Residency 1.1

One month down. And since I start bright and EARLY tomorrow, this will be a quick post as to my first month as a doctor. My goal is to do this for every rotation, so I remember what it was like, and so you can share the journey with me. Forgive my tired brain.

I spent my first four weeks as a doctor in the Rheumatology Department, the land of gray (as in, nothing is black and white). Despite often not finding a definitive diagnosis, I became more confident in my ability to say it wasn't anything serious and got really good at recommending supportive shoes for flat feet (does this really work???). I worked with some amazing doctors who really LOVE their patients and love teaching and, yes, who love complaining about some of the stupid things parents do and say.

For example, the mom who was absolutely convinced that her son "caught" his rheumatoid arthritis from a girl with chicken pox at church camp. Hey, whatever works.

And I had those dreaded ER shifts. I'm told that after my full month down there, it will be a lot better, because I'll be much more comfortable, but for now, it is NOT my favorite place in the hospital. My first night was a disaster, for multiple reasons, but thankfully, it has gotten slightly better, and I now know how to order prescriptions correctly (though still can't get the right printer every time) and how to answer an overhead page (THAT was a funny experience the first time). And I know that even if I eat a snack RIGHT beforehand, watching the ortho resident reduce an ulnar/radial fracture will still make me want to pass out. Guess I will sit down next time.

Tomorrow starts a crazy month of 80 hour weeks, early mornings, very sick patients, and probably the start of me feeling like a real doctor, for real.

Making our speaking English good

I love walking to the library.

Reminds me of when I was a kid and would hunt the shelves each week for the new Cam Jansen or Encyclopedia Brown, and then spend the week closing my eyes and saying "Click" or studying handwriting to see if someone is left- or right-handed. I remember the double automatic doors and the round checkout counter, and the carpeted tables in the kids' section. I remember the hollow sound of returned books thumping the bottom of the bin, and signing my first library card in my newly-perfected cursive. We used to walk out of there with stacks and stacks of books, and they would never last until the next trip.

I know that I don't have time to finish stacks and stacks anymore, unless of course I break out the Hardy Boys again. But walking home with a few books tells me that it's summer, and that my free time, however limited, will be well-spent. Happy reading.

How can I miss you if you won't go away?

Things I miss about home (that I got to miss a little less this weekend):
Big Bill's garlic knots
Lunch on the deck
Big Bill's sausage and green pepper pizza
Daily Mass at STM
Friends who will go with me to the new (delicious) fro-yo place...and Big Bill's
Attic fan on with the windows open
Seeing Mary and Kelly stumble into the kitchen around noon when they finally wake up

Alas, I am back in KC. A wonderful trip, and now I am going into panic mode before I start Blue Team on Friday. Just to clarify...whose idea was it to put me on a 30 hour call my first day on inpatient, followed by a short call on Sunday? You're just asking to run behind. I'm just saying.

Hint: It's not dancing

My attending asked me this week what I was passionate about (over a beer at Grinders, which I highly recommend), saying that it's something he asks all those he interviews. If they can't answer, they either aren't passionate about anything, or they're not self-aware enough to know (or they're embarrassed to say). Frankly, I'd rather work with someone passionate about something totally weird than someone who has no passion at all, but that doesn't mean I want to hear about your bird's trip to the vet and how many words he can say.

So I started thinking about what I was passionate about. Not just things I like. Cause I like tubing, but I'm not going to take every free weekend and find a lake. I like a good beer, but not enough to join the tour at Old Chicago or apparently enough to get my butt on one of those brewery tours. I like music, but am too lazy to really even find songs I like on iTunes. It's like, meh, whatever.

