To Nancy

"I'm not sure how it's going to turn out, except I'll die in the end, she said. So, really, what could go wrong?"
I don't think I ever saw Nancy away from Boston. So the majority of my memories with her are from Humarock.

I remember when I was about 4 or 5, we went into Quincy to meet up with Nancy and she took me through Faneuil Hall to "window shop." We stopped at just about every jewelery boutique and clothing display and she would critique the style, most of them being too subtle or too boring for her taste. She would ask me my favorite colour and then set out to find something "Gorgeous" to wear that was generally too excessive (even for my 5 year old self). I do remember that by the end of that shopping trip, she had found this little plastic purple box that had a purple notebook, purple pen, purple dice (I don't know why that was in there), purple bubble necklace, and purple pin with a panda on it that said "Purple makes life bearable."

At least once every time we were down at the beach, she would come visit. And that meant one thing, and one thing only when we were younger... Lion hunts. I don't remember exactly when we out grew those. But we would all sit in a circle (even Dan and Mike loved it... Well, Mike grew to like it after he stopped being scared of the Lion. And the Gradys normally would come over for them too), and pack our bags, and walk down the road, and through the big dark trees, and across the bubbling brook, and through the tall tall grass... She normally would convince me to get "Dressed up" for dinner. And she would help me do my make-up. And everything was glitter and shiney and colourful. As I got older, we would sit out on the porch with a drink (mine normally juice and I highly suspected that hers was not). She would take a long drag on a cigarette and say "Elizabeth. Tell me about boys."

I think the last time I had a good chat with Nancy was at Dan's graduation. And we spent a brief amount of time at John funeral together. She was such a character. She was dramatic, and wild, and larger than life. I love Nancy.

Little Bundles

Work:
I'm moving from Obs to Delivery Suite this week (aka, Baby catching). The good news is that I'm on a decent shift from 3pm-11pm. It won't mess up my sleep-wake cycle too much. Plus, I'm a morning person. I'll get up, run, eat, study, nap, then head into work. The only problem is the conflict with the evening meetings (and such) that people kindly schedule for after 6pm... Oh well. Here's hoping I see some cool stuff, and deliver a few babies.

I've been struggling to set up summer electives so far, but I've recently made contact with a wonderful, helpful surgeon in Mpls... and (fingers crossed) I may get to be home for August. I'm so excited! I'm actually trying not to get my hopes up. If it falls through, I'll be up a creek. So keep me in your prayers, eh?

Surg Soc:
Managed to get myself elected for another year of running SurgSoc. The elections were far less of a disappointment than last year, and I'm thinking we can do even more stuff for 2009-2010. Here's hoping. The Inaugural is fast approaching and I'm feeling the crunch, but it should be a fantastic event! Mr. Barry O'Donnell is going to speak and he sounds absolutely brilliant.

Running:
I managed to finally find a new Running Journal and it's sitting in a post office waiting for me to pick it up (or rather, me waiting for the post office to be open so I can pick it up). It's the same one I have from last year, but I'm pretty pumped to get a new one. It keeps me honest, and it makes me accountable... It's an accountability partner without the same interpersonal guilt.

I've also (perhaps unwisely) registered for the Flora Mini Marathon (a 10k race on June 1... right in the middle of exams). But, it'll give me a reason to keep running through the stress. Here's to getting in shape!

Starting next week: The week rundown in running.

Count downs
* Days to the end of OBGYN: 19
* Days to the Flora 10k: 43
* Days to the end of Exams: 47
* Number of Exams: 7
* Days until Mullingar: 50
* Days until I go home!!!: 75

Spring is finally here!

I'm going to probably eat these words... But spring seems to have settled in Dublin. Not only do I have a horrible case of spring fever (I swear Tom, if you say anything I'll kill you), but my allergies have arrived, the temperature seems to be solidly above 7, I'm itching to clean EVERYTHING in sight, and I've picked up running again.

