The cute Italian resident was nice enough to give me today off, so my psychiatry rotation at Griffin is officially over. I was surprised at how much fun and how enjoyable this rotation was. I'm a little sad (not because of the resident :) but because I really became attached to some of those patients. I'm going to miss them and all their crazy shenanigans which brought so many laughs over the last month!
I will miss Miss T, whose only criteria for discharge was that she take a shower. She thought there were demons in the 4th stall to the end so we were always trying to convince her to take a shower in the first stall. But, after weeks of antipsychotics and psychotherapy she told us, "Basically what I'm telling you is I'm never going to take a shower at Griffin Memorial Hospital." Okay, Miss T...
I will miss Mr. J, who left his nursing home because he was "going to follow the train tracks to Egypt."
I will miss "Wolfvy," who first thought he could predict and pinpoint anything happening anywhere, at any time, all over the world, and email the people involved to warn them. And that his wife had sextuplets that all died within 15 minutes of being born. And that he'd had hundreds of surgeries to replace all of his bones with titanium, which is the reason he now gets struck by lightening so gosh darned frequently!
One person I will not miss is Miss L, who was the most annoying patient on the face of the planet. When she came in, she saw the treatment team and we asked her if she knew why she was at Griffin. She gave us THE meanest look in the world and said, "You want me to tell you again? They... ripped... my... ARM... OFF!!" She also constantly hallucinated children and believed that her residential care facility was using them to hand out the medicines. So she definitely wasn't going to go back there until they instituted some safer distribution practices. And that the owners were castrating all the male residents and then throwing the remnants at all the other patients. And that was just completely unacceptable. She was a tortured woman... who will no longer be torturing me. :)
Thursday, January 29, 2009
Monday, January 26, 2009
One Year Later: A Tribute to Cyd
It was exactly one year ago today that our dear friend Cyd was abducted in Kandahar. One year, and we have still not had the opportunity to hold a formal memorial service or funeral for her. So I would like to take this opportunity to write out a memory of Cyd I have, that no one else ever knew.
My first trip to Kandahar was in 2005- I stayed with Cyd and her two roommates for about a week. We had great fun during that time and there are many memories impressed on my mind from that short period; however, one stands out.
Every night of the summer, Cyd slept on the roof, on a small cot, under a mosquito net. She loved to sleep under the stars. I loved that roof, because it had a view of one of Kandahar's strange mountain formations just off to one side. Most nights that week, we went up to the roof and looked at the mountains and the stars. So it wasn't unusual that my last night in Kandahar, we again found ourselves on the roof after sunset; but this time we sensed the time was precious. So we lingered there for hours, talking and praying and singing together into the early morning. Cyd had a beautiful, resonant voice that rang out like a bell. We cried and talked over so many things. Sometime after one she finally left me up on the roof and went downstairs to sleep, because the first chill of fall had just arrived. I knew I was leaving for Kabul in the morning, and didn't know if I would ever come back. I stayed up on the roof for a few more hours, singing softly and basking in the beauty of the Kandahari night, staring at its millions of stars. After drifting off sometime later, I was suddenly startled out of sleep; and freezing, went downstairs to bed.
I have never forgotten that night with Cyd. What an unusual woman! That she cherished and found beauty in such a place, and somehow instilled it in my heart too. I will always love you Cyd; I wish we could sing on your roof tonight.
My first trip to Kandahar was in 2005- I stayed with Cyd and her two roommates for about a week. We had great fun during that time and there are many memories impressed on my mind from that short period; however, one stands out.
Every night of the summer, Cyd slept on the roof, on a small cot, under a mosquito net. She loved to sleep under the stars. I loved that roof, because it had a view of one of Kandahar's strange mountain formations just off to one side. Most nights that week, we went up to the roof and looked at the mountains and the stars. So it wasn't unusual that my last night in Kandahar, we again found ourselves on the roof after sunset; but this time we sensed the time was precious. So we lingered there for hours, talking and praying and singing together into the early morning. Cyd had a beautiful, resonant voice that rang out like a bell. We cried and talked over so many things. Sometime after one she finally left me up on the roof and went downstairs to sleep, because the first chill of fall had just arrived. I knew I was leaving for Kabul in the morning, and didn't know if I would ever come back. I stayed up on the roof for a few more hours, singing softly and basking in the beauty of the Kandahari night, staring at its millions of stars. After drifting off sometime later, I was suddenly startled out of sleep; and freezing, went downstairs to bed.
I have never forgotten that night with Cyd. What an unusual woman! That she cherished and found beauty in such a place, and somehow instilled it in my heart too. I will always love you Cyd; I wish we could sing on your roof tonight.
Wednesday, January 14, 2009
The Cute Italian Resident
So... there's a certain very good-looking young Italian doctor that happened to have a PA student assigned to him for the month of January. He immediately intrigued this student with his kindness and dark head of curly brown hair. Which she stared at the back of most of last week. However, since she has absolutely no idea how to attract a person of the opposite gender, (and possibly due to some rule about preceptor relationships the program made up pointlessly, without single students in mind) she admired him quietly from approximately two feet away in her chair as he interviewed crazy patients. I know because she's a really close friend of mine.
Then this week, just before lunch she began texting someone. He immediately looked up and said with a grin, "Who are you texting, your boyfriend?" She just smiled and said no. And sort of blushed because those are exactly the types of questions savvy females are able to take advantage of without replying in monosyllables. Although, she felt a twinge of hope because that's one of the first questions someone asks when they are interested, right?
Then his phone rang, and after he hung up, she decided to make a joke and said, "Who are you calling, your girlfriend?" But then he said, "Yeah."
*Sigh* .... nevermind.
Then this week, just before lunch she began texting someone. He immediately looked up and said with a grin, "Who are you texting, your boyfriend?" She just smiled and said no. And sort of blushed because those are exactly the types of questions savvy females are able to take advantage of without replying in monosyllables. Although, she felt a twinge of hope because that's one of the first questions someone asks when they are interested, right?
Then his phone rang, and after he hung up, she decided to make a joke and said, "Who are you calling, your girlfriend?" But then he said, "Yeah."
*Sigh* .... nevermind.
