attend classes there.
Last night, I spent several hours at the Good Samaritan Clinic held in the Salvation Army building, where clinic volunteer doctors and nurses see people and dispense some medications for free. They've recently moved to a system of capping the number of patients seen per doc per evening, because it was becoming too overwhelming. However, people still line up well ahead of the 5 p.m. open time for their turn in line. I really enjoyed talking with these patients and families, who come from much less privileged and diverse backgrounds than most of the Mayo patients (I spent time with a woman from Mexico who spoke no english, an elderly Ethiopian man with very poorly controlled diabetes, as well as a Pakistani family). I also met a resident from Nepal, who knew the small International school (Lincoln) that I attended in middle school. This clinic reminded me a lot of the kind of care we practiced on my rotation last year in Peru. I am looking forward to clinic time during residency serving the underserved and patients from all backgrounds. And I can't wait for Nigeria in March!
Thursday, February 15, 2007
When it's too cold to do much of anything
I am not sure if I'm getting more sensitive or what. But the past couple of days, this cold has just made me MAD. I know that's ridiculous. There's no one to blame for it being cold. In fact, it's my own darn fault for moving to this state. But I am sooooooooooo glad I'm getting out. I hate, hate, hate this weather. Zero, or 3, or whatever it currently is (I'm not sure I want to look), is terrible. It really is too cold to do much of anything.
It is really hard to get out of bed in the morning to get to the gym because my room is so cold. I managed to do it today, though, which made me really, really proud of myself. My apartment is warmer around 7 or 7:30, so then it's bearable. But not really before then.
It's too cold to go swimming (inside, of course. I'm not one of those crazy polar plungers). A couple of years ago, I started going to the Y some mornings to swim, which is a great morning workout. But it's too cold to drive there and come back soaking wet in a swimsuit/wet sweatpants or other overclothes. I don't need to turn into a human icicle. Hair icicles are bad enough.
It's too cold to get the car washed. Believe me, mine really needs to be washed. Despite the fact that the carwashes did open long enough for Kristen to Brandon to get their car washed, I don't need doors freezing unopenably shut on me right now, which is about all that would happen if I were to go now and get mine washed.
It is too cold to get a haircut. I have been meaning to go for a trim-- this short 'do is quite high maintenance, but I can't even fathom the idea of leaving the place with wet hair (I'm anti-hairdrying) when it's in the negatives. Somehow a hat as a cover for showered hair is fine in the morning when I'm short on time, but I refuse to leave Great Clips or whatever, with freshly cut hair, with a hat on top. Maybe this weekend when it gets above 10.
It's way too cold to be that Liberty Tax mascot, standing on the corner of Broadway and 9th St. SE, advertizing tax preparation. I've passed him almost every day this week, driving to/from my social medicine assignments (as I'm swearing in the car because it's so cold), and I can't even fathom what he's got to be feeling, standing outside in his red suit with the spiky headpiece, in temps of zero or whatever it is.
It's too cold to run errands. I have things I need to do-- i.e. go to the store, the bank, etc., but, once I'm inside, home from work, etc., it is soooo hard to think about going out, starting my car, and going somewhere else. Errands even get cut when I'm out because I can't handle running out of the car in the cold to another store. So the list builds up.
It's too cold to drink room-temperature or colder beverages. I can't remember the last time I drank something other than hot water or tea.
It's too cold to take my coat to get drycleaned. I only have my thinner casual one and then my horrendously bulky other one to get by on. But I really need to take my black dress coat in. It will just have to wait, however, because it is TOO COLD to not have it with me, on me.
It's too cold not to wear long johns. When it warmed up to the teens, I, like Wendi, thought that perhaps I could get away with wearing pants without leggings/tights underneath. WRONG. They are back on.
It's too cold for Lesley to walk to the hospital. When even she doesn't care about gas prices/money for the sake of not dying en route to the hospital, you know it's cold.
Good news? I think might get up to 30 next week. And, one year from now, I will undoubtedly be living somewhere WARMER THAN HERE.
It is really hard to get out of bed in the morning to get to the gym because my room is so cold. I managed to do it today, though, which made me really, really proud of myself. My apartment is warmer around 7 or 7:30, so then it's bearable. But not really before then.
It's too cold to go swimming (inside, of course. I'm not one of those crazy polar plungers). A couple of years ago, I started going to the Y some mornings to swim, which is a great morning workout. But it's too cold to drive there and come back soaking wet in a swimsuit/wet sweatpants or other overclothes. I don't need to turn into a human icicle. Hair icicles are bad enough.
It's too cold to get the car washed. Believe me, mine really needs to be washed. Despite the fact that the carwashes did open long enough for Kristen to Brandon to get their car washed, I don't need doors freezing unopenably shut on me right now, which is about all that would happen if I were to go now and get mine washed.
It is too cold to get a haircut. I have been meaning to go for a trim-- this short 'do is quite high maintenance, but I can't even fathom the idea of leaving the place with wet hair (I'm anti-hairdrying) when it's in the negatives. Somehow a hat as a cover for showered hair is fine in the morning when I'm short on time, but I refuse to leave Great Clips or whatever, with freshly cut hair, with a hat on top. Maybe this weekend when it gets above 10.
It's way too cold to be that Liberty Tax mascot, standing on the corner of Broadway and 9th St. SE, advertizing tax preparation. I've passed him almost every day this week, driving to/from my social medicine assignments (as I'm swearing in the car because it's so cold), and I can't even fathom what he's got to be feeling, standing outside in his red suit with the spiky headpiece, in temps of zero or whatever it is.
It's too cold to run errands. I have things I need to do-- i.e. go to the store, the bank, etc., but, once I'm inside, home from work, etc., it is soooo hard to think about going out, starting my car, and going somewhere else. Errands even get cut when I'm out because I can't handle running out of the car in the cold to another store. So the list builds up.
It's too cold to drink room-temperature or colder beverages. I can't remember the last time I drank something other than hot water or tea.
It's too cold to take my coat to get drycleaned. I only have my thinner casual one and then my horrendously bulky other one to get by on. But I really need to take my black dress coat in. It will just have to wait, however, because it is TOO COLD to not have it with me, on me.
It's too cold not to wear long johns. When it warmed up to the teens, I, like Wendi, thought that perhaps I could get away with wearing pants without leggings/tights underneath. WRONG. They are back on.
It's too cold for Lesley to walk to the hospital. When even she doesn't care about gas prices/money for the sake of not dying en route to the hospital, you know it's cold.
Good news? I think might get up to 30 next week. And, one year from now, I will undoubtedly be living somewhere WARMER THAN HERE.
