I just found out that another kid I went to high school with is dead of cancer. Osteosarcoma. I haven't seen him since high school and recently found his blog where he talks about being an anesthesia resident and going through treatment for his cancer. I think he turned out to be a much better person than I thought he was in high school. Maybe he was always a better person than I gave him credit for.

The worst moment of any mountain bike race is when you see a huddle of people at the side of the road and someone you know calls out to you to stop because they know you're a doctor. Thankfully, this time it was my husband who ran out to me, so at least I knew that he was ok. Also, fortunately, my team mate was awake and alert despite going over the bars in a big crash and smashing his head into concrete. His helmet certainly saved his white matter. As people whizzed by, another teammate stopped who was a nurse and another guy stopped who is a ski patrol medic. Ben went and got our friend who is a paramedic who was at the start area. We had a great team. The volunteer fire fighter couldn't figure out how to use the oxygen tank... in retrospect, it's funny that the ski patroller had to show him how to fill the non-rebreather.

In the end, all were fine, but I only got to ride the first 1.1 km of a 60km race. But, it probably saved my ass, because I was riding despite being sick and now I feel awful. It drove home how important it is to review basic first aid if you're a doctor - no matter if you're a pathologist or a gynecologist, people trust you to know what you're doing.

I'm currently in a bit of a rut so please don't take my lack of posting to heart. I'm 3 months into a 6 month locum and feeling a bit of the 3 month itch. I'm already looking forward to my next placement... in July. Don't ask me why - the people at the practice are wonderful and the patients are like patients anywhere, but I just feel the need to move on. Maybe it's because in residency I was never anywhere for more than 3 months at a time. That must be it. I also came back from my vacation never wanting to work again. Could someone finance my vagabond biking lifestyle please? Over 400 kms ridden in 1 week with some ridiculous number of feet of elevation and I was in heaven. Work was a bit of a come-down. At least Ben and I hung up some pictures in our house today and got the basement cleaned up... I mean we've only lived here for 3 months!