Sunday, January 11, 2009
A New Roommate
It has been over 2 years since I last had a roommate. However, following a short hiatus in Edmond due to a flooding incident right before New Year's, I now again live in downtown OKC. The days of Deep Deuce are over; my lease was up on December 31st. I am now staying with a friend until my rural rotations start.
My new roommate is awesome! I just love this sweet girl. She is a pediatric resident I met on the PICU rotation. She's also from Pakistan. Because she basically works 90 or more hours a week, unfortunately there's a lot she has never done in Oklahoma. For example, while on the prowl for food tonight and she pointed at a store and said, "What is a Braum's?" Needless to say, she was soon eating some Oklahoma dairy cow produced ice cream. This is going to be fun. And also will be a good transition- since she isn't home too much and I am not used to having someone home.
In other news, two of a greatest people on earth got married last night. Congratulations Danae and Nao!
My new roommate is awesome! I just love this sweet girl. She is a pediatric resident I met on the PICU rotation. She's also from Pakistan. Because she basically works 90 or more hours a week, unfortunately there's a lot she has never done in Oklahoma. For example, while on the prowl for food tonight and she pointed at a store and said, "What is a Braum's?" Needless to say, she was soon eating some Oklahoma dairy cow produced ice cream. This is going to be fun. And also will be a good transition- since she isn't home too much and I am not used to having someone home.
In other news, two of a greatest people on earth got married last night. Congratulations Danae and Nao!
Thursday, January 08, 2009
Baby Jonah
Beware: a very long story follows.
Due to HIPPA, no one is allowed to share medical information together with a patient's name. So the following story is true but the sweet baby has an alias. This story is one I have been thinking about for the last month and one with which I am just now coming to terms.
I had been at Children's Hospital a little over two weeks when I showed up to work one Wednesday morning and was greeting by our sweet, smiling upper-level resident, Kim. I'd had two asthma patients the day before who had both been discharged, and so was coming in with nobody on my plate. Immediately upon entering the residents' office, Kim informed me that she had a baby for me to follow. He would be the only patient I saw that day, as his case was complicated. His brief history is as follows:
Jonah was born seven days previous to his admission to the PICU. When he was four days old, his mother took him to the doctor, because she was concerned about constipation. The doctor noticed that Jonah had a low oxygen level on room air. He admitted him to the hospital in Lawton where he was started on some antibiotics.
That afternoon, Jonah's mom noticed his eyes crossing, lips puckering, and legs stiffening while his oxygen levels continued to fall. That evening, he had an episode that the mother recognized as a seizure. One and a half hours later, he had a second seizure lasting approx 3 minutes. Medflight was called to transport the baby to our hospital in OKC. Upon arrival, the paramedics found that his heart was not beating. They proceeded to intubate him and gave him chest compressions. He had another seizure en route to the hospital.
Then Kim paused and she said, "This is the part of the story that is so sad."
Kim was the resident on call the night Jonah came. Upon arrival at the PICU, Kim examined him, wrote an admission note, and was about to leave the room when Jonah's mom mentioned to Kim that she had painful, vesicular lesions on her right breast. Kim examined the lesions and realized that they were a primary outbreak of herpes.
There are only a few reasons that a person should not give birth vaginally. One of them is if the mother has a vaginal infection, because as the baby goes through the birth canal, it will mostly likely contract the infection. If it is a bacterial infection, like gonorrhea or chlamydia, it can be treated. However, if it is a viral infection, there is very little that can be done. Tiny infants also have virtually no immunologic defense against infection, and therefore, when they contract viral infections, it is very easy for the infection to get into their blood and spread to all their organs (called sepsis). It is very serious and frequently ends in death.
So that is how it came to be that Jonah contracted herpes from his mother. The mother had no idea.
Kim immediately got cultures of eye, skin, nose, trach aspirate, blood, urine, and rectum. And also of the mother's lesions. We already had a pretty strong suspicion that Jonah had sepsis due to disseminated herpes; when the cultures came back a few days later, the suspicion was confirmed. Everything was positive.
I went in to see Jonah that first day and he didn't look too bad. He weighed almost seven pounds and had little tufts of blonde hair. He did have some bruising from where they'd put IVs and lines in him- mostly around his umbilicus and thighs. With a blanket on, you could almost think he looked normal. (Apart from the tube going down his throat.)
However, when I got to his chart... wow. This baby was complex. Most of my other patients had their vitals and other stats monitored every hour. Jonah had everything normal plus more monitored every fifteen minutes. His chart was blackened with tiny little numbers. This was going to be complicated.
He also had every lab known to man done every four hours. The main things that concerned us were his kidneys and his liver. Here is why:
If your liver stops producing certain proteins your body needs to make blood clots, you bleed easily. When you have a lot of IVs and lines, you need the your blood to clot quickly. If it doesn't, you receive a LOT of blood products. Cells, plasma, and all these clotting proteins. Your medicines can also only be concentrated so much. In other words, you get a LOT of fluid going IN.
If your kidneys stop making urine, its very hard to get rid of the fluid that you take in and that your body naturally makes. What do we do for people who have kidney failure? We give them dialysis. Dialysis, however, requires a big hole. And its pretty easy to bleed a lot out of big holes, so if you are going to have kidney failure, you need your liver in good working condition, making all the clotting proteins it is supposed to make.
So, either your liver or your kidneys can fail, but it is really bad news if both stop working. So basically, my job every day was to do all the math on Jonah's intake (all the fluids, medicines, etc going in) and his output (urine, blood, vomit, etc), as well as looking at all the labs every four hours and all the medicines he was on and figure out if his liver and kidneys were going to start working.
So initially, we knew he was in liver and kidney failure. He wasn't producing any liver proteins, and so we had to continually replace all of them, so that he wouldn't bleed out of his lines. However, this meant that that in the first 24 hours of his hospital admission, he was given almost a liter and a half of fluid. That was equal to half of his dry weight. However, his urine output was practically zero (hence the kidney failure). So, lots of fluid going in, nothing coming out: Jonah began getting puffier.
So although his liver was shot, we knew the one chance he had to live was if his kidneys began working again. Throughout his 9 day stay in the ICU, each day I went into work wondering whether the Jonah had peed at all overnight. If so, he was going to have a chance to get rid of all the fluid we were pumping into him, and have a chance to survive.
