and so it begins

January 5, 2009

despite a grueling past 48 hrs, in a way, today feels like the first real day of work. it’s monday (the day we should have started on anyway!), the whole team of 4 residents will be there, and i will actually have time to think about my patients in a little bit more depth. anything is better than the weekend. flashback to me presenting (in a crowd consisting of about 15 people, including cardiothoracic surgeon, cardiologist, PICU attending, critical care nurses, pharmacist, etc):

[after presenting a dizzying array of numbers and factoids from the previous night, the end of each presentation is supposed to contain your ideas as to what to do for the day. typical plans include weaning the vent, not weaning the vent, starting feeds, stopping feeds, etc. as you can imagine, it is the most exciting part of presentation and the only one that requires any actual thought.]

saturday: “what, you want me to come up with a PLAN on this heart transplant patient? a PLAN? sorry, but no. i would be lying if i said i had any idea of what to do. say, what about maybe closing her chest? the fact that i can still see the heart beating is a little creepy and i think it might look more normal that way.”

sunday: (in apathetic, defeated voice) “um, the plan . . . ” (zones out into micronap) “uh, right. um . . .” (continue until someone feels sorry enough for me to jump in and finish the sentence.)

so yeah. today should be a bit better. there will be fewer patients to round on, and i actually know them a teeny bit. furthermore, today rocks because after rounds i get to go to clinic and see actual walking, talking children (assuming i have someone on my schedule over the age of 9 months!). there is nothing like hanging around a bunch of ventilated heart kids all day to make me appreciate an ADHD checkup.

goals for the day
☆ remain focused, calm, and positive for the day, and enjoy clinic even if it’s hectic
☆ head to the gym afterwards for a cleansing tempo run
☆ 15+ minutes of reading tonight for work tonght!

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1.4.09 a typical post-call day

workout: 5 miles around the neighborhood (hilly, 9:12/mi average). this run was very exciting because josh came! i like that he hasn’t run in forever because for once he’s the one telling me to slow down (i’m serious!). he made it, though, and protected me from the dangers of running in the dark.

weekly totals: 28 miles + 5 XT miles on the elliptical; 2 20-minute strength sessions, 1 yoga session

flossing: check!

reading: starts today.

1 Comment

  • Reply Cindy March 10, 2019 at 7:29 pm

    oh the pains of rounding, it brings back some funny memories. the month will go by quickly, i’m sure!

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