Vernix Queen

There is no better high for a medical student than being able to correctly answer a question asked of you by an attending. Today I had the correct reply to "What is that white , cream-cheesy stuff that covers the baby when they come out...?" "Vernix," I replied with confidence and a spring in my step. A small thing, I know. But it does not take much these days. I know some stuff but I am continually disappointed by the periodic realization of how complex patients can be and my baby steps toward being able to handle and just be aware of that. But that is the great thing about family practice. It is not just low back pain or just a tickle in the throat. The back pain and the sore throat come with many strings attached. Some strings are attached to heroin abuse, some attached to an abusive husband. A lot of the time strings are attached to depression and/or anxiety. Chronic medical conditions get attached, like diabetes, hepatitis C or lupus. Some strings attach to a spouse's medical condition, like migraines, or a spouse's substance abuse, like second hand smoke exposure. These strings go in and out in all directions until you are left with a picture of a big sticky spider web sketched out in the chart. It can be overwhelming when I am having a hard time just remembering the names of a few medications. It is fascinating to watch seasoned doctors weave their way through these webs. And then being able to dictate that all from memory is another feat.

Mental Health

The sweet steam of spring has begun to waft through the air and temp taste buds toward fresh green shoots and warmer weather. Soon summer will be here. Between quarts of maple syrup lining my pantry shelves, being fabulously entertained and rightly challenged by my family practice rotation and watching four kids under the age of six churn through a bubble bath like a pod of wriggling tadpoles, I'm enjoying every minute of life these days.

Family Medicine

Knee deep in family practice right now. I was a little worried before the rotation started that maybe I would not like it and then what would I do because I've always thought that family practice is what I want to do. No worries so far, I am loving it. I'm even having fun with the overweight men with diabetes, high blood pressure and high cholesterol. I think family practice has the perfect blend of talking with patients, examining patients and doing small procedures. The brain and hands both get a workout. In one week I have had a plethora of interesting patient encounters: Intractable crying, except when lying down, Kids with hurty ears, Buddhist with schizophrenia, Lots of high blood pressure, Lots of depression, I got to do a pap!, Knee injuries, Vague chronic pain, you name it and it will probably walk through your door eventually. If the psych ward is like a pirate ship (not my analogy but I like it) then the family practice clinic is like a circus.
Everyday I laugh, want to cry, am challenged, feel incredibly naive. I don't think my naivety is a completely bad thing even though it feels like a hindrance sometimes. I think it can be valuable to come at medicine or patients with a lets call it fresh perspective. Here is an example of where I am naive, I mean fresh. People can get really sick. I am totally new to the idea that someone can have so much edema/swelling that it can seep out through their skin. I don't think I really knew this a month ago. And I have been interested in health care for about 17 years, I've been thinking about medical school for about 10 years, I've made an actual commitment to becoming a doctor for 7 years now and I didn't fully realize that you could soak your pants and shoes with fluid seeping out your skin. I feel silly and thankful that I've had such a healthy family. In other words, this never happened to any of my grandparents. I also feel really naive about medications. They have never really been a part of my life and I have a hard time relating to them. I also have a really hard time imagining myself actually prescribing them without freaking out about it. I am a not pill person myself. I don't even like to take ibuprofen or tums. I do sometimes, but very rarely. It just doesn't occur to me to take things, except a multivitamin and a fish oil capsule. Does that sound weird? It feels weird in the world of medicine. So these are a few things I have thought about this week.

A Crafty Blogger I Will Never Be

As much as I would like, a crafty blogger I will never be. I love to escape into the beautiful, artful, original, creative, crafty blogs that sparkle and dazzle and make me feel like a complete loser. The crafty toys my daughter has were purchased, the homemade skirt I own has little threads coming out the bottom because I am too lazy to do a proper hem, I can't find the time or energy to seek out thrift store and yard sale gems. But I still love to wander slowly through those blogs of amazing ingenuity and adorably cute creations and just be taken away by it.
I can write though, a little. At least my sixth grade teacher said I was good at it. And I always feel better after writing a little about my day so I sweatingly decided to start a blog. Shhh, don't tell anyone.
On reason why I will never be a crafty blogger is because my time is spent trying to make myself go insane by being in medical school, not giving my daughter up to an orphanage or running wild on the streets and trying to slap together some semblance of a homelife with my husband. Here are some more reasons why I will never be a crafty blogger:

It seems like crafty bloggers, in addition to creating their crafts, always have really clean homes, even when they have two or three kids running around. Here is a typical mess in my house after daughter squirt has used my neatly stacked pile of books like a treadmill.



This is our craft area, a mess.



This is the most crafty thing I have created in the last several months, a bunch of paper hearts glued to a thread and hung up for Valentines Day.


Another reason why my home will always be messy...and full of wet kisses.