After reading all 3 books over Christmas, I was very excited to see the film that actually made me read the books in all its hype. The movie was good - but not great. They left out major parts of the story, made some creative license changes to the story, and of course the picture in one's mind's eye is never replaceable. But it was good nonetheless. After the movie, my parents and I headed to Black Angus. After our last steak dinner together at Clinkerdagger's, this meal was passable at most. Clinks may have ruined all mid level steak houses for me for life!
The following day I was blessed to eat brunch with one of my favorite HS friends, Lawrence, and his parents. We are always a rowdy bunch, but Mimi's handled us in stride. Linda (Lawrence's mom) and I both ordered the mimosa special - 3 flavors of mimosas! HEAVEN!
All days should start like that! I also had a Parisian omelet which was also pure perfection! Always good to catch up with old friends and CA happenings! Thanks Lawrence!
That afternoon - the Easter bunny came early and delivered me a basket of goodies - reeses (duh!-my fav), spongebob goodies (double duh!), and an Easter outfit from the Buckle (clearly a smart bunny!) -
This lead to shopping with my mother in the afternoon and playing cards, specifically hand and foot (fun game!), with my Grammy! I love spending time with Grammy! We always have good wine, good snacks, and great conversations! My boys were happy to see her boy Milo. And we even tuckered the poor guy out!
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| Rico Man! |
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| Diego Monster! |
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| Milo! |
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| Tuckered out! |
The next day the sun decided to show up, finally. Therefore, my dad and I had to take advantage of it and go golfing! I went to me dad's "home" course and got the red carpet treatment! I also PR'd at 108... beautiful day and great golf! YAY!
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| San Bernardino Golf Course |
The Next several days were a blur as I tagged along to my father's place of business. I got to see my dad's cool new office, his secretary, and tour the hospital. The Head of Trauma decided he wanted to meet me, a meek 1st year medical student from the University of Washington, and see what I could do. And that's where it starts to get crazy!
I was given the opportunity to shadow surgery just like a 3rd/4th year! WHOA! If I wasn't sure about surgery before, I am now. It is the best kind of high. I was so high on life those few days that I could do nothing else but eat, sleep, and breathe surgery. Between getting to the hospital to do morning rounds with students, to researching anatomy and surgical techniques for the questioning aka "pimping" of my brain that would surely ensue, to speaking in Spanish in pre-op to the patient's, I WAS IN HEAVEN.... partly due to what I got to witness. WARNING: for those of you with weak stomachs, skip the rest of this paragraph! The OR is/was formerly known as the operating theater. And boy did it feel like it. All the doctors, nurses, techs, reps, etc. had their part and knew their lines. I was thrilled to see an ankle fracture repaired using a plate and screws (POWER TOOL central!), a distal thumb accidental amputation reattachment (with tiny doll like instruments for sewing together the veins, arteries and nerves), a lap band removal, a skin graft, 2 lap choles (gall bladder removal), and (drumroll please) a below the knee amputation! After being pimped and failed in the first lap chole, I studied up and dominated in the second. But the best were when I got to be up close and personal with the thumb reattachment and the below the knee amputation. I've never been so happy to be covered in blood, learning from the trauma orthopedic everything I could about crush accidents versus sickness versus clean guillotine slices. The funniest thing about the surgeries I saw was the skin graft.... I felt like I was watching the plastic surgeon make one of my paintings!!! - run down on my paintings: 1) find textural textiles to adhere to wood, 2) staple/glue/adhere them down, 3) cover them with tile adhesive, 4) paint! - compare to skin graft 1) use dermatome to cut a thin piece of skin/textile, 2) texturize it in a PRESS with a pattern, 3) place texturized skin over wound and staple and glue down edges, 4) cover with salve!!!! holy crap! A human version of my work! LOVES!!! (If you're brave google skin graft and you will see the mesh skin they make, the press they use, etc)!
Random pics of home visit to break up the gore, lol:
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| Tomoko 10 mos! |
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| My little treasure, Takara! |
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| Added PURPLE back to the hair over break!! :D |
Another interesting aspect of my visit was the patients. All ages, colors, and walks of life. As doctors - we are called to heal the sick, not judge the patient. So when I was viewing operations on a thief who injured himself while fleeing the scene or the gangster flayed from gun shots, it occurred to me that ALL people really need healthcare. Not just the poor, the immigrant, the unisnured, but even the criminal. That was something I hadn't really thought about before. - Not fixing someone to go on with their life out in the world, but to fix their ailment so they can go serve a sentence in prison. I am not sure what feelings I have about this other than the fact that I am kinda ashamed I did not think of this population earlier. As one who hopes to work with the poor and Spanish speaking peoples, it is two fold - a group that needs help, one I am happy to help SERVE, and makes me feel like I am doing that, serving. But who goes into medicine thinking I want to work with convicts.... that I will SERVE this overlooked population... I hope more people start to think about that. I know at least one internal med resident in spokane, a female no less, that has felt called to serve this much overlooked population.
A quick flight back to spokane led to nonstop cramming and studying for my immunology final. A test I felt ready to take on! However, I was exhausted most of the first day and half I was home. Going into the test confident - I felt very nervous in it. I think it was one of the hardest tests to date in that it was very verbose and had twisted questions. But after a suspenseful 2 days, I didn't just pass, I did as my good friend Jack asked me to do, and made Immunology my bitch! YAY! After this madness I realized how exhausted I was....and now I need a vacation from my vacation! - Musculoskeletal anatomy began which also signals the homestretch/GAUNTLET - Class til 4/27 followed by 2 weeks of finals! The end is in sight!!! Keep Calm and Carry On!
