Unexpected Excitement

This morning when I woke up I certainly did not expect to

a) cut out my first gangrenous appendix (nasty, but FUN!)

b) watch a c-section (bloody and fast)

c) attend a vaginal delivery (beautiful baby girl)

before lunch.

But such is the way that the universe works sometimes I suppose! So, yes I am technically on my medicine rotation right now, but the weekends are my own time. I told M.C to text me over the weekend if anything surgical came in. Sure enough, just after 0900h I got the "it's an appy" text so I raced in to the hospital. While I was scrubbed in the gynecologist poked his head in to see when we were going to be finishing up. I took the fortuitous encounter as my chance to ask him about some observing in obs/gyne.

See the thing is, I will have to apply for my residency spot in the fall of next year, which will be months before I actually get to rotate through obs/gyne. What if I discover my life's ambition is to be an obstetrician 6 months after I apply to every general surgery or emergency medicine program in the country?!

So my hope was to have some time this year, on weekends and holidays, in the gyne world. The consultant gynecologist seemed more than happy to have me kicking around and let me stay on for the c-section and then took me down to the labour ward to meet the impending deliveries.

And so, two hours after being handed the scalpel to cut out my first appendix I was watching a perfect baby girl come into the world to a very happy and healthy mommy.

Ah sure, looks like my weekend injections of inspiration and excitement will help get me through the next 7 weeks.

 

In A Word

Normally I try and avoid yahoo "news" stories but I stumbled upon this article today. I usually abhor the onslaught of "End of the Year" lists and "Top Ten" type articles that surface in January...but I will admit...there were some real gems in this piece. It cracked everyone in my house up, so I figured it was 'blogworthy' (my own word for 2008).

My favorites on the list for "Word of the Year 2008" according to Macquarie Dictionary include:

bromance

(say 'brohmans)
noun Colloquial a non-sexual but intense friendship between two males. [bro + (ro)mance¹]

fanta pants

(say 'fantuh pants)
noun Originally British Colloquial a person whose hair is naturally red. [from the orange-coloured soft drink Fanta + pants, with reference to pubic hair as the indicator of hair colour]

flashpacker

(say 'flashpakuh)
noun Colloquial a backpacker who travels in relative luxury. [flash(y) + (back)packer]
--flashpacking, noun

and

fur child

say 'fer chuyld)
noun Colloquial a pet animal, as a cat or dog, treated as one would a child.

Cast your votes now! I have to say, I was disappointed that I had to choose between the first two...

Oh and John, you are not allowed to make any comments which may draw parallels to my travel style and any of the above definitions. :)