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!

My first month as a free woman

This is a particularly hard blog entry to compose. No, there's no bad news to share. It's just that after three years of waiting for this freedom I feel like there's a lot of pressure for the first month after residency to be about how relaxed, rested and happy I am.

Not that I'm not, I assure you, but it's really only been in the last two or three days that I have had time to read a book or take a run (two things that have been on my "things I can do with reckless abandon when residency is over" list).

The month has been busy. Sive and I moved, that was certainly a feat. My family was all in town, no simple thing either. Then, as soon as family left and all my stuff was in piles of boxes around Karin's (and now my) apartment, I left for nearly a week in Boston, not just for fun like last year, but for a slew of LGBT health meetings. When I returned the unpacking fairy (a.k.a. Karin) had tackled many of the boxes but there were still weeks worth to go through, too much furniture and not enough room for everything. At the same time there was the ABFM board exam - a day-long multiple choice test that I had to prepare for and take. And I can't forget the band gigs, local transgender health meetings, local community drama, all which absorbed free time and energy like thirsty sponges.

Karin and I updated our closet, remodeled our bathroom, filled trash bags and attics and basements. Sive, like Rapunzel, has been locked in the loft, high above all the activity of the rest of the house and safe from the Scary-Barking-Chase-Monster. I climb up there, careful to close the protective gate behind me, for visits at least once a day and to provide her with her yummy new wet-food diet. Her only two experiences down from The Tower have been too eventful and scary for her. One was an accident where she fell dramatically from the loft into the living room, bounced off the coffee table and landed on the floor where she righted herself, crouched low, poofed her tail, and hissed as a confused Lucy came up to her wondering why cats where falling from the sky! Both animals survived the event without injury and are still living in their separate areas. At the advice of a well-respected animal trainer, we are trying to clicker-train Sive so we can introduce the pets in a controlled and pleasant way. It's not easy. Lucy already has dibs on the actual clicker sound so we have resorted to the cumbersome alternative of a baby rattle for Sive - it's also not as loud and less scary for her. No progress has been made as of yet, but I'll sure keep everyone posted. I'm hopeful the two beasts will live in peace. Sive has coexisted with dogs in the past, but Lucy appears to be somehow more frightening than she can quite manage.

In sum, the first weeks free from the clutches of residency have not been quite what I anticipated. There's no backpacking in exotic lands or horseback riding every day. In fact, a large part of my days have been spent doing housework: dishes, laundry, cleaning, sorting, shopping and cooking (with various levels of success). But it is amazing how much residency took from me that those simple household activities suddenly seem like a luxury. The fact that I can do 6 loads of laundry and two sinkfulls of dishes in one day is like a dream come true! It will be curious to see how the next few weeks develop. They are also pretty packed. Half of August will be dedicated to entertaining Karin's 11-year old niece and I'm heading up to Vancouver, BC for a few days to visit my good pal, Lisa, from Australia. But maybe I'll also find a horse to ride and rekindle my relationship with exercise and self-care. Let my real life begin...

So long Tacoma, smell ya later!

The month of June was rather eventful.

It has totally exhausted me and have as much brain power as a cardboard box right now so bear with the less flowery language herein (the literary part of my brain is resting and waiting for its big binge after my board exams!)

So... June: Let's start from the beginning and try to break it into bite size pieces...

TFM Day
June rushed in with the dreaded "TFM Day" - a full 8 hours of residents (and other notable speakers, but mostly residents) giving dry presentations on evidence-based topics that are on their way to publication via the FPIN Network. I won't bore you with too much detail about the event. Just know that the whole process involves at least a year's worth of work, research and stress. My topic? Anal pap smears. I had hoped to perform a evidence review on transgender primary care but that wasn't approved. So even though I didn't quite get my topic of choice, in the last few years at TFM I have had the opportunity to present transgender medicine topics on my own accord. My TFM Day butt-talk (as I fondly call it) went very well and was actually a pleasure to give. The paper for publication is another story for another time.

Cle Elum
To celebrate the end of TFM Day, and the nearing end of residency, my class head off to Cle Elum, a quaint little rural Washington town, home of yummy Pioneer Coffee, and spectacular views! We recovered a little, bonded a little more, ate a TON (including an awesome Indian dinner made by our Indian classmate). We were there two nights and one full day and at the crack of dawn on Sunday Karin and I head back for our first uniformed marching band gig, a picnic in the park just blocks from her house. Afterward, we waiting in line, in uniform, for nearly 2 hours to get our $1 BBQ fixings (veggie burger included).

