2010: Year in Review

Time for my third annual "Year in Review" Post. Get your popcorn and diet soda and settle in for some nostalgia...

For those who like swimming in summaries, here lie 2008's and 2009's reviews. 2010 was indeed a memorable year. I started out in indentured servitude and am ending it in a very different, much more enjoyable place. (Aside from three obvious photos, pictures here are from the eventful month of December.)

Now, on to the very serious business of my annual month by month review, divided into the tidy categories of Uppers and Downers.

January: Rotation: ER, and the usual burden of "back-up". Downers: Slave labor in it's truest form. Scheduled to the max 6-7 days a week with little time to breathe, sleep, eat, care for myself. Uppers: A freak flooding rainstorm in the Southwest led to a canceled flight, a glorious weekend off (the only one for approx 12 weeks) and an engagement! Three cheers for happily ever after!

February: Rotation was NICU with q4 call. A meh rotation with lots of time sitting fully scrubbed and waiting for babies to get sick. Not the best time. Downers: My one golden weekend was a required residency retreat where I ended up getting food poisoning. Uppers: After recovering from said food poisoning my class won the TFM Talent show performing a song I wrote about a lost pager - it was a huge hit and lots of fun! Also, I enjoyed a post-call stuporous Valentine's Day dance with my fiance.

March: Rotation: Cardiology. Supposedly a break from all the call. Supposedly a break from working so many weekends (by March, aside from the freak storm and the work-related retreat, I had worked every weekend in 2010. Yes, I'm still bitter). Downers: due to coverage for other residents, official back-up duty, and my own laboring patients, I was still sleep-deprived and dearly missing my sweetie in Seattle. Uppers: I got to perform the 1812 overture with RCB, complete with [electronic] cannon fire! I managed a short escape to present at the AMSA conference. Passover Seder family reunion in San Fransisco! The Countdown Clock continued...

April: That was my "No Happy Bunnies" post, as you may recall. Rotation was in-patient family medicine. Downers: We were short-staffed and thanks to work, Karin and I missed out on our first anniversary and Honkfest, and I missed out on just about everything that makes Seattle Spring superawesome. I was still horseless and barely able to find time to play my trumpet. However there were Uppers: I groggily made one post-call Renegayde gig for the Roller Derby, and the month eventually ended. But the best upper was that it was the last month like that. Ever! The thrill of my last call was dampened by the fact that I was called in to cover more calls, but at the time I thought it was my last and I celebrated in style: Rounding on roller skates (as above).

May was a breath of fresh air! I finally had less back up and could use that vacation time! Downers: Not much. Just the surprise black weekend call after my much needed vacation, more residents down for the count and more chaos at TFM. Uppers: Band Camp! Vacation in buttery Minnesota! Sleep! Tick tick tick on the countdown calendar...

June was the last month of residency. It flew by. Rotation: Bastyr elective in Seattle. Downers: everything happened at once which was seriously stressful. But, all those things were overall pretty good (moving, the visits from my family, finishing residency). Uppers: Did I mention I finished residency? Moving in with Karin, Pride, Summer solstice festival, family. Oh, yeah, and as of midnight on 6/30 I finished residency! Woot! Countdown clock zero'ed out (I had two countdown clocks, one online and one on my iPod - the zeroed out one from my iPod is pictured at left)!

July: First month without an associated rotation since the month I had off between medschool and residency! Holy moly! Call it my rebound month. Downers: Board exams - ick. Some drama around RCB. Merging two households was way more stressful than I anticipated. At the end of the month the biggest downer was the death of a close family friend, as well. Uppers: OMG I got to do laundry! OMG! I got to do dishes! OMG I got to sleep in! OMG! I got to watch TV! Traveled to Boston for for a week for a GLMA Board Meeting. Rocked some parades with RCB. OMG I finished residency last month!

August: Oy. The biggest Downer occurred Sunday, August 1st: ripped my left gastrocs in two pieces, rolling it up like a window shade and rendering me useless for a large portion of the month. Uppers: Seeing some Aussie pals, Lisa and her mother. Camping with Karin's Neice. Storm games. And BLUE HAIR! Plus, all those rippling upper body muscles from those crutches!

September: It was full of so much adventure that I posted my entry late. Downers: what are those? Oh, right, I was still pretty injured but getting around a lot better and Uppers: No more cane! Seattle Storm Mania. GLMA Conference in San Diego. Another great Lullaby Moon gig.

