Orlando Pictures

We are back safe and sound from Florida; and now we are extra plump from two family's worth of turkey dinners! Here are some pictures from our excursions:

Orlando Update

Well we are safely landed in Orlando. Mark, Ray, Eddie and I are here for almost two weeks, first for the American Society of Hematology conference, then for plain fun and relaxation.

We had our first day at the conference yesterday--obviously Mark and I were way more into in than the other two, but we did manage to find a surgically applicable talk for Ray and a peds talk for Eddie. Mark and I will be going back today for some of the ground breaking research presentations.

Last night however, we managed to make it Tutsiville (which is right next to Kennedy Space Center) to watch the launch of the Discovery Shuttle. It was SO cool. We were right on waterfront across from the launch pad. There were a whole bunch of local people lined up sitting on lawn chairs. When the shuttle took off it lit up the entire sky as though it was daylight. It was really awesome.

Happy Birthday Eddie!

My dearest Eddie is twenty-six today. I am so blessed to have him in my life, he brings me more joy than I could have ever hoped for or imagined! And he's even a bigger nerd than I am--how hard is that to believe! A tribute to the man I love, you are the biggest nerd and I love you all the more because of it. I love your spirit, your compassion, you passion for truth, reason and logic. I love that you always make me laugh, I love your smile, your dimples and the crinkles around your eyes. Happy birthday to the man who won my heart.

Organized Chaos

Okay, I feel as though I need to explain my sort of falling off the earth the past few weeks. Let me say that I really want to be phoning more people and staying caught up in your lives, but I have been consumed.

For example, this week I have:
1) worked one call shift (30 hours in a row) at the hospital
2) I have another call shift on Sunday
3) got passport photos taken for my licencing exam application
4) got my licencing exam application notarized
5) mailed exam app and two other business documents
6) attended RCIA class tuesday night
7) wrote four personal letters for my residency applications (count now 11 done, 1 to go)
8) went to Staples three separate times for invitation printing---they printed them wrong TWICE!
9) went to Costco for invitation printing twice
10) bought groceries
11)went to the pool to swim (only got there once)
12)booked appointments for when I at home in December
13) bought Eddie's birthday gift
14) finished my Christmas shopping (has to be finished before I leave for Orlando)
15) read my research papers for my presentation due in a week

AHG! I cant wait to sit still! I am at the hospital all day, and half the time there is nothing official scheduled for me to do in the afternoons (thanks to the rotation organization), but I am not allowed to leave the hospital. Then when I am finished at five, I am going on a dead run until bedtime. Everytime I cross something off my list of things to do, it seems four more things have been added in the meantime!

Its like I am caught in a frenzied storm and there is no way out, I just have to hold on for dear life and pray I get to the other side. Only nine more days of this rotation, only nine more days at the hospital. I am so READY for vacation!

Three weeks to go...

-Photo by KAG
This is how happy I will be come Dec 8 when I am on a plane for Orlando! Three weeks left of the term, and I can't wait to be done. Pediatrics is okay, not my favorite, but okay. Just have to finish the rotation, pass the rotation exam, finish our invitations, register to write my liscencing exam, finish my residency applications, do four more call shifts, and then I can leave!

We did our marriage prepartion course this weekend. It was okay, but I expected more. I think it was difficult for the presenters because they were presenting to a variety of couples from differing spiritual backgrounds. I would have preferred if the spirituality aspect was more of a central theme, and touched upon in all the different areas. On our Focus inventory (an inventory questionaire that each of us filled out separately), we scored 92% on our "Readiness for Marriage", so that's good! Eddie also accidently checked that he is concerned about how much alcohol I drink, so drinking issues was highlighted as something we need to discuss if further depth with our Priest. We both had a good laugh about that.

On a different note, we saw the new Bond movie this weekend--seriously they missed the boat on the Bond character; it felt more like a Rambo movie, with Bond as a meat head beating everyone up, rather than a smart, cunning Bond who out wits his opponents. Sigh. I would like to visit Montenegro after seeing the movie though!

Babies

I am on call today for the Neonatal Intensive Care (NICU). We attended the delivery of 24 week old baby, and it was all I could do to not burst into tears in the delivery suite. I am much too emotional to be able to deal with children who are sick on a regular basis for the rest of my life. The little guy was doing as okay as can be expected, but something inside of me twists in anguish each time I see his frail itty-bitty body struggling to breath, his tiny chest wall heaving with each breath.

