Bah Humbug

I whole-heartedly agree w/Ashley's post. My roommate has left for the holidays, and I have no family around with which to celebrate. I am drained after working 90 hrs/week for the last month and not having a day off in 10 days. This is added to:

-Being called at 5pm last Friday night at home by the psychiatry resident who was consulting on one of our nonverbal patients with anoxic brain injury after a cyanide ingestion. For several days, they had said that my patient did not have capacity for medical decision-making, so we had made him DNR/DNI (do not resuscitate/intubate) per his power of attorney/POA. Now, they tell me that they had brought in a typewriter to communicate w/the patient and decided after all that he DID have capacity, and furthermore, wanted to be full code. So, annoyingly, I drove back into the hospital at night to have a 2-hour-long painstaking code discussion w/the patient using a computer keyboard so he could peck out his answers on the keyboard with a pen. Wearing, of course, our yellow paper gowns because he was in contact isolation. This reminded Julie of the Scrubs episode (or was it House?) where the pt communicated by blinking his eyes. And after all that, psychiatry was wrong, and the pt still wanted to be DNR/DNI. SIGH.

-2 bomb threats to my continuity clinic last Friday, of course called in by a resident clinic patient.

-Soon after capping at 12 new patients within a few hours this past Saturday at the University Hospital, my resident informs me that a 737 has crashed at DIA and get ready to go down to the ER to help. Plus, he was worried because his father was flying Continental to Houston that afternoon (found out later he had flown out a few hours before the crash). Fortunately, most patients were ortho/ER patients due to fractures, not medicine patients.

-Continuity clinic today, in which 2/3 of my patients were seeking narcotic refills.

This makes me nostalgic for old times, too...I miss Wisconsin and Nebraska!

A holiday request

Let me preface this by saying that I don't want to be a Debbie Downer ...

We are very fortunate to have an abundance of family and friends with whom to spend the holidays. That said ... I really, really, really miss spending Christmas -- OK, post-Christmas -- with you guys. Sometimes I get a little down after the Christmas whirlwind wears off. Maybe it's nostalgia for childhood, maybe it's just plain missing family that I don't see much anymore. I don't know. It's just a feeling that makes me really sad if I dwell on it for too long.

Maybe we could re-activate the blog during break and share some of our Christmas adventures and photos with each other? It's not the same as seeing each other in person, but it's a pretty darn good substitute given the distance and our complicated schedules.

In the spirit of starting this off, I'm posting one of Lindsey's pictures from last year's cookie decorating extravaganza.

you'd think my hobby was packing

While I'm excited that clinical 4 of 6 is finished super soon, I'm not thrilled with the packing that comes along with it. I started tonight. Tomorrow will probably be folding clothes for a couple hours. Wednesday night may be stressful, with a lot of car loading, followed by an even more stressful Thursday morning... finishing it all up before work so I can leave the moment I return at noon.

If I were smart, I'd just stay put at home over break and relish in not having to pack from my pile of packed items. But no. A couple days in Clinton with the family. Then 10 days in Denver with Mary. See, that's the problem. I'M SO EXCITED TO SEE MY MARY!! So I can't stay on my cutie petutie all break... however lovely it sounds. At least I have more than a weekend between moving adventures. Because it's not even like I move home for the weekend, and then bring that same exact stuff to the next location. My needs are always different because of weather and available household items. Now, granted I tend to "need" more than the average person. My sewing machine and half my kitchen likes to travel with me. (Which reminds me... I still have to take a pic and post the super cute top I made a couple weeks ago.)

In conclusion, I'm ready to be done with this year and living permanently in Denver. In fact, I won't even sort out unnecessary stuff until I get there. All my stuff boxed and bagged from last year's aparment will stay as such. I'll go through one at a time, keep what I need/want, and donate/toss the rest. More importantly, when I pack it'll be for a little vacation, not a 2 month hostage in the north woods.

And I'm excited about only 3 more nights sleeping on an air mattress. My back SO needs proper support again.

Study break, anyone?

I'm guessing the blog has been slow lately because everyone is studying oh-so-hard for finals and whatnot. Anyhoo, to brighten your day, here's a funny video that my boss sent me. Let's just say it's very timely for gentlemen who might be choosing Christmas gifts for the ladies in their lives. :)

http://bewareofthedoghouse.com/VideoPage.aspx