The Last Rotation
My last rotation of residency was an elective. I chose to rotate at Bastyr Center for Natural Health, a comprehensive naturopathic, acupuncture and homeopathic clinic in Seattle. In order to do this, however, I had to battle my nemesis, I-5. During the rotation I drove 300-500 miles a week, commuting from clinic to clinic. My previous efforts to coordinate my TFM clinics into full days (freeing me to learn at Bastyr for more than a few hours at a time) was massively unsuccessful - so back and forth and back and forth I went. But the elective was fruitful and I even felt, with my own index fingers on the pulse of a 90 year old woman, the actual palpable changes acupuncture creates in a person. Pretty amazing.

Chaos
Then, the proverbial you-know-what hit the fan and I started hurtling toward graduation at breakneck speed. Moving, packing, vet appointments, address changes, insurance coverage changes, forms to complete, etc etc... And, for extra fun my Mom and step-dad flew into town. We celebrated her birthday at Ray's Cafe, and over the weekend enjoyed in the festivities of the Fremont Solstice Fair and Parade! (us at right - Karin is on the end with the bass drum and I am playing trumpet behind her.) They stayed at my place, on the pullout couch, while I was packing and working, and then, for extra fun, my Dad and step-mom came into town and we had graduation.

Graduation
Graduation was a nice event - good food, good company, ample beverages to soothe savage beasts. However, it was four and a half hours long. For just eight residents. I was the very last to be graduated and by the time it came around for me to say my piece everyone was exhausted and surely sick of being there so I just said a few words of thanks and that was that. Kind of anticlimactic, I think. It didn't help that after all those hours of graduation hoopla I had clinic the following Monday. The best part of graduation for me was giving gifts to my advisor and getting to share with everyone the movie I had been working on for the better part of 4 months! I would love to post it here but am not sure people would appreciate their images up here for the world to see, dancing around and such. I rewrote all the words to Hotel California to reflect life as a resident at TFM and TG and filmed various folks singing and dancing along to the words. It was such a kick to make and I spent way more time on it than I did my FPIN!

Pride
Then came pride, or, "the gay Christmas", as Karin and I call it. With both sets of parents in town, my move a matter of days away, residency finishing, and all my duties with the band I was spread pretty thin. But I managed to enjoy marching in the parade, partaking in some of the street fairs and the festivities at the Seattle Center after the parade was over. One of the highlights of Pride this year was the huge rainbow flag the Seattle Center put on the Space Needle! A historic day! Now if only we can get equal rights like marriage, or at least equal taxation for domestic partners!

Then back to work for me after Pride. It wasn't easy but I managed to work a hellish, soul-sucking clinic on Monday, finish packing, and move my whole life to Seattle on Tuesday. Tuesday night Karin came back to Tacoma with me to finish cleaning the apartment. Wednesday I went to work and closed my charts, tied up loose ends, returned my parking pass, all the usual last day stuff. Hilariously, I got in trouble my last day for not having my badge. Figures some safety big shot would be touring the clinic on June 30th. He was understanding after I told him it was my last day and I had just returned it!

Life as a free woman
Now, here I am, among piles and piles of boxes. Overwhelmed with how much stuff I have to fit into Karin's apartment. We are working hard to make it our place (not just me squeezed in to her place) and it's not going to be easy (33 years of accumulated stuff is a lot!) but we are doing it! The pets have been without incident, Sive lives in the loft with a gate separating the beasts for the time being. I am so happy to be done with residency and ready to start the rest of my life, with my fiance, my family. Karin, me, Sive, Lucy and a houseful of boxes. I couldn't have imagined a happier ending to this story.

Next step? Studying for boards, unpacking, nesting, and continuing my advocacy here in Seattle and through GLMA... now only if I can find where all my advocacy stuff is... and maybe, soon, the feeling of being done with my indentured servitude will hit me.

Tacoma Aroma

So there was this rumor I heard about the "Tacoma Aroma". This less-than-affectionate terminology apparently came about in the 1930s when Tacoma's Sulfur-emitting paper mills began to stink up the city. By the 1990's sulfur emissions had been reduced by more than 90%. The aroma is still famous but rarely smelled. The wind has to be just right, you have to be in just the right place, in the right part of town. South of the Tacoma Dome, at La Quinta, my father and I got a whiff (I thought he farted, he thought I farted, it was all very amusing).

Since I've moved, I've smelled nothing but good stuff! Cut grass, pine needles, and best of all, today, I got a wonderful whiff of lilies. I went for a jog in Wright Park (old pic of a bandstand at right). The park is behind my house, about a 27 acres I think. It has statues, a lion and two "Greek maidens," Fannie and Annie. It has a cannon, a large pond, bridge, an Ibsen bust, basketball court, and enough homeless people to qualify as an urban green area. There's also a conservatory (left), built in 1890, opened in 1908, I haven't been in it yet (I was a bit sweaty) but running by its open doors I peered into to rows and rows of lilies, trees, other flowers. It smelled amazing! Each lap of the park (about a mile around) I was given a second and third wind by the smell!

