On Sunday I did not have to stay long. We only did one emergency appendectomy, which was a quick clean one. That was kind of nice after all the other ruptured ones we did before.... I finally got to see how they usually go!
I hang out at Tim and Deb's house for a while. I was hoping to get some sleep after the night had been very short and I was really tired after all the Christmas Family Get togethers..... But Deb's family was still around and taking a nap would not have worked. So instead I enjoyed their company! Then I went to Meemaw and Pawpaw to spend the rest of the day with my American parents before they went back to Baltimore. We had dinner together (finally some quiet down time, just the three of us and nothing to prepare for....) I really enjoyed that even though it was so short.... Afterwards I dropped them off at the airport. I would not have thought that my car could have made that!!!!
Monday was a very interesting day at work. I was on call with Dustin again... and not really looking forward to that. But it turned out to be a whole lot better than first imagined.... We had another med student come in to shadow and since we did not have many cases going on, I didn't have much to do in the OR. So Vedra arranged for me to spend the morning with the Neurosurgeons... I finally got so see a brain again!!!! Very cool. Even though it was very cold again, unlike the Pediatric ORs where it is nice and cozy most of the time! Afterwards I went to observed the implant of a fake testicle... Unfortunately cases before got canceled and I did not know, since I was with the neurosurgeons, and therefore missed the start.... But it was kind of nice to see the second part of the surgery. Later we did a revision of a ileostomy on a girl that was born at 23weeks and now 27days old. I had been seeing her every morning over the past weeks and was really excited when I got to do 2 of the 4 stiched that had to be done on her to open the ostomy up again and keep it open.... Pretty cool, cause she is so tiny and her skin is extremly thin, I was afraid I might go all the way through into her abdomen, but it worked out and now she is having bowel function. That is really amazing! At night we did not have much to do... Dustin convinced me to have my first (and probably last) dinner at the Kosair McDonalds... We got to go to bed really early, but of course couldn't sleep all night. About an hour after we went to bed Dustin woke me up again to go to the ER to see my first gunshot wound!!!!! That was exciting, it was not bad, just a flesh wound, so the kid got to go home! Later we got called again for an abdominal abscess in the middle of the night. The abscess had been there for 4 days, condition of the child hadn't changed at all... So that was definetely not an emergency case that a doctor and an almost doctor had be woken up for at 2am in the morning!!! Weird things happen at night, but mostly people probably don't realize that doctors don't work 24/7 and that they like to get some sleep at night as well.... Real Ermergencies, ok, gun shot wound, really exciting, but an abdomal wall abscess that had been there for 4 days....
On Tuesday I spend most of the day catching up on some sleep and then helped Deb with Dinner for Meemaw and Pawpaw. I made Spaetzle for the first time and they turned out to be pretty good.
Wednesday was a short OR Day. I got to leave shortly after 1pm!!!! I got to see a laparoscopic Nissen (treatment for reflux) and that was really cool, since I hadn't seen that so far and was always wondering when I observed the open ones how they can possibly do that laparoscopically, but it works, and it works well! Once I left I went to see Gale, who was still in happy morphin/drug land... The next day she did not really remember that I had been there, but fortunately Cheeks was there to remind her of my visit (her newest monkey family memeber). At 6pm I had a cyber date to watch German fireworks, since I knew I wouldn't be up and awake for the American New Years... I really enjoyed it. Thanks to Ricardo, I later got to show my favorite New Years TV show to Tim and Deb (they really liked it).
On Thursday I only had to go in for rounds, because surgeries were scheduled for later and they did not really need me for that. So I got to visit Gale again and then have a nice slow day to once again catch up on sleep. That was definetely necessary! The nasty cold started to come back and I did not want to get sick again!
On my last day at Kosair I was well rested and it did not really matter that it turned out to be the longest non call day.... I got to scrub in on a esophageal atresia repair! One that I had not yet seen. So that turned out to be really great, except that the surgery lasted till 6.30pm..... Even though it was an interesting case and I enjoyed the surgery I was glad to finally leave after 13hours! During the day I had managed to meet Dr. McOmber (one of the pediatric cardiologist) because he was in the Cath lab that day. I promised to stop by the office some time this month (so girls watch out!!!) I don't want to leave before having seen you all again, but I don't know when that is going to happen.... The student schedule is definetely very busy!!!!
