Friday, November 27, 2009

What the Hey?

How in the heck did I make it back home with NO leftovers at all? Oh well - maybe my pants will fit a little looser next week...

Sunday, November 22, 2009

Runner's Log

45 minutes; 3.87 miles; 380 calories burned

It wasn't very pretty out today - hello clouds :( but at least it wasn't raining. I knew I was giving Penelope a bath today so instead of steering her around every mud puddle and gutter filled with stagnant rainwater I just went ahead and let her jump in every single one of them. How liberating! She was so tired for her bath that she didn't protest at all. Just sat there with her head resting on the side of the tub and let me bathe her. Guess how many towels it takes to dry a 9 month old cocker spaniel?

5! She completely soaked through 5 towels. Methinks it's time for a haircut.

Today Kris and I plan on getting the house all gussied up for Christmas. I'm hosting a Christmas shower for my dearest friend Julz in less than a month so decorating should be a lot of fun this year. As for the rest of the day - I really need to start preparing for ACLS (advanced cardiac life support). This is also known as "running a code" or what to do when someone's dying. We're being trained and tested this Tuesday and Wednesday and I haven't even begun studying. Yikes. Psych really has made me lazy.

Saturday, November 21, 2009

You Know What's Not Cool?

When you've gotten all decked out in running gear, got the iPod at the ready, leash on the dog and step outside to see

RAIN. Boo rain. Go away.

Wednesday, November 18, 2009

Things I'm Loving Right Now

1. Berry Berry Good - it's my latest obsession. I've spent $8 on frozen yogurt there in the last week. Today I tried the peanut butter, mint, strawberry & cheesecake (swirled), and plain tart with some strawberries and pineapple on top. (All the flavors were separated by a little bit of room in my cup - I'm not a complete neanderthal) They give you a cup, you run around filling it up, then they charge by the ounce. I want to say it's actual frozen yogurt and not sugary/ice cream stuff but I'm not 100% on that.

2. The fact that psych is almost over. Today my attending (who is triple boarded) asked me why a diabetic patient of his shouldn't have concentrated sweets. Really dude? Really? I was so in shock that I couldn't even blurt out an answer and then he said - "Yeah, I don't know either..." Whoa - talk about making your profession look bad.

3. All the fun flavors at Cups right now. I got the butterscotch blitzen au lait a day or 2 ago and it was fan-freaking-tastic.

4. My schedule/partners/group for Medicine. We start Internal Medicine next week and I couldn't be more excited about my schedule and being (hopefully?) super productive all day. I'm sick of being useless on psych. I'm not loving the q5 call that goes along with medicine :(

5. Recycling old electronics - sounds weird I know. I've just been in a super organizational mood for the last few weeks and it feels good to get rid of some junk. So far I've dropped off 2 huge old computer monitors (from my Mom's house), a printer, and Kris's old laptop at Best Buy. At one store they charged me $10 per item but then gave me a $10 Best Buy gift card in return for each item. At the 2nd Best Buy I went to on a different day they just took the stuff.

6. The fact that my kitchen cabinets are now officially organized. If you've been to my house it's no secret how tiny my kitchen it. I have 2 cabinets for ALL of our food, not including the one above the stove where I keep spices. Up until 2 days ago I just had everything shoved in there all haphazardly and 50% of the time when you opened cabinets something fell out or you couldn't get it shut again. No more my friends. Pictures are to follow because I know you're all just dying to see inside my kitchen cabinets - ha ha.

7. Finally having just the right amount of comfy shoes for trekking around the hospital all day. Here's what I needed to make it work and not feel limited in style options:

a pair of Dansko-ish type clogs to wear with scrubs
2 pairs of boots - 1 black, 1 brown
2 pairs heels - 1 black, 1 brown
flats - lots of 'em. I guess you only need 2 pairs, but I've got quite a few more than that.

Anyway, off to our Psych exit interview. Not real sure what it will entail, but hopefully it won't take too long!

Monday, November 2, 2009

Runner's Log + Psych VA

25 minutes - probably ~2 miles

The old iPod decided to die 5 minutes into this run and therefore I have no idea of the actual distance run or calories burned. Penelope had fun though. I've been pretty steadily running between 1-3 times a week for the last few months, but I'm beginning to get BORED... I definitely need to switch it up and go somewhere besides my tiny neighborhood.

As for school, I am now in my 4th week of psychiatry. Although they all boast that they are some of the most handsomely compensated doctors I am still not interested. I might have been at first, but that all changed the day a 67 year old lady punched her nurse in the face and then told me I was going to die.

She was "the Chosen One" and we were all despicable and all going to die. No she did not want her Ativan shot and no, she was NOT going to give us a urine sample. Long story short, the police got involved, she got her shot, took a nice long nap, and then got transferred upstairs.

Most of the patients I've seen on psych are either homeless, drug abusers, child molestors, criminals, or sometimes all of the above. They're usually looking for either:

a) a warm place to stay
b) a meal (I was going to say a good meal, but it is hospital food after all)
c) somewhere to hide from the police/gang members/family for a few days
d) more drugs

I don't have that much empathy. I wish I did. I think I used to - but it's all gone now. Now, for happier news:

I spent the last 3 weeks at the ER doing psych. Now I'm in the holiest of holy lands - VA Psych. I was home by 1:00 this afternoon AFTER going shopping at Target on the way there. I was at the VA a total of 2.5 hours. It was a productive 2.5 hours though. I met my attending and his physician's assistant. We ran the list. We rounded on the patients. The PA taught me how to and let me write orders on the patients and told me a few of the more interesting cases from years past. Then I went and hunted down a lady to give me access to the VA computers and that was it! Settling in for a night filled with reading (for fun) and Castle. Woohoo!