Black Friday

I'm not sure why I've never been shopping on black friday before, but it was well worth it......
Diana arrived the night before to sleepover so we could plan our excursion and engage in the insanity that so many other Americans enjoy every year.

Coffee maker set - check
Alarm set for 3am - check
Protein bars packed - check
Blueprints of store buildings and mapped layouts with the fastest way to coveted items - check
(j.k. on that last one....we're not that crazy!)

Alarm goes off at 3am.....by 3:46we are on our way (if the pics are blurry that's because this is what things look like at this time of the morning).
By 5:49 (notice the continued blurriness), we have finished shopping at Kohl's, and are just in time for the opening of Target. Local news was there interviewing the massive line up of people waiting to get in. We waited in the warm car.....because comon' we're not that nuts....

While waiting, here is a pick of us- 'bright eyed' and ready to shop! And so, after a quick nip into Target, we made our way over to Circuit City, Macy's, J.C. Penney, and Oakland Mall.

By 10:47, after 6 hours of shopping we decided that maybe it was time for another coffee. After regrouping and planning the final leg of our attack, we made our way over to Dick's Sporting, Sally Beauty supply shop, Kirklands, DSW, Barnes and Noble's, and to complete our cirlce, one last run through Kohl's.

Thankfully Diana drove her SUV over and had the seats folded down in the back.

Our excursion ended around 11:30 am (although it felt like 3pm). I'm not sure if this conveys the extent of our damage. Not all the stores had great sales, we found Kohl's and Target to have the best of what we were looking for.

So as a recap, in 7.5 hours we visited:
1. Kohl's **
2. Target **
3. Circuit City
4. Macy's
5. Oakland Mall (mostly Steve and Barry's **)
6. J.C. Penney
7. Panera (coffee break **)
8. Dick's Sporting
9. Sally Beauty Supply **
10. Kirkland's **
11. Barnes and Noble's **
12. DSW **
13. Kohl's (again)

It was definitely a fun day of shopping, and something I would do again next year.

Thanks Di!
xoxo

Dreams....

I’ve been having a recurring dream lately.  Last night was the second night I dreamt about it.  It was exciting in that my medical knowledge is now starting to even translate into my dreams, but aside from that it was a little eerie considering this was the second time I had it. 

I dreamt I was having a cardiac tamponade.  I knew exactly how it happened, and what had to be done to save me from death.  Somehow a miniscule sized hole had been blown through my left ventricular wall (how, I do not know), and blood was pooling into my pericardial sac.  The scary part in my dream was that no one would listen to me (my fellow students were trying to argue my differential diagnosis), and the paramedics called to the scene refused to treat me.  I knew that I didn’t have much time left to live, and I knew the procedure that had to be done to resuscitate me.  Oddly enough, I had found a faceless inexperienced med student to aspirate the fluid out of my pericardial sac.  When I was guiding this person through the procedure (don’t ask how I knew what to do as I've never seen the procedure in real life), I felt as though I was both people – myself with the cardiac tamponade, and the student with the needle penetrating my chest wall.  Eventually the blood was withdrawn, and only then did the paramedics finally believe me, and took over from there.  I remember feeling just really scared and frustrated in the dream because no one would listen to me or help me…… but it was still cool to have the medical stuff in it.

Back again

After much thought and consideration I’ve decided to start blogging again. I blogged briefly last year on a shared blog, so I transferred a few of the (what I think are) funnier posts I had written. It was interesting going back and reading through old posts I have written and reflect on what else was going on that time in my life. I think I’ve softened up a bit (literally and figuratively, lol), probably still a smart ass, and definitely as quirky as ever (but perhaps better hidden). After going through all the different core clinical rotations I can reflect on how my own feelings towards medicine and patient care have evolved. What I’ve really come to realize is how my empathy towards humans changes depending on how stressed out I feel. The more stressed I become, the less empathy I have for other people. Being a fourth year now I can actually sit back and enjoy my rotations as the majority of them I have chosen for my own learning interests, and not worry about a test at the end. I’ve moved into the student housing by the hospital which is surprisingly nice, and fully furnished. For the first time in my life I am sans roommate, which is neither good nor bad but definitely a change. Although I can be a loner by nature I do miss sometimes being able just come out of my room and have a real person present to talk to. Part of this problem has been ameliorated by a peace lily recently purchased (I call her ‘Lil for short). I still wouldn’t mind waking up and finding a kitten in my closet...

