August ends with a whimper

As you may remember from my last post, August started with night float. Running like a mad woman around the hospital. Some of those nights truly tested my reserve. Between attendings scutting me to the point of near breaking (so they can get more shut-eye) and technological mishaps such as pager blackouts and electronic medical record crashes I survived by the skin of my teeth!

Mid-month, after a well deserved first weekend truly off in over 7 weeks, I changed gears and started my next rotation: ophthalmology, urology and ENT. Whoever thought eyes, ears, nose, throat and prostates were well lumped may have been a little nuts. But I can't complain. For the most part, I have had just about the whole of the last two weekends free and it's been wonderful.

One highlight of late was a totally awesome Seattle Storm game (Karin's iPhone pic at right at overtime!).

Another more recent highlight was a weekend in Rainier National Park with family and my super awesome girlfriend who put up with two distractable, hyperactive Eamans in a place without telephone, TV or Internet!

This photo at left is just a sampling of what an amazing place that park is! Walking through the clouds, wild flowers, clean air, blue skies, was pure joy.

But the same weekend I frolicked in the wild flowers something sad happened back in Michigan. My dog, Kiki, the sweetest beast on 4 legs, passed. She had battled cancer for years. My mother had treated her with this experimental "electric probe" device that supposedly cured her. I'm not sure that's true, but maybe it gave her a year or more of a decent good quality of life. Kiki was a red leopard Catahoula (or, so we think - she was a rescue dog). She probably weighed a good 50 lbs more than your average Catahoula and was a good two heads taller. She may have had more Dane or some other big breed in her but god knows she was the most devoted and lovable creature I've known. I'll miss her! The below video was before a leg surgery to repair her torn doggy-version ACL. She was particularly wobbly but so devoted she couldn't resist my mom's voice and had to get up for love at the sound of it!



Looking ahead
In a few days I head to New Orleans for the LGBA national conference. It coincides with an event I originally thought was a large LGBT event to help rejuvenate the city of New Orleans but on further research seems to be more of a gay-boy circuit party? Who knows - I'll know more once I get there. All I care about is that I get to play music with awesome people from around the US and Canada and explore New Orleans for the first time. The coincidence isn't lost on me that Catahoulas are the state dog of Louisiana. I'll be thinking of Kiki while I'm there, I'm sure.

See you in September!