2007 Year in Review

Hello everyone. I hope everyone is having a good holiday season... I will miss you at Hung's party, but it's for a good cause (skiing). I'm starting to get used to the hospitalist lifestyle... I'm averaging 10 days of vacation trips per month since the boards. Visiting Anu and Kara in March/April, for 3 weeks, along with Matt and Sarah, will help increase that average. And.. life is good because the Cubs signed Kosuke Fukudome from Japan today. I think his nickname should be "the F-bomb."

If anyone cares, here's my 2007 Year in Review, as it pertains to music. Enjoy, and I'll see you after x-mas..

best albums of the year:
1- The Arcade Fire "Neon Bible"
2- Radiohead "In Rainbows"
3- LCD Soundsystem "Sound of Silver"
4- Of Montreal "Hissing Fauna, Are You the Destroyer?"
5- Spoon "Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga"
6- Panda Bear "Person Pitch"
7- The Field "From Here We Go to Sublime"
8- The National "Boxer"
9- The Shins "Wincing the Night Away"
10- Andrew Bird "Armchair Apocrypha"


Honorable Mentions: Burial, Les Savy Fav, Iron & Wine, White Stripes, NewPornographers, Okkervil River, Sunset Rubdown, Besnard Lakes, Modest Mouse, Elliott Smith (posthumous), Animal Collective, Low, The Twilight Sad, The Clientele, Deerhoof

biggest disappointments:
Wilco, Bloc Party, Band of Horses, Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, New Pornographers


show/set of year
1- Arcade Fire @ Coachella (like Radiohead in 2004, the best bands rise to the occasion, and this is why you attend the Coachella Festival. It's always fun to see 60,000 jaws dropped)
2- Wolf Parade @ Great American Music Hall (after their Fillmore show took my #1 spot for 2006. By far, the best up-and-coming band in rock today)
3- Jeff Tweedy @ Golden Gate Park (emphasizing songs from 1992-2002, helped me remember why I fell for Wilco and Uncle Tupelo)
4- Spoon @ Treasure Island Festival (so consistent, so tight.. never a bad show)
5- CSS @ Coachella (them singing the bitchy song "Paris Hilton," while we watched the actual Paris Hilton dance along to it on the side of the stage, was itself worth the price of admission)

honorable mention: TV on the Radio @ the Fillmore, Manu Chao @ Coachella

best opening set (anticipated)
My Brightest Diamond (their cover of Led Zeppelin's "No Quarter" was my transcendent moment of the year)

best opening set (never heard of the band prior to that evening)
The Most Serene Republic (I did a double-take and thought I was hearing the Broken Social Scene… it turns out they are label-mates and also from Toronto)


there you have it. Anyone interested in joining me at Coachella, 4/24--4/28/08? I'm getting a posse together for the weekend in Palm Springs..

Word up...

So Kara and I finally got internet at home, yeah! Things are well here in Africa but we are definitely missing the bay area and all of you guys! Spending some of our time in the clinic and some doing outreach, it is a good mix although we tend to drink a lot when we are gone for outreach (well, to be honest, we drink a lot all the time...and Kara doesn't think it is really that different from back home...). There isn't much to do here in the evenings. We have had a fair bit of time to travel and try to escape from Lesotho as much as possible on the weekends. Getting ice cream (chocolate dipped of course) is kind of a treat for us now...this is caramel dipped actually...

I had the chance to go to Kruger National Park and Mozambique, got to see some wildlife and also the ocean for the first time in a while. I think the elephant and rhino thought about charging us but luckily decided against it...

Also recently had vacation and went to India and got to see my folks who were there as well. Kara had an 80s party here in Maseru while I was gone. Here's a picture of our digs, not too bad at all!

And the usual celebrity sightings out here, Prince Harry came out to visit. I guess George Bush might when he does his HIV tour of sub-saharan Africa in January...

There have definitely been a lot of tragedies while we have been here and death is so incredibly commonplace. Fortunately most of the children in the clinic are actually doing well making it more worthwhile for the both of us. We both use skype now and would love to hear from you, my username is anukagrawal and Kara's is kara.dubray, we are 10 hours ahead of you guys still on the west coast.

Hope everyone is well...

Anu

Normal life

IMG_3256
Originally uploaded by jcielo

So somehow I thought my life would be good again after boards, with time to cook dinner and relax and socialize. Hmmm....I guess I was delusional. Life is still quite busy with long days, stuff to read about, notes to finish. (Yes, I did note that mole on his eyelash, Brian, that he got from his unpasteurized chinchilla in Mexico.) I am starting on with the big NIH research project in Feb at Alta Bates related to GBS transmission and respiratory distress. Kathleen too. We will basically be living there next year. Yes, poor Niyi is getting ditched. (Sorry Niyi.) Definitely no vacation in sight for me. :( Have fun all those going to Africa to visit. I am very sad I can't go.