October: The real recuperation month. As I reflect back, it wasn't until the end of October that I really felt I was starting to heal. I had more energy and dug into life. I looked for horses, barns where I could ride. I did some serious wedding planning and I went through a lot of old boxes and papers and finally finished unpacking. My blog posts were full of nostalgia about medical school and rotations. I was starting to get ready to get back into the workforce. Downers: More band drama. Karin took the Pysch GRE's (ick for her). Uppers: Huge headway made on wedding planning! Plus all the aforementioned healing! Freedom feels so good!

November was eventful. Downers: Snow put Seattle on hold Uppers: Snow put Seattle on hold just before Thanksgiving (making for a loooong weekend!) and Karin and I hosted a Little Gay Thanksgiving at our house. I made some headway on the job and horse search!

Bringing us to this month, December, HanuBirtMas time! Downers: After 34 years I still get bitter that my birthday is lumped with Jesus'. Is that selfish? Uppers: RCB Christmas concert! Birthday sushi (yum at left) with friends and family and ice skating. And, of course, the much anticipated Trip to Minnesota.

In the Tundra of Middle River, MN, among other things, I helped make a traditional Norwegian flatbread called lefse and drove a snowmobile. Ah the snowmobile lesson... it went something like this, "Here's the throttle, here's the brake, here's the emergency shut-off. Follow me." And with snowsuit, helmet and an 11 year old sitting in the seat behind me, I took off in the dark winter night, following faint tail lights and a cloud of snow. That first ride I can't say with total honesty that I had a lot of fun. Terrifying would be more accurate. But the following day was another story. Off we went, in the blazing sunshine across field and dale, through woods and trails. Glorious adventures were had. I smiled so hard my face hurt. And while I missed my family and my usual family traditions, I thoroughly enjoyed my time with the in-laws and actually look forward to another snowy Christmas in northern rural Minnesota - snowsuit and all (see photo above near February's summary)!

So, dear readers, 2010 was great, but I trust 2011 will be even better! It will be a big year - a real job, a wedding, and a horse! Yes, a horse. I know I keep promising more word on the topic... s0 stay tuned for more word on work and horses...

Happy New Year!

Lions, Lambs, Four-fingered mice and cannons

As I examined my droopy fender today, I started to wonder if I've been spending too much time on I-5. It rattles quite loudly when I'm driving over 30 mph and I wonder if a big gust of wind might not rip it off entirely. However, like the other droopy side, I am pretty confident I can fix it with some string. My fender dangles because my car has lived a hard Midwestern life of salt and snow and is so rusty it seems just a few years from turning to dust.

So, I was thinking about I-5 today. While my rusty bumper tick'tick'ticks in the breeze I work hard on I-5 to navigate left lane drivers, mysterious traffic slow-downs and the ever-present construction. Of all of these, it's the left-lane drivers that really get me. Something about Washington State compels people to pick a lane that seems to be the least occupied, pick the speed they feel most comfortable with, hit their cruise control, and hope no one gets in their way. Unfortunately, they pay no heed to anything going on beside them. Or, for that matter, the entire line of traffic behind them, begging for them to move right! It's a WA phenomenon, one that would earn blasted horns, flashing lights, and possible a wielded semi-automatic weapon on I-696 in Detroit!

But, I only have 30 minutes to blog tonight and didn't want to spend it whining about I-5 traffic woes. There are numerous websites devoted to this left lane driving evil. Please explore the links for more info.

This month, maybe even more than others, has really been one worth blogging about.

You may remember that this month was cardiology. Which, you may also recall, that like any outpatient rotation really means lots of back-up duties and continuity deliveries. I worked a few half days with a cardiologist but wound up being called in as back up, covering some of my out residents, and delivering a number of patients and rounding on them in the hospital. Same old FP stuff as usual.

