Taco Supreme!

Thank goodness for cute young things in blankets.

I was going to write some things about call but then I realized something. I can't remember! I can't remember anything! Sleep deprivation subtracts things from my memory. This frightens me. The first thing I heard when I walked into our break room was "thou shalt not fear!" Apparently someone left the TV on from the night before and this tele-evangelist lady was on. I had to smile... you kind of do get that feeling that you're an actor in some really strange tv show sometimes around here.

I've discovered something though, I think you may need a little fear. I might need a little fear... just a tiny bit so that I STAY AWAKE. I was so high on adrenaline last night that not only did I not really sleep the entire 5 hours that there were no pages and nothing to do, but I wasn't sleepy at at in morning report or noon conference the next day. And seeing the three patients admitted at 3am? No problem. Only I was kinda in this weird hazy awake-yet-forgetful-spazzed out state. Some people look great when they spazz (like Di!) but me, I look like Einstein. With the hair, without the brains.

I hope I didn't scare my med student. Med students are awesome! They just started their clinical year, and keep wanting to do really nice things for us. I think they feel bad for us with our sometimes-overwhelming scutwork and not knowing where anything is all the time. I wanted to tell them "we're fine, you should wait till your surgery rotation, we peds residents are spoiled!!" I also have this urge to shower them with positive feedback and tell them everything i know all the time. I have PTSD issues from my first third year rotation (CT Surgery) where we were pimped (questioned about our medical knowledge) mercilessly, yelled at, and made to feel like we really WERE scum. And it was true that our time was constantly wasted. My evaluation/grade from that rotation was great, but was the psychological abuse necessary? I hope I never make a med student cry. Here, our pediatrics chief resident has chocolate and hugs in her office when things get tough! :-)

What's better than chocolate and hugs? I leaned how to feed a baby last night!! It was so theraputic. Next time I freak out, I'll just drop everything and go feed babies. YAY FOR CUTE YOUNG THINGS IN BLANKETS!

Mi Familia Nueva!

This was at the senior resident graduation/new intern welcome dinner last night... at Rice! I shouldn' t be saying this, but Rice was my first choice for undergrad, before they rejected my attempt at early decision-ing in. How ironic that now I live less than 10 minutes away from their campus (which is just as beautiful as i remembered it!) Well I wouldn't have changed a thing... bears eat owls for lunch. GO WASH U!

Our group is awesome... three cheers for happy nice fun people! Lookin forward to a fun, yet challenging year... and actually learning spanish for real. :-)

Ode to Hershey, Survivor Extraordinaire

Want to know a great way to kill conversation? Just ask me about Hershey… not only is the most wonderful dog in the universe but he’s at the end of his road. In an 'it’ll be a miracle if he survives a few more weeks’ kind of thing. So I’m proud of myself for not being a complete emotional wreck, but dealing with end-of-life issues for canines is new and confusing for me.

First, why do we put pets to sleep? We don’t put people to sleep! (I guess that’s debatable in some states.) Hershey’s 14yrs 8 months with hypertension, arthritis, hearing loss, status post two strokes (or expanding brain tumor) which left him completely blind, early stages of leukemia (the vet is guessing), tachypnea, (vet thinks he has a heart condition), and recent onset of bloody diarrhea. We’ve opted against an extensive and stressful medical work-up, and when I get into his medical history I usually get sympathetic looks and the "yeah when my dog got like that we put him to sleep... ever think about it?"

No! He can't walk around as easily, but he wags his tail and perks his ears up whenever he feels or smells us near. He knows, man. I don’t think he wants to go down quite yet either. I don't know how, but I feel like if Hershey became suicidal he'd somehow let us know.

For one, he still likes eating everything. My dad seems to like this because he can finally feed Hershey all kinds of people food (which we used to yell at him all the time for.) So, not only does Hershey gets chocolate-chip-less cookies, he gets eggs, all leftovers and anything else the parents feel like giving him. In fact, I think there’s some filet mignon with his name on it in the fridge.

And another thing, he still hates my brother's dog. To the point where if she comes near he'll move instantly and even bark if necessary. He's got some fight left in him yet! He's taking a lot of meds, mostly to make him comfortable till he decides to leave for that giant backyard in the sky.

I could never do veterinary medicine. It freaks me out, I still don't fully understand what's medically going on with Hershey. You'd think there'd be some overlap, but dogs are like little aliens to me. I used to laugh at all those people who’d submit their dogs to brain surgery or pacemaker implants but now I understand them. I’m one of the crazies! Hershey’s a part of my family—he’s been around for more than half my life, and almost all of the time I can remember. And he’s loved me for all of it. (I think it might have to do with belly rubs and frisbee tossing.) If he were younger I’d probably donate him a kidney! Although, his kidneys are one of the few organs that ARE working properly at the moment.

Whew. Back in Houston now and ready for more orientationing tomorrow. (check out Di's blog to see what we've been up to for the past few days! hehe I know, I'm SO cheating) :-)

I'm Here!

I’m in the process of moving into my new place in Houston… and it’s fantastic! It’s in an older apartment complex with trees actually taller than the three-story buildings around it (a rarity in TX). The complex also has its own convenience store, which I should check out. Seriously this place looks like I’m in the northeast… I will definitely miss my old roommates and our westward facing balcony (with spectacular sunsets nearly every day) but man. I have so much space here too! And I have a new fellow UTHSCSAn partner-in-crime Diane! YAY!

Prepare for some amazement. I bought this alarm clock at Target for $14.99. I’m totally still skeptical, but this thing has an auto-time setting system!! After it's plugged in, the time, date, and day of the week show up. I just had to set it to the central time zone. The clock has an internal computer that keeps track of everything—including daylight savings—even when the power is off! And if we lose power at night, the “mini buzzer” will go off instead of the normal alarm. I wonder what the macro-buzzer sounds like. It says it has a "crescendo alarm"... like mitral stenosis! But, hopefully much more kinder on my heart. :-)

And if that wasn’t cool enough… it has a PROJECTOR. I press a button and it’ll project the time on the ceiling, or at any wall I point it to. So this means I can wake up to check the time without moving!! And the projected image can be red, green, or blue. Did I miss something in the advancements of alarm clocks?