I actually just got back from my first run. I've dabbled on and off all winter on a treadmill with a few miles here and there, but let's be honest... For a road runner, it doesn't really count until you're on the road, pounding pavement. I've set the next goal as the Flora Women's Mini-Marathon on June 1st. It's a nice 10k that I've done in the past, and it strikes me as a good get-back-to-running for spring type of event. Plus, once I sign up for that, it'll keep me running in spite of OBGYN work bearing down on me. (let's not mention exams yet please?)

I bought a new pair of running shoes just before the marathon in Oct (No, I didn't run in them, lessons to that effect were learned in the past, thankyou), so they're being broken in. And, as I found out today... I have one page left in my running log. That means it's time for a new one. It's always exciting getting a new training log (until I fall behind in my writing...)

So... Here's to the idea of a new running day! Joy!

On to cleaning, moving, getting a car, setting up electives for the summer, Step 2s, the rest of my life... AHHHHHHHHHHHH!

Ahem. Happy Easter!!! Tomorrow, in addition to Easter, my parents will be celebrating the sale of our house (it's been a long time coming) and their 29th wedding aniversary! They're a great team. I love them very much. And I don't think "Congratulations" is really the right sentiment. But I'm very very happy for them.

On to the studying...

I'm not Handicapped...

No... no... You're not handicapped. You're an asshole.




I know it sounds rude... un-PC... a little bit like maybe I'm having a bitchy day. But I met a woman in a wheelchair today that actually created an awkward silence on a public bus by being absolutely rude (and rather racist) to a mother with an infant in a stroller.

Yes, the stroller was kinda big and the mother had stationed it in the "handicapped" cubby on the side of the bus (with her infant IN the buggy). There really was NO other place for the stroller to go. And when the woman came on the bus, she demanded the mother move (not ask, not wait for her to unlock the wheels of the stroller as she was in the process of doing, but demanded), then the stroller couldn't move far enough down the aisle to let the wheelchair into the cubby (because the arm on the elderly seat was broken and locked in the down position). So the woman in the wheelchair tells the mother to stop being stupid and move the buggy straight back down the aisle (where it clearly did not fit). The mother, who was asian, started to explain that she couldn't go back any further (and forward was out because the wheelchair was nearly ramming her infant). The woman then points to the sign that says, "Please allow for handicap access" and doesn't quite shout, but raises her voice saying, "Can't you read! You have to move!" The bus at the time was back in motion and the entire population of the lower level of the bus was suddenly fascinated with things outside the window.

The father, who was sitting in the back of the bus with a 2-year old toddler and a 5 year old child has finally managed to free himself of the children and other passengers and trades places with his wife. Then physically lifts the stroller 3 feet off the ground so the woman in the wheelchair can get into the cubby. (She backs in, btw, and stares down the entire bus). The father then sets the buggy back down and somehow manages to allow space for people to pass to get on/off the bus. You'd think that'd be the end... but no.

5 minutes later, the woman in the wheelchair looks at the father and says, "You might want to explain to your wife that this space is for handicapped people, not her bags."

I almost choked...

To his credit, the father was quite calm, and said, "No, I don't think that was the problem. There was no where for the buggy to go. She couldn't lift it like I could."

The woman scoffs and says, "Maybe if her English was better we wouldn't have had this problem."

Again... I almost choked.

Thankfully, my stop was next and I got the hell off that bus. In the back of my mind I was wondering who was going to help that woman get OFF the bus... The wheelchair ramp wasn't working and it took the driver and one very nice passenger to get her on and in the cubby to begin with, and that good samaritan had already departed.

I don't want to use the word entitled... but she was a bit of a bitch. And no, being in a wheelchair doesn't give you the right to be a racist bitch.

Swirling Dervish

I really don't know what happened to the rest of February. But I can touch on a few of the highlights that I do remember.