Wednesday, February 14, 2007
Happy Valentine's Day
Some favorite sappy love quotes straight from the heart of a hopeless romantic...- There is only one happiness in life-- to love and be loved. - George Sand
- Love is when you look into someone's eyes and see their heart. - Jill Petty
- True love begins when nothing is looked for in return. - Antoine De Saint-Exupery
- Love comes to those who still hope even though they've been disappointed, to those who still believe even though they've been betrayed, to those who still love even though they've been hurt before. - Unknown
- Love does not consist in gazing at eachother but in looking together in the same direction. - Antoine De Saint- Exupery
- Love is always bestowed as a gift-- freely, willingly, and without expectation. We don't love to be loved, we love to love. - Leo Buscaglia
- It is better to have loved and lost than to never have lost at all. - Lord Alfred Tennyson
- Love is never lost. If not reciprocated, it will flow back and soften and purify the heart. - W. Irving
- Love life and it will love you back. Love people and they will love you back. - A. Rubenstein
- If you love somebody, let them go. If they return, they were always yours. If they don't, they never were. -Unknown
- The love we give away is the only love we keep. - E. Hubbard
- Whoso loves believes the impossible. - E. Barrett Browning
- Love is always in the mood of believing in miracles. - J.C. Powys
- To love and win is the best thing. To love and lose, the next best. - W.M. Thackeray
- Love sought is good, but giv'n unsought is better. - W. Shakespeare
- Forgiveness and celebration are the two faces of love. - J. Vanier
- One forgives to the degree one loves. - La Rochefaucould
- You can't stop your heart from loving. It's like standing out in the ocean yelling at the waves to stop. - S.M. Kidd
- Love means to commit oneself without guarantee, to give oneself completely in the hope that our love will produce love in the the loved person. Love is an act of faith, and whoever is of little faith is also of little love. -Erich Fromm
- There is no remedy for love but to love more. - H.D. Thoreau
- Grief honors love. If we choose to love, we must have the courage to grieve. - E. Kubler-Ross
- Being deeply loved by someone gives you strength, while loving someone deeply gives you courage. - Lao Tzu
- I have learned not to worry about love, but to honor its coming with all of my heart. - Alice Walker
Okay, speaking of lovin', here is one of the most recent pics Nicole has sent me (with some members of one of the Surfboat competition teams in Lorne, a popular beach town).
I'LL say popular!!!!!!!!!! WHY DON'T I LIVE IN AUSTRALIA???! Maybe I'd get a bit more lovin' if I lived down under :)
Happy V-day!
Tuesday, February 13, 2007
Social Medicine week and... it's still stinkin' cold (although less so)
This week, I've been on Social Medicine, a required one-week rotation we do during fourth year to expose us to some things which are sort of glossed over in the rest of our curriculum. I've actually really, really enjoyed it so far. It's certainly a differently-paced deal than is much of the rest of medical school, but it appeals to my warm-and-fuzzy, spend-lots-of-time-talking-with-patients and less-scientific side.
On Monday, I followed the chaplains around Rochester Methodist Hospital. I started out seeing the pre-surgical patients, then spent some time with the chaplain who sort of specializes (yes, even the chaplains specialize here!) in OB/GYN care, then did some time with the Transplant chaplain, and finished out the day with a Heme/Onc specialist that also is big into relaxation exercises. I thought it was really interesting. I learned about the resources available to women who have struggled with a lost pregnancy and the proceedings that happen with stillbirth or live babies who then pass (i.e. with "emergent" baptisms and all that-- in fact, last week when I was on nursery, a chaplain came in to baptize a little 30-weeker just in case...). I talked a lot to the chaplain about transplantation medicine and ethics as, after my research project concerning renal transplantation and after looking into being a potential donor myself, I am very interested in this field. And I did some relaxation breathing as well... which is good for high-strung people like me especially during the peri-rank-day period! :)
Today, I worked with members of the Mayo Hospice Program. There was a slightly painfully-long meeting to start the day, but then the circumstances became more real. We went to visit one terminal 50-year old guy with a brain tumor, who was so grateful to us for picking up a valentine's day card that he could give to his fiancee, since he wasn't able to get out himself. We also met with a man with end-stage liver disease and his wife of 38 years, still obviously torn with grief and especially so because she wanted to do certain things, medically, which he kept refusing, hastening his decline. We watched them move into the Hospice suites at Charter House downtown.
A quote popped into my head because I often worry I will be alone forever. "Envy comes from wanting something that isn't yours. But grief comes from losing something you've already had" (Jodi Picoult). This woman was totally grief-stricken. She has lived a life with this man since she was about 20 years old, for close to 40 years, and doesn't know what she will do without him, when he passes. It was heartwrenching to watch her break down with us in the room. But I realized that I am in many ways fortunate because I feel I know what it is to stand alone and have to be okay with that. I think sometimes that losing something you've had is worse than never having at all...
The last thing we did today was visit the home of a man with ALS (Lou Gehrig's disease), his wife, and his two school-age children. This, too, really hit me hard. His family is struggling with coping with his illness, although, on the surface, his teenager and third-grader have to go on doing things of every day life and are two normal children. The man's priest came and anointed him and we all prayed together-- I felt privileged to be there. Although, for many physicians, house calls are a thing of the past, I feel that they are incredibly valuable, and I'd love to be one of those family docs who visits my patients' homes in situations like this one. I've loved these past rotations because they have only reinforced to me that I have definitely chosen the right specialty. From the last two weeks' nursery rotation, dealing with the very, very beginning of life, to this week, dealing with life's imminent end, I've wanted to be part of it all.
In other, more cheerful (well, not really), news... IT'S STILL STINKING COLD despite it being objectively warmer. Yesterday, while walking to the clinic, there was definitely a perceptible difference in the ambient temperature. Whereas before, I maintained that "cold is cold-- I don't care how cold," I've changed my mind. Moving from 15 below to 15 degrees above (farenheit) does make even a short walk (sprint, whatever) to the clinic more pleasant. Lisa and I even threw around the idea of possibly running outside. But I chickened out, and today, it was so windy that I was swearing again despite it being 20. This is so, so old. And the icicles on my car are ugly.
The craziest thing is, however, that just this past weekend, there was this polar plunge at the Foster Arends Park in town, where crazy people (including two crazy chaplains that I spent time with on Monday) make a hole in the ice and go jump in FREEZING WATER. They run back to warm sauna tents and are really "only outside briefly" (their words), but still. You have to make sure to wear water shoes because your feet can stick to the ice (like a tongue to a cold telephone pole....). Nice. But people do not wear wetsuits. Not these Minnesotans. Cold water does give you asystole and people did say that they felt their heart stop. Again, nice. Apparently close to 300 crazy people participated in this particular plunge (temperature in the single digits), which, I have to admit, was for a good cause (Special Olympics-- I think about $70000 was raised). Two people even did a "Super plunge," where they jumped in every hour for a 24-hour period in temperatures that reached 10 below farenheit. CAN YOU BELIEVE THIS??! But I think that there have got to be other, more sane ways, to support organizations such as this. But that's just my opinion. I'm surprised Wendi hasn't already reported on this :)
Tomorrow, my social medicine assignment is with Hawthorne, an education center in town, and with hospital social workers. I hope it's fun. And, much as I hope it would get warmer, we're going back to single digits and negatives tonight. Boo.