My activism got a much needed jolt of life when I travelled early in the month to Anaheim to present at AMSA's 60th convention on the LGBT history of the org. My co-panelists were two great guys who helped revolutionize LGBT provider visibility and competent patient care even before the DSM was revised in 1973! It was an honor to sit among them. I think that may have been my 6th or 7th attendance and 5th or 6th time presenting. While there were still some national leaders I can still call friends, I definitely felt old and somewhat more disconnected than usual. But, nonetheless, it was an exceptional conference and not only did I get to participate with AMSA, but I got to meet up with a local buddy of mine I haven't seen in ages and see the new Alice in Wonderland Movie (not so great) have yummy creole food (very good) before my flight back to Seattle. Plus, I got to enjoy the total and utter creepitude (yes, new word, you may steal it if you want) of all things Disney (see above for the Bosch-like incarnation of a Tweedle). Am I the only one who sees twisted things in just about everything Disney?

Mid-month I played a killer concert with the Rainbow City Band where I got to play a terrifyingly exposed solo (Pictures at an Exhibition) and hear my sweetie play a wicked concerto AND the cannon for 1812 Overture. The entire performance was amazingly difficult and rewarding featuring Tschaikowsky, Moussorgsky, Rimsky-Korsakow, Shostakovitch, Stravinsky and more! We played two shows and at the end of the weekend I got to celebrate with my 80 closest friends/bandmates at the after party and toast a major milestone: 100 days left of residency!

The weeks around the concert were also colored with a shooting schedule for our class senior video. I have written another song (the last one performed at the TFM's Got Talent Show) and am working with my class in filming a video to go with it to entertain all at graduation and have as a keepsake for the grads and interested staff/faculty. I would tell more but I can't give away the secrets because the contents of the video will be a surprise at Graduation (shhh).

This month wrapped with Passover in San Francisco. Every 3-4 years my family makes an effort for everyone to come to a big family seder. It's a big Jewish Family Reunion. Complete with gefilte fish and bitter herbs. The event this time was particularly fun for me as I had Karin as the newest addition to the family seder. The first full day we had there we spent mostly exploring San Francisco, walking about 10 miles and wearing ourselves out just enough to then spend the next day and a half saturated with loving family.

One of the bigger events of our family passover is the family talent show. This passover, while sadly missing a few of my cousins and their families, was still very well attended. I didn't take a head count but I imagine it was well over 30 folks. The talent portion consisted of sing-a-longs, dances, sneezes, jokes and a reenactment of the RCB Thriller Dance by myself and Karin accompanied by my niece, Zoe on guitar. It was fun and I look forward to the next one. It also reminds me how much more often I would love to see my family. If only we weren't so spread out! They should all move to Seattle and make it easier for me. (at left is a grainy cell phone pic I took in SF)

Amazingly, the adventure didn't end there, the day we flew back from SFO we managed to just squeeze in and make the first marching band rehearsal (which started a mere 30 minutes after our flight touched down). I mention this because the music is really exciting this year! It is quite possible that my band will be adding to its usual marching fare such songs as: Jai Ho from Slumdog Millionaire and Bad Romance by Lady Gaga. Nothings set in stone quite yet, but Magic 8-Ball says "outlook is good"! I can just see Jai Ho now at Solstice and Gaga at Pride!

And, now, I must wake in 7 hours and start my last in-patient rotation of residency. The notorious, "we never cap" Family Medicine Service. The rotation on which I spent my unforgettable intern Thanksgiving and Christmas. It's a rough one and although I'm sad I'll be missing Honkfest, my favorite thing ever, Spring, time with my fiance, sleep, eating well and all those little things... I will surely be happy it's the last month like this.

2185 hours and counting...

NPA, AMSA, GLMA, oh my!

I am now* wrapping up my 4 days in Houston for National Physicians Alliance (NPA) conference. I would love to talk about explorations of Houston, TX and the fabulous meals I had at its famously awesome restaurants. However, essentially every day from 8 AM (6 AM Tacoma time) until 9 PM was committed to sessions, organizing, meetings. The weekend was exhausting, but productive and invigorating... and exactly what I needed!

It's great to spend time with other docs who think like me, who care about change, policy, patients, diversity, integrity, moral responsibility, wellness. Here at NPA there is no talk about how we can maximize our practices to make more money, it's all about how we can further social justice, try to stay pharm free (battle drug reps), fight data mining, advocate for the underserved, struggle for a health care system that is actually about health care, not sick care (to use Dr. M. Joycelyn Elders, the former Surgeon General's, words from her keynote address on Sunday).

These are my people.

