Friday, December 24, 2010

Oops He Did it Again

The husband, K, is a notoriously amazing gift-giver. He has already given me an early Christmas present before my last few long interview trips. And what was it you ask? Well just a Chi travel set complete with straightening shampoo, conditioner, styling creme and silky stuff along with a mini CHI hair straightener and mini hair dryer. It came in this nifty little bag that has a ton of compartments and rolls up all nice and compact. It even has a little hook to hang from towel racks. I got so much use out of that little sucker over the last few weeks and know that I'll use the heck out of it during residency. I'll be able to get some sleep on call not worrying about what my hair looks like the next day. Ha. Honestly I see myself throwing it in my bag to have on call and being very, very lucky if I get to use it.

Anywho, all of this to say that by the melieu of small packages that have been arriving on our doorstep I can already tell that he has WAY outdone me once again this year. We always set a budget and I'm pretty sure he exceeds it by 2-3x every single time. And I stick to it! Now who gets the crappy end of that deal might I ask?

Oh yeah, Merry Christmas Eve! Let's not forget the real reason for the season - to outdo your significant other in gift giving therefore making them feel incredibly guilty for not blowing the budget on your happiness.

As for the rest of life, things have been going great the last week since I'll be getting a few weeks of rest before my next set of interviews. I've finished 9. 9! and have 3 more. There's pretty much nothing they can throw at me now to make me nervous during these interviews. Sometimes I get angry when they don't ask really random or behavioral questions. Where's the challenge? I've got my life story condensed to a 1 minute shpiel from birth to present day.

Here are the highlights so far from interview season:
1. Showing up to the wrong hospital 10 minutes before my interview (but you already heard about this in an earlier post)

2. All the interviewees crowding into a shuttle to go to an interview and having the driver ask us "So where y'all work at?" There was a collective "SERIOUSLY!!!???" Only 1 girl knew the actual address we were going to. The rest of us had heard "We'll shuttle you to the interview" and mentally checked out.

3. Getting a flat tire and then sideswiped (notice a theme? People love to hit me. I must be super attractive in a magnet sort of way.)on the way to an interview at a place I probably won't even bother ranking.

4. Getting ready for an interview and on the verge of running late when the electricity goes out WHILE I'M IN THE MIDDLE OF BLOWDRYING MY HAIR.

5. Getting caught in a snowstorm crazy blizzard, having panic attacks in the car while watching huge trucks swerve and wreck all around me and trying to remember to breathe. Making it to the interview to find that only ONE other applicant toughed it out. And her ass was from Washington. She had what she called "snow gear" whatever that is. Then seeing all my hardcore girl surgery buddies at the same snowy institution that had closed for the day! PS - only the FEMALE applicants toughed it out for these interviews. Not a man in sight. How typical.

6. Seeing said Washington applicant at my next interview and watching her anguished face as she actively passed a kidney stone during the pre-interview Powerpoint, ran down to the ER to get checked out, and then back up to complete her interview. She is TOUGH. These are the women I'm up against. What the hell?

7. Listening to nearly all the Sweet Potato Queen's books and making it my life's goal to have as much fun as Jill Connor Browne. I laughed out loud all by myself a few times in the car. Passed those hours so well. I also recommend any of Greg Iles' books on tape/CD.

8. Following my mapquest directions to a hotel only to end up 20 miles away at someone's house in a nice subdivision by the same name as the street the hotel was on. Hmmm. Yeah, I might be your doctor one day. Be afraid. And Merry Christmas. I'm thanking the sweet baby Jesus that I've survived this year so far.

Saturday, December 4, 2010

Breathing a Sigh of Relief

***Warning - incredibly boring post ahead***

Made it through November and House Medicine. There were some days that were touch and go though. Had an average patient load of 16 throughout the month, only finished rounding before 11:30 1x the entire month. That doesn't mean we finished work at 11:30 for the non-medical people. The real work begins after you finish rounding. And of course you can't get anything done from 12:00-1:00 because everyone you really need to talk to (ahem, specialists...)is at lunch. Several of our patients were of the chronic "fill in the blank" pain variety which really try my patience. Kept reminding me of Law #8 of Samuel Shem's The House of God. Also, #5 was a recurring theme. Here are the laws, in case you aren't familiar:

Laws of the House of God
1.GOMERS DON’T DIE.
2.GOMERS GO TO GROUND.
3.AT A CARDIAC ARREST, THE FIRST PROCEDURE IS TO TAKE YOUR OWN PULSE.
4.THE PATIENT IS THE ONE WITH THE DISEASE.
5.PLACEMENT COMES FIRST.
6.THERE IS NO BODY CAVITY THAT CANNOT BE REACHED WITH A #14G NEEDLE AND A GOOD STRONG ARM.
7.AGE + BUN = LASIX DOSE.
8.THEY CAN ALWAYS HURT YOU MORE.
9.THE ONLY GOOD ADMISSION IS A DEAD ADMISSION.
10.IF YOU DON’T TAKE A TEMPERATURE, YOU CAN’T FIND A FEVER.
11.SHOW ME A BMS (Best Medical Student, a student at the Best Medical School) WHO ONLY TRIPLES MY WORK AND I WILL KISS HIS FEET.
12.IF THE RADIOLOGY RESIDENT AND THE MEDICAL STUDENT BOTH SEE A LESION ON THE CHEST X-RAY, THERE CAN BE NO LESION THERE.
13.THE DELIVERY OF GOOD MEDICAL CARE IS TO DO AS MUCH NOTHING AS POSSIBLE.

My residents and attendings were really nice thank goodness. That helped move the month along some.

Other fun things that happened in November - a few residency interviews, including the one at UMC. It went well, as far as I could tell. I left there in a great mood and feeling pretty relieved so I think that's a good sign. Have 5 more scheduled for December and 4 in January. I finally got them all scheduled how I want them and am quite relieved to have a few days to relax in between each of them.

I finally got my car back. It looks better than it has for the last several years thanks to the new paint on parts of it and fancy clean and wax job. At one point during the month we had 4 cars in our driveway everyday. It's a long story, but basically Kris's car quit. He bought a new one before sending the old one away to get fixed up. Then we had the milieu of rotating cars for me to drive while mine was being repaired.

Also in November - we now have 2 nieces! Kris's youngest brother and wife had their first baby. She's quite the cutie. I wish I could say this was taking the pressure off us to have one for a while, but lately it's turned into "Now it's y'all's turn!!!" and "You're the last ones without a baby!!!!" Oy vey...


Now it's December though. The 1st was such a great day. We had been on call Nov 29th and didn't leave the hospital until 2:30 pm Nov 30th with no lunch break. This was pretty much par for the course our entire month on call and post-call days, so I can't say I'm surprised. Just exhausted. The one good thing about that many patients is it teaches you to be efficient. By the last morning I saw 6 patients in a little over an hour, a personal best for me. Anywho, December 1st is my sister's birthday so after sleeping in until 10:30 or so I ventured out with her and my mother on a little shopping trip. Or vicarious shopping trip? I managed to keep my purchases down to $30, which included her birthday present. I'm incredibly broke right now, so every dollar counts. These hotels and interviews don't pay for themselves!

As for the December 2nd, Kris had the day off so we ventured around town together running errands. It was nice. We haven't seen each other that much for the past few months so even getting to hang out doing mundane things like getting a new car tag was a treat. Seems every time I was getting off work the last 2 months he was heading in. We grabbed a bite at 5 Guys over at Renaissance, always delicious. Then we came home and played the Kinect for the XBOX. Not gonna lie - I broke a sweat. It's really fun though. It's like any other game except your body is the controller. If your character needs to jump, you have to jump. Pretty cool.

Yesterday was my grandmother's 82nd birthday so I spent the morning baking her a diabetic-friendly egg pie. Sounds gross, but was pretty tasty. Drove down to Durant to visit with her a bit and then came home for my sister's "Totally 80s 30th Birthday Party." It was so fun. Everyone's outfits were great. She even had slap bracelets :)

And that has been my November and December. Heading out to South Carolina tomorrow morning for an interview and have a few books on tape/CD to listen to on the way. While Kris and I were running errands we finally went and got library cards and learned all about the local library. I was pretty impressed. They now have books on mp3 online that you can download to your iPod/iPad. Also have a wall of books that people have read 1x and donated that they sell for $3. Great Christmas gifts if you're as broke as most of us are right now. Happy December and Happy Interviewing to my fellow classmates!

Also - congrats to my bestie Julz who has just completed Law School at Ole Miss in just 2.5 years. Good job Julz!!!