On Monday, I followed the chaplains around Rochester Methodist Hospital. I started out seeing the pre-surgical patients, then spent some time with the chaplain who sort of specializes (yes, even the chaplains specialize here!) in OB/GYN care, then did some time with the Transplant chaplain, and finished out the day with a Heme/Onc specialist that also is big into relaxation exercises. I thought it was really interesting. I learned about the resources available to women who have struggled with a lost pregnancy and the proceedings that happen with stillbirth or live babies who then pass (i.e. with "emergent" baptisms and all that-- in fact, last week when I was on nursery, a chaplain came in to baptize a little 30-weeker just in case...). I talked a lot to the chaplain about transplantation medicine and ethics as, after my research project concerning renal transplantation and after looking into being a potential donor myself, I am very interested in this field. And I did some relaxation breathing as well... which is good for high-strung people like me especially during the peri-rank-day period! :)
Today, I worked with members of the Mayo Hospice Program. There was a slightly painfully-long meeting to start the day, but then the circumstances became more real. We went to visit one terminal 50-year old guy with a brain tumor, who was so grateful to us for picking up a valentine's day card that he could give to his fiancee, since he wasn't able to get out himself. We also met with a man with end-stage liver disease and his wife of 38 years, still obviously torn with grief and especially so because she wanted to do certain things, medically, which he kept refusing, hastening his decline. We watched them move into the Hospice suites at Charter House downtown.
A quote popped into my head because I often worry I will be alone forever. "Envy comes from wanting something that isn't yours. But grief comes from losing something you've already had" (Jodi Picoult). This woman was totally grief-stricken. She has lived a life with this man since she was about 20 years old, for close to 40 years, and doesn't know what she will do without him, when he passes. It was heartwrenching to watch her break down with us in the room. But I realized that I am in many ways fortunate because I feel I know what it is to stand alone and have to be okay with that. I think sometimes that losing something you've had is worse than never having at all...
The last thing we did today was visit the home of a man with ALS (Lou Gehrig's disease), his wife, and his two school-age children. This, too, really hit me hard. His family is struggling with coping with his illness, although, on the surface, his teenager and third-grader have to go on doing things of every day life and are two normal children. The man's priest came and anointed him and we all prayed together-- I felt privileged to be there. Although, for many physicians, house calls are a thing of the past, I feel that they are incredibly valuable, and I'd love to be one of those family docs who visits my patients' homes in situations like this one. I've loved these past rotations because they have only reinforced to me that I have definitely chosen the right specialty. From the last two weeks' nursery rotation, dealing with the very, very beginning of life, to this week, dealing with life's imminent end, I've wanted to be part of it all.
In other, more cheerful (well, not really), news... IT'S STILL STINKING COLD despite it being objectively warmer. Yesterday, while walking to the clinic, there was definitely a perceptible difference in the ambient temperature. Whereas before, I maintained that "cold is cold-- I don't care how cold," I've changed my mind. Moving from 15 below to 15 degrees above (farenheit) does make even a short walk (sprint, whatever) to the clinic more pleasant. Lisa and I even threw around the idea of possibly running outside. But I chickened out, and today, it was so windy that I was swearing again despite it being 20. This is so, so old. And the icicles on my car are ugly.
The craziest thing is, however, that just this past weekend, there was this polar plunge at the Foster Arends Park in town, where crazy people (including two crazy chaplains that I spent time with on Monday) make a hole in the ice and go jump in FREEZING WATER. They run back to warm sauna tents and are really "only outside briefly" (their words), but still. You have to make sure to wear water shoes because your feet can stick to the ice (like a tongue to a cold telephone pole....). Nice. But people do not wear wetsuits. Not these Minnesotans. Cold water does give you asystole and people did say that they felt their heart stop. Again, nice. Apparently close to 300 crazy people participated in this particular plunge (temperature in the single digits), which, I have to admit, was for a good cause (Special Olympics-- I think about $70000 was raised). Two people even did a "Super plunge," where they jumped in every hour for a 24-hour period in temperatures that reached 10 below farenheit. CAN YOU BELIEVE THIS??! But I think that there have got to be other, more sane ways, to support organizations such as this. But that's just my opinion. I'm surprised Wendi hasn't already reported on this :)
Tomorrow, my social medicine assignment is with Hawthorne, an education center in town, and with hospital social workers. I hope it's fun. And, much as I hope it would get warmer, we're going back to single digits and negatives tonight. Boo.
Monday, February 12, 2007
Rob and the Rubik's Cube (and Random Potluck)
At times in my life, I have had multiple Rubik's cubes lying around. I can't solve them myself. In fact, some serious Rubik's cubers get mad because they can't solve mine because, when I was a child, I used to take the stickers off as my way of solving this silly puzzle (this is the only thing I have ever cheated on, I promise!), screwing up the method. I admit that patience has never been a strong point of mine. In any case, now, my rubik's cube is used as a doorstop when I am expecting people to my apartment (my old building doesn't have a buzzer system or anything).
Anyway, Tia and Rob (a cuber) came over on Saturday night and we talked a bit about cubing. He asked me whether, on this cube, I had moved stickers around because the "configuration" was not what he was used to. Apparently, he likes blue on top and white on the bottom (to which Tia and I responded, "what's top on a cube??"). He clarified that he likes to solve it with white on one side ("the bottom") and then works on getting the opposite side ("the top") all blue. My cube had the colors in a different order, however, which initially threw him off. But just for a couple of seconds. I had NOT moved any stickers around on this one, thank you very much.
He was able to solve the cube while Tia and I talked about medicine, or "equally boring stuff" (I think his exact words were "equally boring s***") :). It's pretty amazing. I never like to "undo" it when he does this because it looks so cool. But I don't know that I could ever get the "strategy" down.
Apparently it's not that difficult. Rob said you just have to be prepared to have no friends while you study "the cube" (he sacrificed 7th grade). I found this site online written by this guy Lars Petrus, a world competitor who can solve one in fewer than 15 seconds: Solving Rubik's Cube for Speed. I think sometimes that maybe I could learn. But then when I start reading about his distinction between a "twist" and a "turn" and my head starts spinning, I don't think I have the mental capacity for this. Here's the official site if you care to check it out: Rubik's Cube. Here's Rob with his finished cube.
Despite talking a good deal about Rubik's cubes, we did talk about other things, and ate as well. I had bananas that were even past my consumption, which I turned into a banana bread loaf that tasted decent! I tried this curried chicken dish for the first time, which also turned out well (or else Tia was being her super-nice self and just saying that). Tia recently came back from a two-week trip to Belize, so I picked her brain about that. There are only 70 or so days until their wedding in April (and her mom did get the wedding invitations, despite her threatening not to because Tia was going on this trip!). Here's a pic of the couple by my very pretty door (ugh- I should have chosen a different location for the photo!).
And now for a random last note on random potluck, or what the Kits, Joneses and I had for dinner on Friday. It was sort of a last-minute thing, so we were told to just "bring whatever" (i.e. what I took to mean stuff in the fridge that you were going to eat anyway or throw) to Lesley and David's house. So I come toting lettuce that I needed to rescue, week-old pickle wraps which I was planning to have for dinner, and some powdered soup I found in my cabinet. And then I was embarrassed by JB toting gourmet mussels and Lesley with a barbeque chicken pizza she just "whipped up." Oof. We all liked the idea of this random potluck dinner (Lesley and I agreed it really appeals to our desire never to waste any food!), but I think I was the only one who was really, really random. We'll have to do it again sometime soon!
