📅 March 2008

well, work has been a little crazy lately, mostly b/c I and my co-senior are both interviewing this month, and have to try to do it under the radar, which means covering for each other. Which I'm totally fine with- but it means I'm on call from thurs-sun this week, straight.

So yesterday was just neverending. But I got a text in the morning asking if I wanted to go to the hockey game. I asked what happened to the friend that was supposed to go, and he said "oh no, we've been invited to D's suite".

Suite? sweet!!

So I said I'd love to go, just didn't know when I'd get off work. But then busted my butt to try to finish... but every time I thought I was done, something else would come up.

But so I finally left the hospital at about 7:32. The game started at 7:30. Everyone else had given up on waiting for me, so I had to try to meet them.

And all I can say is parking down there is a major PITA. I tried 6 lots, and was SO CRABBY I was THIS close to saying fuck it and going home. Then tried one last place, and got a spot.

Picked up my ticket at will-call, and made it to the suite about halfway through the second period. Ahh, free food! (and drink, but alas I couldn't drink b/c of work).

Oh, and pominville's gf and parents were in our suite for some reason. (so people were trying to bite their tongues and minimize the anti-candadian jokes, which was tough in a game vs. the canadiens.)

Then right as the game ended, I got called back to the ER- ugh. At least I got to stay for the game, I guess, but trying to get out of there right after the game is tough.

But so it was a pretty close/exciting game, with the sabres being up 3-1 at one point, then montreal scored with like 19 sec left to tie it up, and then we lost 4-3 in overtime.

And I guess this loss pretty much means they have no chance of making the playoffs, even if they win every game from now on.

So when the Canadiens (aka "habs" for 'habitants du canada' I guess - I didn't know that) scored, buffalo was just crushed. I guess this means it's really over.

Which frankly, is fine with me. I'm getting sick of hockey-mania. Ready for people to move on with their lives. I know, I know, it's blasphemy, but whatev.

But so all the people in the suite I guess are hockey-crazy enough that they would have bought playoff tickets, which I guess are like $1000.

But so at least one guy saw the silver lining. Right as that last goal went in and playoff dreams were shattered, he said "well, on the bright side, I guess I just saved $1000!"

And one girl there complimented me on my necklace. Said she makes some jewelry and likes working with silver and wants to learn how to do some metalsmithing. Dan said "me too", meaning he likes my necklace.

And then the convo was over. But about 5 min later, out of the blue, J asked Dan "oh yeah? you too? you want to hammer some silver?"

Took me a minute, I thought it was just kind of a weird delayed random comment. Until i realized her last name is silver.

bahahaha.

guess you had to be there.

anyway.
It's shower time.

later peeps!

p.s. the mac is still sad, sad, sad. has been in the shop since monday. They are on round 3 of parts and it's still not working. "hopefully" by monday, I'm told. I'm starting to get guardedly optimistic that I may get a whole new computer out of the deal. woot! must say the ibook is showing its age though. Might be time for a macbook air. After all, my birthday IS coming up. Hmmmm.

Sorry I didn't get back to everyone about the tickets last night- the good (?) news is that they were already taken, so I didn't miss out on giving them to you.

The bad news... (and the reason I didn't get back to anyone)-

After I posted that I left the computer... came back later- the screen was dark. Fine, I figured, it went to sleep. Wiggled the mouse. Nothing. Hit the keyboard. Nothing. Then noticed the glowing white "sleep" light wasn't on.
Then noticed that the printer, light, speakers, etc (i.e. everything else plugged in to the power strip) was also off.

Then I noticed the burning smell.

Crap.

I think my computer is dead. Like dead, fried, dead.

Thank god for applecare, and thank god for backups.

But unfortunately today is easter and the apple store is closed, so who knows when I will get a chance to take it in.

ok, time for breakfast!

• I have two tickets available (free!) to "Aces and Blades". It's a benefit (not sure for what) put on by the Sabres. "business formal" attire at the Adam's Mark. TONIGHT. I think it's a casino night- possibly even with sabres players as dealers. Tix are $100 apiece. I have two FOR FREE. let me know ASAP if you want them!!!***

Hey paul, is there anyway to upload an .avi video?