However, every day, when I got to Room 8236, the chart that awaited me had bad news. Each day, the first thing I raced to was the urine output column: 40 milliliters in 24 hours. Ouch. His daily input was hanging around 900 to 1,500 milliliters- he was gaining around a liter of fluid a day.
By the end of nine days, he was bigger than an overweight 9 month old.
The thing that killed me was that none of the doctors ever really told his parents how bad it was. One day, they were taking a much-needed break down in the lobby and saw me leaving. His dad pulled me aside and asked hopefully how he was doing. That particular day, he had been bleeding immensely out of his umbilical line and we almost could not stop the bleeding. I had no idea what to say. Shouldn't the doctors have let them know how close to the edge he was?
Each day, Jonah looked worse and worse. My second to last day of the rotation, one of the attendings told me that Jonah had the worst case of edema he had ever seen. Jonah's whole-body edema was so bad that he even had chemosis, a condition in which the water accumulates under the whites of your eyes and makes you look really freaky. Not that his eyes were open; his swollen lids spared his parents from seeing it.
The last day of my rotation, I showed up almost 30 minutes late due to the OU parking office accidentally shorting me one day of my permit, hence leaving me without a parking spot and scrambling to find one on our cramped campus. After I walked into the resident room, I grabbed an exam sheet and headed over to 8236. He had looked so ghastly and awful the night before. Did he pee??
As I approached the room, I saw a huge crowd of crying family members gathered around the doorway. I turned around, threw the sheet into the trash and walked back.
Over night, the attending had informed Jonah's parents that after 8 days of liver and kidney failure, the chances that he would recover were basically zero. Although he was on a lot of pain medication, he was probably still suffering. That kind of edema would be incredibly painful. And so, they took him off all his drips and the ventilator early that morning. He lasted on his own for almost five hours before my arrival. After I'd seen the family crying, I sat down in the resident room for a moment to think. Jonah died less than five minutes later.
I went in to hug his parents. After coming in to see him every morning of his stay, I had a lot of internal emotions toward the parents and had prayed for them a lot. They looked awful and were sobbing. Although Jonah was so swollen, I grabbed his little hand. You could still see the softness of his little tufts of golden hair. Oh...
And so my very last duty on that rotation was his death summary. And so, this is why I can never work in a children's ICU and also... why I continue to eagerly anticipate the day when there is no more suffering.
Due to HIPPA, no one is allowed to share medical information together with a patient's name. So the following story is true but the sweet baby has an alias. This story is one I have been thinking about for the last month and one with which I am just now coming to terms.
I had been at Children's Hospital a little over two weeks when I showed up to work one Wednesday morning and was greeting by our sweet, smiling upper-level resident, Kim. I'd had two asthma patients the day before who had both been discharged, and so was coming in with nobody on my plate. Immediately upon entering the residents' office, Kim informed me that she had a baby for me to follow. He would be the only patient I saw that day, as his case was complicated. His brief history is as follows:
Jonah was born seven days previous to his admission to the PICU. When he was four days old, his mother took him to the doctor, because she was concerned about constipation. The doctor noticed that Jonah had a low oxygen level on room air. He admitted him to the hospital in Lawton where he was started on some antibiotics.
That afternoon, Jonah's mom noticed his eyes crossing, lips puckering, and legs stiffening while his oxygen levels continued to fall. That evening, he had an episode that the mother recognized as a seizure. One and a half hours later, he had a second seizure lasting approx 3 minutes. Medflight was called to transport the baby to our hospital in OKC. Upon arrival, the paramedics found that his heart was not beating. They proceeded to intubate him and gave him chest compressions. He had another seizure en route to the hospital.
Then Kim paused and she said, "This is the part of the story that is so sad."
Kim was the resident on call the night Jonah came. Upon arrival at the PICU, Kim examined him, wrote an admission note, and was about to leave the room when Jonah's mom mentioned to Kim that she had painful, vesicular lesions on her right breast. Kim examined the lesions and realized that they were a primary outbreak of herpes.
There are only a few reasons that a person should not give birth vaginally. One of them is if the mother has a vaginal infection, because as the baby goes through the birth canal, it will mostly likely contract the infection. If it is a bacterial infection, like gonorrhea or chlamydia, it can be treated. However, if it is a viral infection, there is very little that can be done. Tiny infants also have virtually no immunologic defense against infection, and therefore, when they contract viral infections, it is very easy for the infection to get into their blood and spread to all their organs (called sepsis). It is very serious and frequently ends in death.
So that is how it came to be that Jonah contracted herpes from his mother. The mother had no idea.
Kim immediately got cultures of eye, skin, nose, trach aspirate, blood, urine, and rectum. And also of the mother's lesions. We already had a pretty strong suspicion that Jonah had sepsis due to disseminated herpes; when the cultures came back a few days later, the suspicion was confirmed. Everything was positive.
I went in to see Jonah that first day and he didn't look too bad. He weighed almost seven pounds and had little tufts of blonde hair. He did have some bruising from where they'd put IVs and lines in him- mostly around his umbilicus and thighs. With a blanket on, you could almost think he looked normal. (Apart from the tube going down his throat.)
However, when I got to his chart... wow. This baby was complex. Most of my other patients had their vitals and other stats monitored every hour. Jonah had everything normal plus more monitored every fifteen minutes. His chart was blackened with tiny little numbers. This was going to be complicated.
He also had every lab known to man done every four hours. The main things that concerned us were his kidneys and his liver. Here is why:
If your liver stops producing certain proteins your body needs to make blood clots, you bleed easily. When you have a lot of IVs and lines, you need the your blood to clot quickly. If it doesn't, you receive a LOT of blood products. Cells, plasma, and all these clotting proteins. Your medicines can also only be concentrated so much. In other words, you get a LOT of fluid going IN.
If your kidneys stop making urine, its very hard to get rid of the fluid that you take in and that your body naturally makes. What do we do for people who have kidney failure? We give them dialysis. Dialysis, however, requires a big hole. And its pretty easy to bleed a lot out of big holes, so if you are going to have kidney failure, you need your liver in good working condition, making all the clotting proteins it is supposed to make.
So, either your liver or your kidneys can fail, but it is really bad news if both stop working. So basically, my job every day was to do all the math on Jonah's intake (all the fluids, medicines, etc going in) and his output (urine, blood, vomit, etc), as well as looking at all the labs every four hours and all the medicines he was on and figure out if his liver and kidneys were going to start working.
