Honeymooning Begins - Maui

Eddie and I got married on May 19, 2007, and this is the start of our honeymoon.

(I don't have pictures from the wedding yet, those will follow later!)

We drove the road to Hana and saw the most beautiful lush country side, full of waterfalls and breath-taking ocean views.

We took a boat ride to Molikini to snorkel, then went swimming with sea turtles! So amazing!

And we lounged at our fantastic resort, enjoying the sand and surf at Polo Beach, right outside our door step.






And of course each evening was finished with spectacular cuisine at some of Maui's finest establishments.


Now we are off to Kauai!

Med Girls Shower

So my dear med girl friends threw me a shower the week we were all in town for the exam review. Tin and Laksh were the hostesses, there was tons of food, even more prizes (Tin even had personalized party favors made!) and a lot of laughs. It was fun because all the girls know Eddie really well too so the games about 'how well do you know the couple' were a big hit.

One of our games was a toilet paper dress contest--which group could make the most runway appropriate wedding dress out of TP!

They also dressed me in TP after for fun...


I have now had three wedding showers, one more to go! I am so blessed that my friends and family care so much to keep "showering" me with gifts! It is way more than I ever expected.

Life Update

Here is the scoop: we have moved out of Regina (yay!) and back to Saskatoon. This past week Eddie and I have been organizing the condo we are renting. He doesnt actually live here yet, he is staying at his parent's place until after the wedding. It has been a lot of fun so far--its hard to believe that this is going to be "our" place. It has taken a while longer than I expected since we are sorting through our combined stuff and deciding what to keep and what to donate to siblings.

So that is what I have been up to. Next week I have to start studying for the dreaded exam. I will post some pictures of our new place once its all finished.

Bridezilla within

I have discovered my bridezilla within.

I thought I was immune to becoming bridezilla.

I was wrong.

My demon bride within is too concerned, too obsessed with her own appearance, to the detriment of myself and others around me. I can only hope that recognition and admission to my own failings will be the first step on the road to recovery back to my normal self.

Whirlwind

Some days I feel like my life is a whirlwind and that it is creeping along way to slowly all at the same time. This week has been full of those days! To recap:

Wednesday March 14th: Find out we matched to Saskatoon. Ride to Saskatoon with Eddie after work for the Match Party with all of our classmates. Ride back to Regina with 15 of my drunk classmates in a 20 passenger limo arriving in Regina at 05:00am.

Thursday March 15th: sleep from 05:30am-10:00am. Get up, go to the hospital. Come home go back to sleep!

Friday March 16th: Catch a ride back to Saskatoon after work with a classmate. Look at ads for places to live with Eddie, (he as Mr Wonderful had pre-screened the pool of potentials and made appointments for Saturday).

Saturday March 17th: Look at townhouses all morning. Stop for lunch to celebrate St. Patrick's Day. Look at townhouses all afternoon. Decide on place to live! YAY! Go to Symphony Saturday night. Go out with Mark and Cheryl after symphony.

Sunday March 18th: Go to church in Saskatoon. Drive back to Regina!

So in summary we found a place to live next year! And all the details worked out beautifully. We got the moving date we wanted, and our place will suit us very well, with lots of space for us to spread out in. We are SO EXCITED! Less than three weeks now until we are moved into our new place. I get to live there until the wedding and then Eddie will move in after the wedding. Now we are starting all the other stuff that goes with moving--address changing, disconnecting and reconnecting services etc. Never a dull moment!

Match Results

And the Match results are
....

Saskatoon!

I know this may seem like not very exciting or that it was obvious that we would be in Saskatoon, but we are very excited. We have classmates who are moving all over the country as of yesterday: Vancouver, Prince George, Victoria, Kelowna, Calgary, Winnipeg, Hamilton, London, Toronto.... . To know that we are officially moving to Saskatoon was a huge relief, because that is what we had hoped for!

So we are going to be home hunting this weekend :) I am SO excited for us to pick out our first home together. It wont be a house, and it won't be something we buy, but it will be our first home together so that makes it "stinkin' awesome!" After we are done rotations we will move back to Saskatoon and I will live in our new place and Eddie will live with his parents until we get married (which is almost 2 months away :)

So that's the update!

