Work OUT

My sister has started a new workout routine. As I am trying to get in shape for the mountain biking season, I joined in. Yesterday we did the video the "30 day shred" level 2. Then I died a small death and then today we went jogging! My favorite! Erm, now I can't sit down, or get up, I can only stand. My only solice is that my sister hurts like I do. And that I can justify having some ice cream.

I delivered a baby today! Our second delivery of the week (our first was vaccuum so I didn't do it). I love delivering babies. It always makes me emotional.

Hopefully more will happen this week and then we'll have a nice weekend. I'm catching up with an old friend on Friday for coffee and I'm looking forward to that. Plus, he's a massage therapist, maybe he'll give me a discount :)

I got my new car this weekend! It's a manual so I've been spending the weekend reaquainting myself with driving manual. It really adds some excitement to the driving experience. Now I'm back to work but there's nothing happening this morning. I'm hoping that there weren't too many people who delivered over the weekend. I have 4 more weeks here and I'm really hoping for a babyfest. My cold is getting better, which can only signify good things to come :)

Dr. K's advice was excellent. I called my dad mid-meltdown and he called his insurance agent and saved the day. Things should be all set for picking up the car on Saturday. I'm stoked.

I have a really sore throat. I'm peeved - I feel like I've been sick all winter and now it's spring and I"m sick again. My nephew has the "coughs" and I wonder if this is the prelude.

Tired of being a student

I'm so tired of being a student. I can't buy my own car without a cosign, I can't get insurance without being on my parents policy, I can't do freaking anything. I'm emotional today and I had to sign up for my LMCC which hasn't improved my mood. No babies are born yet. Ben isn't very sympathetic which is making me feel more pathetic. Who cries over insurance? I guess I do.

I am SOOO old. I bought a car this weekend. A Mazda 3 in (hopefully if it's still available) electric blue mica. It looks like this:
if not the electric blue, I'll get the dark grey or silver. Whichever they can find in a 5 speed manual for me. I signed a 5 year car loan, which doesn't mean much because it's only 1.9 percent and I'll be earning more in 2 years anyway so I can buy out the loan. I also bought some awesome mountain bike shoes today, 50% off at the bike show. 'Sidi's which are the best brand ever made basically.

I couldn't afford them at full price but at half price they're cheaper than any other 3 strap ratchet shoe on the market. Score. Good think I'm a woman with size 41.5 feet. I got the last pair.

The weekend has been too short. I'm ready for a good night's sleep tonight. Barring any babies of course.

Staying with my big sis

I'm finishing up med school by doing my family medicine rotation. I'm doing it in Guelph with a doctor who does afternoon clinic 4 days a week + OB. I think he delivers half the children in this city. Unfortunately, we only had one delivery this week since I've been here and he didn't call me for it because he didn't want to waste my whole day on an induction - I assured him yesterday that I want to see EVERY SINGLE BABY born in the next 6 weeks.

One of the best things about this rotation is staying with my sister in Guelph. She has two kids and is on mat leave so she's home for at least part of the day when I'm home. It's fun to hang out! My nephews are so darn cute. the littlest one just started to sit up and he's so cute. He has the best social smile ever. Plus, my sister makes me dinner. That's a great novelty. I feel bad, but I love it too. Next week I'll make the dinner.

Match day

So, although I had a good match day, some of my friends did not. I won't go into any deatils but I had a couple of friends who were bitterly disappointed by their results. I'm sure, in time, they will come to peace with it, or not, and move on. One friend considered her results such a failure that she was considering a career change. I think match day is a bad day to make that choice. We all thought it was over when we got into medical school and were told we would be doctors some day - what a load of bull. If only we had known what was coming. In good news, there were some very happy surprises and some expected good results among my friends as well. This helped to take the edge off the tearful phonecalls and consoling words that just couldn't say enough. I wish I was at my university on Monday to sit and be with the people I care about, instead I was at the other end of the phone trying to convey a hug through words.

In other news, I want to get on with my internal match to one of the two sites within my program. I haven't been contacted by my matched site yet and I'm wondering when that's going to happen! I hope soon.

I'm super stoked. I matched to my first choice! I'm nto sure if I should reveal what that is here because I'd like to keep this blog going. Maybe I'll start residentitis. Thanks for all your support!

Tomorrow is match day. Duh duh duhhhhhhh. I'll let you all know how it goes - if I can ever remember my password for logging onto CaRMS.

Tomorrow is my LAST NBME exam! Hoorah. I just have to pass it. Tomorrow is also my last block exam of all of medical school. hoorah! Monday is match day. LMCC is a month and a bit away. Graduation is May 27. Things are moving very very quickly.

I have had really bad pimping days lately. Days in which I cannot answer a single question. Plastic surgery just doesn't seem to be my bag, but not only that, many of these things are simple family medicine things. For example: I cannot tell you whether a lesion is suspicious for basal cell, squamous cell or melanoma. I cannot tell you what the cardiac dose or anaphylaxis dose of epinephrine are (granted for the cardiac thing I haven't taken ACLS yet). I constantly forget the word tenosinovitis. I don't feel the bump that you're trying to tell me is there on the fractured but non-displaced zygomatic arch. These are only a few of the things I don't know. Life just sometimes seems to be going forward without me acquiring any more knowledge. That sucks.

