I am currently a resident on rotations at one of the local hospitals.  My current rotation: Emergency Room.  As you can probably already imagine, each day is different than the last and that is exactly what makes this place so exciting!  I get bored pretty quickly so it’s great for me, but today felt like a tv-show.

As I was walking into work this morning from the employee parking lot, my eyes caught something small and yellow and green on the sidewalk.  I’ve never really been one to be superstitious or to believe in omens, but when you see a beautiful, dead bird on the sidewalk on the way IN to work, I should have known.   Apparently it was a yellow warbler, which is known to migrate across North America:  

pretty cute, huh?

I wanted to share two stories from work today; I won’t violate privacy by using names, so if I use names, they will all be made up.  

1. MVA (motor vehicle accident) Semi truck vs. Auto
2. PICA 

1. In the middle of the afternoon while I was reviewing some treatment guidelines, over the loudspeaker I heard “TRAUMA LEVEL 1. ER EIGHT MINUTES”  That means, we have 8 minutes until the highest, most severe case of trauma flies through the ambulance bay.  I always get nervous when I hear this announcement- because we never know how bad its going to be…we just get ready.

     This MVA – it was pretty ugly from what I hear.  The Autodriver was turning left at a green light.  The Semidriver apparently blew the light.  He T-boned the Autodriver at the intersection, ROLLED the semitruck… the SemiDriver was not in good shape.  The ambulance sent him to the ER first.  Several minutes later, another trauma arrives practically unannounced.  It was a surprise because typically multiple traumas are sent to different local hospitals to maximize resources.  Anyway- as we are stabilizing the SemiDriver in the trauma room, Autodriver is wheeled right into the very same room.  They were barely 10 feet apart as the same staff and resources try to heal these men.  Later as both are more stable, I hear AutoDriver talking to his family through the thin curtain that divided them.  “Boy- I hope that truck driver is okay.  He was in really bad shape”  Little did he know, the SemiDriver was indeed several feet away, conscious and listening… the miracle of this case was that even though all of this, he was NOT angry in the slightest.  He simply said, “everyone makes mistakes.  We can’t help it. ”  Unbelievable.

     For AutoDriver, this accident was a blessing in disguise…let me explain.  As a victim of a major trauma, we draw blood to check for any other damage.  This patient had not been in to see a doctor in years.  (I should tell you, I am in a fairly rural area- though I’m sure many urbanites don’t get checked up often either… ) His blood sugar was out of control!  He wasn’t previously diagnosed as a diabetic, so if he had not been brought in that day from this accident, he wouldn’t have discovered for- who knows how long… and it may have been too late. 

2) PICA is an eating disorder.  Google it if you wish.  It’s really quite unusual.  We had an 18-year old girl who’s NON-food item of choice is sidewalk chalk.  Yes, you read that right.  Sidewalk chalk.  It’s really quite sad, but I am a horrible person and I couldn’t help but giggle when I reviewed the case.  Her chief complaint was— constipation.  I mean, no kidding. If anyone eats a ton of sidewalk chalk, I’m not surprised that they get super constipated.  I left before they were able to coax a BM out of her, but I really do hope she gets some help and stops eating chalk.  

Alright.  It’s time to write up an abstract for my residency project.  I hope you enjoyed the main cases of my day.

There’s lots to look f o r w a r d  to, but it is surprisingly b i t t e r s w e e t .   I never would have imagined it, but I really miss the college campus and all it offered.  I might call it a homesick feeling; I am homesick for the past.  I enjoyed hanging out with you and I wouldn’t trade it for anything. So, as things change, please don’t forget me and the times we shared!   Which reminds me – I found a new favorite flower.  It’s small, cute and reminds me of a little star. 

              By the way, the name of the flower of the flower is “forget-me-not.”   

you guessed it. pediatrics. i know i know. that was quite a stretch. You would have guessed veterinary medicine or something like that. Honestly, I couldn’t find a picture that had anything to do with anything but I thought this one was quite cute. anyways, I apologize that it’s been so long since my last post, but i’ve been pretty busy lately. with the semester ending comes projects, exams, presentations etc. not to mention meeting up with people that you know you won’t see in a very long time.

I just finished an exam tonight and it’s beautiful out. I would love to go for a walk with you and enjoy the weather together but it seems that I am here, inside my apartment and you are there (wherever that may be) and that is just inconvenient.

As the title of this post says- moving forward. My stay here at the university has been way too long (though not too long considering my program). I am finally comfortable here and it finally started to feel like home…but from what I’ve experienced in my twenty-some years, that means it’s just about time to leave and move on. it’s time for moving on and for growing up.

Next year has so much in store. Clerkship rotation sites all over the place. Chicago, Indianapolis, several other unmentionable places (trust me on this one), and Kenya. Wait… Kenya as in Africa?? Yes. That is indeed what I said. For a peek into the program, click on this article:

Nobel Mission

In the article it talks about the program I will be working with. It sounds pretty amazing, seeing as how it’s nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize. I am looking forward to it.

If you enjoyed that link, you may also enjoy this one:

The Imani Workshops

This one goes to a link of handmade Kenyan crafts that are made by HIV patients that were treated by the hospital and got better. Since many of the HIV patients are abandoned by their families, this is a new way for them to make a living. so, feel free to click and take a look around at the things that they make. then, let me know if you’d like something. it’ll be a while until I go, so take your time.

Anyways, that’s about it for now. leave a comment and say hello if you’d like!

super bear to the rescue!!

i’ll write more later.

by the way… one of my favorite places to look at fun drawings :

www.nataliedee.com

go and explore her archives.  they are cute. and hilarious.  goodnight!