So initially, we knew he was in liver and kidney failure. He wasn't producing any liver proteins, and so we had to continually replace all of them, so that he wouldn't bleed out of his lines. However, this meant that that in the first 24 hours of his hospital admission, he was given almost a liter and a half of fluid. That was equal to half of his dry weight. However, his urine output was practically zero (hence the kidney failure). So, lots of fluid going in, nothing coming out: Jonah began getting puffier.
So although his liver was shot, we knew the one chance he had to live was if his kidneys began working again. Throughout his 9 day stay in the ICU, each day I went into work wondering whether the Jonah had peed at all overnight. If so, he was going to have a chance to get rid of all the fluid we were pumping into him, and have a chance to survive.
However, every day, when I got to Room 8236, the chart that awaited me had bad news. Each day, the first thing I raced to was the urine output column: 40 milliliters in 24 hours. Ouch. His daily input was hanging around 900 to 1,500 milliliters- he was gaining around a liter of fluid a day.
By the end of nine days, he was bigger than an overweight 9 month old.
The thing that killed me was that none of the doctors ever really told his parents how bad it was. One day, they were taking a much-needed break down in the lobby and saw me leaving. His dad pulled me aside and asked hopefully how he was doing. That particular day, he had been bleeding immensely out of his umbilical line and we almost could not stop the bleeding. I had no idea what to say. Shouldn't the doctors have let them know how close to the edge he was?
Each day, Jonah looked worse and worse. My second to last day of the rotation, one of the attendings told me that Jonah had the worst case of edema he had ever seen. Jonah's whole-body edema was so bad that he even had chemosis, a condition in which the water accumulates under the whites of your eyes and makes you look really freaky. Not that his eyes were open; his swollen lids spared his parents from seeing it.
The last day of my rotation, I showed up almost 30 minutes late due to the OU parking office accidentally shorting me one day of my permit, hence leaving me without a parking spot and scrambling to find one on our cramped campus. After I walked into the resident room, I grabbed an exam sheet and headed over to 8236. He had looked so ghastly and awful the night before. Did he pee??
As I approached the room, I saw a huge crowd of crying family members gathered around the doorway. I turned around, threw the sheet into the trash and walked back.
Over night, the attending had informed Jonah's parents that after 8 days of liver and kidney failure, the chances that he would recover were basically zero. Although he was on a lot of pain medication, he was probably still suffering. That kind of edema would be incredibly painful. And so, they took him off all his drips and the ventilator early that morning. He lasted on his own for almost five hours before my arrival. After I'd seen the family crying, I sat down in the resident room for a moment to think. Jonah died less than five minutes later.
I went in to hug his parents. After coming in to see him every morning of his stay, I had a lot of internal emotions toward the parents and had prayed for them a lot. They looked awful and were sobbing. Although Jonah was so swollen, I grabbed his little hand. You could still see the softness of his little tufts of golden hair. Oh...
And so my very last duty on that rotation was his death summary. And so, this is why I can never work in a children's ICU and also... why I continue to eagerly anticipate the day when there is no more suffering.
Friday, January 02, 2009
A New Year, 2009!
Isn't a new year such a refreshing feeling? I have written 2008 at least a couple of times already. Stopped and realized.... it is 2009 now! Ahh... mostly, its a chance to start again. And who doesn't love that?
2008 was full of kindness and good things, but it was all mixed with a lot of sadness. I can't say I am sad that this year is over. I am so excited for the new!
I did some research on New Year's resolutions on the internet and I am now planning to stop smoking and lose 50 pounds. Anyone else with some New Year's Resolutions?
2008 was full of kindness and good things, but it was all mixed with a lot of sadness. I can't say I am sad that this year is over. I am so excited for the new!
I did some research on New Year's resolutions on the internet and I am now planning to stop smoking and lose 50 pounds. Anyone else with some New Year's Resolutions?
Thursday, December 18, 2008
Cast It Into the Fire: Part II
Ever since our cardiology test finished last fall, there is a phrase I use to refer to times of incredible stress which are quickly followed by periods of immense relief. These are Cast It Into the Fire moments. In my mind I always see Frodo laying down, panting on the rock when its all over.
This year's award goes to: the Children's ICU rotation and its ensuing termination. P. T. L. this month is freaking over. Now if only I could mindlessly stagger over to some deserted alley and collapse in an irresponsible heap for the next month...
This year's award goes to: the Children's ICU rotation and its ensuing termination. P. T. L. this month is freaking over. Now if only I could mindlessly stagger over to some deserted alley and collapse in an irresponsible heap for the next month...
Wednesday, December 17, 2008
26 Will Be More Fun Than 25
Thanks everyone for being so sweet on my birthday!
I haven't even sat down to think about goals for the next year, because there's one Very Big Goal I have been working on for the last year and a half. Its only just now we are reaching the cusp of the calendar year this goal is to be accomplished: 2009. (Cue sound of me panting like a dog...) Oh, the pure ecstasy!
In other news: sometimes, even when I am incredibly tired or should be studying or doing any number of other things that would be wiser investments of time, I spend an hour or two reading the blogs of random strangers. It is truly one of my favorite pastimes and definitely the main reason I am grateful that Al Gore created the internet. So the other day I was reading one of the most hilarious blogs *ever* and... I realized that part of the simple allure of this girl's writing was that she didn't take herself too seriously and was able to accept her own flaws gracefully.
As a true Type A who has only become more rigid with the passage of time... I confess I am envious of this girl. To be able to accept my faults effortlessly and with grace and humor; ay ay ay. Help me Lord! I suppose that is a big enough goal for 26.
I haven't even sat down to think about goals for the next year, because there's one Very Big Goal I have been working on for the last year and a half. Its only just now we are reaching the cusp of the calendar year this goal is to be accomplished: 2009. (Cue sound of me panting like a dog...) Oh, the pure ecstasy!
In other news: sometimes, even when I am incredibly tired or should be studying or doing any number of other things that would be wiser investments of time, I spend an hour or two reading the blogs of random strangers. It is truly one of my favorite pastimes and definitely the main reason I am grateful that Al Gore created the internet. So the other day I was reading one of the most hilarious blogs *ever* and... I realized that part of the simple allure of this girl's writing was that she didn't take herself too seriously and was able to accept her own flaws gracefully.
