I don't know how many times I start off my blogs by apologizing for not writing these on a more regular schedule, but I'm sorry. I'm busy, i'm lazy, and I just simply forget to do it. I think my last blog was back on St. Patty's Day weekend, since then I finished up Orthopedic Surgery and I have decided that I'm going to pursue that path for a career. It's funny that leading up to that rotation, I tried to get rid of it, and for the first week or so, I complained a lot about it. Now, I can't picture myself doing anything else when I finally finish school than Ortho. Getting in will be difficult, because it is highly competitive, but I figure if I apply to a $#!tload of programs, eventually one will have to let me in, right?!? Only problem with that is that it kind of negates my chances of returning home to Seattle or even WA for the next couple of years. The internship and residency programs run 5 yrs total, so I'll be a nice ripe 32 when I'm finished, and if I choose to do a fellowship, you can tack on another year. I guess Marcus was right when he tagged me with the "professional student" label.
I am currently doing IM at a VA hospital, and I will be out here until the end of May. The hours are much better, but I have to drive 35-45min each way, and the way gas prices are going, these two months will destroy the pocketbook. Luckily I've been eating lunch at the domicillary with the patients/residents of the compound, and although the food isn't the most appetizing (picture elementary school lunches...minus the tator tots, ham torpedos, and good stuff in general), but I can't argue, because it's free. The patient population here is very interesting, and while I do enjoy talking to the patients about war stories and shooting the $#!t in general, after these two weeks, I know that internal medicine is something that I could never do, especially at a VA. Every patient has at least 10 chronic problems and are on 20+ meds, it takes forever to deal with the patients and 1/2 the time they aren't even compliant, so after they are discharged, they come back in a few weeks. I know I will enjoy Ortho, because although it has the same patient population of old folks, who I found are my favorite group of people to chat with, you can fix a concrete problem for the pt. and they can see the results. Ie. severe arthritis of the knee causes pain --> knee replacement --> pain gone. With IM, the patients don't see or appreciate the changes that you are trying to accomplish. Ie. lower BP, lower cholesterol level --> they don't know the difference until they have a heart attack, meanwhile, if they don't see changes they start to slack on their daily medication regimen. The end result is a sick patient, and a frustrated health care provider.
A plus side to this rotation is that I have internet access that blocks out all games and myspace...i guess that's not really a plus side, but...it doesn't block out this blog site, so, at least in the next two months, I should update this more regularly, really, I'll do it this time.
Outside of the whole school and work thing, most of my friends here are doing "outward" type rotations in other cities for the month, so I've been hanging out mostly with Debbie and exploring what KC has to offer. We checked out some fun restaurants, bars and sites in KC, and although I've managed to be stingy with lunches while at the VA, I've managed to amass quite a hefty credit card bill from these two weeks of going out. More details on that at a later date...i'm starting to gt piss @$$ tired and I wanted to briefly mention a few more things in this blog before I forget, tonight is technically my "first" night being on call at the hospital, last time was over the weekend, and the resident sent me home after morning rounds. This night has been quite interesting; for the majority of the week we have been slow, and I've only been responsible for 2-3 pts. Leave it to me to be on call when things get recockulously busy. We had 4 new admits tonight, and by the time I finished my H & Ps, updated the list and read up on what I need for tommorrow, the night was well over. So...after pounding a few 20oz of soda, I got the urge to type this blog. I would go to sleep, but my "room" is on the 6th floor of the hospital, the only room that is being occupied on that entire floor. It's not a small floor either, it's a big, long, dark hallway, and the room is at the very end. It kind of reminds me of "the Shining." So, being the pussy that I am, I'll probably just pass out in this cubicle of an office, that currently feels like a sauna. Today was about 90 degrees and the sun has beat down in this little room all day, I would sleep in this room in my boxers, but might create a rude good morning to those who woke me up, come sunrise.
Shit...where was I. Uhhh....last thing to mention, I'm excited to go home in two weeks for Mike. G's wedding. I haven't been home in a long time, and I'm looking forward to seeing everybody. It is alsokind of weird that, his "wedding" will be the first time that I'll actually meet his wife. Strange....indeeed.
That's all for now.