Thankfully, NPA and AMSA had enough overlap that I could see my old chums from LGBTPM/HAC, Global Health and AMSA National. I also got to reconnect with GLMA as their Executive Director was also here this weekend. I missed the GLMA National Conference as it coincided with an inpatient rotation and was way off in Puerto Rico. Next year it is fabulously in Seattle so I will certainly make every human effort to attend as much of it as possible.

Hey - and look at all those links up there! I bet you are itching to just check them out... :)

*disclaimer: Melikagirl seems to post my blog sometime in the future. Proving that on the Internet, time is not a continuum. So "now" may not be an acurate description

Clinic

Monday, August 28, 2006
Ack – the quarterly report for AMSA is due in 2 days. I’ve whittled it down from 32 pages to 17 – however after I get up at the crack of dawn to add the 13 pin campaign summaries to the progress section and break them down by region it’ll be at least back up to 25. But it’s more concise. Not that anyone reading this cares (except maybe Tanya). The only satisfaction I have in turning in this behemoth is that the guy who formatted it last year - and made it have to be so freaking long - is in the position now where he has to read it (plus the other quarterly reports coming in).

Okay enough about that particular AMSA burden. Onto today’s excitement. I woke early and excited to start the day. Was grateful for my instant coffee (as nasty as it was) and even was able to eat what Suhani taught me was a One-Eyed Egyptian (though it sounds like code talk for penis, it’s actually an egg cooked inside a hole made in bread – quite yummy and, as I’ve just learned, was featured twice in the movie V for Vendetta).

I arrived in time for rounds which are usually between 8 and 8:30. That lasted about an hour. It was a large sit-down event with all the nurses, docs, PT’s, even the podiatrist was there. After that I got a walking tour of the place – the waiting room is really pretty with murals of dessert landscape and wooden carved pillars breaking up the usual industrial hospital-like architecture. Then I went to treadmill stress-test clinic (exercise treadmill testing or ETT for short) with one of my mentors and we made all these middle-aged overweight people run on treadmills all morning while we watched their EKG’s and took their vital signs every 2 minutes. Then I was able to saunter home for a few minutes to eat a yummy avocado with a potato and make a sandwich to take back with me to the hospital. Then afternoon clinic. I saw probably five or six patients in the afternoon. Notes were no biggie as they are all are paper and you can just jot down as you interview and leave it at that. Was very anxious to see patients by myself – so I just jumped in feet first and started seeing them. They all spoke English today and all had very typical medical issues. Really enjoyed talking to a giggly 13-year-old girl about safe sex (her 15-year-old sister has a baby and teen pregnancy is rampant here). Obesity is also a major issues along with alcohol abuse. I heard there was also a fatal stabbing on Friday – but violent crime like that is apparently rare.

Then clinic was over precisely at 5 PM -- because the double booked 4 PM patients didn’t show. Then it was pretty much exclusively catching up on email for the next two hours. Then home, rest of the avocado, some more instant coffee, and quarterly report. I do miss the TV. Staring at a computer screen makes my eyes hurt but it’s either that or stare at the stars and only one of those prevents my mind from running my to-do lists over and over again in my head. Emily and I always say that TV is one of the few things that can really just shut it all out. Though these days it’s becoming less and less true for me, at least TV is not work, it doesn’t hurt my eyes and I can put my feet up. This month will be good for me – maybe I’ll learn to better clear my mind without the boob tube (I can do it, it just takes more work).

So now I’m exhausted and ready for bed. I have to get up extra early anyway to get there in time to use the computer before rounds.

Oh, a small note, I really like one of the docs I work with, one of the two John’s. I like them both quite a lot but this one John is particularly interesting. He was a sociology major (go humanities!) and was working for social justice when he realized he wasn’t making any difference and wanted something bigger and better: a career where he can distinguish himself and make change (sound familiar to anyone?). Anyway, we talked a lot between stress test patients and have a lot to talk about over the next month. He also said I could house sit for him when he and his wife are out of town for a week meaning I don’t have to live in squalor! Plus, he might be able to arrange me a day at the uranium mining clinic (they made all these American Indians work the uranium mines around here and now they all are horribly ill so they have their own clinic: more info can be found at http://www.sonic.net/~kerry/uranium.html among other sites). It’s about 3 hours north but he says he’ll schedule it close to when I go see Jessica so I have a head start on the weekend. Awesome!

Okay, eyes falling out of head…. To bed….
but first... an old picture of the exact same view from my trailer.