Bridgeport Public Library

Sweet, sweet internet.

Thank you Bridgeport Public Library.

I'm not using my time well. I am in fact watching TV online...because I miss my sweet, sweet terrible reality shows. If anyone has a minute to spare, I strongly recommend checking out "Tool Academy" on VH1...just make sure you watch the first episode first. It's fantastic.

I've had the last few days off, but there isn't much to do in Okanogan County in the middle of the week. On Wednesday I went down to Wenatchee to run some errands and just generally get out of town. I ate an Applebees by myself (my favorite "I'm on my own in the middle of nowhere" eating spot). I sat at the bar and, oddly enough, found myself talking with a representative from Roche whose job it is to go around and sell Accucheck meters. He heard me explain to the bartender that I was up here for a PA school rotation, and off we went discussing the finer points of the appropriate A1c cutoff. Is there nothing sacred about a dinner out anymore!?!?

Yesterday was a bit more productive. I did plenty of cleaning and ironing and all that domestic stuff. I even managed to make it to the gym and the grocery store. I ended the night watching Crash with a bottle of wine as my company. A pretty great day if you ask me, and I spent the whole time here!!!

Today - I got up a little late (see aforementioned bottle of wine), to find that my incredibly domestic roommate had made blueberry muffins...from scratch (this, in addition to the sourdough sun-dried tomato bread she made from scratch a few days ago). Delicious! Anyway, we spent some time chatting this morning and eventually I got myself showered and dressed and made my way down to the library...where I am now.

I will work the next 4 days, 8am-8pm (at least), then on Wednesday morning I'm heading home to Oregon!!! CJ has rented us a small cottage (dog friendly) in Cannon Beach so we can have a romantic weekend away - I'm super excited!

Ok so this is boring enough --- there really isn't much going on in my life so there isn't much to write about.

Jen

Disconnected

I've been in Brewster, WA for one week doing ER. Here is a summary:

Sunday night - got in late. My roomie is one of the RT's at the hospital. She lives in a modest 3br 1 ba house and letting me stay with her for a very reasonable rate. But there is no bed, so Cindy was kind enough to lend me her air mattress. I'm getting used to it. There is also no TV or internet. That, I cannot get used to.

The roommate is shy but nice. She has a sweet old dog named patches (a dalmation) and a parakeet named Fred, who is allowed to fly freely around the house. He is a social animal and likes to fly directly at your face and land on your head. It was cute at first....

Day 1: Er from 8am - 8pm with Jose, my main preceptor. He is a little intense and gave me a one-hour long "expectations" lecture, but I think I made an ok impression and we got through the day quite well. The ER can be quite slow seeing as it is a very rural place, so there wasn't too much excitement.

Day 2: Went in at 8am, trained with Chris - a Pacific PA grad. He was doing outpatient internal med AND the ER...(it's that slow). Did mostly outpatient stuff during the day, then the ER picked up around 7pm. The night doc came in at 8pm and immediately started pimping me on renal artery stenosis and the renin-angiotensin system....I was 12 hours into the shift and failed my pimping miserably, but he was forgiving. I decided to stay just a few extra hours....which turned into all night...so I worked my first 24. I did manage to get an hour of sleep in the chapel (thank God ;) )

Day 3: slept.

Day 4: Went to Omak to get a pillow and some more groceries. There is a Walmart there...ah, civilization!!

Day 5: Was hooked up with surgery for a day. From 6am - 8:30pm (save for a 20 minute lunch) I was in on ortho surgeries (1 surgeon, two rooms going...done with one surgery and would walk right into the next). It was pretty bad ass for the first few hours, but then my feet and back started hurting and I remembered why I don't like surgery. I did, however, get some seriously fantastic suturing hints and practice, and got to help prepare an ACL graft from a cadaver. Very very cool. Still don't like surgery.

Day 6: drove to Seattle, saw my mom and best friend

Day 7: today - seeing my dad, have to leave any minute to go back, and I'm so homesick. It sucks to be so disconnected (no internet) from everyone, but I will just have to keep busy working.

I miss you all and can't wait to reconnect at PPS II. So happy that I already did my journal club thing and presentation though - I fully intend on zoning out the whole time.

Jen

ILLIN', pt 2

My last post got all messed up because I cannot multi-task.

Long story short, I got the stomach flu this week. It seriously sucked and today is the first day that I haven't been nauseous since like, Sunday. Ironically enough, today was also "a drug rep brings lunch" day, and it was Olive Garden instead of Qdoba (again). YUM!

I'm getting very excited for my next rotation, which is ER in Brewster, WA. I've talked on the phone to the PA who organizes it all (I mostly train with someone else, but he oversees it all). Anyway, he called himself a "lame ass" and said "dude" like 12 times, so I'm pretty sure he's the greatest thing ever. I'm supposed to start on Monday, but he said to just drop by the ER whenever I get into town on Sunday and say "hey man, where are my scrubs?" I am so ready to learn all the procedures that I've had very little practice with. Plus, I'll be living with one of the respiratory therapists who works at the hospital, and she is only charging $200 for the whole six weeks! I talked to her on the phone (brief and awkward), and she was like "yeah, whatever, just come in whenever you get here, the back door is always open, etc." Definitely a small town attitude, I think I'll love it.

But, moving to a new place means leaving an old one, and I'll be saying goodbye to Coeur d'Alene, my home since November. I'll miss a lot...but at the same time, don't think I'd really prefer to stay. I've enjoyed my time, but it has run its course, and it feels right to be leaving. Strangely enough, it appears as though my mentee may spend her family practice rotations at the same clinic! I think the slower pace will suit a starting-out clinical year student more than it suited me as a "mid-way through" student.

Almost time to start packing again....(but not until I finish that paper I've procrastinate on....again).

Jen