I now pronounce you.....Dead

So while I'm sporting a great tan, I had to return to my clinical rotations. This month is internal medicine- ambulatory (office > hospital). So day 1 I familiarized myself with their electronic medical records and see a few patients with high blood pressure and heart disease. Day 2 at 8am, I'm a little groggy. My doctor tells me to go with the man in the suit. I'm thinking a drug rep has brought us breakfast and he'll catch up with us over bacon and waffles. Well, the man in a suit takes me to the back parking lot and I see a hearst! Yep, a hearst with the doors open and he asks if I can pronounce the body dead. He politely says I can crawl in the back to do my examination. I'm no longer half asleep and trying to figure out what the heck I should do.....check for a pulse? listen for a heartbeat? breath sounds? check pupils? skin tone and temperature? Yep, I agreed and officially he's been pronouned dead.

While I thought this story was quite a monumental moment, my friend shared this with me last night. He was doing ICU rounds (6am- again, groggy). He went to check on his first patient who the day before was anxious to go home and do chores for his wife but had some difficulty breathing earlier in the day. Well, my friend draws the curtains, walks in and sees the patient "sleeping". He calls his name, "good morning mr. smith, your favorite medical student is here"... no response....so again, "good morning mr smith, time to wake up"....again, no response...after several minutes of this with no response, the med student realizes the patient is dead- yes, his tongue is hanging out and his arm is floating off the bed. He thinks, "Do I call code blue"- is this guy gonna make it back? or do i just walk away? Do I go tell the nurses?" He elects to tell the nurses who are well aware of this fact and awaiting the priest for last rights. (these nurses are most likely laughing hysterically that a med student tried to waken the dead) My friend is quite mad- he thinks shouldn't there be some kind of code on the door? Black flashcard? door shut? something! He was quite shaken up but the day must go on and he must finish his rounds!

Cancun

After a long day with the kids Billy asked for a Corona and said he was in dire need of a beach vacation- which I had been begging for over the last few months. After agoniizing over which hotel, I booked it. We spent 4 relaxing days on the beaches of Cancun at an all inclusive 5 star hotel with unlimited food and drinks. The hotel was romantic and plush for sure- maybe too plush for us but its my only romantic vacation for the year. Day 1 was spent walking the beaches, Day 2 at the poolside and shopping. Day 3 was deep sea fishing- billy caught 3 fish while I did everything i could from barfing over the side (i got a bit green). Day 4 was poolside relaxation before our flight home. It was such a fabulous vacation...I already miss Cancun and floating in the pool with my arms wrapped around Billy....

Boards, Step 2, Passed

Well the day before vacation I got notice that my board scores were available on line. I was torn with the decision to look or not look the day before I left for a beach vacation. I was so afraid of reading a "fail" that I wasn't sure I wanted to risk it...did I want to ruin my only romantic vacation of the year?? After about 30 seconds of mentally debating this ordeal, I decided to look. I was shocked for sure. I passed, and did really, really well. Much higher than I anticipated. In fact much higher than my first boards. I shared the good news with my father who had a brief stint in the hospital again. Apparently he shared the good news with all his doctors. What a relief. I just have the PE in November then no more boards for at least a year and a half. What a relaxing feeling I had to start my vacation.

Housewife for a Week

well technically i'm not a wife, but last week I was off from school and just bumming around the house. I got my oil changed, shopped a little, cleaned the house, but became really bored, really fast. Billy was out of town most of the time so I didn't need to spend the day cooking an elaborate meal. Although, one night I decided to "throw something together" to both our surprise I made a delicious chicken parmasean meal. It was a new meal for us both and it was amazing. The idea just came to me, is that what happens to housewives that are good cooks? Did I just need to let my brain simmer a little???