January... and, um, December...

Ok, so in my defense i have started and not finished at least 4 blog posts in the last 6wks, but I have not officially finished any, so you can still be mad because i owe you an update from December and January!  I wanted to put in pics so it would be more enjoyable to read, but they were on my phone and I was always on my computer, so now I've just decided to bore you with words only and post pics later.

 

So December:

I finished out my 2 weeks of Ophthalmology (including mastering how to spell that word!) on December 10th.  The Ophtho department at the university is one of the best in the country (and I will admit that at times they 'act' like they know it) But it was another good rotation in the end even though I wanted to scream about 3 days in.  It was a LOT of shadowing which initially was torturous, but it turned around and ended up being a good time.  I had a fun resident who let me start helping her get stuff done.  I spent most of my time in Comprehensive clinic, but I also got to spend some time in Retinal Clinic.  Let me tell you it was WAY more fun to be on the doctor side of that clinic than the patient side!!  My annual eye appts there notoriously took >3hrs for a dilated fundus exam!  GRRR!  Anyway, retina was awesome - the retina fellows (ophthalmologist who are training in the sub-specialty of retinal disease) were SO much fun to hang out with!  I got to see some laser treatments, cataract surgeries, and a few other things.  Also got to practice with a slit lamp and direct ophthalmoscope.  I also got to spend a day in the inherited retinal diseases clinic with Dr. Stone, which was a really neat experience.  There are very few physicians in the world who manage these patients and he is one of the leading researchers in the area of inherited retinal diseases, so that was a really great experience. AND when he found out i was due for my annual diabetic eye exam (and that I used to see a colleague who recently retired) he insisted on dilating me and doing my exam that evening after clinic, which was great!  We'll see how i feel as a 4th year, but so far I kind of like the 2wk rotations in the sub-specialties.  A lot of people whine about it because we don't have a lot of elective time bc we have to do all of these, but truthfully I have learned a lot from each of them and it's stuff I likely wouldn't have learned otherwise - or at least wouldn't have learned as well, so I have kind of enjoyed it.  In the middle of some of them though i will admit it can feel like torture!

 

After the 2 weeks on the eye I started my 3 weeks of GLORIOUS break.  It went too fast.  That's all i can say.  I don't even remember it - it feels like it was done in the blink of an eye!  It was weird to go into a break when I wasn't super duper tired or coming off of being super duper overwhelmed/stressed.  I didn't really feel like i 'deserved' this break!  It was nice to have though - especially jsut bc even though I've had weekends off for the last few months we hadn't had any other time off, and with all the 2-weekers I had a test every 2 weeks so had to be doing studying in the evenings after work.  I basically accomplished NOTHING over break.  I hung out with baby Lydia and Mal and Maggie quite a bit, which was a lot of fun (of course!). I did get some wedding stuff done, too, which was nice, and got to spend some time with family and friends.  Went up to Aplington on the 23rd for Christmas, which, OF COURSE, was a blast to see everyone!  Tim, Mandi, and Arley were back, so it was really fun to see them and see how grown-up (and adorable) Arley is now!  Lydia was also a big hit of course!  Also was fun to see how big Jackson, Cooper, and Parker have gotten - seriously get so much bigger and even cuter everytime I see them!  We had a fun time trying to get the Accord out of Jim & Wanda's after the big snowfall on the 24th!  Luckily Jim had all the equipment necessary to pull us out of the snowbank and clear the way for us!  Then we made the long trip (in the falling snow) to Clinton.  It was so nice we got to just hang out for 3 days once we got there!!  The positive side of the snow was that I finally got to experience the O'Shea sledding I'd been hearing about for so long!  It was a GREAT time!  But i was def a bit sore the nextcouple of days!  I spent the last week of break cleaning and organizing my apartment.  Had bags of recycling and stuff for good will, so felt good to get that done!  Then we made a quick trip to Chicago (Mt Prospect) for a wedding New Year's Eve.  It was so fun to see all our friends, and the wedding was gorgeous!  I felt like I never needed to eat again after all the good food they had there!  We also registered at Crate & Barrel while we were there, which was super fun!  We have some modifying to do to the registry, but at least we got started!

 

January

I guess the wedding marked the end of my December update!  Sunday the 2nd I packed up my stuff and headed back to Des Moines for 6 weeks to do my pediatrics rotation at Blank Children's Hospital.  Mom & dad were nice enough to let me move back in with them for the duration, which was been really nice!!  I've gotten to see some of my DSM friends, but I've been keeping pretty busy working.  Started Peds Jan 3rd and I started with 3 weeks of inpatient pediatrics.  Needless to say this is a busy time of year for them with all the kids getting RSV, croup, pneumonia, stomach bugs, etc etc!  My personal goal is to get through the rotation without getting sick, so I'm a hand washing/sanitizing freak!  I'm more concerned with the last 3 weeks when I'll be on outpatient (clinic)... pretty sure that's where I'll pick up the bugs!  Anyway, it has been a great rotation - the residents are awesome and all great teachers.  I feel like I've gotten to really improve my note-writing and presentation skills, and I feel like I'm finally getting a clue about inpatient stuff and am not totally lost all the time like previous rotations!  Turns out it does slowly get easier with practice.  I can actually see lab values and remember them, keep track of what's going on with my patients, what the plan is, etc... still have only half the number of patients interns carry (first year residents), but at least I'm making progress!!  It's really nice in des moines because you can write the notes and orders and such and have the residents sign them (unlike the university where you can't really do anything that counts), so you actually feel semi-helpful.  Ok, this has gotten long, so I'd better get going!  Sorry for the LONG time without an update!  I'll write more soon (I promise!!)