Anyway, Tia and Rob (a cuber) came over on Saturday night and we talked a bit about cubing. He asked me whether, on this cube, I had moved stickers around because the "configuration" was not what he was used to. Apparently, he likes blue on top and white on the bottom (to which Tia and I responded, "what's top on a cube??"). He clarified that he likes to solve it with white on one side ("the bottom") and then works on getting the opposite side ("the top") all blue. My cube had the colors in a different order, however, which initially threw him off. But just for a couple of seconds. I had NOT moved any stickers around on this one, thank you very much.
He was able to solve the cube while Tia and I talked about medicine, or "equally boring stuff" (I think his exact words were "equally boring s***") :). It's pretty amazing. I never like to "undo" it when he does this because it looks so cool. But I don't know that I could ever get the "strategy" down.
Apparently it's not that difficult. Rob said you just have to be prepared to have no friends while you study "the cube" (he sacrificed 7th grade). I found this site online written by this guy Lars Petrus, a world competitor who can solve one in fewer than 15 seconds: Solving Rubik's Cube for Speed. I think sometimes that maybe I could learn. But then when I start reading about his distinction between a "twist" and a "turn" and my head starts spinning, I don't think I have the mental capacity for this. Here's the official site if you care to check it out: Rubik's Cube. Here's Rob with his finished cube.
Despite talking a good deal about Rubik's cubes, we did talk about other things, and ate as well. I had bananas that were even past my consumption, which I turned into a banana bread loaf that tasted decent! I tried this curried chicken dish for the first time, which also turned out well (or else Tia was being her super-nice self and just saying that). Tia recently came back from a two-week trip to Belize, so I picked her brain about that. There are only 70 or so days until their wedding in April (and her mom did get the wedding invitations, despite her threatening not to because Tia was going on this trip!). Here's a pic of the couple by my very pretty door (ugh- I should have chosen a different location for the photo!).
And now for a random last note on random potluck, or what the Kits, Joneses and I had for dinner on Friday. It was sort of a last-minute thing, so we were told to just "bring whatever" (i.e. what I took to mean stuff in the fridge that you were going to eat anyway or throw) to Lesley and David's house. So I come toting lettuce that I needed to rescue, week-old pickle wraps which I was planning to have for dinner, and some powdered soup I found in my cabinet. And then I was embarrassed by JB toting gourmet mussels and Lesley with a barbeque chicken pizza she just "whipped up." Oof. We all liked the idea of this random potluck dinner (Lesley and I agreed it really appeals to our desire never to waste any food!), but I think I was the only one who was really, really random. We'll have to do it again sometime soon!
Sunday, February 11, 2007
News from Nicole (Down Under)
So, eagerly awaiting my (our) own international trip in March, I've been living vicariously through our friend and classmate Nicole, who is currently on another different continent, Australia, for the month using her Hoffman trip. Nicole definitely wins the award for swinging the most-time-away-from-Rochester-during-medical-school. I thought I did pretty well, doing several away rotations and taking lots of vacation time this year. Erin also comes close with semi-living out in Cali. But Nicole definitely takes the cake.
If you're depressed about the cold here, maybe you shouldn't read these snippets from various e-mails she's sent me. But there are pics at the end!!! From Nicole....
Well, it's still HOT down under. I'm living out in the country, so other than it being hot (does this hotness seem emphasized at all to anyone else??!), it's quiet and natural (I'm trying to avoid the word "boring"). Last night we had a fairly large spider (ICK!!!!!!) in the house that I noticed while walking back to my room. I brought it to the attention of my house dad and he was like, "Well, it's not venomous, so we'll leave it...". Leave it! Great, so it can crawl into bed with me tonight and scare me out of my wits! Then I remembered what Thabele told me a few weeks ago about when I come to visit southern Africa. He reminded me of how many and what kind of critters would be around and told me that if I freaked out about them his parents would fine me very strange. Considering the fact that my house family is FROM southern Africa and is very good friends with his parents, I decided to play it cool last night. I very calmly retired to my room and blocked the little space underneath my door with some leggings. Just in case.
If you're depressed about the cold here, maybe you shouldn't read these snippets from various e-mails she's sent me. But there are pics at the end!!! From Nicole....
Well, it's still HOT down under. I'm living out in the country, so other than it being hot (does this hotness seem emphasized at all to anyone else??!), it's quiet and natural (I'm trying to avoid the word "boring"). Last night we had a fairly large spider (ICK!!!!!!) in the house that I noticed while walking back to my room. I brought it to the attention of my house dad and he was like, "Well, it's not venomous, so we'll leave it...". Leave it! Great, so it can crawl into bed with me tonight and scare me out of my wits! Then I remembered what Thabele told me a few weeks ago about when I come to visit southern Africa. He reminded me of how many and what kind of critters would be around and told me that if I freaked out about them his parents would fine me very strange. Considering the fact that my house family is FROM southern Africa and is very good friends with his parents, I decided to play it cool last night. I very calmly retired to my room and blocked the little space underneath my door with some leggings. Just in case.
I remember being totally freaked out by a tarantula at our jungle lodge in Peru, earning me the nickname "Tara Tarantula". They better not have them in Nigeria or South Africa as, according to JB, I am capable of screaming quite loudly! I am totally arachnophobic. Anyway, back to Aussieland from Nicole...
Today we went to a farmer's market in town. A small one, but cute. I bought some fruit and a cheese board for a couple of bucks. Oh, I also bought some Thai fisherman pants. You can google them to take a look (and I did-- here's a pic. VERY CUTE, Nicole!!).
Continued...
It's Sunday evening here (I'm 15 hours ahead of you), so we've just been lazing around. We had cheese and bread for lunch. Expect me to barely be able to stand when I return to the Roch (secondary to emaciation).
Here are some pics she sent; in her words:
The first is of me with the family I'm staying with in a town called Bendigo (2 hours north of Melbourne).
The second is of some kangaroos I spotted while bike riding along this path in the bush. (Nicole-- you rode a bike??! :) Can I eat my breadsticks in peace, please?! :) ) 
The third is of me driving on the LEFT side of the street for the first time ever (this photo was taken moments after almost colliding with a taxi cab). 
This weekend I'm off to the St. Kilda festival in Melbourne. It's a lovely 80-something degrees over here. Just thought I would rub that in for ya....
Stay warm (if that's possible),
Nicole
Fun, huh? I think she's actually working at the hospital too, but I haven't heard a whole lot about that.... ;). I get the vague impression that it's a bit warmer there than it is here. What a lucky girl.
Saturday, February 10, 2007
Nigeria and South Africa trip takes more form
We are moving forward with a lot of the planning for our Nigeria and South Africa trip in March. Tickets are bought and we have been working on our South Africa itinerary.