Slasher Friday and a Romantic Evening for One

Originally written March 2nd, 2008

Before I begin this post I just want to start by saying that its absolutely disgusting to hear the noises of your roommate fornicating with her new boyfriend. I would rather give serial rectal exams to 83 year old men complaining of diffuse abdominal pain. Oh yeah, did I forget to mention that the mexican fiance has vamanosed and she's taken a new 'lova'?

'Twas Friday evening, another call night at the hospital. At 5 pm I reported to the senoir, and he promptly sent me off to the operating room....there's nothing like the feeling of having your gloved hands inside the internal organs of another person. By 9pm I was out, and retired to my call room with the hope that I would sleep soundly through the night. Alas, there was no such luck - it was friday night stab night, as we had one trauma victim after another with knife wounds to various parts of their body. There are just so many people who 'mind their own business' when a crazy women comes to stab them.....By 5am, I was exhausted but grossly satisfied with the amount of blood I had seen, and was kindly let off early to go home. As walked home in the cold wee hours of the morning I contemplated how I would spend my Saturday evening after a days rest. So much to do by myself - should I wax my arms or somewhere a little more sensitive? Questions.......questions I could sleep on for now.

As I unwound Saturday morning before I retired I was informed the mutt would be remaining at home for the day. I felt sympathy for this poor ugly creature -to remain caged yet again. I kindly fed it peanut butter and human noursishment as I knew this was exactly what the owner did not want for her precious organically fed dog.

And so with ear plugs to drown out the mutts' whining I slept until 1700 hours, and awoke looking forward to the night ahead. Knowing it would be difficult to fall asleep again at a decent hour I planned my evening carefully for a Cinderella bedtime (before midnight). And so here is the recipe of a romantic evening for one:

1. Red Wine
2. Popcorn
3. Benzocaine (numbing agent)
3. Hot wax and muslin cloth
4. Diphenhydramine (benadryl)
5. 300 movie (rippling Spartan bodies on film)

Estimated time of events: 3hours. Pour glass of red wine. Apply benzocaine to area planned to be waxed. Consume the half a glass of wine while the benzocaine soaks into the skin. Wax numbed area while consuming the rest of the glass of wine. Shower to remove remnants of wax, and microwave the popcorn. Take one tablet of diphenhydramine - note the instructions on the package that forewarn the increased drowsiness effect of alcohol consumption with the medication. Settle into warm bed with the 300 movie, feeling tired again after only 5 hours of awake time, and fall into a lovely drug induced sleep with dreams of rippling Spartan bodies dancing through your head.

Desperate Measures

Originally written March 17th, 2008

It began Sunday morning, after sleeping most of Saturday being post call, and then into Saturday night. I awoke early Sunday morning as most normal people do – with the urge to pee. Quite unfortunately the bathroom was preoccupied with my roommates’ new fornicating friend. “No worries” I said to myself, “I’ll simply use the spare basement bathroom” (really only used in dire circumstances as it’s grungy, never cleaned, and the door doesn’t shut completely). As I walked out to the living room I noticed our door open, and silently prayed no one would be in the basement. Down the first set of stairs I climbed only to realize the basement door was open, and only one thing could be true – the basement bathroom was occupied. Oh the horror! Where was I to seek relief as I had already held out as along as possible for the upstairs bathroom. Desperate urges called for desperate measures…….I could wait no longer……..My eyes spied a glass in my room……did I dare? There was no place else. The unimaginable became a reality, as I was disgusted with what I was forced to do, but left with no other choice. Grossly disturbed and wondering how I should discard of this specimen I contemplated my options – do I pour it into the proper receptacle or………….how about throwing it out the window? Strangely, this seemed like the most satisfying option as I was somewhat incensed by what I was forced to do. And so up went the window pane, and like a mediaeval wench, merely cleaning house as the other bourgeoisie would do, out went my pee onto the grass below.
As for that glass (and the fact that it isn’t mine, and really cannot be discarded), I scratched a small marking on the bottom so I will know never to drink from it again. Even though I’ve bleached it, just knowing what it was used for is enough to make sure it stays in the back of the cabinet.