First Shower

No, not my first water shower--my first bridal shower.

I went to PA for my first bridal shower this past weekend. My aunt threw me a lovely shower with most of my great aunts and several of my mom's first cousins present, as well as some close family friends.

It was a new experience that is for sure! I am not used to opening presents in front of 25 or so people! I also had the joy of getting to model and then wear for the duration of the shower a wedding dress made of toilet paper. Yes I did say toilet paper. It was a like a new variation on the paper bag princess. It was all in good fun though, and I think my grandma got quite a hoot out of seeing me all dressed up in toilet paper :)

Heart Surgery

I think I am in for a cool week :)

Today I got to be first assist in coronary artery bypass surgery--super cool! Its a bit unnerving when the surgeon says, "now whatever you do, don't move, even if you are dying," as you are staring down into an open chest and the patient's heart is literally staring back at you. Unnerving but awe inspiring at the same time.

These surgeons know that what they do is so super sub-specialized that they just want students to learn about what the operations are like and a bit more about cardiac anatomy and physiology, and don't want us to do scut work. What a fun rotation this one will be!

They truly are gifted though--you don't just want anyone with half-baked surgical skills cutting at your heart! It really is amazing what they are able to do in the operating room. I will admire them from afar and never aspire to be one of them, but it will be a sublime experience to spend the week invited into their ORs.

Reflections

It is really by God's Grace and Wisdom that we only are allowed to travel through time in one direction: forward. I often wonder if I knew years ago what I know now if I would make the same decisions. Would I be too scared? Would I have the courage? Naivete is a hidden blessing more often then I think we will ever know. But if I changed my past then I would not be me, as I am so shaped by my decisions and experiences.

I got a phone call tonight from a kid whose parent works with my mom. She has an interview with the College of Medicine in the next few weeks. She sounded so young, so fresh, so excited about the prospect of getting to become a doctor. I remember those days, I remember being that almost child-like enthusiasm for medicine, before years of the forces greater than me grinding away at me, shaping and forming the physician-to-be. They carve away at who you are, chipping out what is unsuitable, making you more and more like them, re-shaping the way you think, the patterns that keep, the way you live, where you live, how you spend your time....and you pray that somewhere along the way you have not lost the essence of who you are. I pray that I have retained the inherent elements that make me who I am.

How do you explain that to the bright eyed hopeful wishing to be physicians? You cant. There is no way to describe to someone who doesnt live through medicine what it does to you, to your life. I dont actually know if I would have chosen it, I thank God He chose me for it. I think I would have been too fearful. I do not regret it, but I wouldn't do it over again--Once in a lifetime is enough. It is a life that has required me to sacrifice more than ever understood before. It has required me to become much more disciplined. Yet, through it God has brought me more joy than I thought possible. And that my friends is the Grace of God.

Best Joke of the Day

While our team was trying to find out how much longer it would be before a patient returned from the OR to the ICU, the anaesthetist poked his head out and said, "Oh a long time. An hour of surgical time, so multiply that by pi..."

Back in Regina; again

I am back in Regina, again. I think this is the last stint of time here, or rather there is no other big stretch of time where I will be living out of a suitcase. Until my honeymoon that is :)

I don't really have a lot to blog about--I am in the Surgical Intensive Care for this week and next week, which is a cool way for me to hang out with internists during my surgery rotations :) I have been fortunate to have an R4 in internal med in the unit with me this week so I have been peppering him with questions. Other than that I am trying to get ready for my surgery exams that are in a week and a half, and for my surgery presentation that is next Friday. Terribly exciting, I know.

Although what is kind of cool (I know, blogging about medicine is terribly nerdy, bear with me), is I watched the intensivist (the ICU doc) resuscitate a woman who was exsanguinating (had blood pouring out of her). She was completely calm throughout the entire thing, as though it was just a regular day at the office. It was awesome to see how she had her head about her in the midst of a situation that would make A LOT of people high strung to say the least. And the coolest thing was the next morning I went in to examine the patient, and asked her how she was, and she opened her eyes, smiled, and said "I'm a little tired today". I thought that was awesome coming from a woman who tried her best to die the day before.