And I'm like that about a lot of things. But you gotta really love something. I think it's important to have something that will get you riled up, something you look forward to, something that you do with your free time and spare change. Besides my pillow, and loving to hate my pager (which I don't yet, but will soon), I came up with this brief list:

USWNT soccer
Bragging/telling stories about my family
14ers (and Colorado in general as the best place on earth)
Jane Austen
Burn Notice, Castle, Firefly
coffee (mostly Starbucks, don't judge)
Italian food
Removing olives from the world
the Catholic Church
kids getting their vaccines

Nothing surprising really, but that's okay. At least it's enough for an interview. (Maybe they don't wanna hear about olives) What about you?

Maimed

I want to issue you a challenge. The following is taken from "My Utmost For His Highest", a devotional by Oswald Chambers.

"And if thy right hand offend thee, cut it off and cast it from thee: for it is profitable for thee that one of thy members should perish, and not that thy whole body should be cast into hell." Matthew 5:30

Jesus did not say that everyone must cut off the right hand, but - If your right hand offends you in your walk with Me, cut it off. There are many things that are perfectly legitimate, but if you are going to concentrate on God you cannot do them. Your right hand is one of the best things you have, but, says Jesus, if it hinders you in following His precepts, cut it off. This line of discipline is the sternest one that ever struck mankind.

...The unspiritual person says - Whatever is wrong in that? How absurd you are! ... But it is better to enter into life maimed and lovely in God's sight than to be lovely in man's sight and lame in God's.

Think seriously today about all those things you do that may be "perfectly legitimate" by the world's standards, but hinder you in following God. Movies that may be funny but not pure, books that may be an "innocent escape", jokes or conversation topics that are okay with everyone around you but don't glorify God, music, artwork, TV, anything that draws our hearts towards earthly things and leaves it there. I'm not saying we cut out everything in our lives that isn't EWTN and KLOVE and "Lives of the Saints", for even Jesus had a job as a carpenter, spent time with His family, and ate and drank and laughed with His friends and with sinners too. But maybe we're too cavalier with how we spend our time and energy. What if the world saw us, and what they saw pointed them to something greater? What if we could look at truly everything we did and say, For the greater glory? It will be crazy to the world. It will be crazy even to a Christian world. Think about it.

Sunday with Nelson, Atkins, and Me

If you know me (and if you don't, why are you reading my blog? Seriously, it's not that good), you know that I love things that make me feel artsy, like going to the symphony or plays or art museums. But I rarely go because I never have anyone to go with. Well, today, that was not excuse enough--I went to the art museum all by my lonesome. And it was won-der-ful. Got to set my own pace, skip what I didn't want to see, and best of all, it was FREE.

I love the emotions that art can evoke, the different styles and ways of representing things, and there were some really great well-known pieces, which were fun for me to see. They had some fantastic old Egyptian and Ancient Greek stuff, a few really cool religious pieces, and a fun contemporary collection, along with a big statue garden. Pictures of some of my favorites are below.

One of the cool contemporary pieces

Rodin's Adam. The Thinker was outside in the sculpture gardens. I used to play a computer game called Thinker, and ever since then I have wanted to see it in person. Check.

One of the giant Shuttlecocks out on the lawn, commissioned especially for the museum

Andy Warhol's Baseball

Caravaggio's Saint John the Baptist in the Wilderness. Very cool.

Things that are fun about my new city

1. Fireflies. Yay! Now I have to finish my jelly so I can make a firefly jar and spend all my evenings at the park.

2. Fun parks nearby. Here's me at Antioch Park across the street. There's a whole village for the kids to play in, including a jail (complete with a "secret escape tunnel"). I also have discovered Loose Park which is huge and beautiful and will be making future appearances in my life I'm sure.





3. Little Hugs drinks. 'Nuff said.

4. My hands are silky smooth and I never need lotion (see, there is an upside to smothering humidity).









5. K-raig's t-shirt. And K-raig (he's K-raig 'cause we also have a C-raig). And all my fun new friends. I've found people to watch soccer with, people who know the "Denver the Last Dinosaur" theme song, people who carry footballs in their car "just in case", and people who make up songs about me while they brush their teeth (kind of endearing, kind of creepy).