I’m proud to say that after my taco bell extravaganza, I ate pizza the same day around midnight too. Followed by cold pizza for breakfast, mickeyD’s (that’s mcDonalds for those that don’t know) for lunch. That’s pretty disgusting. I’m back on track today with normal food. I’m not sure why I’m blogging about my bad eating habits, but now you know I guess. as long as i am on the topic, i’ll make another confession. i ate 4 andes mints yesterday, along with several mini twix bars, jelly bellies, a dark chocolate raspberry truffle, and then i think i turned down the twizzlers, runts, and who knows what else. they were all absolutely scrumptious. i heart candy. but i hate heart candy. haha.

so… there are only ~60 days left of school for me until clinicals. Can you believe it?! That’s including weekends too. I’ve been in school for so long I don’t think i’ll quite know what to do when i finish. i’m just so used to the whole school routine. i’ll admit though- i’m pretty scared about going on rotations… i feel unprepared. what if i kill someone by accident?!?! well i’m sure that won’t happen since we will have preceptors looking over our shoulders but it’s no less frightening. i’ll be making real decisions for real patients with real diseases and disorders that i’ve only learned about in the books. pictures and slides are totally different than the real thing.

now that i’ve been thinking about all that candy i ate, i think i should brush my teeth. i only have one cavity and i plan to keep it that way. speaking of which…

good luck to this big guy in keeping his teeth clean!!

today for some reason i was hungry ALL DAY LONG. WHY?! i have no idea. all i could think about was eating. i sat down at the computer after a long day of classes and considered what to eat for dinner. guess what ?! you got it. TACOBELL. AGAIN. that’s all i could think about! i ordered two tacos!! for me, if you didn’t know, that’s a lot. a steak chalupa baja, and a steak gordita supreme (from the recommendation of my brother). anyways, i just gobbled them down in the one chaired table in the kitchen while my fish watched me hungrily inhale two tacos! well, that’s all the interesting stuff that has happened in the last day or so.

since in a few hours i will probably feel sick to my stomach, here is a photo of what i will most likely want to do when my stomachache hits:

(Dimas Ardian/Getty Images)

Above is a month-old Sumatran tiger cub named Dema cuddling up to a 5-month-old female orangutan named Irma in Indonesia. These two sweethearts were abandoned by their mothers. I just can’t understand why they would abandon these little darlings. The cubs were being looked after by the animal hospital’s staff.

i hope you liked the picture.

the salt he said brought out flavor in the foods that we eat.
with the light, he drew a picture. it’s nighttime. imagine a dark room. you light a candle. the whole room is completely transformed. Just as light illuminates a room, so should our environment completely change when we are in it.

does this decription fit you?

also, he talked about the spheres of influence. what are these?

Commerce

Household

Art/Media

Religious Institution

Government/Politics

Education

Which one(s) are you?

y e l l !!

don’t you? yesterday was one of those days. it was the kind of day when the grass is so much greener on the other side (sorry it’s so cliche) , and all you can do is be so consumed with that thought: if i could only… or if i could just have that then…everything would be perfect.

my day went on that way, mostly. if the neighbors would just be quiet for once(RAWR!), or if the roommates would just clean up their mess before mold started growing (EWW!), or if i were smarter, or…prettier, taller, or anything really. the list started to grow and grow and grow. just as i was falling into this death spiral, a glimmer of hope pulled me out. it came through the skylight of a local coffee shop. and also through the company of a good friend. thank you.

we talked about bright things: dream houses. life after graduation. travel. puppies. music.

today is different. i AM on the greener side. i hope you are too.

actually, since i had nothing planned for valentine’s day I decided to do something nice for myself. it was very simple. one of my friends got me some rose soap(made in france and it even has dried rose petals infused within it!) for christmas, and well, i was sort of waiting for the perfect time to open it. for some reason, i really like trying new things, whether its a new restaurant, new t-shirt, especially even meeting new people. anyways, my fascination with new things extends to soap too. so that was it. new rose soap. by the way, it smells divine.

on snow day #2, i thought it would be a great idea to go sledding. we have a very large hill on campus where we usually have outdoor concerts and such, but during the winter it turns into the best sledding hill in town! last year my buddy steve and i headed out to the local walmart to get an innertube for our snowy shannigans, and after his graduation i naturally inherited it. lucky me. well i just wanted to show you the sorts of things that sled down this hill. it’s college, so lunch trays, the saucer thingies, sleds, even mattresses aren’t unusual. this year however, a clever bunch decided to fly down in one of these:

i wonder how it ended up. i imagine it was pretty sweet.

you got it. SNOW DAY!! hooray! stuff like this never happens… especially to me. it was kind of odd that the university closed down at noon when i had an 11:30 class. class for 30 minutes? then go home? too confusing.

i went to watch my friend Alex play his saxophone in a jazz trio tonight. if there’s something you’ll know about me, i like to watch live musik. there’s something about it that makes me feel alive. i mean, right in front of my very eyes, a musician creates art where there would otherwise be silence. he played some Coltrane and made it his own, which was lovely. also as a tribute to valentine’s day he played “when i fall in love” for those romantics out there. sigh. valentine’s day. nothing special planned for me this year. would be nice though if some day i would actually do something special. i guess i’ll save that for another year.

something fun i will do this wednesday is romp around in the snow. it’s deliciously fun! something about being knee-deep in white fluff makes me smile. and laugh too.

i like monkeys. and since there is so much snow, i’ll post a picture with NO snow. it actually looks warm in this picture:

if you perhaps some day see a monkey petting a cat, please take a picture of it. and then send it to me. i am sure i would love to see it.