And then there was another precious little doll who came back from Saskatoon today that I had to admit. She had been small for her gestational age, and thus is the most delicate perfectly small proportions. Her eyes were larger than the rest of her face, and she was alert and awake, with luminous blue eyes gazing out at me. I had to stop what I was doing and just cuddle her for a solid 10 minutes. This is the other reason I could never be a pediatrician--I would fall in love with all the babies and then not get my work done, and be an emotional mess when it was time to remain calm under pressure.

They really are the most vulnerable members of our society, these the sickest of our littlest people. It truly is a reflection of the society as to how we deal with and treat these our most vulnerable who most need our protection. It is quite poignant seeing the droves of adults swarmed around one little body all vigourously working to revive it, willing it to live. If we do not retain this drive to protect our little ones, we will on the whole be in big trouble. It is our job to be the voice for those cannot speak for themselves--our youngest and our elderly.

Regina Return

-photo by KAGlubish

193 days until the wedding....but who's counting? Eddie and I are both finally back in Regina together, yay! No more long distance phone calls, at least until the dreaded interview period. I have started Pediatrics this week and I am somewhat terrified of the little goobers--I dont want to break them! Give me old people any day.

Ummm so other than that, the next four weeks are dedicated to not letting little people die, finishing residency personal letters (pick me, pick me letters :), marriage prep weekend course, and RCIA classes. I think November will be a blur!

Tim Hortons Horror

Eddie and I walked into Tim Hortons on the weekend to find a young man lying on the floor with blood stains on his head and the surrounding tiles.

For a moment my heart stopped. "We are going to have to resuscitate this man"--flashed through my head.

Two seconds later I realized he was conscious and there was a staff member there controlling traffic and that the ambulance had already been called.

At first we then walked past like regular bystanders--then we said to each other " we are probably at the point where we are obligated to help this guy." So we walked back over and offered our help.

We didnt do much--verified the story, took his pulse and then the ambulance arrived, and they have the gear to actually provide real help. He was acutely okay when he left with EMS.

It got us to thinking--next year we for surely are obligated to help in emergencies in public places. I think we are going to have to carry some sort of minor first aid kit, or at least a mask incase we have to do CPR. It kind of scared the crap out of me! Really without IV fluids, proper airway and ventilation support as well as some cool drugs, we are kind of useless in those situations. Oh well, we decided that after next year for sure when we run into situations with people under 18 Eddie will be in charge and I will be in charge with patients over 18, and that we are going to have to carry some sort of minimal gear.

Weekend with the Bolsters

Eddie and I were in Regina with the rest of the Bolster clan for Larry's retirement banquet from Sasktel. We were all dressed up, but as you can see, during the presentation after dinner our table got a little bit silly!

busy JURSI

The life of a busy JURSI, thats the life for me--for now anyway until med school is over! Only six more months of rotations, the end is almost in sight.

I surprisingly dont have a whole lot to blog about right now, I am on CTU at RUH, which I am enjoying but it keeps me pretty busy between that and my Carms (residency applications) stuff. It was kind of funny yesterday our attending made a joke that I didnt get, I guess it was in reference to a tv commercial, and my team told me I dont watch enough tv. Big surprise!

I think the two most interesting things about this past week have been:
a) Eddie and I started a gift registry on the weekend; we still have lots to do but it was fun to start..
b) When I was on call my team diagnosed a patient in the ER with flesh eating disease and he left against medical advice, refusing to let us treat him--apparently he was going to fly to Calgary for treatment. I am just waiting to hear about him on the news!

ARG!

What the H#$!
Tonight I tried on my interview suit that I bought at Banana Republic in Edmonton to show it to Tin, and IT STILL HAS A SECURITY TAG ON IT!!!!! I even asked before we left the store if they were all removed because I was leaving the province, and they said, "oh of course!"

Now I have an interview suit with a security tag--so its basically useless until the tag is removed, and oh yes there is no Banana Republic in Saskatchewan. ARGGGG!!!