Earlier in the park, as I was unpacking my LAST BOX (!) there was drumming. I could hear it from my open windows. It sounded like a marching band percussion line. I peer out my window and there was a procession of highschoolers graduating. Friday I caught a bride and groom posing for pictures. The water view is amazing but the park has yielded some great people watching, exercising, and flower smelling.

Unpacking has been going well. I finished all my boxes (see above) and have been organizing and reorganizing my closet space. The only storage I have for my bathroom is a small medicine cabinet so I had to arrange all my toiletries and such in milk crates in the hall closet. That was fun (note sarcasm).

Tomorrow, if I can get off my duff in time, I'll be heading to Olympia for Capital City Pride. I'm going to try and make the parade and some of the park activities and come back in time for dinner. Of course, there is a chance that I may sit on the couch and watch the endless run of Law and Order: SVU reruns and try to get my wireless security working. However, I will try and get out and go to pride. I even put out my rainbow belt and socks and wristband for the occasion.

The last of it

Okay - quick rundown on the rest of the road trip... mostly because it involves cool pictures.

We spent some memorable nights at hotels like the Wyo and Ruby's (in Missoula). Ruby's was on a river and pretty sweet. I also found I loved Missoula. It's a real college town, like Cambridge or Ann Arbor, but smaller, and in Montana of course. It was hip with a very visible gay scene and we ate yummy vegetarian at Tipu's Tiger.

We visited the sight of Custer's last stand (left). It was sobering. The battlefield remains untouched and basically identical to what it was like back then. We also drove through the mountains of Montana and Idaho, passing through tiny mountain villages like Wallace. Some of these places were famous for their whorehouses (a miner's gotta do what a miner's gotta do).

We made a stop in Spokane to visit dad's cousin Henry and his wife Renee and spent our last two nights at a hotel in downtown Tacoma. The view was nice (but not as nice as my place) and Sive enjoyed herself immensely (see left).

On the 8th the movers finally came with all my stuff. Minus my bedframe which was still tucked away in a warehouse in Michigan. It has since been sent via UPS. The move appears to have resulted in a broken 15-year-old hand-me-down CD player (not a big loss), a few scrapes, warps and paint chips as well as some serious drama regarding my couch.

My beautiful, comfy, warm, cozy, awesome, anyone-can-lay-on-it-all-the-way leather couch would not fit in the elevator. My gung-ho movers were not to be beaten and decided to start carrying the couch up the 15 flights of stairs. As they arrived on floor 6 one mover came up to check out the clearance from the hall into my apartment. It wasn't going to fit!

Now what? Big leather couch on stairwell. We deliberated about what to do, I consulted the landladies about where to put it, cried a little bit (hey - moving is stressful stuff!) and ultimately we came to a solution: I could store it for free in the apartment oversize-storage space as long as I got rid of it in a few days. Now... would it fit into the storage space? With much maneuvering, rolling, lifting, standing on end, and four brains figuring things out it was finally laid upright in a storage unit. I listed it on Craigslist for all of $100 (9-foot leather couch - probably worth $800 in its used condition). I got a ton of interested people within hours. The lucky recipient of a brand new, used, leather couch, a dude named Colin who bought it as a b-day present for himself, and his buddy were able to maneuver the couch out so much easier than it went in! I mourned but I'm dealing.

Then there was the Ikea drama. Long story short: Ikea dresser bought, dresser assembled (over two-day period), by father for most part (love ya!), Ikea dresser drawers don't work, Ikea dresser weighs 200 lbs, Ikea customer service finally agrees to replace dresser and remove old one, also agrees to assemble dresser for me. Horray! It was a long ordeal and I was known to say "I hate Ikea" or "I'll never shop at Ikea again, the bastards!" but in the end Ikea was great and helped me work it all out. With the help of Mom (love ya!) who knew how to finagle customer service like a hardcore pro. Another dresser bought was much easier to assemble, restoring some faith in the Ikea system. See the massive amounts of screw and pegs for the dresser that caused all the problems at left!

So that's pretty much the excitement of the first few days in Tacoma - then, after the 'rents were all gone, there was the kitty situation (mentioned in the last post).

Sive was exhibiting all the signs of a kitty UTI and had to stay for about 24 hours at the vets to get a urine sample. Results on Monday. They took other labs but I'm pretty convinced she's overall healthy, just may need to clear a bit of a urinary tract infection. Poor baby. I missed her so much and last night without her was actually harder than I thought!