39 days until I am finished JURSI rotations! I can't wait!

Done Interviews :)

I have finished Carms Interviews!! YA!

And Eddie and I have submitted our list of what order we would accept residency positions for next year, so all we have to do now is wait and March 14th we will find out where we are going for the next three years.

Oh and I guess in case you were wondering, I should mention about my U of S interview and how that went. I think it went really well :) The program director started the interview with "you're wonderful, everybody loves you, so tell me about yourself..." and it went on from there. He seemed super understanding of the whole couples matching business, and really pro-resident and pro-resident education, which is always great. It was a really good chat with him, had a really good vibe when I left there. Then my second interview was with one of the faculty who wrote me my reference letter, and the chief resident that I had spent a fair amount of time with over at St. Paul's hospital because she too is interested in nephrology. So yes overall it went well.

Eddie and I celebrated being finished interviews with a date last night. He took me to John's Prime Rib and we had a wonderfully luxurious and languid dinner. It was the perfect way to cap off such a chaotic and hectic period of time! I am so blessed to be marrying such an amazing man.

So now my attention turns to other things--namely gearing up for our licensing exam and the wedding both of which are fast approaching! Never a dull moment in JURSI-land....

Montreal and The Rock

I am only posting this now, because I had would have had to pay for internet at my last two stops. So I am back now, and posting now about Montreal and Newfoundland....

Montreal. What can I say about Montreal? It’s a really cool place to visit, I don’t really want to live there. It’s a fun city, but I think it would have the potential to encourage all the wrong things in me---becoming vain and way too into fashion. The shopping in Montreal is unlike anything I have ever seen before. Granted I havent been to Paris or New York, but this place is unreal. Janelle and I found Ogilvy, this 7 storey department store that had boutiques and shops inside from designers like Louis Vutton, and other people whose names I cant pronounce. I have never seen $700.00 shoes in person before. And lingerie that is made of 100% silk, and starts at $200.00 an item, and red carpet dresses that start at 900.00…..Sigh. It is art that can be admired but never to be had.

Yes that’s right, I went shopping in Montreal on St. Catherine’s and didn’t but A THING! I didn’t even try ON a single pair of shoes.

I can say that getting prepared for being married has made me more responsible with my money for sure. Not that I was irresponsible before, but now its as though Eddie and I are a built in form of accountability to each other as to how we spend our money.

So back to the reason I was actually in Montreal. My interview. It went well I thought—they asked me tons of follow up questions from my response “to tell us about yourself….” And then a few questions about a challenging patient encounter, and a rewarding patient encounter, why you want to come to Montreal, how being an internist would be relevant if I ever went back to Africa…etc. Afterward there was tours of the different hospitals and a lunch with the candidates and the residents. I don’t have any CLUE how I got the interview—I was the only one I met from west of Ontario there who was interviewing. I had lunch with eight U of T students and one Ottawa U student. The lone prairie girl interviewing with the “big city” kids. Totally bizarre. And apparently all the other candidates were given a clinical case scenario and asked how they would manage it, but I wasn’t asked that! I cant tell if that’s a good sign or a bad one—I think it must be good.

And now “the rock” aka Newfoundland. I went going from one of the biggest cities in the country to one of the smallest.

Newfoundlanders were super nice--the cabbie who picked me up from the airport called me "duckie" and talked my ear off the whole way to the airport, asked me about how my parents were, etc.

The interview itself was super laid back--they started with, "this is a really informal interview, so you can relax...." The residents there were supper friendly, but I got the sense that they work ridiculous hours there, and they become "senior" residents after six months, while they are still in first year. If we wind up there we will be okay, and we will be able to make right it work, but for us I dont think it would make sense to go there preferentially above staying home....I would rarely see Eddie because I would be working all the time! They do three weekends a month there.