Kara started Fish Taco Thurs and it was a big hit! It was great to hang out with peeps again and Aaron's chipotle sauce was oh so tasty. :)

as I write from my padded room...

...just kidding, there are no pads in our office. Just a dirty carpet. Anyways, I hope everyone is well. I'm feeling a bit burnt out from all the studying, just trying to avoid reading, but I can't...I love to learn!

BTW - we are going to try to have a regular Thursday pot luck/Taco Thursday situation, and next week will be the first - November 15. Sorry to everyone who's not in town, but when you visit and it's a Thursday, you can come. 4901 Clarke St. Apt. 7.

Hope you like our halloween photos. Aaron and I were voted creepiest couple in Seattle.

KIT!

I can't believe it!

Hi guys! I honestly can't believe that we all took boards last week (or, 2 wks ago--my time flies when you're not studying). It seemed like for at least 3 yrs all we heard was, "ok, so, you have to know this because it is on the boards," and, finally, there we were, sitting for boards and trying to remember all those little things that everyone told us not to forget (that I happened to forget). I missed everyone, too, the group in Seattle was definitely one big clique, then there was me, sitting in the corner with my quadruple caramel latte, nervously flipping through my Zitelli, hoping I would remember something when I felt like I couldn't remember anything. Was anyone else totally burned out on Peds after the exam? I had to work the next day, and I walked into the clinic thinking, if I have to hear about one more friggin kid, I'm going to go out of my mind! I swear, every kid that I saw that day had either early MPS, galactosemia, tuberous sclerosis, ataxia telangectasia, Wiskott Aldrich, foreign body aspiration, Klinefelter's, or was an undiagnosed hermaphrodite. (mind you, I am in general peds clinic) Ok, better get back to work. Hope you all survived boards, and if not, hope you have a nice padded room with a view. :)

Natalie

a little jelly....

okay, I hate the boards....can I just say that? I feel like I got spanked for 8 hours, and not in a fun way...
I must admit, I was a little jealous of all the chicago people who had their residency friends around...I hope you guys had a good time afterwards.
I better run, I am on-call and I just got paged for another trauma...damn kids, what are they doing up so late??

Sweet bitterness

Hey guys. Just wanted to say that while going to SF to take Boards was not all that cool, seeing everyone (minus all of you living far far away) was great. I really missed all of you!!! Come visit me for some fun hiking, skiing, gambling or whatever when you have some time. My house is always open!

post boards

since we'll all be in south sf on tuesday afternoon, fatima and i were thinking about grabbing dinner w/ folks who were up for it somewhere in SF. Then if anyone's still got any energy, drinks/bar/etc. We're in lower haight, so, errr, lacking imagination, someplace around here.

anyways, since about 4 people read this blog and half live in other parts of the country (hi soma, sonal!), I'll send off an email too.

smooches, debs.

stress management

For those who are anxious about next week, here are some activities to consider:

• getting a massage. The National Holistic Institute (massage school) in Emeryville is having a special in October for $20 massages on weekday mornings. I had one today, and it was excellent. I've had hit-or-miss experiences there before, but I generally recommend it, and you can't pass up a bargain.
• outdoors time this weekend? It's supposed to be sunny and pleasant on Saturday, which sounds like golfing weather to me.
• a change of venue? The Berkeley law school has a fantastic library, with a newly renovated 50's-mod-styled room and some of the most comfortable chairs I've ever sat in (the librarian told me they cost $900 each).
• drinking? With the advent of colder fall-like weather, I've switched from beer to red wine this past week. Administer q 5:00 p.m.
• concerts? The past month has featured some amazing live music, including Modest Mouse, Arcade Fire, LCD Soundsystem, Spoon, Wolf Parade, and Ladytron. Alas, nothing exciting this weekend.
  
• TV? What a disappointment, with my Cubbies getting swept out of the playoffs, and the Bears being borderline unwatchable these days.
  
• seeing friends? I'm looking forward to seeing you all on Monday at the hotel. I think Heidi's right, Tuesday night deserves a party...
  

October 16th

at around 4pm. . . .will be great!! Wondering if folks are planning to go out, catch up, celebrate after the test??

Looking forward to seeing everyone (and being done :). -Heidi

I wish I were Van. At night after work these days we both study for the boards. I often hear giggling coming from Van's study corner when she reads the "laughing your way" book and she seems genuinely entertained. She tries to suppress the laughing but it just comes out! It's very funny and cute to watch.

Somes

anyone out there?

Did y'all know the pl-2's and -3's have their own blog sites. and they actually post. it's crazy, they see each other constantly, and yet, still post. Post!