Thanksgiving

Home for Thanksgiving... So nice to be home, to see my family, whom I have missed so much being on the road these past six months. This is my mom, my sister and I at our good family friend's house. Aren't they lovely? I think so. The only thing missing this holiday was my darling Eddie who is still in Ottawa.

Sometimes I wish I could just freeze time, and enjoy these moments just a little while longer before I have to return to the chaos that is my life. I know the next eight months are going to be a blur, and this weekend was just a chance to catch my breath before the final push to the end of the school year. Deep breaths....

CMDS Regina

I went to the Ninan's house tonight for Bible study, the first time to CMDS in Regina in a LONG time, as I have been away so much.

It was really nice, they made us tasty Indian food, and we chatted over supper. After supper Mrs. Ninan got out a cake that said "Congratulations" on it, as she had thought Eddie and I would be there together, and it was to celebrate our engagement! It was so sweet :) They decided we had to take pictures of the cakes and email them to Eddie, as he is still in Ottawa. I really felt at home with them there, and I am so thankful that they have us into their home. The study part is always really well prepared, and I feel very encouraged when I leave. Dr. Ninan told me that he and Dr. Akyinbi were "keeping an eye on things" for us students...that was awesome, knowing that there are angels in the form of doctors watching out of us, even when we werent aware of it.

Ottawa Pictures

There arent that many because I committed a major sin--I forgot the good camera-Gasp! Anyways here are a few from the mini-dig



The Indian restaurant where we nearly died from gastro-intestinal-inferno...





















Eddie took a picture of me outside the Canadian Mint...

Saturday in Ottawa

I have been in Ottawa since Thursday visiting my dearest Eddie. Today was the first day he didnt have to be at the hospital, yay!

We started the morning off by taking the bus to the Canadian War Museum. Well actually due to my navigation we took the bus past where we were supposed to, and then had to walk back from Quebec to the museum in Ottawa. That only took about 10 min, so that was okay. The CWM was quite somber, but lots of well done exhibits. Its actually in a different building than when I went in 1999.

Then we went to a little pizzeria in the market for lunch and shared a tasty slice of pizza. We had planned to go to another museum in the afternoon, but it was our first day without rain, so we decided to walk around outside instead. We walked the park around Parliament, the outdoor mall on Spark St, and the market. We stopped at two different bakeries to sample their delicate creations--at one we shared an almond-pear tart, and at the next we shared a scrumptious apple turn-over. We got some really funny looks from people as we devoured the turn-over on the side of the road in the market!

Then we had supper at a quaint Indian restaurant. The food was super flavorful, but so spicey I thought I was going to die. It was like the scene from Along Came Polly when Ben Stiller is eating spicey food with Aniston for the first time---seriously, my gut was on fire for a while after supper! So we picked up some gelato after supper to cool our palates (and our esophaguses, and our stomaches...)

We ended the evening with going to see the National Orchestral. They did a Mozart piece with special guest Emmanuel Ax, and Brahms Symphony #2. It was a wonderful end to a superb day.

Shameful Signature

I am ashamed to admit--I have spent about 20 minutes tonight trying to figure out what I want my new signature to be like next year when I have a new last name. I didnt ever think I would do that, but I spent a few hours today doing CaRMS paperwork, and had to sign twenty differnent letters, and I sign my name countless times a day at work, and it made me curious as to how I would do my new signature. A doctor's signature is worth a lot--it had better be good!

Yah, I'm a nerd. I'm post call today by the way, I think that accounts for some of the nerdiness, comes out more when tired.....

Date Day in Regina

My darling Eddie has left again for Ottawa today... I can't wait until we are both finally in the same city again! Everytime we see each other lately one of us has to leave again. We did have a beautiful date day in Regina on Saturday before he had to leave.

Eddie planned a date day for us, and it was all a surprise for me! He had me come over to his appartment around ten am, and we packed a picnic lunch. We then set out on foot, and our first stop was the Royal Saskatchewan museum. It was so much fun to tour around the museum, and it was only a donation to enter! There was a really cool dinosaur exhibit, and the "Paleo-Pit" is the learning pit for kids. It made me totally excited for when we have kids and get to take them to museums and things.

After the museum we had our picnic lunch on a bench by the big pond (aka the "lake"). Totally fun, I love picnics! After that, we were on the trail again, and Eddie took me next to the art gallery, which was free! It was really cool--not as grandiose as the National Art Gallery in Ottawa, but there were some really neat exhibits--one with ancient art work from Rome, Greece and Egypt.

