Thursday, October 23, 2008

Q & A

Q: So why so long no post...?
A: Medical school blah blah blah b;ah busy blah blah blah.... The truth is I have been tired. My summer finally caught up with me. The stress of moving here, Shade last month and her passing, my Mom's health, the totallled car, and the long surgery hours all took their tool long distance. I am at the hospital less hours, and the hours there are happier. But I have needed to process a fair amount I couldn't afford to process in June july and August. When I say process I mean sleep 8 hours a night, watch Chuck, Fringe, Pushing Daisies, Life on Mars, True Blood, The Daily Show and Sara Conner Chronicles. I also have been spending a fair amount of time with my crochet hook and blogging on Ravelry. Just so we are clear.

Q: Weren't you going to write about your surgery experience?
A: Yup. So many things to write.. And there needs to be a separate log entry for any prospective SGU student or current SGU student who happens across this blog......
But if there was a pivotal moment for surgery it was the moment I sat down with Sara and a bunch of the residents for lunch and I realized I was missing something. I walked away with her and found out that she had been diagnosed with breast cancer, and that the man I like to think of as Mr. Surgeon Man was going to be the one to do her surgery. Now Mr. Surgeon man in many ways embodies all that I disliked surgery. He believes it seems that the take down is the best teaching method. It makes him happy to see a student/intern/ senior resident run ragged by a line of questioning he has provided until the person in question has forgotten everything he or she ever knew... including their own name. He finds their discomfort amusing it seems or at the very least it makes him smile.

In this I am better than you are surgical culture, I took comfort from learning from and scrubbing with the trail blazer, a female breast surgeon who at 70 had and continued to have a remarkable career. She was open, revealing, a generous teacher, and took more care in her surgeries to prevent post operative pain than anyone I had scrubbed with. When I asked Sara why she wasn't getting her surgery from the trail blazer her answer was simple: the trail blazer didn't take her insurance and required significant cash upfront.

One of the nicest surgeons I scrubbed with spent his days doing gastric bypass surgery, a specialty I had considered money grubbing. Patients who have these surgeries gain a significantly reduced mortality, one of the highest I have ever seen for any procedure. There were layers beyond layers. Personally it was a excruciatingly hard summer. My Mom's health delicate, Shade taking her last bow, my car getting totaled. And the East Coast just isn't my country.. isn't home. But every surgery I scrubbed in on was an undeniable privilege, every body whether relatively healthy or full of pathology was a marvel. I wish I had been more present for the experience. I wish I had more to bring with me. It is was not and is not my home, but it was an incredible experience.

Q: So how do you like medicine?
A: Medicine is home, and I feel more at home in the hospital where I am doing my medicine clerkship. It is an inner city hospital. There are a lot of people with multiple pathologies, a lot of people who really need good care. Everyday there is a new puzzle to solve, and there is time for me to solve it. And as a student I get lots of time with patients, to get to know them and their stories. Medicine may be home but I am not sure New Jersey is, but I would be sorely tempted if I was to be offered a residency at the hospital I did my internal medicine clerkship at.

Q: If New Jersey isn't home what is it? Where is home then? What is wrong with New Jersey?
A: That is a very good question. I most often refer to New Mexico as home but don't see myself moving there. I used to say home is where my dog is but I am now pet free. California feels like home in a way but it has been a couple of decades since I lived there. There is nothing wrong with New Jersey per say, it's just that living here reminds me that I am a westerner at heart.... less concerned with certain elements of style, more concerned with tree hugging, latte drinking, organic food, alternative art forms, and crocheting cozies for the revolution.

Q: Wait, aren't you almost done with medicine. If you liked it so much why not write more?
A: I am in fact done with medicine as of last week and I start a two week cardiology elective today. I hope in fact to write more about where I am and where I am going, but I realized that I needed to post this long simmering Q & A before I started another rotation...

Q: So can we expect more regular post from now on?
A: I will try, but I have been seduced by both facebook and ravelry.. so no guarantees.

Saturday, October 18, 2008

According to Doctor S_

The only two reasons not to do a rectal exam:
1) No finger
2) No rectum