As a true Type A who has only become more rigid with the passage of time... I confess I am envious of this girl. To be able to accept my faults effortlessly and with grace and humor; ay ay ay. Help me Lord! I suppose that is a big enough goal for 26.
Monday, December 08, 2008
She Got a Hippopotamus for Christmas
My mom used to tell me the craziest things. My sister and I thought she made them up to entertain us. As an adult, I've found out she was usually right. She told me the following story awhile ago and I always wondered about it; turns out Wikipedia confirms her love for the strange-but-true once again.
"I Want a Hippopotamus for Christmas is a Christmas novelty song written by John Rox and performed by Gayla Peevey (10 years old at the time) in 1953.
Peevey was a regional child star of the Oklahoma City area. According to legend, this 1953 hit was recorded as a fund-raiser to bring the city zoo a hippo. When released nationally by Columbia Records the song shot to the top of the charts, and the city zoo got a baby hippo named Matilda. In a 2007 radio interview with Detroit-based WNIC radio station, Peevey clarified that the song was not recorded as a fundraiser originally. Instead, a local promoter picked up on the popularity of the song and Peevey's local roots, and launched a campaign to present her with an actual hippopotamus on Christmas. The campaign succeeded, and she was presented with an actual hippopotamus, which she donated to the city zoo. The hippopotamus lived for nearly 50 years."
If you saw the hippos at the OKC zoo before 2002, you too saw Mathilda, the hippo Peevey sang about and got for Christmas. Sorry for not believing you Mom...
"I Want a Hippopotamus for Christmas is a Christmas novelty song written by John Rox and performed by Gayla Peevey (10 years old at the time) in 1953.
Peevey was a regional child star of the Oklahoma City area. According to legend, this 1953 hit was recorded as a fund-raiser to bring the city zoo a hippo. When released nationally by Columbia Records the song shot to the top of the charts, and the city zoo got a baby hippo named Matilda. In a 2007 radio interview with Detroit-based WNIC radio station, Peevey clarified that the song was not recorded as a fundraiser originally. Instead, a local promoter picked up on the popularity of the song and Peevey's local roots, and launched a campaign to present her with an actual hippopotamus on Christmas. The campaign succeeded, and she was presented with an actual hippopotamus, which she donated to the city zoo. The hippopotamus lived for nearly 50 years."
If you saw the hippos at the OKC zoo before 2002, you too saw Mathilda, the hippo Peevey sang about and got for Christmas. Sorry for not believing you Mom...
Monday, December 01, 2008
In His Name All Oppression Shall Cease
The hospital was pretty dang depressing last week. Its just depressing when you only have two patients- and then one goes brain dead and the other you take off the respirator. The world's deepest grief should be reserved for these parents.
But there is another part of it that is actually relieving; when these little chillins are relieved of their suffering. We pretty much see them in the worst physical state on earth. Sedated, intubated, and everything in the world going wrong with their little bodies. Its enough to make you realize how compassionate taking them off a ventilator truly is.
The moment comes when they take the tube out, and then what you see with your physical eyes is a tiny girl, turned a little blue, chest silent, heart no longer beating. The whole family is crying around a dark hospital bed, and she is gone. But if you close your eyes...
She is in a green field and a cotton dress, barefoot, running toward a man ready to scoop her up in his arms. The ribbons in her hair are streaming in the wind and there is a gigantic smile on her shining face, all creamy and pink-cheeked.
You are the one left standing in the dark hospital room, and she is freed.
"The righteous perish, and no one ponders it in his heart; devout men are taken away, and no one understands that the righteous are taken away to be spared from evil." - Isaiah 57:1
But there is another part of it that is actually relieving; when these little chillins are relieved of their suffering. We pretty much see them in the worst physical state on earth. Sedated, intubated, and everything in the world going wrong with their little bodies. Its enough to make you realize how compassionate taking them off a ventilator truly is.
The moment comes when they take the tube out, and then what you see with your physical eyes is a tiny girl, turned a little blue, chest silent, heart no longer beating. The whole family is crying around a dark hospital bed, and she is gone. But if you close your eyes...
She is in a green field and a cotton dress, barefoot, running toward a man ready to scoop her up in his arms. The ribbons in her hair are streaming in the wind and there is a gigantic smile on her shining face, all creamy and pink-cheeked.
You are the one left standing in the dark hospital room, and she is freed.
"The righteous perish, and no one ponders it in his heart; devout men are taken away, and no one understands that the righteous are taken away to be spared from evil." - Isaiah 57:1
Tuesday, November 25, 2008
Pimping: Crash & Burn
Um... I have a lot of questions. Unfortunately, on my current rotation, I am not even capable of forming the sentences to ask the questions that are in my head. This would be okay except for the fact that the attending (doctor) invariably asks me these very things.
Here are some examples of questions to which I am supposed to know the answers and the types of things that come to mind when asked.
Doctor: "So his residuals are increasing. I want you to refeed the residuals back through his NG tube and then we're D/C-ing the trophic feeds and the sodium benzoate. Why not continue his feeds?"
Me: "... ... ... " (blank stare + absolutely nothing)
Doctor: "ABGs are 7.43 / 20 / 100 / 24 / -2 / 70 and the vent's set on 55 / 25 / 60. We're going to decrease the respirations as well as the tidal volume. What is the most common cause of VALI?"
Me: "Your mother. I am out of this lame unit."
Doctor: "This baby is 3 days S/P failed R heart cath for HTCM. During dye injection he coded with v fib, desat-ing down to 30. (Insert four more sentences of confusing information here.) He's now on diltiazem, propranolol, fentanyl and prn tylenol. What do you want to do with him?"
Me: "Sounds like a hard day. Does he like ice cream?"
Here are some examples of questions to which I am supposed to know the answers and the types of things that come to mind when asked.
Doctor: "So his residuals are increasing. I want you to refeed the residuals back through his NG tube and then we're D/C-ing the trophic feeds and the sodium benzoate. Why not continue his feeds?"