Getting home was a big gong show--my 5:00am flight off the Rock was cancelled, and it went from there. I did manage to get home to Saskatoon by a decent hour in the afternoon. I have decided that flying is a necessary evil to traveling, but that's about it. I really dont like flying!

One down, three to go...

I survived my first interview---whew!

I tried to get a good night's sleep last night. It didnt help the situation when there was a party going on in the room next door into the wee hours of the night last night. At first I wasnt sure, but it didnt take long to realize it was other med students who had obviously didnt have an interview this morning. I tried to wait it out and hope they would go to sleep, but finally when 2:30am rolled around, I decided "this is RIDICULOUS!"

I threw on a fleece, and went and knocked on their door....silence....then a sheepish looking medstudent came to the door. I said in my most sincere voice, "I really hate to break up the party, but I have an interview in the morning..." And instantly the guy looked mortified, and he replied, "I am SO sorry, no really I am so so sorry". I mumbled some sort of response and then crawled back into my room into bed. Thank the Lord they were quiet after that. At that point I didn't know whether to cry or to laugh. Also thank the Lord that I can function reasonably well on little sleep.

I was full of the jitters in the morning, but got myself fed and watered, bathed and groomed, pressed and dressed and to the interview, with time to spare. And interestingly enough, one of the other candidates waiting to interview in the morning turned out to be a fellow CMDS-er from Alberta. That was nice.

The interviews themselves (one with the program director, one with the Chief Resident, and one with a faculty) all went reasonably well. There weren't any questions that I hadnt at least thought about before, and for the most part they seemed quite conversational, and they spent a large portion of the time answering my questions. This was all followed by lunch with a slide show by the residents about why we should come to Dalhousie, and a tour of the hospital. Interestingly enough I was the only female candidate not in a black suit, which made me feel good. I didnt want to feel like a stiff, and I felt like myself in my suit. A more refined, sophisticated version of myself, but myself.

So tonight I am off to the resident social for the candidates at the Good Time Pub. Hopefully it will live up to its name.

Tomorrow, off to Montreal....

Halifax, Eve of Interview 1

I flew to Halifax today. Seven hours and two airports later, here I am. The eve before my first interview.

Its a very different feeling, traveling for these interviews. There were six other med students on the shuttle bus from the airport. All of them looked like they stepped off the cover of Vogue (they were from Ontario and Alberta, need I say more?) and they all seemed tense, like a white head pimple, ready to burst.

I must say that not checking bags and being able to print my boarding pass at home the day before greatly lessened the travel anxiety. All I had to do was go through security and board my plane. It helped that I was able to fly WestJet to Halifax.

Halifax is definitely different in the winter than it is in my lush summer memories. Still a unique city with charm, and once we got into the downtown, it felt familiar, putting me at ease. Odd though, for me to be staying in hotels by myself. I don't know if I have ever had a hotel room to myself before. Its quiet, which is good, I will sleep tonight. Yet its almost eerie.

So tonight I am steaming my suit in the bathroom--not being able to hang it up took its toll on it, but I think it will come out fine. Its 'steaming' as I type. And I will review my practice questions, review the Dal program, and my application. Talk to Eddie. Talk to God. Read my Bible. Pray that I speak with confidence and clarity, and that the Holy Spirit will guide me. Ask for the peace that passes all understanding.

Thanks for all the responses to the practice questions--they all made me laugh or smile. One week and this will all be over!

5 pair of hose, 4 interviews, 3 hotels, 2 black shoes and 1 match

This week I have bought: 5 pairs of nude hose, two pair of knee highs, one leather portfolio holder, travel sized shampoo, conditioner, lotion....Sigh. I hate Carms!

Do you know how difficult it is to fit everything an eczemic needs for skin care, plus the standard hair care and make items that are liquid into:
All containers not to be larger than 100ml, and all containers must fit into a 1L clear ziploc plastic bag that can be sealed

Those are the security measures that must be complied with to take things carry-on. I decided it was worth the effort, so that I can know the wearabouts of my luggage at all times! Next week would be a really really BAD time to have lost luggage!

