A big bad second year!

In case you haven't heard - I am now an upper level resident.  Say What?!  Yup that's right - I've graduated from my internship and have moved on to my second year.  That means I'm 1/3 of the way done.
There are 8 new interns who will be under me starting tomorrow, except for that I am out of town on an away rotation, again.
I'll be working in the Emergency Department for the next several weeks.  I disappeared off the face of my blog because I was working night shift for multiple nights prior to leaving for Tuba City.  And let me tell you - we were busy.  I had nearly 4 admissions every night for the first few nights on, with multiple patient's in the ICU.  It was great experience.

Sarah and I at our promotion dinner!  yay!

At the promotion dinner as 2nd years, we introduced the incoming interns to the department and in the process we passed on a "pearl" to them.  A "pearl" is just a small piece of wisdom we picked up along the way.  My pearl was that even at the end of your day, or in the middle of the night when you are woken up from sleep, if a nurse calls with a concern or issue with a patient - think to yourself, if that was my grandmother, or father, would I want someone to go evaluate them?  Usually that's enough to get me off my bum to see the patient.  Sadly, it's rather easy to become jaded and calloused to many complaints and common problems and easy to lose perspective.  Asking myself that question usually takes the frustrated, tired, stressed me out of the picture and puts it all back into perspective.  Does it mean I'm happy about going to see the patient all the time? heck no - but should I, probably.

Driving, driving, driving....nearly 6 hours!

Pretty sunset! 

Have you met my friend?

I've made a new friend since I've moved to Tucson.  He's great, because he helps feed me good food and fast (that's the key).  His name is: Trader Joe.
Sometimes he goes by different names it depends on his mood.  If he's frying up something from south of the border he goes by Trader Jose, or if he's headed out east Trader  Ming.

Following a rule made by my partner in crime, Sarah, I have to buy something new to try at every visit!

Here are some of my recent purchases.  Sorry for the blurry pictures - I took them quickly with my iphone before putting them away!

This was a new one - small bite sized pieces of bananas covered in chocolate.  mmm...mmm....good, especially because it's frozen & it's hot hot hot in Tucson now.

Probably my favorite type of cuisine from TJs is the frozen indian food.  There's a yummy chicken tikki masala and another Channa masala that's not frozen.  Great with the frozen naan.

Falafel - pretty good when in the mood for "vegetable meatballs" (that's what my mom calls them).  A little dry, but perfect when hummus is added.

Sief's absolute favorite - Mochi ice cream.

Haven't tried - I'll let you know if it's any good.  There is a chicken chow mein that is frozen and pretty good (not pictured).

And of course they have beer and wine - another must to survive intern year.  The prosecco is one of my favorites and and almond sparkling wine.

What's the most important part of rounds?

The daily hospital routine involves checking out with the night team to find out what happened with our patients while we were away from the hospital for 12 hours.  This starts at 6 am.
Then it's a mad dash to check on all of the patient's vital signs, labs, radiology studies, etc.  Scrambling to see all the patient's and writing the notes on them before "rounds" when it is time to present to the attending (the boss doctor) about what is going on with the patient and what the proposed plan is.

So....I ask you - "What is the most important part of rounds?"

Here's your hint:

That's right - snacks!  Our brains need fuel to run on.

coffee - check

yogurt with calcium to build strong bones - check

granola bars for carbs feed the brain - check

reference books so we look smart - check

notes finished, presentation prepared - hmm...if I'm lucky

The Wieners

Well, I forgot that I did not take many pictures poolside and the ones I had are in the post below.

Instead you get cute pictures of my baby dogs!  :)

Aren't they cute?

Biggity Buster

Penny Princess.  She's not spoiled!

FRIENDS!!!

Poolside

I know that at home it's been cooler than normal for the months of May and June.
Well it's warm, warm, warm ... Ok downright hot sometimes here in Tucson.
But Lucky me - I got to relax poolside on memorial day and am repeating that today. Ahhh....the beautiful weather.

Cool new sunglasses, an ice cold glass of water, and red legs.

:) Pictures to follow soon :)

Picture Recap

Country landscapes whizzing by.

Dark clouds overhead, make us question the weather that awaits us.

The city by the bay blanketed with a patch of blue overhead.  Not engulfed in fog as it often is.  What awaits us?

Delicious dim sum, that's what!  Savory small bites.  Mmm...mmm....

City streets, bustling people, cars humming past.

An unmarked door that leads to a time long forgotten.  Bourbon & Branch.  A speakeasy, reminiscent of the prohibition era - passwords, a dark bar, quiet hushed tones, great cocktails, cloth napkins.  Shh.... don't tell.

The bay is calling.

Waiting for the ferry.

View from inside the warm cozy ferry.  Outside - cold and windy.  Reading the paper and people watching our way to Angel Island.

We rushed off the ferry to buy our tour tickets for the immigration station.  Little did we know that there would be less than 10 people on our tour.  Dad on the hike to the station.  ~1 mile hike - little did they tell us that 0.5 mile was nearly straight up!

View from our hike.  

What is left of the immigration station.  Picture taken from the footprint of the old administration building that burned down.  The building in the picture is the old detention building.  Angel Island misnamed the "Ellis Island of the West."  Similar in the fact that they were both islands and had immigration stations.  Vastly different in that most immigrants spent hours to maybe 1-2 days on the island while at Angel Island, some stays weeks to months.  Longest stay was 22 months.  

Conditions on the island were often overcrowded.  People from all over the world came through Angel Island, but the main group was Chinese.  Due to the Chinese exclusion act, it was mainly the Chinese who had prolonged stays on the island.  The law was designed to keep out Chinese laborers.

In this building the walls speak.  Poems and graffiti in multiple languages express emotions of defeat, disappointment, and hope.

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Happy Birthday Mom!

Per her request - we waited in line for over an hour at the best breakfast place in town, Mama's.  

Delicious french toast sampler - brioche, banana walnut, and cinnamon swirl breads.

Crab and spinach eggs benedict.  Delectable!

And what is a birthday without champagne?!

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Back in Tucson.  We had our family medicine retreat and I got to spend the day at the resort below :)

Lounging by the pool all day.  Tough life.

My beau happy to have me home.  

Vacation Continues

My vacation continues. I have managed to attend 2 graduation parities and no graduations.
Start and finish a craft project. (pics to come later).
Mom & I have kicked some butt in bowling - beating Jeff (firefighter student living with my parents x4months) & my dad. 2/3 games. Go girls!!

Next up is San Francisco. I need to get my fill of dim sum and the sad city by the bay. Poor Posey.

I'll be MIA for the next couple of days. I will try to take lots of pics to post later.

What did you do on your last vacation?