So, my mom has been having some thyroid issues. No big deal, but they finally got her levels under control enough, and it was time to go ahead with the radioactive iodine treatment. Which is a no-big-deal, common procedure. She just swallows a pill and the radioactive iodine goes to the thyroid and knocks it down a notch.

but since it's radioactive, it's a big health issue, blah blah.
They gave her a zillion warnings- like not to touch anyone, to wash her sheets every day- and rinse them twice. They told her that if she blows her nose, she has to flush the kleenex down the toilet- and then flush again. Because her "radioactive waste" can't go in the landfill. (but apparently it's perfectly fine to contaminate the water).

But she has been assured that the dose in the pill is safe and won't harm her or make her have mutant babies or anything like that. Yet somehow her dirty kleenex is a major health hazard that can't even go in a landfill. Eh, whatever. health policy.

I've had patients who had radiation ask for doctors' notes to cross the border back to canada, b/c they set off all SORTS of alarms.

But paul, you would be so jealous... somehow my dad got a geiger counter (not sure where) and brought it home and chased her around the house with it. haha. He took a video, but I can't seem to post it.

so instead, here's something along the same theme.

Ok ok @pyrcedgrrl made me feel bad, so I took the pix down. (if you missed it, I had posted before/after pics of a leg we had to amputate last night.) But to answer- technically it's ok since I didn't show his face (even if I did I would be ok if I blacked out the eyes) or give his name or anything, and he consented to having pictures taken.
That said, was it in poor taste? yes.

It was infected. And it got visibly, significantly worse over the matter of a few hours, which puts necrotizing fasciitis (i.e. "flesh-eating backteria") high on the list, and the only way to stop the spread of the infection is to remove the source. The leg was pretty dead, and we will probably have to go back and take more later, but we watch and see.

It's amazing though... he was starting to go downhill and look REALLY sick- but as soon as the leg was off, his heart rate went down and his blood pressure went up- all while he was under anesthesia. Kinda cool, I think we actually saved his life.

And jbeatty- all "parts" removed during surgery (even non-human parts like bullets etc) get sent to pathology. Or, the horrible joke I've heard too many times "ok here you go- send that to the kitchen!"

ha, ha, ha.

Oh, and did you know you can get herpes in your EYE to the point that you have to have the eye REMOVED? This poor guy can't catch a break.

Unfortunately, I have had this song in my head all day.
I especially like the burning cross, for added drama.

just an update, since it's been a while.

I'm back at Gates now. It's busy, but more annoying busy than good busy. I seem to be working 6a til 8 or 10pm more often than not, and i'm on call every other night, So it doesn't leave time for much else. :(

and I'm interviewing, which is stressful b/c I'm trying to do it "secretly" since work is very stingy with the days off. (i.e. we get five days total, including travel days, to go on interviews. And I have 14 interviews. They must not be very good at math.)

But I was at Yale yesterday...
Sigh...
I miss it.

The airport in new haven is a joke- it has like 2 gates and 'baggage claim' is like a hole in the wall they throw the bags through. So flights are super expensive. So I thought I was super brilliant when I decided to fly into JFK for cheap on jetblue, and then rent a car for $40 (yay priceline) and drive... That ended up being way more of a PITA than I expected.

But I made some calls, and managed to stay on campus (in my old college (i.e. dorm) no less!)- for free.

And it was so bittersweet.
I loved college. And it was so great to be back on campus- but also sad to realize that it's not "mine" anymore, and never will be.

But anyway, so I interviewed, and was done at 2 but my flight wasn't til 8, so my mom/dad/brother drove to town to have lunch with me.

They're the best.

We went to Pepe's for pizza, since my dad insists in the best pizza in the world, and he is totally willing to make the 2 hour (each way) drive for it. And I might have to agree with him. People are FANATICAL about this place.