Me: "... ... ... " (blank stare + absolutely nothing)
Doctor: "ABGs are 7.43 / 20 / 100 / 24 / -2 / 70 and the vent's set on 55 / 25 / 60. We're going to decrease the respirations as well as the tidal volume. What is the most common cause of VALI?"
Me: "Your mother. I am out of this lame unit."
Doctor: "This baby is 3 days S/P failed R heart cath for HTCM. During dye injection he coded with v fib, desat-ing down to 30. (Insert four more sentences of confusing information here.) He's now on diltiazem, propranolol, fentanyl and prn tylenol. What do you want to do with him?"
Me: "Sounds like a hard day. Does he like ice cream?"
Thursday, November 13, 2008
Thanks for the Painless Times
There's one really great thing about being around sick people all day, and that is The Moment. I have begun cherishing this hundred and twenty seconds more and more as my first rotation wears on. Its something I have experienced many times in life but I didn't start truly soaking it in until a few weeks ago...
I have to wait for It the entire day. Which is good, because I really have something to look forward to. I wake up around 5:30, cuddle with my sweet kitten, and begin getting ready. After some Ensure, a run and a shower, its onto work. Eight to twelve hours pass in which all kinds of sick people come in and need help, and very often are in some kind of physical pain or mental anguish. Work gets over, and the evening passes with its various activities. I sweet-cuddle the kitten again, brush my teeth, and get back into bed.
The lights are off, my eyes close, and It arrives. The moment in which I lie in the darkness, and relish being 100% pain free. My physical body wallows in utter comfort and contentment, and my mind lays down to rest. Its taken a couple hundred sick people in pain for the last three weeks to remind me of how precious and rare this moment is. Who knows how long it will last? A minor neck injury in a wreck or a friend's death tomorrow could mean tonight will be my last pain-free Moment for a long time. But every night (for now at least) that precious moment is cherished until It, and I, slip away into peace-filled sleep.
I have to wait for It the entire day. Which is good, because I really have something to look forward to. I wake up around 5:30, cuddle with my sweet kitten, and begin getting ready. After some Ensure, a run and a shower, its onto work. Eight to twelve hours pass in which all kinds of sick people come in and need help, and very often are in some kind of physical pain or mental anguish. Work gets over, and the evening passes with its various activities. I sweet-cuddle the kitten again, brush my teeth, and get back into bed.
The lights are off, my eyes close, and It arrives. The moment in which I lie in the darkness, and relish being 100% pain free. My physical body wallows in utter comfort and contentment, and my mind lays down to rest. Its taken a couple hundred sick people in pain for the last three weeks to remind me of how precious and rare this moment is. Who knows how long it will last? A minor neck injury in a wreck or a friend's death tomorrow could mean tonight will be my last pain-free Moment for a long time. But every night (for now at least) that precious moment is cherished until It, and I, slip away into peace-filled sleep.
Thursday, November 06, 2008
The Past, Present and Future
The past: Finishing school was really hard, and really wonderful. Every time I remember that I never have to go to class ever again, a seriously warm and wonderfully fuzzy feeling washes over me and bathes my soul in pure contentment.
The present: Rotations are going really well, and Obama was elected to the presidency. I could not be more ecstatic that God chose to raise him up for this time, knowing also He will depose Obama in His time. Its all up to him. (For anyone interested in reading Obama's stance on faith and politics, jump on over here.)
The future: Well, I've been thinking a lot about the future. My preceptor for this first rotation is pretty dang amazing, a wonderful doc to work with, and he has already offered me a job more than once. Also, some good friends of mine are moving to Colorado Springs, and- having just taken a super fun trip up to the city in the shadow of Pike's Peak- I am thinking about going up there, too. They are opening up a couple new hospitals, which would probably have something open.
Or, there are lots and lots of Afghan refugees in San Francisco and a lot of HIV clinics. One of my favorite things is infectious disease so that is also an option. And, my sis only lives 7 hours from there.
I've also been thinking about going back overseas. Thinking about it a lot. I am considering applying with the Department of Defense to go work with them in a hospital in Germany that treats wounded soldiers on emergency flights coming from Iraq and Afghanistan.
I'm sure there are many more opportunities that may arise. I just like to dream about the future. If you could choose, what would you do and why?
The present: Rotations are going really well, and Obama was elected to the presidency. I could not be more ecstatic that God chose to raise him up for this time, knowing also He will depose Obama in His time. Its all up to him. (For anyone interested in reading Obama's stance on faith and politics, jump on over here.)
The future: Well, I've been thinking a lot about the future. My preceptor for this first rotation is pretty dang amazing, a wonderful doc to work with, and he has already offered me a job more than once. Also, some good friends of mine are moving to Colorado Springs, and- having just taken a super fun trip up to the city in the shadow of Pike's Peak- I am thinking about going up there, too. They are opening up a couple new hospitals, which would probably have something open.
Or, there are lots and lots of Afghan refugees in San Francisco and a lot of HIV clinics. One of my favorite things is infectious disease so that is also an option. And, my sis only lives 7 hours from there.
I've also been thinking about going back overseas. Thinking about it a lot. I am considering applying with the Department of Defense to go work with them in a hospital in Germany that treats wounded soldiers on emergency flights coming from Iraq and Afghanistan.
I'm sure there are many more opportunities that may arise. I just like to dream about the future. If you could choose, what would you do and why?
Friday, August 29, 2008
The Political Game Rages On!
Is McCain is so misogynistic that he honestly believes HRC’s base will vote for him on account of a VP who has nothing in common with Hillary but her anatomy?!
Okay, so maybe underestimating female political intelligence doesn't equate you with being a woman-hater. But it does make my blood boil. I truly hope he chose Sarah Palin for a better reason but it seems he is just sexist enough to think this will do the trick and American women will come flocking to his side. Oh, my... I hope that I am not overestimating the women in our country. I hope they truly think this thing through.
Perhaps now she knows what its like to be a token, and some old GOP guys know what its like to be passed over for someone with less experience.
Or did he pick her based on eighteen months of reforming corrupt Alaskan politics? Are we underestimating Palin? I hope so, for goodness sakes. But I'm wondering if she even has a passport- on top of the fact that she recently asked on CNBC, "What exactly is it the vice president does?"
Hmm... Not like Joe Biden's ties to credit card companies are a whole lot better. Politics, ay ay ay!