When I returned to the vets this afternoon the receptionist and I started talking and there was meowing from "the back". Sive heard me talking and started yelling for me! They brought her to the front and she immediately started reaming me out for leaving her there. They loved her and were sad to see her go. I got lots of compliments on what a good kitty she is. :) But I got a stern talking ot about her weight. They recommended a prescription diet cat food. Expensive, but something I'll think about for later. For now we'll just play more and eat a little less :)

And check out the view from my living room sofa the other day :)

Runs with Cat

Traveling with my cat was much easier than I anticipated. For those of you curious as to how Sive managed the five days in the car here's an update:

The first day I had Andrea's help. She gave me great advice, grab the scruff of the neck (triggers endorphins and chills the cat out) and then pop the pill. Worked great. Every day I gave her a mild anti-nausea med with sedative properties. She wasn't conked out but was really chill in the car all the way there. Each day got easier in regards to pill popping and crate stuffing. One day she was so quiet in the crate we got worried and had to make sure she was still okay in there! She was fine, just hanging out.

After a couple days on the road she figured out the routine and began to hide in the mornings after her pill. Thankfully, all the hotels we stayed in didn't have space under the bed for her to hide so she ended up getting a bit creative. In Madison she found a way to wedge herself between the box spring overhang and the floor where the head of the bed hit the wall. Another couple places had lazy-boy recliners she could hide under. The other times she chose to burrow under the covers (see cat-shaped lump below).

She enjoyed the evenings most, checking out the hotels, sniffing around, drinking from the sink, jumping on things. She ate like a champ and used the litter box every night without issue (yay!).

Now we're settled and she's happy but I worry she might have a UTI since she is using the litter box about 5 times more than usual. She may be just marking her new space or being neurotic but there is a vet’s office close by so we may just pop in if it doesn't get better soon.

Now I just have to figure out where to put the litter box in this small space! The bathroom is waaay too small for both it and me so I'll have to be creative. Next post will finalize the travels and after that a bit of a dramatic summary of moving/unpacking hell. I bet you all can't wait for that.

Day three - still driving

All this driving is wearing me out. But it's been pretty smooth sailing. One casualty on the way out here - I think it was either late Wisconsin or early Minnesota when Pat Benatar came on my iPod. Just as she was singing "hit me with your best shot" a starling dive-bombed right into my front fender. Or, at least, so it appeared. After impact, in my rear view mirror, all I could see was a tuft of feathers floating. We inspected the car at a DQ in a small farming town (Chatfield, MN) and saw no evidence of bird parts. I'm optimistic that the bird miraculously flew under my car and survived to tell the tale... maybe via its own little birdie blog.

At the aforementioned DQ I got the chance to eat some fried cheese curds. Kinda yummy, kinda gross (see cheesy goodness at left). We also, in Blue Earth, Minnesota, got to hang out with the Jolly Green Giant! HO HO HO! (check out his giant booty!)


Aside from the JG Giant and the kamikaze bird WI and MN were without much incident. South Dakota, on the other hand, was pretty fun. A long, long state, there was plenty of opportunity for adventure.

The second night we stayed in Chamberlain, SD, population 880, right on the gorgeous Missouri River. It was an adorable town and I got to explore it when I went for a little jog in the morning.

There's a store in Wall, SD. Some of you may have heard of it. Those of you who have ever driven down I-90 in SD surely couldn't have missed it. It's called Wall Drugs. Every mile or so along the entire length of I-90 is a sign for this store! "Coffee 5 cents" "Free Ice Water" "See our backyard, bring your camera!" etc etc etc. So much of the state was spent in anticipation of Wall Drugs. Not sure if Wall drug lived up to our expectations. I think it may have. I did get to ride a jackalope (see left!)... and see an animated t-rex, and western art, and ice water, and homemade ice cream,stuffed game of all types, old photos of Calamity Jane...

SD has kitsch. I thought the trip to the UP was kitschy. I thought rural PA could be kitschy, or Platt, Nebraska. I was so wrong. Giant prairie dogs, giant steer heads, steel reenactments of "Cowboy and Indian" fights. The thunderstorms we drove through were also spectacular!

Today we finally traversed SD and are in Wyoming. We saw Mount Rushmore, the badlands, the black hills... it was a lot of tourism and less mileage but still more than 11 hours in the car. I'm exhausted, so 4 states and yet another time zone later I must sign off and hit the hay!

Road tripping

Just finished day one of the 4-5 day drive to Tacoma. Yay for free hotel wireless. :)

So sad leaving my awesome condo. :( and my friends :( especially my pregnant friends who may be moms by the time I see them again.

Sive and I are chilling in our $46 hotel room. At least it has AC to beat this Wisconsin heat. Tomorrow hopefully will make it through most of South Dakota.

Today's tally:
1 time zone change, 4 states (Michigan, Indiana, Illinois, Wisconsin), and about 400 miles (shorter driving day as we stopped to see a cousin in Chicago on the way out).

Probably around 2000 miles or so to go. Hopefully will have free wireless again to update tomorrow. Must now get my beauty rest. Tomorrow is going to be a long driving day. Thinking 10 hours on the road.