I know I know. we're all busy studying for boards and acclimating to fellowships, new jobs, new homes, blah blah blah. Can i just say how nice october 17th is looking right now. Well, actually, I'll be here, working. So not that amazing. but Oct 17th after 6:30 pm? awww yeah. who's down for a little post-boards partay? hells, i guess it could be oct 16th. that might feel better. we'll laugh, we'll cry, eat drink. anyone? bueller?

hey, so if anyone has any patients with alopecia areata (shameless plug for my research project): we're looking for patients to sign up for the national registry: www.AlopeciaAreataRegistry.org -> especially kids, minorities, families with multiple relatives w/ AA (not the drinking prob), and esp totalis (all the scalp hair) and universalis (no hair, not even nares). The initial registration involves an online form, then, if they qualify, a site visit to guess who? and a leeetle bit o' blood.

(if any pl-2/3's are reading this- can you keep this in mind at continuity clinic?)

Anyone with questions: call me. I have my own personal line here at UCSF. 415-353-9529. Not for socializing. Really- my office is shared.

CRazY in Chicago

okay. I know I did this whole ICU thing to myself....but this is too much. I have seen more violent crime (i.e NAT, gunshot wounds) here than I have well....anywhere. For instance today we just admitted a 13 year old shot in the head 3 times during a car jacking. It is heartbreaking and I wonder if I can continue to do this...But then I see how much good we have the ability to do. I mean what we do really transcends cultures, languages even geography, our Lesotho colleagues are a testament to that. Kara what you wrote was awesome although I must correct you and say it was Sally Struthers who did the save the kids infomercials..not Sally Field. =) But it sounds amazing. You guys should post more often, better yet I should come there and a do a rotation.
I did ATLS the other weekend and one of the instructors is a trauma surgeon I worked with as a medical student. He has a saying...he asks everyone in the room what the most important part of a doctor is...and he ends it by explaining that it is the heart, because if you really care deeply for your patients, you will do right by them. Unfortunately, it seems like our hearts get broken often, especially in an ICU on the south side of chicago. I hope everyone is doing well. Sorry for being sentimental, I just had to vent.

Hotel room for the boards using a starwood card

I just realized that the hotel for the boards is at a starwood hotel, which means you can use points on a starwood american express card to pay for the hotel for free.

When you open up a card and you get 10,000 points for free after your first purchase. The hotel that is booked costs 4,000 points a night (i think). Since there's only a month until the boards, there is not that much time left. I think you can apply online.

The annual fee is free for the first year.

I've had a starwood card for a year and so far i used points to pay for 10 nights in our honeymoon in Bali, 1 night in burlingame for my mom, 2 nights at the W in seattle and now 2 nights in south SF.

"Blogging" from lesotho...

hello cho family. sorry anu and i have been AMA. we have no internet at home and lord knows i thought "blog" was a made up scrabble word until a few months ago. i'm entrusting deb with posting this message since i couldn't even figure out how to do it myself

we can go by systems perhaps?

1)FEN:

-we have been eating a lot of cheese sandwiches- that's what you get for living with 2 vegetarians.

-i am, in fact, cooking occasionally. anu is cooking too. jeff is....well, he's eating.

-i am drinking the tap water. it's an experiment. so far, so good.

2)CV:

-heart rate and blood pressure have been intermittently elevated driving around maseru (the capital of lesotho where we live) on the wrong side of the road. actually, anu is a good driver. i had my first stick shift lesson, which went, errrr, okay.

3)PULM:

-i've noticed the elevation somewhat- went running for the first time outside in a while. we've mostly been going to the gym- which is 100x nicer than the hospital. priorities.

-inhaling a lot of dust too. the only thing that is green here is my sputum.

4)GI: like i said, so far so good.

5)ID: i mentioned my sputum.

6)GU: deferred.

7)DERM: it's so dry, i've had to apply the chapstick qid.

8) social: work, gym, eat, sleep. then on weekends drink wine and watch movies around a laptop computer. occasionally go to jazz. sometimes mix it up and drink beer.

ok, really though. the clinic is quite modern (baylor/bristol-myers squibbs creation). sometimes in the clinic i wonder if patients have actually been imported and we aren't really in lesotho. we have electronic medical records. (beats CHO!) the patients are awesome. every morning they have a staff/patient morning prayer/singing that sounds like a concert. the patients vary from kids who are doing well on ARVs to kids who are totally wasted and look like they're right out of a sally field save the children commercial. everyday we talk to moms who have just found out their children have hiv. once in a while we get the pleasure of telling someone his/her child is negative. most recently i admitted a 10 month old whose weight was 3.6kg. actually hiv negative! formula fed. this is why we tell moms to breast feed until 6 months at least even if they are positive. day usually runs from 8 to 5 or so.

