Updates

- Yesterday I scrubbed in on a hemorrhoidectomy. This morning I'll see a hernia repair.
- Boo's coming down to WRJ tonight! Also Ten. While I'm on call all day Saturday, Ten will be buying me groceries, vacuuming my condo, changing my sheets, etc. Sounds like a really fun today for both of us.
- Only 33 days left of this rotation. Oh God, that sounds like a lot.
- My parents leave for Peru on Tuesday. I tried to send them a Peruvian language workbook, but you'd be shocked at how underrepresented the Peruvian language is on Amazon.

Updates

- Last night, after a 34 hour marathon, I came home, fell onto the sofa, and slept for 9.5 hours. It was... ahhhhh... Interestingly, there's a federal law that caps interns' work hours at 30. Evidently not so for med students.
- I miss Ten horribly.
- The newspapers have been completely flooded by Michael Jackson's resignation and Sarah Palin's death. Anything else happening?
- Chocolate covered espresso beans
- Can I be a doctor who just takes care of ancient, adorable old women?

Being told after working 37 hours straight that I should be finding time to do more reading makes me feel... oh, I don't know.

Yesterday I saw a below the knee amputation (BKA). Wow. It looks pretty much like what you think it would look like. In other news, I spilled coffee all over my resident's notes first thing in the morning. Sigh. He said something that sounded like, "Christ," but it might have been "Nice" or "Coffee is such a Vice."

At least I had a string cheese in my lunch box, care of Ten.

I am crossing my fingers for a day off on Sunday. I'll practice suturing while listening to every NPR broadcast I've missed in the last week. Also I'll fluff up my self esteem which has been taking small but repetitive beatings over the last few days.

I got to put two sutures in yesterday! It was a carpal tunnel operation. Today I'm seeing a below-the-knee-amputation (BKA) and a trans-metatarsal amputation (TMA). Yesterday I worked from 5 am to 7 pm, and this morning I am d-r-a-g-g-i-n-g. Note to self: don't go into surgery. (Unless you have carpal tunnel.)

Surgery

I'm two days into my surgery rotation. My first day was also the intern's and residents' first day, so things have been a little hectic. Tomorrow I am reporting for duty at 5 am. So far I have gotten to participate in a toe amputation and an ulcer debridement, and I've taken out some staples. Wednesday is my first day/night on call, and I have no idea what to expect.

You'd think that if you were heading off for work in the wee hours with no cars on the road you could go 41 in a 30 mph zone, wouldn't you? Nope, you can't, as the tobacco-chewing officer who pulled me over this morning informed me.

I went to an optometrist with Ten on Saturday. Originally I wanted only cute frames so that I could try to look older and smarter. Ten convinced me to get an actual eye exam while I was there, so I did. The optometrist, after saying, "Oh, my. Oh, my my" during my test, informed me that I would not even be able to pass a driving test with my vision as it is. Fortunately I was able to hold myself back from giving the officer this news this morning.

Summer Vacation Is Over!

Here are some pictures from the past week. It was a good break: a barbecue, a Day of Beauty with Ten, and a trip to New York to see my brother and college friends.









Third year began today.