Then we went out for dinner at the Creek Bistro, a quaint little restuarant in the Cathedral area. Neither of us had been there before. The food there was amazing! I started with tapas for one, then I had a chipolte rib-eye steak with tomato and avacado salsa and garlic mashed potatoes. We finished with a mango-apple-mixed berry crisp. So good! I havent eaten like that in a long time!

The last part of the evening was the season opener of the symphony. It was wonderful. He did such a great job planning our date day. I love him so much, and I know he loves me, and he makes me feel like a princess everyday!

And then this morning I had to drive Eddie to the airport at 4:50am! Arg. But the great part is that I get to go to Ottawa this weekend to visit him, I can't wait!

Death of a Patient

A patient of mine died last week.

Our team was consulted to see him in the ER, and we went, assessed the situation, developed a plan, and admitted him. He was quite sick and was in significant respiratory distress. After we finished with him, we were sent home by our attending at the end of the day. I felt uneasy about him, knowing in my gut he was in rough shape. Apparently our patient's heart went into complete heart block 15 minutes after we left. Cardiology came over from the U, but it proved to be the end of his time here on earth.

I was stunned the next morning to hear of his passing, and sort of numb to be honest. Its strange to have people go so suddenly--now they are here, now they're not.

I talked about it with Eddie that night. There is such a fine line between promoting life and prolonging death. Its not our job to save everyone, but it is our job to treat everyonewith dignity and compassion.

Then on Sunday during the intercessory prayers, my patient's name was read as one of those recently departed members of the Body. It hit me again like a ton of brick in my gut and instantly hot tears overflowed, stinging my eyes; my two worlds colliding. Sometimes its easy to forget that patients are in our community, our fellowship, our neighbourhood. I dont think I will ever learn the 'professional detachment'--I dont think I want to.

Funniest moment of the day...

A patient told my 5'2" attending who was sitting down with her hands folded, and who is visibly pregnant might I add, that she had threatening posture.

Life through the Kidney

We had our CMDS welcome BBQ today, and Susan told me how much she enjoys my blog, and that she always checks to see if I have posted--and since I have been quite sparse with the blogging lately, Susan this one is for you.

I am currently doing an elective at St Paul's Hospital in Saskatoon, in Nephrology. It was because of time I spent there in second year with a certain amazing attending that I became interesting in Internal medicine in the first place. I then spent some more time there after second year in the summer and fell in love with internal medicine and specifically the kidney. There is just something about it, hard to explain--thinking through kidney problems comes more easily to me than most other systems.

So this past week was awesome. I think this is likely to be my best elective in terms of educational yield per hour spent at the hospital. We are busy all day, but its busy seeing patients with our attending, with oodles of bedside teaching. The attending staff are a blast to work with--they have SO much fun doing their jobs, and its a wonderful enviroment to work it. I would recommend this rotation as an elective or selective to any and all med students. Several of the attendings were encouraging me to come and join their nephrology group when I was finished training (which is always nice encouragement).

However...

I realized today that none of the female attendings in this department have children. And their pagers go off literally every five to ten minutes. My attending comes in before we (the residents and I) get there in the morning, and stays for hours after we leave. Kidney patients are really sick generally and there are many of them. By Friday I realized, thats really not the life I want.

I want to like my job, but not to the exclusion of everything else. There are other areas of internal medicine that are not as busy, where my pager would not go off every five minutes for the rest of my life, and I might even be able to attend my kids recitals. Heck I might even see my husband long enough to make children! It may mean a field that I have to work harder at to learn the material because it doesnt come so naturally, but I will be able to do it.

Furthermore, I read a chilling article in the Globe and Mail this weekend about euthanasia in Australia, and and one about abortion in Canada, and I had a sickening feeling in my stomach. I had a vision of the disregard for the sanctity of life eating away at the fabric of our society like a black cancer. And in my mind's eye, I saw that every couple that chose to bring life into the world or chose to preserve life would push back some of the cancer. After I read that I told Eddie we should have 10 kids. He said sure.

Basically I need to make sure I dont let myself become SO consumed with medicine that I miss all the other things God has called me to that will make a difference in His Kingdom.