John, Wendi, Ajit, Kelsey, and I will be convening on March 25th in Minneapolis to fly to Abuja, Nigeria. We will then find our way to Jos and spend close to 4 weeks working there, having opportunities to spend time in different sites including the Faith Alive mission clinic, the Serving in Missions (SIM) hospital, the Jos University Teaching Hospital (JUTH), an orphanage, and school. A couple of weeks ago, the Kits and I met with Malini, a third year med student (my medsib!), who spent 9 weeks in Jos this fall as part of her research project. She gave us lots of helpful suggestions on what to/not to bring and clued us in to some things about the people we'd meet/the things we'd do while there. Here are a few pics from her trip there:
John, Wendi, Ajit, Kelsey, and I will be convening on March 25th in Minneapolis to fly to Abuja, Nigeria. We will then find our way to Jos and spend close to 4 weeks working there, having opportunities to spend time in different sites including the Faith Alive mission clinic, the Serving in Missions (SIM) hospital, the Jos University Teaching Hospital (JUTH), an orphanage, and school. A couple of weeks ago, the Kits and I met with Malini, a third year med student (my medsib!), who spent 9 weeks in Jos this fall as part of her research project. She gave us lots of helpful suggestions on what to/not to bring and clued us in to some things about the people we'd meet/the things we'd do while there. Here are a few pics from her trip there:
Yankari National Park hot springs!
On April 19th, we will fly to Capetown, South Africa and then rent a minivan. Things we are hoping to see while in South Africa include:
- Cape Town area attractions: Table Mountain, Kalk Bay (fish market), Lion's head, Victoria Waterfront, Robben's Island, Cape Peninsula and Cape of Good Hope
- Nearby Wine Country and estate
- Southern Cape (coastal drive)/Addo Elephant National Park
- Drakensberg mountain valley (eastern border of Lesotho) and Zululand
- Possible quick excursions to Swaziland and/or Mozambique
- Safari near/around Kruger National Park
- Perhaps some free time in/around Johannesburg until we fly back to the U.S. on 5/5 (makes for about a 2 week trip to South Africa). Graduation is 2 weeks later on May 19th!!
Any other must-see suggestions from people who have been or want to go to South Africa?
Here are some pics that Anna sent me from her recent trip there for Beth's wedding and travel.
Cape view
Erin, Anna, and Matt at a winery
Penguins at Boulders Beach
Anna and Erin at Cape of Good Hope
Kruger Safari pics
Can you tell why I might be excited for this trip? It's hard to believe it's only a couple of months away!
Thursday, February 8, 2007
Goodbye babies (for now) and Gaelic Storm
Tomorrow, I conclude my two weeks on the Level I and II newborn nursery rotation. Except for my interaction with the nazi newborn nurse (who I managed to avoid this week!), I've really loved my time here. Thanks to Lesley for recommending it to me (I originally was going to spend time in the NICU but she thought that the mostly-well newborns and some feeders/growers [preemies in the intermediate nursery] might be more up my alley). It was. I've learned a lot about newborn care and have had a great time with the peds residents Jon, Corryn, and Nate and the one FM resident, Brandon, as well as the staff on the service. This has definitely been a favorite rotation of mine, but I was realizing that there really has not been one fourth year rotation that I haven't really liked. I started with OB (my fave), then did an internal medicine subinternship, outpatient peds, emergency med, EKG, cardiology, and ophthalmology (I still remember how to spell it!) before starting this elective. The rest of my year includes social medicine, dermatology, some didactics, NIGERIA, and then a bit of endocrine before graduation. I really love the schedule I put together. Maybe it's because I kind of love everything and that's why I'm doing FM. In any case, it's nice when you like what you're doing every day.
Along the newborn topic still, here is a post my mom told me about about the high incidence of preterm labor, which I've seen a lot of while on this rotation. Most of the babies do really well, but it can be a scary thing. : Early Arrivals: A Growing Problem.
In other news, tonight, Molly and I went to a concert by Gaelic Storm, an Irish group that performed music for Titanic. I could listen to Irish music all day long, so I was very excited to hear that they were playing at Rochester's very own Civic Center. They had an amazing fiddler, as well as one guy who played the irish flute, pipes, and electric pipes, which I'd never seen!
A few step dancers also came in for some of the tunes. The lead singer was really comedic and entertaining. It was a great, very uplifting concert and a fun thing to do on a cold (yes, it is STILL cold) Thursday night.
I wanted to share a link to another website (this has been the blog of links!) because my high school friend Jordan, a phenomenal Irish step dancer, started her own dance company in Washington D.C. a couple of years ago. She is gorgeous, brilliant, as well as incredibly talented and she deserves all of your admiration!! You can see her site here: The Dudney School of Irish Dance. Here's a pic from her site of her teaching her adorable kiddos.
I wish I were Irish, or that I at least had the rhythm and musical talent of some of them! :)
Along the newborn topic still, here is a post my mom told me about about the high incidence of preterm labor, which I've seen a lot of while on this rotation. Most of the babies do really well, but it can be a scary thing. : Early Arrivals: A Growing Problem.
In other news, tonight, Molly and I went to a concert by Gaelic Storm, an Irish group that performed music for Titanic. I could listen to Irish music all day long, so I was very excited to hear that they were playing at Rochester's very own Civic Center. They had an amazing fiddler, as well as one guy who played the irish flute, pipes, and electric pipes, which I'd never seen!
A few step dancers also came in for some of the tunes. The lead singer was really comedic and entertaining. It was a great, very uplifting concert and a fun thing to do on a cold (yes, it is STILL cold) Thursday night.I wanted to share a link to another website (this has been the blog of links!) because my high school friend Jordan, a phenomenal Irish step dancer, started her own dance company in Washington D.C. a couple of years ago. She is gorgeous, brilliant, as well as incredibly talented and she deserves all of your admiration!! You can see her site here: The Dudney School of Irish Dance. Here's a pic from her site of her teaching her adorable kiddos.
I wish I were Irish, or that I at least had the rhythm and musical talent of some of them! :)
Wednesday, February 7, 2007
Former flute-playing and upcoming recital-planning
I will always be a band nerd at heart. Yes, I was in marching band in high school. Yes, I did go to band camp. And yes, I play(ed) the flute. I loved being involved in the music department at Richmond and got to meet so many neat people. I really do miss performing, although I was able to do some singing and flute-playing through Zumbro Lutheran Church here in Rochester my first couple of years here. I've taken quite a lot of time off at this point, but I've been organizing this med student/grad student/fellow/etc. music recital for next Friday and thus have had the excuse to pick up my flute again! On Sunday, I got together with Kristi, a graduate student I met through a flute ensemble, to run through some duets to choose for the recital. It was great to play again. I really think it has been over 6 months since I touched my flute (cringe). I'm glad she was in town this year because I have someone to play with-- I'm not a huge fan of playing unaccompanied flute solos, it would take too long to work something up with an accompanist, and I am not really that comfortable performing on the piano, the alternative which I'd chosen the past 2 years. It's kind of sad, because I really think that the start of residency might be the end of my playing altogether, so it's good I'm getting some (perhaps my last) opportunity now. If you're here, I'd love it if you were able to come to the performance (7:30 p.m. in Gonda on the Friday the 16th--bring anyone). This has always been a free event, but on a suggestion from Barbara, a peds resident here, I think we're going to collect donations for the Ronald McDonald House and have it be a benefit.