Saturday and Sunday I was off. YEAH!!! Two days in a row to sleep in! I finally got to go shopping! I went to the mall, I spend hours at the book store and I finished all kinds of things that had piled up on my list of things to do! I finally got to sit down and study without falling asleep.... On Sunday we watched the UofL-UK-Basketball Game. That was exciting. Now I am looking forward to see at least one game live.... Hopefully we can manage to work that into my schedule.... Unfortunately the weekend was over way to quickly and I did not manage to get much social life in, but to me it was important to get some rest and get things done off my list.
Now I am back in the hospital. I did have to get in until 7am this morning (so another day of sleeping in!!!) and after having taken care of all the organisational stuff like parking permit, access card to all the restricted areas and some other paper work I am now looking forward to my first day of Trauma! I will be on call tonight.... So far the team seems to be really nice....
Mittwoch, 31. Dezember 2008
Sonntag, 28. Dezember 2008
Christmas marathon!
On my last on call night (23rd to 24th) was a busy one. I got to sleep about 1hour.... We had surgeries till almost 12 at night, afterwards we had to got go to the ER to take care of 5 care accident victims at one time.... Unfortunately I was on call with my least favorite residents and I wished that I had been down there with someone who had actually cared about teaching and not just sent me around to get lab results and find forms.... He did have me write orders, which was kind of a struggle, since I have never done that before and he did not really feel like explaining it to me.... Not a great experience, but after the third patient I kind of knew what I had to do, but all the calculations you got to do to figure out how much i.v. fluids and pain meds a child is allowed to get it definetely not easy at 2am!!!!! Fortunately I now do have a calculator, thanks to Santa-Deb! After we took care of the patients in the ER we still had to check on the kids that had had surgery that day. It has to be done, but between 2 and 3 am?!?!?!?! Why not let them sleep and wait till prerounds, which start between 4.30 and 5.....
On Wednesday I tried to sleep during the day. Even though I barely got to sleep the night before, I had such a hard time sleeping. I need to get used to that!!!!! At night we then had the Vessels Christmas! I finally got to see the whole family and I really enjoyed the night with everybody. The gifts were incredibly creative.... At it was once again to much fun! I am so glad that I got to spend another Vessels-Christmas, even though it is definetely louder than back home in Germany.... And I believe there was not one moment when everybody actually paid attention to the same thing at once.....I was Pawpaws person and he made me a little really pretty wooden basket! I use it for my keys now, just perfect for that! I am glad I did not have to vote for my favorite present, because there were quiet a few very good presents, some really funny, others very thoughtful, and all of them very appropriate (even though I did not get all the clues right away...) - the baseballcap, the lamp cake, Mr. Britannica movie, the Scrap book for pawpaw, the picture Den made, the Harry Potter book ends (with no train from Honkong yet ;)).....
We didn't go to bed until 2.30 on Christmas Eve and therefore slept in on Christmas day! (A day when stores are closed in the US!!!) Tim and Deb opened their presents and afterwards I went to Meemaws and Pawpaws to spend Christmas with my American parents! We opened presents and I was just overwhelmed, but the number of presents that I got... Very good presents, just perfect for a world traveler.... (THANKS AGAIN!!!!) After opening presents we started preparing the food for the Christmas dinner. I baked my favorite cheesecake for the birthday dinner. It was not easy to get all the ingredients, but we found a store that acutally had Quark, but I had to come up with something to exchange the selmolina flour for... I didn't know you could only get it in special stores.....But it turned out to be a good cake anyway! Later in the afternoon the whole family showed up and we had a wounderful Christmas dinner with Ham, Portato Salad, Corn pudding, green beens, sweet potato mashed portatoes with pecans and marshmallows on top.... Very delicious! Unfortunately I had to leave early, because I had to get up to go to work the next day... That sucked!!!!