Okay, so maybe underestimating female political intelligence doesn't equate you with being a woman-hater. But it does make my blood boil. I truly hope he chose Sarah Palin for a better reason but it seems he is just sexist enough to think this will do the trick and American women will come flocking to his side. Oh, my... I hope that I am not overestimating the women in our country. I hope they truly think this thing through.
Perhaps now she knows what its like to be a token, and some old GOP guys know what its like to be passed over for someone with less experience.
Or did he pick her based on eighteen months of reforming corrupt Alaskan politics? Are we underestimating Palin? I hope so, for goodness sakes. But I'm wondering if she even has a passport- on top of the fact that she recently asked on CNBC, "What exactly is it the vice president does?"
Hmm... Not like Joe Biden's ties to credit card companies are a whole lot better. Politics, ay ay ay!
Thursday, August 07, 2008
Oh, and maybe I know what I want to do with my life.
We have now been through every section of clinical medicine except psychiatry, which we just started and I honestly cannot imagine wanting to do. So, my first thoughts on what field to work in are... Emergency Medicine! We'll wait and see how the trauma rotation goes though. I might not be able to take it without being tortured at night or something. But that's the one I like the most so far.
Its the End of the Summer
Those are the lyrics to a great punk rock song I used to love in high school. And every year when early August rolls around, it gets stuck in my head for a few days. This year, I have never been more excited to see the end of the summer come!! We just finished summer finals. Now we only have a really light load (three easy classes with no tests) for the next couple weeks, until August 21st when our fall semester starts.
Then we'll study a few more weeks, take a few more tests, and the didactic year will be OVER!! I am really glad because- well, one of the reasons I never write on here is that exciting things have been few and far between. Hopefully, the uneventful, predictable and reclusive part of life will be over when we start working in the hospitals and clinics, and more interesting things to write about will start happening. ("The new phone book is out! The new phone book is out! Things are going to start happening to me now...")
Here's to the nearing of the end of one of the most difficult 17 months ever.
57 out of 68 weeks finished.
84% complete. 16% left to go. Bring it on! And let us be rid of it!
Then we'll study a few more weeks, take a few more tests, and the didactic year will be OVER!! I am really glad because- well, one of the reasons I never write on here is that exciting things have been few and far between. Hopefully, the uneventful, predictable and reclusive part of life will be over when we start working in the hospitals and clinics, and more interesting things to write about will start happening. ("The new phone book is out! The new phone book is out! Things are going to start happening to me now...")
Here's to the nearing of the end of one of the most difficult 17 months ever.
57 out of 68 weeks finished.
84% complete. 16% left to go. Bring it on! And let us be rid of it!
Friday, July 25, 2008
Rotation Schedule
So, we received our rotation schedules early... and I am BLESSED!!! Not only am I not leaving OKC much at all- but I also was given every rotation I requested (and more). Here is my life until November 2009...
November 08: Primary Care Edmond
December 08: OU Children's PICU/CCU
January 09: Mental Health VA
Feb/March 09: OU Trauma Center
April 09: Obgyn Poteau, OK
May/June 09: Primary Care Marlow, OK
July 09: General Surgery Shawnee
August 09: Radiology Mercy Hosp
September 09: Infectious Dz OU HIV/AIDS Clinic
October 09: Cardiology Baptist Hosp
So here's the word on the street about the ones that have been mentioned to me. At OU Children's Pediatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU) and Cardiac Care Unit (CCU), we are taught to put in chest tubes (thoracostomies) and intubate babies (and much more). OU Trauma is not an Emergency Room- so even though its my Emergency Medicine rotation, its the only Level I Trauma Center in the area, so it sees all the worst trauma (bad MVA's, penetrating trauma, blunt trauma) in the state. Obgyn in Poteau was the first rotation I requested, because I heard we are taught to deliver babies ourselves! Yay! General surgery in Shawnee will basically teach me to first assist, meaning I get to help sew 'em up... and the most prized rotation of all, the AIDS clinic, will be the most eclectic; from fungal horns that make people look like unicorns to TB to cancer, weakened immune systems do crazy things to people.
And, I had to look Marlow up on a map. But I'm sure it can't be that bad... here's to an awesome year. Yahoo!
November 08: Primary Care Edmond
December 08: OU Children's PICU/CCU
January 09: Mental Health VA
Feb/March 09: OU Trauma Center
April 09: Obgyn Poteau, OK
May/June 09: Primary Care Marlow, OK
July 09: General Surgery Shawnee
August 09: Radiology Mercy Hosp
September 09: Infectious Dz OU HIV/AIDS Clinic
October 09: Cardiology Baptist Hosp
So here's the word on the street about the ones that have been mentioned to me. At OU Children's Pediatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU) and Cardiac Care Unit (CCU), we are taught to put in chest tubes (thoracostomies) and intubate babies (and much more). OU Trauma is not an Emergency Room- so even though its my Emergency Medicine rotation, its the only Level I Trauma Center in the area, so it sees all the worst trauma (bad MVA's, penetrating trauma, blunt trauma) in the state. Obgyn in Poteau was the first rotation I requested, because I heard we are taught to deliver babies ourselves! Yay! General surgery in Shawnee will basically teach me to first assist, meaning I get to help sew 'em up... and the most prized rotation of all, the AIDS clinic, will be the most eclectic; from fungal horns that make people look like unicorns to TB to cancer, weakened immune systems do crazy things to people.
And, I had to look Marlow up on a map. But I'm sure it can't be that bad... here's to an awesome year. Yahoo!
Friday, June 27, 2008
Something Found Everywhere
Travel is probably the second most freeing thing on earth, if you ask me. And if you're asking, the first is a place that cannot be found on any map... or perhaps is found on every map.