Here are some nerdy music jokes that might get some laughs. I came across them on a sheet I must have saved since HS while going through old books and papers!!!!
Q. What's an accordion good for?
A. Learning how to fold maps.
Q. Why do bagpipers walk when they play?
A. To get away from the noise.
Q. What's the difference between a bagpipe and an onion?
A. No one cries when you cut the bagpipes.
Q. Why is a bassoon better than an oboe?
A. The bassoon burns longer.
Q. What is a burning oboe good for?
A. Setting a bassoon on fire.
A. Setting a bassoon on fire.
Q. Why do clarinetists leave their cases on the dashboard?
A. So they can park in the handicapped zone.
A. So they can park in the handicapped zone.
Q. What's the definition of a minor second?
A. Two flutists playing in unison.
A. Two flutists playing in unison.
Q. How do you make a trombone sound like a French horn?
A. Put your hand in the bell and miss a lot of notes.
Q. How do you know when a violin is out of tune?
A. The bow is moving.
A. The bow is moving.
Q. What's the range of a tuba?
A. Twenty yards, if you've got a good arm.
Q. Why do drummers always have trouble entering a room?
A. They never know when to come in.
Q. What do an electric guitar and a vacuum cleaner have in common?
A. Both suck when you plug them in.
A. Both suck when you plug them in.
Monday, February 5, 2007
Match, Moving, and More Miserable Weather
Days left until rank day: 16
Days until match day: 38
We had a class meeting last week where the realities that match day and graduation are quickly approaching were reinforced to all of us! Our final rank lists are due by 9 p.m. EST on February 21, Match is Thursday, March 15, and the realization that, less than four months from now, I will be out of here, kind of hit hard.
I have again been struggling with the whole rank thing. I have sort of been in denial for a while that I really have to make a decision, enter the NRMP site, and order programs. I hoped that by just "hanging out" and not actively thinking, everything would become clear. However, I've found that I still go back and forth between a few. While I thought I was not all alone with all this rank turmoil, it seems that everyone else has sort of decided already on their order. Although it's a very normal and expected question at this stage in the game, I really don't like answering the query, "So where do you want to go?". I DON'T KNOW.
I did, however, finally enter the website to check it out, as we were told not to wait until the last minute because the servers could be down. You can certify your list, renumber, recertify, etc. as many times as you want until the Feb. 21 deadline. But it was helpful for me to actually put some programs in, to protect against NOT MATCHING should my denial continue for the next couple of weeks.
For some reason, I find it surprising that people are freely sharing where they really want to go. But maybe I would if I actually knew. I just think that telling others rank order may make you disappointed if you don't get your #1. Maybe I'm being insecure/unconfident that I would even go where I put down #1. Maybe I'm hedging because I don't want to get my hopes up for one place in particular and be disappointed by being rejected/not matching there. I'm not sure. I am so jealous everyone else seems calm and settled. Thank you to everyone that has tried to help me figure this out. It is a tough, very personal decision which seems much weightier than any I have made in the past (i.e. college, med school)-- is it just because I'm older?? I am really hoping and praying for guidance that I will know what to do when it is "time."
Okay, enough moping for now. Onto moving.
I've been a good girl and have been trying to clean out closets, bookshelves, etc. ahead of time so that it's not all hectic when I have to move in May. I tend to be a bit of a packrat-- I went through a bunch of boxes this weekend and finally got rid of some college notebooks I thought I might use someday. This was probably the 2nd or 3rd time I had considered throwing out some of this stuff but the first that I felt comfortable parting with it. It was very therapeutic to get rid of my anatomy notes from first year! It was also fun to discover some papers and cards that I had forgotten about (from i.e. first year). But I know that I am making my (moving) life much easier by jettisoning some of this weight (/junk, arguably) now rather than later...
I donated a bunch of books to the library and also sold some to a used textbooks place. But I have a ton of school supplies-- looseleaf, notebooks, folders, binders, etc. that I don't think I'll ever use. Other than bringing them with me to Nigeria to give away, does anyone have any other suggestions of what I might do with some of this stuff? Any organizations looking for this stuff right now? I can only tackle the cleaning-out-of-stuff a little at a time. One day, it was my desk. Another, it was my closet. I will be getting to the file cabinet eventually, but I'm still working on the binders.
Okay, thirdly, a little griping about the weather. Although I agree it is cool to see bubbles freeze and boiling water "snow" because it's so cold outside (see Kristen/Wendi's blogs), -19 degrees (the temperature, without windchill, when I left for the hospital this morning) is NOT fun to walk around in. Today, I even sacrificed fashion for comfort (soooo unlike me ;) ), wearing my big, bulky MN coat to the hospital. Although my face was still cold, I really did stay pretty warm. It is -11 (-29 with windchill) as I write this. The HIGH is supposed to get up to 4 tomorrow. Yippee!!! I will have to decide also what to do with this coat when I move...
Days until match day: 38
We had a class meeting last week where the realities that match day and graduation are quickly approaching were reinforced to all of us! Our final rank lists are due by 9 p.m. EST on February 21, Match is Thursday, March 15, and the realization that, less than four months from now, I will be out of here, kind of hit hard.
I have again been struggling with the whole rank thing. I have sort of been in denial for a while that I really have to make a decision, enter the NRMP site, and order programs. I hoped that by just "hanging out" and not actively thinking, everything would become clear. However, I've found that I still go back and forth between a few. While I thought I was not all alone with all this rank turmoil, it seems that everyone else has sort of decided already on their order. Although it's a very normal and expected question at this stage in the game, I really don't like answering the query, "So where do you want to go?". I DON'T KNOW.
I did, however, finally enter the website to check it out, as we were told not to wait until the last minute because the servers could be down. You can certify your list, renumber, recertify, etc. as many times as you want until the Feb. 21 deadline. But it was helpful for me to actually put some programs in, to protect against NOT MATCHING should my denial continue for the next couple of weeks.
For some reason, I find it surprising that people are freely sharing where they really want to go. But maybe I would if I actually knew. I just think that telling others rank order may make you disappointed if you don't get your #1. Maybe I'm being insecure/unconfident that I would even go where I put down #1. Maybe I'm hedging because I don't want to get my hopes up for one place in particular and be disappointed by being rejected/not matching there. I'm not sure. I am so jealous everyone else seems calm and settled. Thank you to everyone that has tried to help me figure this out. It is a tough, very personal decision which seems much weightier than any I have made in the past (i.e. college, med school)-- is it just because I'm older?? I am really hoping and praying for guidance that I will know what to do when it is "time."
Okay, enough moping for now. Onto moving.
I've been a good girl and have been trying to clean out closets, bookshelves, etc. ahead of time so that it's not all hectic when I have to move in May. I tend to be a bit of a packrat-- I went through a bunch of boxes this weekend and finally got rid of some college notebooks I thought I might use someday. This was probably the 2nd or 3rd time I had considered throwing out some of this stuff but the first that I felt comfortable parting with it. It was very therapeutic to get rid of my anatomy notes from first year! It was also fun to discover some papers and cards that I had forgotten about (from i.e. first year). But I know that I am making my (moving) life much easier by jettisoning some of this weight (/junk, arguably) now rather than later...