1) Superbowl Sunday at my place... followed by some nasty food poisoning. Boo. To be honest, it wasn't THAT great of a game, especially in light of the fact that the 1st half didn't end until after 12:30am. Most people stuck around for the ridiculous full field returned interception to end the half and to see the Boss tea-bag the camera guy during the half-time show. PS: The Boss, still rocks hard. So I curled up in my bed, feeling a little queasy (chalking it up to the two beers I'd had), and watched another quarter of football. I couldn't keep my eyes open for much more of it. Then I woke up to (vomiting, boo on bad chicken from Superquinn) the ESPN highlight reel showing a crap load of amazing in the 4th quarter. I do like Warner. Part of me wanted him to win. But again... The Cardinals? Really? On another note, it's a good thing that Ben's a big dude. Otherwise they might have had to run his name down his arms. I'm always surprised to see that Rothesburger can fit on the back of a jersey.

2) The GP case presentations were the first time I left my flat since the Sunday. Then the MCQ, which was an absolute disaster... followed by a weekend in London with my cousin Kate. Kate has been living between London and NYC for the past few years, but after getting married last summer, she and Beck have set up a permanent base of sorts in London. I was really just back on solid foods at that point and not up to a huge crazy weekend, but that's cool because neither was Kate. We ended up seeing two movies: Slumdog and Doubt. Two totally different genres, two absolutely fantastic films. Doubt just reinforced how incredible the actors are, and the writing is even more impressive. Slumdog somehow shows the worst of India for two hours and you leave the theatre feeling good and uplifted. I don't know how that works (probably the dance sequence). But what a great story-telling mechanism. It was really intense. Anyway, aside from the movies, we went out for food and slept in and walked around Hyde Park. It was a chill weekend (and cold... My flight was uber delayed due to snow everywhere), and a good way to not spend all weekend in my room sleeping, but not draining myself entirely.


3) GP OSCE... was ok. Followed by the ICC for Surg Soc (huge undertaking, so glad it's over), then a trip to Berlin. It was Friday the 13th followed by Valentine's day, and I figured it was a good idea to get out of Dublin for that kind of weekend. Plus, I hadn't seen Heather since 2002 (at her wedding)... and that's a long time ago. We did a "walking tour" of Berlin that entailed walking, getting coffee, walking, getting breakfast, walking, getting more coffee... you sense a pattern? Yeah, it was really really cold.

Yeah, I'm totally clutching a coffee... and I was a little bit cold. I didn't have much time in Berlin, but I thought it was a great city. Again, it wasn't really what I was expecting from a capitol city, but it was really fascinating. It's a strong reminder that some things I've regarded as ancient history are really rather recent... Like the Wall, which came down in my lifetime, and I do remember.

3) I came back and jumped right into Paediatrics. New rotations = ++ work. And the super scary thing that I've been avoiding happened. I fell in love with one of my rotations. It didn't happen at first. Actually, the first week was just lectures, but it happened. Anyway. A week of lectures then it was the Trauma Module for Surg Soc (that's right, Liz does not have weekends off... ever.)


Let's thank Jack for being a good sport and letting us truss him up in the board. The Trauma module was quite successful and well received. But it did take most/all of my day. I was pretty beat.

The second week on Paeds wasn't great. It was split between lectures/tutorials and team work. My team wasn't terribly available (not that I blame them) so there was a lot of wandering around and being in the way. Plus, the winter-vomiting bug hit the wards and a bunch of kids and staff were sick, so it wasn't a good time to be on the wards. Bunch of my classmates caught paeds-flu (the "I'm around kids and suddenly I'm sick all the time" type of illness. I think I shook that back when I was teaching).

Last week I was up in Mullingar (small town west of Dublin), on part of my Paeds rotation. I loved it. I took 2 extra A&E calls because I wanted to be around the hospital and hang out with these kids... hm... Now I need to look into all the Pediatric options in the states... Scary.

And that brings us up to now... March... crazy... I'm in Crumlin hospital this week, Cavan next week, and back to Crumlin before the Paeds exams to wrap up the rotation. Then it's on to OBGYN, then exams, then it's June and I'm going... Lord only knows where. AH! Anyway... I've put off work long enough. Time to get cracking.