2 days until stupid exams.

Good things: I was on call last night and never got called. There were muffins left this morning in the call kitchen. I am going home at 8 this morning because there are no ORs. The weekend is here.

Bad Things: I haven't studied enough for my surgery, anesthesia and ER exams. I can't remember the things I need to remember for technical skills OSCE. I am burned out.

Sorry for taking a little hiatus from the blogging. I started plastics this week and it's not too busy but long hours and early mornings (groan) and I'm studying for 2 exams and an OSCE that I have next week. The grandrounds went well and really stimulated some discussion but I"m putting working on the associated paper on hold until I get my life back. Match day is March 9 and I'm pretty nervous. The next two years will be decided for me in one minute. Eek.

I feel very fatigued today. This will be my third 4 to midnight shift this week plus 1 day shift on Monday (I didn't get a stat holiday, boo!). I have a really hard time winding down when I get home from an emerg shift. You use your adrenaline to keep you going in the evening and through those last cases on the table at the end of the night so when you get home you're pretty wired. I try to have some herbal tea, watch some tv or read a book then get to bed. This morning I had to be at the hospital for grandrounds at 8:30 and it was a tough sell. At least I stayed awake through the whole thing! I'm giving a grandrounds presentation at another hospital tomorrow, wish me luck!

Back to work

I can't say that i'm exactly sad to be going back to work in the ER on Monday. I can't exactly say I'm happy to be leaving Ben either. It's a giant catch 22. I have 3 more weeks of rotations at my med school's home hospital left. Then I have 6 weeks of family medicine in the city where my sister lives. I'm going to be their 6 week houseguest, I don't think her husband is very excited about it but I totally am. I have lots of fun every time I stay with Erin and her fam. We have good sister bonding moments. Unfortunately, this time there is also some manditory studying for the LMCC that's going to have to happen. I've been slacking lately because I really needed a bit of a break. Back to the grindstone!

On another note: I have a new obsession with eating cottage cheese and broccoli with pepper on them. Don't ask me why I think it's soooo good. Mmmm.

This week has been a flurry of activity so far for Ben and I. We did two things this week and are going to do a third tomorrow that we always talk about doing but never do. Monday we went to lane swim at our local pool. Tuesday we went skating at the local skating rink - which would have been more fun if there were less children (is there such a thing as adult skate?) and tomorrow we're taking a spinning class at our local bike shop. I spin already but at my gym that Ben isn't a member of, so I'm excited to take him to his first class. It could go well or horribly wrong, since Ben doesn't really like people telling him to push himself harder and make himself hurt. I'll have to pass on the secret of putting your hand on the spin resistance wheel but not turning it up when you're just too maxxed out to go any further. I feel that it's up to you to take control of your workout and often I push too hard at the beginning and have nothing left - it's all I can do to keep up the resistance I have, that being said, I still put my hand on the wheel to fake it. It must be my fear of disappointing the instructor!

It's been fun to do so many things together but expensive! The gym is essentially free for me because I pay one lump sum at the beginning of the year and then forget about it until the next September. We get a corporate rate at Goo*Lif* through my med school which is very reasonable. Hopefully there will be some deal through residency next year too. I'm too cheap to pay the full thing. I really like group exercise classes so it works really well for me. If we were going to swim a lot, I'd probably get a membership to the pool because shelling out 6 bucks each time feels steep. Skating was cheaper but still 3 bucks each or something. I wish you could just get a rec membership for the city that let you into everything. Hey, maybe you can and I just don't know about it. Since I don't actually live here, it wouldn't be worth it for me this year, but next year when Ben and I are in the same place we should look into things like this. It's nice to do things together.

Sleeping sickness

Every few months I get a few days to a week where I have a really hard time not sleeping every hour that I'm not at work. I get these feelings of overwhelming fatigue and the minute I sit down to study or do anything where I don't have to talk to people, I fall asleep. Fast asleep. This past week that's been happening to me. I got up at 9 this morning and was napping by 11:30 and could easily fall asleep again now. What the heck is wrong with me! I guess maybe I should have had caf instead of decaf this morning.

Edit: the antenna on my car also got crunched in the carwash that Ben forced me to go into today. Boo that.

CaRMS rank order submission starts today, eek! I've got my first two choices set but after that the waters are a bit muddied. I can't decide what to do with third spot. I have two contenders - one is the known and one is the unknown.

Just for fun Ben and I have been looking at the MLS listings for the places we're putting 1 and 2 and trying to see if we could afford to buy a house - a fixer upper perhaps. Things look good in one place and a bit expensive in the other. We'll see what happens!

Sometimes I look at my Clustrmap and get really intrigued by who is reading my blog. Especially the person who is reading it from Manitoba somewhere in the region of Wapusk national park or perhaps Thompson. I am not spying on you whoever that is and have no idea hwo you are - I just find it fascinating that someone from there is reading this blog. Likewise that there are people from all over Europe, Africa, India, Australia and Southern and Central America who have at least taken a gander.

This morning they turned the water off in my apartment. I showered beforehand but now I have to go to the bathroom... I'm torn about what to do!