The 26th is not a holiday in the US. So I had to work, but it was a good day, a few minor procedures and one big interesting one. A kid that had had a nephrectomy about two weeks ago, did come back with abdominal pain and bile vomiting. (of course he got a CT scan.... ). We had to open him up again and explore it abdomen to find the obstruction he supposedly had. It was amazing how much adhesions we found inside.... It took us three hours to deseparate his whole small bowel! Incredible! I finally left the hospital after 13 hours and went straight to Meemaw's and Pawpaw's again for the traditional Birthday dinner! (yes more family time and more food!!!) Fortunately I did not have to leave early that night. The theme was Maryland this year. The crab cakes were amazing, as well as the crab dip! After dinner we exchanged Birthday cards - some were extremly hillarous! And once again I was amazed by how many thought of getting me a card..... I would have never expected that!!!! When we got home that night I spend some of my Christmasmoney. I finally remembered to go online and check out the "Whicked" Schedule and look for available tickets. Abby and Meg had gotten tickets for Christmas to go see the musical, so I finally found someone who was interest in going as well. Fortunataly I still got to get a ticket for that night!!! I am really excited that it wasn't sold out yet and I am really looking forward to seeing it. It's an awardwinning broadway musical and it tells the story of how the witches of the Wizard of oz became the way they are. I kept hearing the commercial on the radio and I really liked the music, but I didn't want to go all bymyself.....
On Saturday I tried to sleep in, but that didn't work too well, so I did some of the things I need to get done on my day off, like washin clothes, cleaning up my room (cause it does not always look like a bomb exploded in there!!!!!!).... Once all that was done and the fruitsalad for the next dinner was made, I went to get real rolls for breakfast!!! It was once again a challange. I had not quite figured out how to make the GPS stop sending me to a place I had alreay arrived at.... I now did figure it out, but at first it kept sending me back to whole foods, which was where I wanted to leave.....GPS is not always as easy as you may think it is, operator mistakes are quite easy to make.... ;) but I finally made it Meemaw's and Pawpaw's house and we had real rolls for Breakfast - you actually had to use a breadknife to cut them, you couldn't just tear them appart or use a regular knife to cut is nicely..... GREAT! Afterwards I showed some of our swiss pictures, only some, because all of them would take days I guess....It was nice to go back and remember some of the great trips we have had in Switzerland.... Later in the afternoon we went back to Tim and Deb's Place to have some more Christmas, this time with Tim and Deb's kids and family. It was a fun crowd. I enjoyed it so much. Everybody is just so easy to get along with! The boys were so much fun to watch playing Rockstar (Wii Concept, but you got drums, a guitar and someone singing and you have to get through a whole song without too many mistakes!!!) Dave went Rockstar crazy.... It was hillarious! I tried to play the drums as well, but after two songs I had to give up, because my leg started to hurt from hitting the pedal (I would have never expected that to happen....) The gift exchange was a lot of fun. I really liked to little wish list, cause everybody got something they really enjoyed getting and will definetely use. After our little gift exchange it was time for the family gift exchange.... and once again I couldn't believe that I got so many really useful and fun things (Deb basically went out and got everything off the list that I had made for my person....incredible and awesome)!!! After everybody had opened their gifts, I got to enjoy my first "Deb Dinner" It was really good. We had beef (tender and tasty), green cabage (just as good as the red one at home), potatoecasserole (mmh, mh, mmmh, mh, mmh), green beens..... I had also made some Gluehwein (for the first time from scratch), which turned out to be pretty good! After dinner we finally started the rematch of Pictionary. Guys vs. Girls. It is so much fun, and it is great crowd to play it with!!! I hated having to leave early to get ready to go to bed, cause once again I had to get up early.... The girls one again (who would have guessed ;)!!!!!!) Pricilla seems to be a board game maniac... Maybe I will have some time for social stuff during the next weeks, because I would love to have another game night!!! It is so much fun and I really enjoyed the night with all of you!!!!
Now I am back in the hospital, finally manged to write another post and will hopefully get out early... After all it's Sunday and I did not get much sleep last night (what else could I expect in a house full of fun people....) This morning I fortunatly had set my self phone alarm as well, because the electricity went out last night because of the storm and my radio alarm clock did not work this morning, just like the coffee machine, but Tim had set his alarm to make sure I didn't oversleep (so sweet!!!) and made sure that the coffee machine worked....