that's the clinic. then i spent my first 2 days at the queen 2 hospital last week. we'll be spending 2 weeks there every few months. very different but probably familiar to many of you that have worked abroad. reminiscent of guatemala to me. dirty, lots of patients. no ventilators. IVFs measured by drips/minute. one oxygen tank divided in some crazy convoluted manner of tubing among at least 3 patients. deaths everyday. actually few codes since there just isn't much you can do. meds that sometimes are, and sometimes aren't, administered. we are doing nursing and doctoring at the hospital for the most part.

we admitted a 10month old girl with hiv and recurrent PNAs last monday who was in pretty severe respiratory distress. treated her for PCP, bacterial PNA, i tried some asthma tx stuff since she had some wheezing. in many ways, i feel like i am making stuff up as i go along. we gave her a bunch of salbutamol treatments and taped the neb preparations to the bed so the mom could give them herself if the nurses didn't come by at night. gave SQ epi (go dr. jenkins!!!) no terb. no atrovent. found some magnesium and made up a drip of sorts. tried lasix. oxygen is through a feeding tube attached to the main tube attached to the tank and goes into one nostril. when i blew the tube on my arm, i couldn't feel any air coming out of it. but there's no way to get her any more oxygen. just one tank. tried a mask (one mask for everyone). would have been intubated in the US.

pretty crazy to think of the way we spend jillions and jillions on keeping 23 week babies alive (no offense meg) and coding over and over and over again (najiba) kids that have no future when a fraction of that money could be used to buy a few oxygen tanks/masks that might have actually kept this little girl alive. but i guess that's the curse of modern medicine and having the technology that we do. she died last wednesday.

the good part is...there aren't the ICU ethical issues of....should we just let this person go? is it right to keep them alive? because you can't anyway. you just do what you can.

anyway, again, i'm sure this sounds familar to some of you. we are learning a lot...modified versions of what we would be doing in the US. learning to accept what we can and can't do. trying not to feel guilty about going home and drinking wine and relaxing at the end of the day.

on a lighter note, anu and i are working very hard at improving ourselves: both of us have made substantial progress on our nail fungi and anu's hair seems to be thickening. i am also trying to chemically alter my eye wrinkles to turn them from crow's legs back to feet.

we miss all of you!!!! we'll try to keep you updated!

-kdb

Sleeping before the boards

Is anyone planning on staying at the hotel that the Boards folks recommend we stay before the boards? The link is attached. The downside - $175/night! David G. made a reservation at a Howard Johnson, and it costs way less. Check http://www.hojosfo.com/. Isn't that the cutest website addy?

Also, we should definitely plan a party for sometime AFTER the boards!

Bali Honeymoon

I just got back from my honeymoon in Bali. Joe and I had an amazing time.

We got to ride on Elephants, feed crazy monkeys peanuts and bananas, and play with crazy birds. We also did things that I wanted to do- shopping and we went to the spas.

The flight took 22 hours to get there and 19 hours to get back.

On Day 3 of our trip Joe was playing in the water and incurred a 3 cm laceration on the sole of his foot. It wouldn't stop bleeding and it was covered with sand so we had to go into the ED and there they placed 5 sutures. Poor Joe. While the doctor was placing the sutures I kept asking her questions about the Indonesian medical system. Which made the suturing procedure take twice as long. Until Joe said ummm can you please stop talking and just hurry up.

So because of the sutures we couldn't really do very many things that involved the ocean. Which was okay for me because I'm a bit hydrophobic but sucked for Joe because he really wanted to go surfing and Kuta is a great place to improve your surfing skills.


Despite it all Joe and I had one of the best times of our lives. The food in Bali is amazing. The scenery is so beautiful. The culture and art is also really cool. Tourism since the 2002/2005 bombings have decreased to about 50%.

Slideshow below...

Big CHO news

Hey everyone,

Just thought folks might be interested in the big CHO news this week. Ted has decided he wants to have more clinical time and also head up Summit again, so he stepped down as Residency Director. Jim's taking over as Director and Pam will be Associate Dir. I guess we have the legacy of being Ted's last class. :) Also, they decided to build the new hospital essentially on the current site here in Oakland. Kara's in Hawaii and David's on service, so I'm left to my own devices- enticing folks to the office with candy, occasionally singing or talking to myself to keep myself entertained. :) But, with all the news around here it's certainly never boring. Take Care all! -Heidi

Natalie send me your latest email

This is just for natalie, or anyone else who wants to contribute to the blog. Send me your emails so I can re-invite you.