I donated a bunch of books to the library and also sold some to a used textbooks place. But I have a ton of school supplies-- looseleaf, notebooks, folders, binders, etc. that I don't think I'll ever use. Other than bringing them with me to Nigeria to give away, does anyone have any other suggestions of what I might do with some of this stuff? Any organizations looking for this stuff right now? I can only tackle the cleaning-out-of-stuff a little at a time. One day, it was my desk. Another, it was my closet. I will be getting to the file cabinet eventually, but I'm still working on the binders.
Okay, thirdly, a little griping about the weather. Although I agree it is cool to see bubbles freeze and boiling water "snow" because it's so cold outside (see Kristen/Wendi's blogs), -19 degrees (the temperature, without windchill, when I left for the hospital this morning) is NOT fun to walk around in. Today, I even sacrificed fashion for comfort (soooo unlike me ;) ), wearing my big, bulky MN coat to the hospital. Although my face was still cold, I really did stay pretty warm. It is -11 (-29 with windchill) as I write this. The HIGH is supposed to get up to 4 tomorrow. Yippee!!! I will have to decide also what to do with this coat when I move...
Sunday, February 4, 2007
Social weekend of Steaks, Shocks, and Superbowl
This has been a fun weekend of hanging out!
Friday, some of us (Les, EVB, Summer, Megan, Ryan, and Katie) celebrated Katie's 26th birthday by going out to eat at Outback. It was a fun time to catch up-- Ryan flew in for the weekend from Texas, where he and Katie will be living next year as she starts her Peds residency with the army in San Antonio and, where we learned, he will start an MD-PhD program (yikes!).
Megan, Summer, and Katie
Katie and her honey
On Saturday, Kristen and Brandon had the Joneses, Kits, and me over for dinner and games. It was also a great time! We played some Mexican dominoes, ate wonderful food that Kristen prepared (including an extremely moist, heavenly chocolate cake!), and then moved on to Dance, Dance Revolution ("DDR" for those who have played this before). It apparently is not that new a thing, although this was my first experience with it! We each had our turn, and I can certainly see how it can be a workout :)
The Yuans (the hosts)
Brandon teaching Wendi DDR
Dancin' Dave
JB and Brandon (who we now call "Bob") really getting into it
Today, a bunch of us (Les and David, Brandon and Kristen, EVB, Ebby, Ronnie, and Cole Ray and Nick, an orthopedics intern) gathered at the Towers to watch the Superbowl at the Kitsteiners'. There was TONS of food and, although EVB may be a bit cranky (she was outnumbered by people cheering for the Colts), it was fun to watch the game (however sloppy) too. We had stuffed peppers and mushrooms courtesy of JB, pigs in a blanket and sloppy joes from Les, Cold Stone Creamery Creations from EVB, and an assortment of dips and things. My pickle roll-ups and hot wings turned out okay, but not spectacular. Oh well. Maybe next time. And perhaps the Bears will have another chance at the Superbowl someday...David, Brandon, and Lesley on the couch
Wendi with her hot rice bag (well, sock) which sort of scares Kristen
EVB with the Cold Stone fixings
Saturday, February 3, 2007
Global warming does not affect Minnesota
"I am not a supporter of global warming. But neither am I so crazy about the recent local colding." - Patricia Marx
I'm with her on this. In the news recently, scientists are confirming that global warming really is an actual phenomenon, caused by mankind's impact on the environment. I haven't yet read Al Gore's An Inconvenient Truth or seen the movie, but I'm not sure I buy this.
Take a look at the weather in Minnesota, for one. Do it. Go to www.weather.com and type in my zip code-- 55902. Those of you who have read Wendi's (and Kristen's) blog already know that I stole this picture from Wendi and she has eloquently described how cold it actually is here right now ("The weather [and a bit of other stuff too]"). It is hard to put into words. This is why my Dad left MN early in life. And part of the reason why, come May (not even close to being "summer" here), I will be out of here. The prospect of moving to California is looking better and better every day.
I ventured outside this morning to go to the Civic Center box office and to hit the gym. You better believe that every time my face hit the cold, I was sprinting to the next doorway. No dawdling around when it feels like -36 or whatever, because this wind is horrendous. Currently, as I write this, it is -8 (without windchill). I think the next time the day's HIGH is supposed to get above 0 degrees farenheit is Tuesday (a generous 6 degrees above zero). Wow. Break out the shorts.
Okay, enough complaining. I am going to enjoy my time indoors today before I have to head out to dinner at the Yuans'.
I'm with her on this. In the news recently, scientists are confirming that global warming really is an actual phenomenon, caused by mankind's impact on the environment. I haven't yet read Al Gore's An Inconvenient Truth or seen the movie, but I'm not sure I buy this.
Take a look at the weather in Minnesota, for one. Do it. Go to www.weather.com and type in my zip code-- 55902. Those of you who have read Wendi's (and Kristen's) blog already know that I stole this picture from Wendi and she has eloquently described how cold it actually is here right now ("The weather [and a bit of other stuff too]"). It is hard to put into words. This is why my Dad left MN early in life. And part of the reason why, come May (not even close to being "summer" here), I will be out of here. The prospect of moving to California is looking better and better every day.
I ventured outside this morning to go to the Civic Center box office and to hit the gym. You better believe that every time my face hit the cold, I was sprinting to the next doorway. No dawdling around when it feels like -36 or whatever, because this wind is horrendous. Currently, as I write this, it is -8 (without windchill). I think the next time the day's HIGH is supposed to get above 0 degrees farenheit is Tuesday (a generous 6 degrees above zero). Wow. Break out the shorts.Okay, enough complaining. I am going to enjoy my time indoors today before I have to head out to dinner at the Yuans'.
Friday, February 2, 2007
Nazi Newborn Nurse
Today, I had one of the newborn nurses make me feel terrible about myself. A great start to the weekend. I thought people in MN in general, and people taking care of newborns, typically are very warm and fuzzy. Not this nazi nursery lady. First, she yelled at me for apparently not rewrapping one baby tight enough in its little blanket swaddle. It wasn't a "Hey-- you may want to pull it a bit tighter because if his hands stick out too much, he might pull out his NG tube." It was, "What are you doing?! You're doing it all wrong! [Big sigh]. Move over. Let me do it." Ouch.
Then, down in the peds resuscitation room awaiting the delivery of a 36 2/7 week baby vaginally (barely preterm), I was about to bring the gown and gloves out to the delivery room becuase Corryn (the resident) asked me if I wanted to grab the baby (to which I responded "of course!"). This nurse said to me, "Are you going to get the baby?" "I was going to," I replied. She said, "I don't know if that's a good idea. It's one thing to bring him/her right over to the warming table there in the OR, but another to bring him/her through a doorway into another room. I would rather Corryn do it." "Well, okay," I responded. No biggie. I've retrieved plenty of babies and didn't really need the experience. I just like it and sometimes it saves time, as the resident can look up labs, start a note, etc. while I'm all gowned up. But I definitely did have to point out to her that, just yesterday, I transferred a 31-week old twin preemie who actually had a good chance of needing some resuscitative measures over (through that very same doorway) to the far warmer in the room adjacent to the OR without problem. I hate being made felt incapable and untrustworthy.
