The Old Gray Mare

Thank god for Shiloh (right). I can't remember if I mentioned, but my last couple weeks of pediatrics were hard on me. We had more than our fair share of tragedy. There were kids we diagnosed with cancer, babies we diagnosed with fatal and permanently debilitating diseases, a violent rape of a little girl, it was harsh to say the least. Earlier in the rotation we did have a handful of cute kids with lacerated organs from horse accidents.... bringing me back to my original topic. Some people have yoga, some people have meditation, some people have church. Me? Right now I have an old gray mare and endless fields of clover and wildflowers. I manage to get out there two or three times a week. most weeks. I don't ride every time. Sometimes I only have time to pet her a bit, let her graze at a clover patch (above). And the only fee for all this horse QT is the bridge toll ($4 per trip).

The last few weeks of OB call have been predictably busy. I have delivered a bunch of babies the old fashioned way, and and am getting the hang of c-sections. Still not a big fan of the OR but according to the attending on the last c-section I apparently "have excellent surgical skills" with an added-on, "and I don't usually tell people that". Are you all laughing at the irony with me? What this really means is that I'm going to have a terribly hard time just assisting at this point and am getting some serious pressure to be the primary surgeon. Need I comment again on the irony? On my last day of pediatric surgery I sewed up a small hernia incision terribly - poor kid. But sewing together big things like a uterus or the tough stuff that hold the guts in (fascia) is a bit easier - and the needles are much bigger and easier to see squinty-eyed at two in the morning.

As an aside, I never went to the Tall Ships festival. But I had a pretty good view of the actual ships from various other spots in Tacoma, sometimes even my windows were enough. It looked a little campy, certainly touristy. I did, however, find some good pics of the event. In the last picture (below), click on it and you can see my apartment (and even my window) behind Stadium High School (the white high-rise on the left)!

Today is my last day off for two weeks. I've stocked up on groceries, did laundry last week, went for a short run, a long hike, and sorted through the last two weeks of mail. I also finally vacuumed (yay me!). I don't know how I did it but the day is over now. Back to the grind tomorrow. My next day off, while far away as July 26th, also heralds the release of the new X-Files movie!