Reminder for Out of Staters

Hey guys, this is for the peeps who are no longer in California. It is easier to keep your license inactive/active rather than letting it expire. If you let it expire, you will be have to go through all that licensing BS again. So, go to the California med. license website : www.medbd.ca.gov and follow the instructions to renew your license online. Bad news it costs $815.00.
Good news, you can do it online in 10-15 minutes. IF you have already taken care of this, ignore this post. Hope this helps.

Blog Master

ha aha aha hahhhhaaa. I have changed my title from blog administrator to BLOG MASTER.
if you are changing your email, keep me updated, I will edit them on the blog accounts so that you may continue to post. Natalie, send me your latest email so that I can invite you as an author. I can do that b/c I am the BLOG MASTER. sorry guys for being so silly, I just finished going over fatty acid oxidation defects. And then to exemplify the need for such cycles in our bodies, I inhaled a bunch of french fries. UMMmmmmm...gotta love those fatty acids. No evidence of LCHAD here. although if I don't stop eating these fries, I better join boot camp with fatima and debs.

Yo Lasutu - where you at???

I hope all is well in the nether regions of the world, and your bodies. David, Heidi and I are holding down the CHOfort. Testing each other on syndromes of the week, enjoying more candy than we would allow our patients to eat, and planning events like Ice Cream Day (all Heidi's doing). One interesting phenomenon that I would not have anticipated is that we are having a hard time getting some people to actually use their e-mail accounts...

We miss you all! Come by for candy! Come by for hugs! Come by for gossip! I'm not sure we have any, but I think that's always a good reason to stop by!

back from the Dominican Republic

Hello! By now I've gotten to see many of you who have stayed behind in the bay area.. I just wanted to share some photos from my trip.

The medical work was good-- I had 2 Creighton 4th-year med students working under me, and they were both competent and fun, easy to precept. And they both wanted to do internal medicine, and allowed me to see all the kids. The clinic (the 3 of us as physicians, my mom as the nurse, a pharmacy student, and a dental student) ran exceptionally smoothly, seeing a lot of skin infections, asthma, back pain, hypertension, and intestinal parasites. And I gave the village matriarch a crash course in medicine (she's really sharp!) so that she could continue to treat illnesses, injuries, and chronic conditions after we left.

I don't have many photos of the clinic (I was busy working), but we worked from 8 a.m. to around 1 p.m., then had the afternoon to hang out with the people in the village. Arroyo Blanco is in the norther mountains, and is a campo of about 100 people. We saw patients from miles around, obviously. There was a river that ran through the town, with 15-foot waterfalls and a 25-foot relatively clear pool about ten minutes away. With the river, and being up in the mountains, it was much cooler (90-97 degrees) than some of my previous trips, like when I was on the Haitian boarder with temps around 105, no water anywhere, and no breeze. This was much nicer. Enjoy the photos! -- Sean

some of my patients... we got this girl's asthma under control

some small waterfalls, not the big ones by my campo

the jam sessions at night

a Dominican passtime... dominoes

The other Dominican passtime... beisbol. Of course we played in a cow pasture. In a rare display of athleticism, I think I hit a double in this picture.

la clinica dental

random pig, running through town

Me and my father, Leon. We spent an average of about 5 hours a day talking about politics, health care, philosophy, cacao farming, pig farming, you name it. But mostly we talked baseball. This man's knowledge of baseball was impressive, indeed, and he kept me informed of the Chicago Cubs progress as he listened to baseball news on his AM radio nightly.

naked baby, playing in the cacao beans

The oldest building in the New World, built by Columbus in 1502. Supposedly he's buried there.

Beach time with Nicky! We tried windsurfing (and fell down a lot), ate lots of good seafood (a huuuge lobster for $9, among other things) and discovered some very remote, beautiful beaches. And consumed lots of rum, beer, and good cigars.

I miss you guys!!

Hi everyone. I haven't checked this blog or posted anything in so long. I apologize for not being a better blog administrator. Oh Hung- you can just send this blog address as a link to Courtney or invite her yourself. I can also do it for you.
I hope everyone is doing well. I can't believe how much I have been working. I agree with Soma in that fellowship is VERY humbling. It is much more formal here at the U of C, with white coats and calling everyone Dr. this and Dr. that. We unfortunately have a lot of abuse cases here. =(, but the Jim Crawford equivalent here is a doc named Jill Glick who is a good friend of Auggie's and she is awesome so its nice interacting with her.
Its funny, I am finding a few U of C and CHO connections. I met an anesthesiologist who used to work at CHO, but she was a total biz-natch, so I am not counting her.
I miss the bay even though the summers here are awesome. I also miss the camaraderie (sp?) of residency. All the wedding pictures look amazing. Congratulations to Mary and David. I hope everyone is doing well, all my love from Chi-town. I am so happy people are posting.