It IS pretty damn good though... New Haven style (i.e. thin crust, slightly charred, cooked in a coal oven at 800 degrees). They're most famous for their white clam pizza, and will almost turn up their nose at you if you want cheese, even on a red pizza. No offense, but it kicks Buffalo pizza's ass. There's usually an hour or so wait, but we totally lucked out and walked right in. :)



So I finally got home around 1030 last night, and stayed up til 2 to finish a stupid presentation for this AM.

So... that's my exciting life. Work, work, work, interviews, sleep, and maybe some pizza.

(see, that's why I'm not posting much. boooorrrring!)

started this as comment to @ajay's post, but it got too long.

He said something about a restaurant in SF publishing on its menu that there is a 4% surcharge to subsidize the employees' healthcare.

A few disclaimers:
yes, I know the US healthcare system is not perfect
yes, I know healthcare is expensive
yes, I know a lot of people can't afford it
yes, I feel badly for them, and wish there were a good solution

But why do we seem to think it's so horrible that doctors want to be paid? That doctors should just work for free all the time?

I do believe that ACCESS to healthcare is a 'right'. I.e. if you are bleeding and go to an emergency room, you should not be turned away due to race, income, insurance, etc.

However, I don't like the attitude that we seem to have that it should just be FREE. I think if you go to the ER, bleeding, and get treated, and don't have insurance, then it is not unreasonable to ask you to pay your bill.

It might not be PC to say so, but medicine is a service industry, to an extent. But somehow we treat medicine differently. We feel entitled.
I.e. if we call the plumber and wake him up in the middle of the night and he comes over and fixes our leaky pipes, we don't seem to have any problem when he sends a bill. We needed service, he provided it, we pay for it.

But somehow we think it's wrong for doctors to do that.

There's also no other industry I can think of off-hand where the gov't sets all the fees.

People seem to think doctors play golf all day and make millions. And I'm just so sick of hearing people bitch about it b/c it is so not true.

When I finish training, I will be 200K in debt, not to mention 8 years of school plus 6-8 years of residency training, which are 80+ hour work weeks for not much more than minimum wage. I basically put my whole life on hold for my career.

Yes, it was my choice. No one made me do it. I am not saying that. But I'm just saying that I should not be made to feel badly for wanting to be paid. After all, we have no problem paying athletes millions to PLAY GAMES, and we just call Bill Gates a "smart businessman". But in an effort to contain rising healthcare costs, we seem to cut the only factor we can control- doctors' reimbursements. Doctors can CHARGE whatever they want. But they more or less HAVE to accept what insurers pay them. I can charge $1000 for some procedure, but if medicare says they're only going to pay $100, I am shit out of luck, and I have to take the $100 and say "thank you". No other field in the world would put up with that.

This all came up b/c I talked to my mom yesterday... she said she had lunch with some girlfriends, and somehow they both started bitching about healthcare. One woman (who is very wealthy) was talking about how she worked the system to get her daughter's daughter on medicaid so her meds are free. Even though they can MORE THAN afford them. Then the other woman was bitching about doctors charging so much. This after she called my father AT HOME, on NEW YEAR'S DAY, b/c her son-in-law had tripped and fallen, drunk, and cut his face, and "needed" a plastic surgeon. So, my dad goes to their house, and sews him up. And no one every says 'thank you', let alone offer to pay anything.

So finally mom couldn't hold her tongue any more, and pulled out some number (that I have never heard, that really astonish me.) She said my dad (who is by no means a big time fancy doctor- I swear) had 200K in accounts receivable last year that he had to write off. TWO HUNDRED THOUSAND DOLLARS in lost income, b/c people just don't pay their bills. think they shouldn't have to, so they don't. And there's not much he can do. Sure, he can send them to collection, but that doesn't bring in much of it.

I just find it incomprehensible. We have no problem paying teachers/garbage men/cops [hell, we're supposed to "pay cops as if our life depends on it", right? and subsidize their cosmetic surgery?], etc. But doctors are greedy pigs if they send out bills?

And please don't take this as me pulling a 'poor little rich girl' thing, b/c that is NOT what I'm trying to do.

Ugh. sorry. I know this is very one sided and skewed and biased, and I'm sure some of you will have good counter-arguments and I'm more than willing to listen, but the whole thing just infuriates me.