After a week like this I just wish America and KY and MD in particular wouldn't be so far away from Europe....
I had to much fun (not much sleep), but soooooooooooooo much fun!!! Thank you all for making this another special Vessels Christmas!!!!
On Wednesday I tried to sleep during the day. Even though I barely got to sleep the night before, I had such a hard time sleeping. I need to get used to that!!!!! At night we then had the Vessels Christmas! I finally got to see the whole family and I really enjoyed the night with everybody. The gifts were incredibly creative.... At it was once again to much fun! I am so glad that I got to spend another Vessels-Christmas, even though it is definetely louder than back home in Germany.... And I believe there was not one moment when everybody actually paid attention to the same thing at once.....I was Pawpaws person and he made me a little really pretty wooden basket! I use it for my keys now, just perfect for that! I am glad I did not have to vote for my favorite present, because there were quiet a few very good presents, some really funny, others very thoughtful, and all of them very appropriate (even though I did not get all the clues right away...) - the baseballcap, the lamp cake, Mr. Britannica movie, the Scrap book for pawpaw, the picture Den made, the Harry Potter book ends (with no train from Honkong yet ;)).....
We didn't go to bed until 2.30 on Christmas Eve and therefore slept in on Christmas day! (A day when stores are closed in the US!!!) Tim and Deb opened their presents and afterwards I went to Meemaws and Pawpaws to spend Christmas with my American parents! We opened presents and I was just overwhelmed, but the number of presents that I got... Very good presents, just perfect for a world traveler.... (THANKS AGAIN!!!!) After opening presents we started preparing the food for the Christmas dinner. I baked my favorite cheesecake for the birthday dinner. It was not easy to get all the ingredients, but we found a store that acutally had Quark, but I had to come up with something to exchange the selmolina flour for... I didn't know you could only get it in special stores.....But it turned out to be a good cake anyway! Later in the afternoon the whole family showed up and we had a wounderful Christmas dinner with Ham, Portato Salad, Corn pudding, green beens, sweet potato mashed portatoes with pecans and marshmallows on top.... Very delicious! Unfortunately I had to leave early, because I had to get up to go to work the next day... That sucked!!!!
The 26th is not a holiday in the US. So I had to work, but it was a good day, a few minor procedures and one big interesting one. A kid that had had a nephrectomy about two weeks ago, did come back with abdominal pain and bile vomiting. (of course he got a CT scan.... ). We had to open him up again and explore it abdomen to find the obstruction he supposedly had. It was amazing how much adhesions we found inside.... It took us three hours to deseparate his whole small bowel! Incredible! I finally left the hospital after 13 hours and went straight to Meemaw's and Pawpaw's again for the traditional Birthday dinner! (yes more family time and more food!!!) Fortunately I did not have to leave early that night. The theme was Maryland this year. The crab cakes were amazing, as well as the crab dip! After dinner we exchanged Birthday cards - some were extremly hillarous! And once again I was amazed by how many thought of getting me a card..... I would have never expected that!!!! When we got home that night I spend some of my Christmasmoney. I finally remembered to go online and check out the "Whicked" Schedule and look for available tickets. Abby and Meg had gotten tickets for Christmas to go see the musical, so I finally found someone who was interest in going as well. Fortunataly I still got to get a ticket for that night!!! I am really excited that it wasn't sold out yet and I am really looking forward to seeing it. It's an awardwinning broadway musical and it tells the story of how the witches of the Wizard of oz became the way they are. I kept hearing the commercial on the radio and I really liked the music, but I didn't want to go all bymyself.....