Boot camp, session 1 ends

I know yer all dying to know. Fatima and I finished our 6 weeks today (LE did too, but she was too tired (read: overdid the wine'in and dine'in last night) to come and get her ass-essed). 1.5 mile timed run, and we both shed about 3 minutes off, woohoo! Yesterday we proved that push-ups and sit-ups are a piece of cake for us (okay, I'm totally lying, those still kill) and Fatima will happily show off her amazing waist any day of the week now. I'm not sure that I actually lost any weight, but I think my pounch converted to steel., or at least nickel, even if the numbers of the fat calipers don't reflect this. But whatev, I know that BMI and those pinchers are not the best measurement of my fat percentage. It's all about the jiggle when I wiggle.
Look out for the cute tees. Session 2 starts Monday, bring it baby.

Hi friends,
While Kara deciphers Unknown #1-3, I am now privy to the secret worlds of Admin Rx and Medical Records committee. . . Committee: Did you know that many residents re-write the same orders multiple times??? Heidi: Well yes, actually, pharmacy often pages us to tell us we're silly. . . Committee: Oh, really? Etc. All of those faces in the cafeteria suddenly have a job I never realized existed and know my name. . . which is kind of scary. They're probably thinking back to all of those silly repeat orders that I used to write and giggling internally about the time they reviewed it in Admin Rx. :)
Here's a pic from our recent trip to Ecuador. . . it was fun to see my parents navigating Latin America and introducing them to Diego's relatives and friends. Miss you guys. Hope all is well in your corner of the world. We're having fun back here at CHO.

Kingfish is calling you!

Find our 3 classmates in this word search.

Things are well in Oakland; Hung and Aaron are currently talking about taking over Temescal, in their first step towards world domination.

On service tomorrow, looking forward to taking care of active Tb, decubitus ulcers, unknown # 1, unknown # 2, and unknown # 3. I spoke with a past chief today, who tols me to not burn out. He suggested cocaine. Anyone know where I can get some?

More weddings... ahh, wedded bliss

So here are my few photos of DVL and Lena's happy day. Unfortunately, the photos don't include any actual wedding ceremony pics, cuz, well, I just was enjoying sitting in the woods, contemplating. Then I left the camera at the reception, so, hopefully DVLena and the Cielos have more to share. For those not in attendance, we stayed in a cute cabin down in Pescadero, were transported on a big blue bus (and then a SF trolley driven by a crazy asian man), into the woods for their lovely ceremony. Then back (on said crazy trolley) to a reception at the "camp" site. Think camping for yuppies. And a huge hot tub (sorry, no pics, but use your imagination).




Since i know yer all dying to know how boot camp is going, we have 1 more week before our assessment of progress. Will I run faster than 15:45 to complete the 1.5 miles? How many sit ups and push ups in a minute? All these answers await... but I must say, regardless of any other change, the best part was making KDB envious of my 8 mile run with LE this past Saturday. And my quads, they are Steel. Touch them and weep.

Wedding Photos Galore

Hi Everyone!

Getting married was so much fun! The most common comment that we received was "your wedding went so smoothly, did anything go wrong at all?" Joe, being the typical oblivious male says, no everything went perfectly, according to plan.

Actually there were tons of little things that went "wrong" but in the end it didn't matter. We were just so happy to be surrounded by our friends and family and of course to get married to each other!

Highlights of the wedding for me were for those of you who missed it (I know you were all there in spirit):

1) Father and Daughter Dance-My dad told me that he didn't know how to dance but he'll do the for me. I've never seen my dad dance before and it was true! He didn't know how to dance at all, and it was so funny. Whenever I look at those pictures of his attempting to dance I start giggling.

2) During the pyebaek ceremony (korean version of the tea ceremony- except we koreans use soju- of course.) how our parents kept throwing the chestnuts and jujubes into my skirt (the number you catch represent how many children you will have) and they wouldn't stop throwing. I think we caught about 20! And my mom when asked to give marital advice, she says "Be fruitful, and multiply!"

3) The dancing! My siblings and cousins dancing so sillily. Joe's dad who is normally the quietest man was really getting down on the dance floor. And when YMCA and the macarena- two songs I asked them specifically not to play but someone requested it- played, it was actually fun to dance to.

4) I was pleased with myself. I was so afraid that I would somehow ruin the ceremony by coughing incessantly (my asthma coughing peaked the day before the wedding.) or by falling walking down the aisle. or by giggling awkwardly as I tend to do when I'm nervous. or by crying too much during the vows as to be incomprehensible. I am proud to say that I did none of those things. I am far more mature than I give myself credit. Even though my sister started giggling after my father makes some weird noise, I kept my composure.

