no acute distress

back to the motherland

mi — Sun, 27 Jan 2008 14:50:55 +0000

leaving today for our family trip (minus one) back to vietnam. oreos are packed, as is the dramamine and meclizine. no more episodes of projectile vomiting, hopefully. will need my strength to bargain down prices at the tailor and at the roadside stands for ryan’s daily bowl of pho.
i should have access to email while i’m out there. email me! [ you want to uth it? ]

lazy day

mi — Wed, 31 Oct 2007 02:43:50 +0000

post call, left to go sign charts at another hospital, then visited sprinkles in newport beach. drove up the coast on PCH all the way home.

first!

mi — Sun, 28 Oct 2007 07:36:06 +0000

first thoracentesis today! half a liter of milky, orangy fluid, looks like sobe. so fun. must do again.

new hospital

mi — Wed, 08 Aug 2007 03:52:19 +0000

just a few things about block 2: the hospital that smells like pee.

- well, it does. smell like pee. in the lobby.

- it’s old, like the patients. and creaky.

- my new senior is super cute.

- my new patient is super sick.

- food sucks.

- one of the super-chinese nurses snapped at me today for changing my name. “hmmph! that must be your HUS-bands name. tsk tsk tsk….”

- i think i’ll like the computer system as soon as i figure out where everything is.

- scrubs for a month! woo hoo!

- 2 lectures a day… where people struggle to stay awake or just hang limply in their chairs.

- q4 call… while also covering the micu. scary.

map

mi — Fri, 27 Jul 2007 18:38:19 +0000

floating

mi — Mon, 23 Jul 2007 21:02:29 +0000

i’ve just finished my third week of intern year! woo hoo! call has been less painful than expected, but i’m on night float this week, so we’ll see how long i last. the entire hospital is buzzing about the last harry potter book… so i caved and read the first in the series yesterday. i bought the next two today. hopefully i’ll be caught up by the end of the week enough so that my eyes no longer glaze over when the conversations start.

happy 4th of july!

mi — Thu, 05 Jul 2007 03:19:43 +0000

woke up to scary alien millipede monster bug near my closet. freaked out, made ryan get up and kill it for me while i freaked out in the bathroom. then my mouse stopped working and somehow ended up in my work bag. then… i shoved a kashi bar in my mouth and a can of coffee in my pocket and ran off to work.

today my team was admitting all the peds patients, so i watched them roll in– 6 in all. mine:

- teen with chest pain, troponins bouncing up and down, diffuse ST changes –> pericarditis

- practically-an-adult-should-know-better teen who drank some jimson weed tea and proceeded to wig out and become “mad as a hatter, dry as a bone, red as a beet”. CPKs are up, so we’re running sodium bicarb to counteract the acidosis from the ensuing rhabdo.

- huge-ass hordeolum on this poor kid. optho to consult tomorrow. it’ll probably be drained in the AM.

otherwise, i discharged my old kids and finished my dictations and now… it’s BBQ time.

day 1: unlicensed physician at work

mi — Tue, 03 Jul 2007 05:31:14 +0000

first day on peds was less painful than expected– yay for me. people are nice, the list is light, and they feed me mashed potatoes. the hours aren’t as bad as i thought, either.

today:

- baby with hernia, s/p resection of ischemic bowl.

- baby with pyelo

- more babies with pyelo

tokyo!

mi — Wed, 16 May 2007 08:36:11 +0000

we’re here! safe! and we’re having a good time… except for the leg/back pain from walking everywhere.

goodies so far:

- convenience stores are everywhere and better than anything we have in the US. even famima.

- japanese girls are SO CUTE.

- early morning fresh sushi from the fish market is SO GOOD, but it may give you a stomach ache. i don’t think my body likes fish at 6am.

- the monorail is always crowded, but so far no one has tried to touch my butt. go japan!

- constant access to vending machines with cold beverages equals fantastic

- i can’t use japanese keyboards. they’re messing with my head.

- everyone over here dresses like they’re ready to party. i need to have crazy japanese hair.

- nighttime isn’t nearly as scary as guatemala.

- i could stick my ticket through the little machine all day. zip zip zip!

- wanna use it?

- malls here are amazing. i don’t have time to go through them all.

- love love love cheap japanese photo booths. gotta get some cute japanese girls to join me.

- 4am is a great time for stuffed pancakes and curry croquettes.

and…. that’s all for now.

me gusta los estados unidos

mi — Sat, 28 Apr 2007 16:02:47 +0000

i got back yesterday afternoon… and showered! life is good here. ryan took me to old pasadena where i refused to eat food from anywhere “south of the border” and opted instead for some good old italian food. il fornaio to the rescue! pinkberry has a big “now hiring” sign up, but there’s no sign of it opening anytime soon. i haven’t psyched myself up to drive again yet… the guatemalan roads have scarred me for life.