Thank God that worship comes from within and can be practiced in any setting and every geographical location. I have found that the Lord is the same, and the experience of Him comfortingly consistent, everywhere I've ever gone. In the words of Emily Dickinson (whose personal meaning was probably different; but isn't the hallmark of great writing that any individual can find their own experience in the words of the writer?):
Have you got a Brook in your little heart,
Where bashful flowers blow,
And blushing birds go down to drink,
And shadows tremble so—
And nobody knows, so still it flows,
That any brook is there,
And yet your little draught of life
Is daily drunken there-
Thank God that worship comes from within and can be practiced in any setting and every geographical location. I have found that the Lord is the same, and the experience of Him comfortingly consistent, everywhere I've ever gone. In the words of Emily Dickinson (whose personal meaning was probably different; but isn't the hallmark of great writing that any individual can find their own experience in the words of the writer?):
Have you got a Brook in your little heart,
Where bashful flowers blow,
And blushing birds go down to drink,
And shadows tremble so—
And nobody knows, so still it flows,
That any brook is there,
And yet your little draught of life
Is daily drunken there-
Wednesday, June 25, 2008
Oh, Canada! And Oregon and California and Everything Else Completely Wonderful: A Summary.
I am in love. With vacation.
On Friday, June 13th, I passed our last two finals of the semester and became the coveted... PAS2!!! No longer will I be a lowly PAS1. No, we are second-years now.
On Saturday, I flew up to Portland and Tash and Ben picked me up from the airport. Sunday, we drove out to the Oregon coast and went to Cape Perpetua and Yachats. Beautiful, beautiful!! We even got to go to tide pools at low tide and touch the green sea anemones.
Canada! On June 16th I took the Greyhound bus from Eugene up to Vancouver (which was an experience belonging to a blog post all its own) and stayed for two and a half days before coming back. And, those were two of the most wonderful days in recent memory. Canada is AWESOME! From the Capilano Suspension Bridge over the raging river on the North Shore; to taking the ferry from Horseshoe Bay across to Nanaimo and kayaking around purple starfish-covered rock islands with an Australian girl; to staying at a hostel nestled on one of the most beautiful beaches in Vancouver, I was stunned and amazed by the beauty of BC. So THAT'S why they call it Beautiful British Columbia! I also got a taste of Washington on the drive up and now have big plans to some day go back and visit the giant Mount Rainer.
On Saturday after getting back to Oregon, Tasha and I left and embarked on a mini-adventure that included stopping at snowy Crater Lake (breath-taking!) on the way to the Oregon Caves National Monument and an overnight stay at a cozy little lodge nearby. Then we headed down to California and camped for two nights in the forests of Sequoia sempervirens, the coastal redwoods that are the tallest trees in the world. I'd wanted to see these trees for a long time and it was so satisfying to spend hours staring up at them. Our campsite had a giant felled moss-covered redwood at its entrance that was gorgeous, greeting us each night when we returned to camp. It was also fun to be so close to the ocean during that trip.
Now we're back in Eugene and planning some wild river kayaking for this weekend, perhaps in Bend, near the Three Sisters. Waaaa hooooooooo!
On Friday, June 13th, I passed our last two finals of the semester and became the coveted... PAS2!!! No longer will I be a lowly PAS1. No, we are second-years now.
On Saturday, I flew up to Portland and Tash and Ben picked me up from the airport. Sunday, we drove out to the Oregon coast and went to Cape Perpetua and Yachats. Beautiful, beautiful!! We even got to go to tide pools at low tide and touch the green sea anemones.
Canada! On June 16th I took the Greyhound bus from Eugene up to Vancouver (which was an experience belonging to a blog post all its own) and stayed for two and a half days before coming back. And, those were two of the most wonderful days in recent memory. Canada is AWESOME! From the Capilano Suspension Bridge over the raging river on the North Shore; to taking the ferry from Horseshoe Bay across to Nanaimo and kayaking around purple starfish-covered rock islands with an Australian girl; to staying at a hostel nestled on one of the most beautiful beaches in Vancouver, I was stunned and amazed by the beauty of BC. So THAT'S why they call it Beautiful British Columbia! I also got a taste of Washington on the drive up and now have big plans to some day go back and visit the giant Mount Rainer.
On Saturday after getting back to Oregon, Tasha and I left and embarked on a mini-adventure that included stopping at snowy Crater Lake (breath-taking!) on the way to the Oregon Caves National Monument and an overnight stay at a cozy little lodge nearby. Then we headed down to California and camped for two nights in the forests of Sequoia sempervirens, the coastal redwoods that are the tallest trees in the world. I'd wanted to see these trees for a long time and it was so satisfying to spend hours staring up at them. Our campsite had a giant felled moss-covered redwood at its entrance that was gorgeous, greeting us each night when we returned to camp. It was also fun to be so close to the ocean during that trip.
Now we're back in Eugene and planning some wild river kayaking for this weekend, perhaps in Bend, near the Three Sisters. Waaaa hooooooooo!
Tuesday, May 20, 2008
Pain and Joy
The last month or so has been pretty intense. There's a lot that could be written- but, our semester ended, and we now have only couple classes at a time until June 13th, when we will get out of school and be free for 17 days!! I am going to take the entire break and visit my sister in Oregon. Upon the schedule of things to do are: camp in the giant redwood forest in northern California, wild river kayak, drive 101 up into Washington, go to Canada, and Crater Lake, and much more. I am ecstatic!
And, Summer had her baby. When they wheeled her out of the operating room, and right next to us, the nurse held him up through the nursery window. When she saw him, dangling there all red-faced and tiny, tears just began streaming down her face. It was such a priceless moment. I felt blessed to have been able to witness unadulterated love pouring out of my best friend's heart.
Driving home from the hospital, tears also started streaming down my face. I've been thinking so much on Cyd since I came home from Fort Worth, having heard more about everything that happened to her. Such a sadness comes to me sometimes when I think of her. But then, when I picture Summer and tiny Colton, all there is- is joy. The sorrow and joy meet in the middle and mingle, neither one willing to leave. And its the paradox of life how they coexist there without ruining one another.
And, Summer had her baby. When they wheeled her out of the operating room, and right next to us, the nurse held him up through the nursery window. When she saw him, dangling there all red-faced and tiny, tears just began streaming down her face. It was such a priceless moment. I felt blessed to have been able to witness unadulterated love pouring out of my best friend's heart.
Driving home from the hospital, tears also started streaming down my face. I've been thinking so much on Cyd since I came home from Fort Worth, having heard more about everything that happened to her. Such a sadness comes to me sometimes when I think of her. But then, when I picture Summer and tiny Colton, all there is- is joy. The sorrow and joy meet in the middle and mingle, neither one willing to leave. And its the paradox of life how they coexist there without ruining one another.
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