Estoy trabajando.

JR is one of the patients on the trauma service.  JR is at school at West Point, but family is from South Carolina.  As per family request we've been trying to get JR transferred to North Carolina for proximity to family.  The social worker, Joseph, and I have been tag teaming this transfer.  Myself in communication with Carolina, and him in communication with West Point.  For about two weeks we'd been going back and forth.  Honestly, mainly with West Point. Each day he'd hand me another stack of papers the government wanted me to fill out.  But we kept at it. Today, we were on the edge of breaking through. Close enough that Joseph prepared me on how to proceed if I got a phone call over the weekend.   I didn't have to wait too long.  I could tell he was working on the situation from his home all evening.  I got a phone call from him 7:30....there was a problem.   Then another at 9:30....problem has been resolved, aaaand transport was arranged for Saturday evening!  Ball was now in my court. A couple of calls to the transfer center in Carolina later, the receiving team had a medical update and bed request was submitted. After two weeks of this, I was excited!  We had a bed AND transport to that bed arranged for this patient.  I wanted a pat on the back, a high five or something.  I texted out to the team we had an official discharge plan for the patient. Let's just say I got somewhat less than the 'Woohoo' I was looking for. But granted, they probably weren't too thrilled to have been reminded about work at 10pm on a Friday night. ;)

Much Love.

Estoy trabajando de mi casa.

I am finally able to log in to the hospital electronic medical record remotely!!  So thankful. This now means that I get to finally leave the hospital at the end of the day, come home, and continue working.

wait.....

Perhaps, being unable to sign in remotely was what I didn't mind avoiding in the first place.  Gave me the perfect reason to leave work at work. But now seems to be almost necessary. Actually makes life easier in a way.

I'm starting to get tired. Is this approaching the three month wall I've heard about?  It makes me thankful that each day is new and renewed. And the people help.  I've been blessed to have made a few friends, and get to look forward to seeing them each day. 

Lamentations 3:21-23
²¹ This I recall to my mind, therefore have I hope.
²² It is of the Lord's mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not.
²³ They are new every morning: great is thy faithfulness.

After two weeks Niu is back on the floor with me!  Woohoo!  Made such a huge difference today! 

Much Love.

Estoy investigando.

Went to the AAST annual meeting* in Philadelphia this week.  It started on the 10th, but for quite a few different factors I ended up just working on Wednesday and then heading to Philly early Thursday morning. Had called to our friends in Philly for a couch to crash on Thursday night, but once again for quite a few different reasons, plans changed and I ended up taking out my phone and 2 minutes later had a hotel room for the night. I put my phone away after that completely amazed at the resources and abilities our generation has literally at our fingertips.

That holds true for the hours and hours of research I heard being presented over the past two days. Patients have been cared for since, well...since the begining of time. We could just keep doing that. Taking care of patients, just how we were taught. 

But is that enough?  I would say that is not enough.

There are two questions that must be asked in conjunction with that.  This is how we were taught. But, how can we treat better? How can we provide better care?

I'll be honest with you.  I actually don't really like doing research.  But I sit at a meeting such as that of the AAST, and can not deny why research is needed.  It pushes. It advances. It improves.
Granted, usually it happens at a snail's pace, which is very hard for any surgeon to swallow. But it is so necessary.

Our research:  Correlation of Cerebral Oxygen Dynamics and Metabolic Crisis in Patients with Severe Traumatic Brain Injury (sTBI)

Dr. Stiefel takes the podium.

 From the back of the room. 

(That's no longer Dr. Stiefel up there, we were finished at this point)

 This place was fun to walk through.  Every kind of food being sold, just take your pick.

 

 The meeting was at the Marriott Downtown Philadelphia.  Down the street from City Hall.

 

 I played the tourist today during the lunch breakout sessions.  Set out to find Independence Hall.

Found it!  Ate some lunch on a bench then headed back. :)

Much Love.

* 73rd Annual Meeting of the American Association for the Surgery of Trauma and Clinical Congress of Acute Care Surgery

Estoy respirando por un popote.

Our trauma list is making hospital records.  Unfortunately, these are not the kinds of records you want to be involved with.  The attending we rounded with the other day who has been there perhaps closest to the longest of all the attendings, said that in his time he has never had the trauma list be as long as it currently is.

No I haven't cried.  There's no time to cry.
No thrashings either.  There's no time to spare.

Niu and I are the intern team for the second month in a row.  And we're keeping our heads above water so far. But next week we are both going to conferences. And the week following that shes being lent out to TICU for the week meaning I'll be left to manage the trauma floor on my own.  Much harder to keep afloat without the 'buddy system.' But I'll do what needs to be done.

Made my own personal record this past week as well.  Set my alarm for 2:15 one morning.  And that only because I couldn't bring myself to set it for 2:00.  Somehow, that 15 minutes made it okay to wake up that early.

I was on the verge of ecstatic thinking about being able to sleep in tomorrow. Just sleep and sleep and sleep.  And then late last night I get an email from my chief informing me that I've got to go in and round Saturday morning. And just like that, hope was ripped from my fingers.  No sleep for you muahahaha! And Bam! Immediate depression!  Don't worry.  I then sighed and moved on.  'Rounding' should only take about four hours, but....remember that list!!  Even if I worked at the most amazingly efficient pace known to mankind, I won't be out of the hospital in just 4 hours tomorrow. My goal is 8 hours!  Yes, that is the goal!  Can I finish up and be out in just 8 hours tomorrow?

Much Love.

Estoy cambiando.

We don't change our rotations on holidays.  So today is September 1st, but I was still at Bridgeport.  Taking call at St. Vincent's for one more day.  It was a good day.  Glad to end a rotation on a good note!

It feels good to be back in my apartment again. 

I'm chilling tonight.  Gonna eat a snack or something crazy like that!

Tomorrow I start Trauma at Westchester.  As the time of year finds us in the middle of 'Trauma season,' I heard a tale that the trauma list at Westchester currently is 55 patients long.  Woof!

You know, tomorrow may be the day they finally make me cry.  Maybe.  Maybe not.  Either way, I'm expecting to take a thrashing of some sort, some way, some how.  That's why I'm chilling tonight.

Much Love.