5) My nephew as the ring bearer. He's just 14 months old so we weren't sure how he'd do. He did a fantastic job of running down the aisle.

6) Of course being married to Joe.

So for pictures! The photographer posted his pictures on www.pictage.com
just search under "rhee" and choose the event on july 14th 2007 st. mark's lutheran church. There are tons of great pics on this site.

I am also posting up pictures on my picasa public site at http://picasaweb.google.com/maryrhee as I collect them from other people and I will put up the professional photos so you don't have to pay $6.00 a picture if you want to print them. I will also post up photos from our honeymoon to bali (we are leaving august 20th for 2 weeks).

I am leaving you with the non-professional photos from the ceremony. (I hope this works!)



and photos from the reception.

You know .... as an ID Fellow

Some random comments:

Just spent the first hour last Friday morning on the phone, holding, waiting patiently to find out if they still have that 1cc of frozenCSF from the other kid from last week! ---- where is my SECRETARY!!!

Still working on cliff-notes' version of our H&P's.

Wow! One never thinks ID consults could pile up ... and what's the worst that could happen if we sign off on a kid? A re-consult?

Also the common comment I have heard: "I thought you were done!" YES!!! I'm done. Got to explain for the 10th time today that I'm now one of the ID Fellows. It's getting tiresome by itself!

Interesting dialogue over time:
Sat.: We have this patient, and want a curbside.
Fellow dude/dudette: Do you want us to see this kid?
Team: No!

Sun. Fellow: We could see that kid.
Team: Never mind!

Monday - Team: You've probably heard about this kid but ....
Other fellow: What kid!
Team: We were wondering if you'd like a consult.

* Disclaimer: Please don't be fooled - I'm still cool (actually freezing in Siberia, just ask my fellow fellow), calm and collected. Right Mikhaela?

You know .... as an I.D. Fellow!

Some random comments:

Just this past week, I spent the first hour of my Friday morning on the phone, holding, waiting patiently to find out if they still have that 1cc of frozen CSF from the other kid from last week! ---- where is my SECRETARY!!!

Still working on cliff-notes' version of our H&P's.

Wow! One never thinks ID consults could pile up ... and what's the worst that could happen if we sign off on a kid?
A re-consult?

Also "I thought you were done!" YES!!! I'm done (with residency)! Got to explain for the 10th time today that I'm now one of the ID Fellows. It's definitely getting tiresome by itself!

* Disclaimer: Please don't be fooled - I'm still cool (actually freezing in Siberia -ask my fellow fellow), calm and collected. Right Mikhaela?

It's like CHO, except with a "P"

Dear friends,

So far fellowship is what I thought it would be: lot's of work and humbling. I joined the nurses' cooking club (someone brings food once or twice a week and we all share and swap recipes) and my first dish was a HIT! Mediterranean tuna salad on sourdough (tuna with lemon, balsamic vinegar, olive oil, garlic salt, cilantro, and red onion). So I feel like I've earned the respect of the nurses (now I just have to work on the immunologists).
You see some crrrazy stuff here! I'd like to send a thanks out to D. Gamboa for e mailing me that neat case last week. Philly is actually a pretty fun town so if you're around, stay at my place and maybe I'll make you some tuna!

H-town

So I finally had a chance to look at the CHO blog since a while ago, all the pics of SSD and Tahoe made me kinda sad! Good job Debs though. Sonal, I already invited Fox to the blog site. I didn't invite Coco though. Things are well here in Houston, getting excited about Africa. The work looks like it will be very rewarding and it seems very exciting and dynamic. We will be building lots of new satellite clinics in Lesotho in addition to the main clinic in Maseru. And thank god there is a gym for KDB. The docs there have met Bill Clinton, Bill and Melinda Gates and Bono...I'm keeping my fingers crossed for Angelina...

Chaos at JuVi

Hi Folks,
So I just started at JuVi as the acting (real fitting I assure you) "medical director."
And three days into the job and the state decides to audit us. Great right? Now I am signing my life away on a thousand different policies that I have not even read. Otherwise, everyday is an adventure.

Hey Sonal, can you also add Courtney to the Blog. Her email is: courtney_wusthoff@yahoo.com

Later all,

Hung

jackass

i admitted a patient the other day, and my diagnosis is JACKASS syndrome. Here's why:
16, male (that would be enough wouldn't it...but there is more), decides to start skimming some pills from mom's med cabinet. He does this for a few weeks, then decides to take 6 tablets on sunday...then gets punched in the side by a girl. like i said he's a jackass so that was bound to happen. Develops a huge hematoma in his flank, brusing and abdominal pain.
mystery medication: Coumadin
Patient's INR: 11.4
My first comment to him: Are you seriously that stupid? That is actually what I said.
he's still alive....actually he is doing okay. like I said JACKASS syndrome. it's an epidemic people...an epdemic. How come the only ones posting are me and debs...come on guys!!!!! not that I don't love you deb. I do, and I will love you more with tighter buns.