And, while I was writing the delivery note (this I apparently was qualified to do), another nurse brought in a card with the baby's clinic number over across the room to this mean nurse. I politely asked whether she could quickly read out the clinic number (a 7-digit number, written right on the sheet dropped right in front of her) for me so that I could jot it down on both the neonatal hospital sheet and so that we could add this baby to our service list. "It's right over here," she replied. "I'm not going to read it to you. You can walk over here and look at it yourself."
MAN! I'm not sure if she woke up on the wrong side of the bed, I'm being overly sensitive, or what. But I sure am going to try to stay out of her way from now on. And, for the record, I am 0-for-every baby-I-have-ever-delivered/caught/transferred/touched, etc. in fumbles.
Then, down in the peds resuscitation room awaiting the delivery of a 36 2/7 week baby vaginally (barely preterm), I was about to bring the gown and gloves out to the delivery room becuase Corryn (the resident) asked me if I wanted to grab the baby (to which I responded "of course!"). This nurse said to me, "Are you going to get the baby?" "I was going to," I replied. She said, "I don't know if that's a good idea. It's one thing to bring him/her right over to the warming table there in the OR, but another to bring him/her through a doorway into another room. I would rather Corryn do it." "Well, okay," I responded. No biggie. I've retrieved plenty of babies and didn't really need the experience. I just like it and sometimes it saves time, as the resident can look up labs, start a note, etc. while I'm all gowned up. But I definitely did have to point out to her that, just yesterday, I transferred a 31-week old twin preemie who actually had a good chance of needing some resuscitative measures over (through that very same doorway) to the far warmer in the room adjacent to the OR without problem. I hate being made felt incapable and untrustworthy.
And, while I was writing the delivery note (this I apparently was qualified to do), another nurse brought in a card with the baby's clinic number over across the room to this mean nurse. I politely asked whether she could quickly read out the clinic number (a 7-digit number, written right on the sheet dropped right in front of her) for me so that I could jot it down on both the neonatal hospital sheet and so that we could add this baby to our service list. "It's right over here," she replied. "I'm not going to read it to you. You can walk over here and look at it yourself."
MAN! I'm not sure if she woke up on the wrong side of the bed, I'm being overly sensitive, or what. But I sure am going to try to stay out of her way from now on. And, for the record, I am 0-for-every baby-I-have-ever-delivered/caught/transferred/touched, etc. in fumbles.
Thursday, February 1, 2007
Newborn Nursery and Baby Names
This week was the first (of two) on a Newborn Nursery rotation. It's been great! Very laid back (as I mentioned before, I've basically been "sent home" early afternoon-ish most days of the rotation!), but I've been able to do a lot of newborn exams, be present at the C-sections where the peds team is called, helped with resuscitation, learn about common newborn issues such as jaundice and hypoglycemia, and seen some pretty interesting stuff, which has included:
- A baby with gastroschesis, where abdominal contents (i.e. bowel) protrude through a defect in the abdominal wall. This was diagnosed with ultrasound, so we knew it was coming, but it was still a bit scary to see a newborn with loops of bowel hanging out right below the umbilicus. After IV access was finally obtained, the newborn headed off to the OR, where surgery was successfully performed.
- A 33-weeker Down Sydrome baby with basically one (left) functioning ventricle of the heart (hypoplastic right ventricle) and several other associated anomalies. The baby was quite little-- just under 4 pounds-- but came out fine and only needed minimal stimulation before she started crying. She will spend time in the NICU before any kind of surgical correction is attempted.
- A "miracle baby" born to parents who struggled with infertility for over 15 years before getting pregnant on their own soon after a move from the east coast to the Pacific Northwest :) . I love stories like these. The new parents, both in their forties, were just so thrilled with their newborn baby boy.
- Twins with twin-twin transfusion syndrome who were going to be given up for adoption until the birth mom changed her mind after the delivery... a very, very tough social situation (teen mom). I'm surprised there aren't laws that protect against this.
- Today, a set of 31-week old twins conceived through IVF and born vaginally, as well as another tiny 3 lb baby at 30 weeks for premature, preterm rupture of membranes who breathed fine on her own, thankfully! It was a busy day!
I love being at the deliveries and being around all of these adorable newborns. It is really reinforcing my love of OB-- today while the twins were coming (albeit slowly!), I wanted to jump in and help deliver the whole bab(ies) rather than just transfer them from the delivery to resuscitation room, although I of course also like to be around the newborn(s) once they're out. Perhaps that will help somewhat with the residency decision-making.
All of this baby stuff does make the biological clock tick a bit... I would love one of my own to take home and cuddle! :) And while I know that the possibility of having a child of my own is, at this point, a very long way off and perhaps not even a possibility, I think I could find a lot of personal satisfaction (and be a vicarious mother) by being the family doctor for a pregnant woman, doing her delivery, and then caring for her child as well, even if I'm never able to have children myself.
This is going to turn into an extremely long post, but this part is relevant so I thought I'd include it. I've been around a lot of babies in the past few days and seen "baby boy X" turn into "Thomas" or "baby girl Y" turn into a Whitney. I wonder about how people choose their babies' names. While on an OB rotation last summer, I remember hearing about a woman who named her baby girl "Chlamydia" because it sounded pretty. I kid you not. While waiting for prescriptions yesterday, I read this article in the magazine Parents (they let me take the magazine with me) that mentioned all kinds of "trends" in baby names. What do you think??
- Gender Benders (unisex): Aiden, Avery, Bailey, Cameron, Chase, Morgan, Taylor
- Organic (Girls): Meadow, Coral, Dawn, Lily, Flora, Daisy, Indigo; (Boys): Basil, Dale, Flint, Jet, Mica, Slate, Sage, Clay, Lake
- Oldies (Girls): Bess, Lula, Ruby, Cora, Nell, Hazel, Violet; (Boys): Ernest, Arthur, Bert, Walt, Amos, Lewis, Oscar
- Surname Swap (Girls): Kennedy, Mackenzie, Miller, Ellis, Regan; (Boys): Emerson, Campbell, Cooper, Carson, Fisher
- Fruit (after Gwyneth Paltrow's Apple) (Girls): Plum, Berry, Cherry, Kiwi, Clementine; (Boys): Hawthorn, Rowan, Fig, Huckleberry, Mulberry
- Travels well (Euro names) (Girls): Gemma, Evie, Moira, Greer, Meike, Finola, Gianna, Sabine, Tallulah, Pilar; (Boys): Alfie, Liam, Sergio, Niko, Keagan, Alistair, Rhys, Johannes, Kieran, Finlay
- And then there are the backwards names and the fusion names (i.e. David + Julian = Davian; Brandon + Lindsay = Branlin).... weird stuff.
Okay, there is NO way I'm ever naming a potential child something that ends in -berry, but some of these aren't half-bad. Then again, normal, traditional names are fine too :). No new mother in the next week or so better name their kid after an STD. I'll make sure of that.
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