And now for Interview Practice Questions... Please feel free to post what you think are good anzwers to the following old interview questions (most of these questions I think are ridiculous, but they are actually old interview questions!):
1) Teach me something non-medical in the next five minutes
2) Tell me a joke
3) What would you do if you were the medical student on the team at at a code you saw the senior resident slip a vial of fentanyl (a potent narcotic) into their labcoat pocket?
4)How would you react if you were faced with reviewing an admission while on-call with a senior who had a hint/smell of alcohol to his breath?

Finished General Surgery

I am officially finished my general surgery rotation! I still will have to do my surgery exams after my surgical selectives, but no more waking up at 5:30 to be at the hospital for rounds!

And, the most exciting of all--no more call as a JURSI!!!! I dont have call for the remainder of my rotations, so the next time I will have call will be in July as a first year resident. It will be SOO nice to be a little more normal for a few months.

As of today "interview" time has officially started. I am now a little nervous, it seems more real. Tomorrow we are packing up our suitcases and heading off to Saskatoon. I have one week to buy last minute travel sized supplies and to prepare my answers to interview questions. It always seemed so far off in the distance, interviews, and now they are here! I cant wait until they are over!!! By the afternoon of February 12 I will be finished the interview process, and I think that will be a really great feeling. I seriously cant wait for interviews to be finished. Its like a really bad exam week, where the only way out it to get through it, one day at a time, and one morning you wake up on the other side.

Please pray for Eddie and I that we interview well, have favor with program directors and that we match to exactly where God wants us to be next year!

I will keep you posted!

Overwhelmed

Today I feel overwhelmed. I have felt this way enough times before throughout JURSI to know not to let this feeling consume me, enough to know it too will pass. Nonetheless, today I am overwhelmed.

As I reflect back over the year I see a strong correlation between the rotations where I am sleep deprived and the rotations where I am overwhelmed. Obstetrics, ID, and now Surgery.

Somehow by the grace of God I will get the things I need to get done done, but today I cant even remember basic things that I used to know off the top of my head. Somedays I feel like I my brains ooze out my ears in my sleep.

Nine more days of general surgery to go....

The pre-interview scene

So we are officially into the next phase of the long drawn out process that is applying for residency positions for next year. Eddie and I both got several invitations to come for interviews--he got 8 and I got 7, but we only have a few invitations in common cities, so that is where we will be interviewing. So now rather than "we could end up in any of the major cities in Canada", the number of places we could be next year is: four. And they are in no particular order:
Halifax, St John's, Montreal and Saskatoon. There is still a minor possibility that we may get to interview in Winnipeg, but that is slim--one of us is on the wait list for an interview spot there.

It was really strange the way it shaped up---there seems to be no rhyme or reason to which school offered us interviews. Yet, I am happy with my schedule, I have all my interviews in a week, with one day between each to travel between the cities. Eddie's schedule is tougher, he does them all one day after another, so he is travelling and interviewing everyday without a break.

So we will see what happens!

Surgery

Well I am back in the saddle, in a manner of speaking. This week I started my general surgery rotation. This is definitely coming back from vacation with full steam ahead! I am enjoying that the surgeons keep me busy, and are willing to teach as we plow through the day, this much is good. Man oh man though, I am NOT built to be a surgeon! I am at the hospital by 6:20am and havent left until 6pm so far this week, and after standing in the operating room for a four hour case I was almost dead! Who knew standing perfectly still being a human retractor would be so tiring?!

Ah well, its only four weeks, and I will be able to do it for four weeks, and hopefully learn something while doing it!

And we have new JURSIs, yay! The third year class had their induction, er rather orientation, to being JURSIs this week, and as of Monday they will be on the wards with us. Its always nice to have more bodies to distribute the work load on, and fresh blood will be appreciated --its good for moral. Tim and Erin just moved here as well because Tim is a new JURSI, so I am excited to hang out with them more often.

Thats all for now, I am going to go try to catch up on some sleep after a night of open bellies and holding intestines in my hands.