Boot Camp

So LE, Fatima and I have joined bootcampsf. Because we miss getting up at 6am. Being put in our places by "authority" figures. Feeling grossly inadequate. It's just physical rather than mental. And instead of breakfast croissants and midnight snacks, we end up with tighter butts and abs. I think it's a good deal. Ask me again in a week. We only just made it through the "assessment"- so the actual boot camp part has yet to kick my arse.
Thus far, I now know I can actually run 1.5 miles and not die. It just takes most of the morning.
Ah well, at least our instructors are darn cute. Nairn has this amazing Scottish accent, and that alone will get me up at 6am. and Raul, dude, he's all no-nonsense. It's hot. Sorry. I can't help it. I had a glass of wine...
more to follow,
debs aka the hair beetch.

sheesh. . . my brain is tired

this attending gig is fun but in a draining and also terrifying sort of way. :) my eyes are bleary from scouring texts on topics that i thought i knew. . . and then start to question. . . and then worry that everything i thought i knew was maybe only half right, and now that it's my note that says the kid can go home and they'll be just fine, i probably should just make 100% sure. and then i give the residents my pager or cell phone and say call with anything. . . and then they actually do. with things like ALTEs and possible cyanosis and maybe it's NAT and i find myself recommending head CT scans and LPs at 1am in the morning. and then i think, man, if my attending made me do a head CT and sepsis work up on a ward-ward transfer at 1am in the morning just a few months ago i may have wanted to cry. but, i can't help myself. . . b/c what if? but, i'm learning so much. and, tomorrow i get to see kara and david back at the office and the kids and the families are great and i actually get to talk to them again. so it's good.

i am slightly afraid, or rather very afraid.

my cough is still going strong. i started coughing the day before the booze cruise. coughed in tahoe. coughed worse in phoenix and i'm coughing now. i restarted on my 500/50 advair and started on prednisone last night. steroids never really helped much in the past. my mom is giving my random advice like drink 1 gallon of water a day to help my cough. i haven't had my bronchospastic cough in full force for a year, and it has to happen now!

i can just picture myself next week. I, Mary , take thee Joseph, cough cough cough cough hack! post tussive emesis! i'm sure the pics and the video is going to be just lovely.

: (

btw. i'm getting married in exactly 1 week!!!!! crazy, isn't?

on call....ahhhhhhhgggghh!!!

hey y'all.
Its my first call in the ICU. I miss you guys!! This place really reminds me of CHO, well except the fact that the hospital is huge, new, fancy, well-staffed and mega rich. But, I'm proud to be from oakland...It is a little scary actually. The nurses ask me questions and I can't answer most of them, I laugh and they laugh, and we all
have a laugh at my inept-titude, then we call the attending. Its a hoot.
I also feel really bad about stealing procedures from the residents...but I did it twice today. Hope all is well. Send me fox's email and I will add her to the blog list.... so she can get an invitation. Hope everyone had a happy 4th! all my love, xoxoxo. Maybe I can send you a picture of one of the nurses laughing at me.

Tired in the Chiefs' Office

Hi pals -

4th of July on Baker Beach is nice. I can't find David OR Heidi right now and it makes me wonder if I should be at a meeting or something...David? Heidi? Ted? Does anyone know how to invite Fox to the Blog?

Take care and I miss you all!
Love, kara

Senior Skip Day

okay, so now I'm a little obsessed. Last post for tonight, but really, I'm loving this picasa web album, it's almost idiot-proof. Senior skip day... lots of baby thighs n butts towards the end, prepare yourself for cuteness.



hope y'all are doing well... happy 4th o' july,
toodles,
debs.

Tahoe pics....

I wonder if I can do this.... supposedly this is an embedded slide show below. Click on it and see if it works.

Photos...

I don't know if this will work, so this is a trial. But hopefully you can just click on the link below, and !voila!, pictures. These should be the much hyped booze cruize. More to follow if this indeed works.
Derm fellowship update: dang, there are a lot of balding peeps around. And a lot of crazies that think they're balding/thinning/shedding. Maybe I shouldn't write that. Someone could find this and get pretty pissy. Let's just say, to quote one lovely sexagerian, "I'm just vain." Ah, well put. And man, my hairline was more recessed than hers.
More pics to follow... (let me know if y'all are liking the picasa web deal, vs the kodakgallery, I uploaded them there too if anyone's interested in the link).
debs.

http://picasaweb.google.com/deborahsah/BoozeCruize?authkey=xVy9bHPLTDA