On Saturday I tried to sleep in, but that didn't work too well, so I did some of the things I need to get done on my day off, like washin clothes, cleaning up my room (cause it does not always look like a bomb exploded in there!!!!!!).... Once all that was done and the fruitsalad for the next dinner was made, I went to get real rolls for breakfast!!! It was once again a challange. I had not quite figured out how to make the GPS stop sending me to a place I had alreay arrived at.... I now did figure it out, but at first it kept sending me back to whole foods, which was where I wanted to leave.....GPS is not always as easy as you may think it is, operator mistakes are quite easy to make.... ;) but I finally made it Meemaw's and Pawpaw's house and we had real rolls for Breakfast - you actually had to use a breadknife to cut them, you couldn't just tear them appart or use a regular knife to cut is nicely..... GREAT! Afterwards I showed some of our swiss pictures, only some, because all of them would take days I guess....It was nice to go back and remember some of the great trips we have had in Switzerland.... Later in the afternoon we went back to Tim and Deb's Place to have some more Christmas, this time with Tim and Deb's kids and family. It was a fun crowd. I enjoyed it so much. Everybody is just so easy to get along with! The boys were so much fun to watch playing Rockstar (Wii Concept, but you got drums, a guitar and someone singing and you have to get through a whole song without too many mistakes!!!) Dave went Rockstar crazy.... It was hillarious! I tried to play the drums as well, but after two songs I had to give up, because my leg started to hurt from hitting the pedal (I would have never expected that to happen....) The gift exchange was a lot of fun. I really liked to little wish list, cause everybody got something they really enjoyed getting and will definetely use. After our little gift exchange it was time for the family gift exchange.... and once again I couldn't believe that I got so many really useful and fun things (Deb basically went out and got everything off the list that I had made for my person....incredible and awesome)!!! After everybody had opened their gifts, I got to enjoy my first "Deb Dinner" It was really good. We had beef (tender and tasty), green cabage (just as good as the red one at home), potatoecasserole (mmh, mh, mmmh, mh, mmh), green beens..... I had also made some Gluehwein (for the first time from scratch), which turned out to be pretty good! After dinner we finally started the rematch of Pictionary. Guys vs. Girls. It is so much fun, and it is great crowd to play it with!!! I hated having to leave early to get ready to go to bed, cause once again I had to get up early.... The girls one again (who would have guessed ;)!!!!!!) Pricilla seems to be a board game maniac... Maybe I will have some time for social stuff during the next weeks, because I would love to have another game night!!! It is so much fun and I really enjoyed the night with all of you!!!!
Now I am back in the hospital, finally manged to write another post and will hopefully get out early... After all it's Sunday and I did not get much sleep last night (what else could I expect in a house full of fun people....) This morning I fortunatly had set my self phone alarm as well, because the electricity went out last night because of the storm and my radio alarm clock did not work this morning, just like the coffee machine, but Tim had set his alarm to make sure I didn't oversleep (so sweet!!!) and made sure that the coffee machine worked....
After a week like this I just wish America and KY and MD in particular wouldn't be so far away from Europe....
I had to much fun (not much sleep), but soooooooooooooo much fun!!! Thank you all for making this another special Vessels Christmas!!!!
Dienstag, 23. Dezember 2008
from head to toe
Yesterday turned out to be pretty good. One attending came to help out the residents, so I got to pick the OR I wanted to be in... Unfortunately my least favorite resident had to scurb in with one of my favorite attendings. So I didn't choose those surgeries. But I scrubbed in on a thyroid lobectomy, an inguinal hernia in a girl, a dialysis cath removal, a Nissen procedure (procedure for gastric reflux) and a laparoscopic cholezystectomy (gall blader). In the preop area I also saw a kid that had a cyst on his arm... So I got to see cases that involved almost every part of the body. That is really cool. They don't just focus on one part, but I get a great exposure to all kinds of cases... and body fluids..... Today I got sprayed with blood and unfortunately almost got hit by puss... I just got out of the OR where we did a ruptured appendizitis. The kid had already developed an abscess that contained 500ml of puss...... Well that was when I realized why I don't like abdominal surgeries.... but I manged to stay, didn't pass out or feel any signs of low blood pressure.... I also got to tie a few nods, which is so much more difficult with nylon and gloves on! Yesterday I did ask a nurse for some gloves so that I could practice with gloves on, but so far I have not had the time to do that.
Now we have one more cases. I saw the patient already on her birthday and examined her every morning since then. So I really know that patient this time and I know her history and how she did over the past days. She was born with an abdominal wall defect. All her bowel was outside and really big, so they coverd it in a little house and let it get used to being "inside" and reduced it a little every day and now she is ready for surgery and have her abdomal wall closed up! So that is really exciting and I am glad that I am on call tonight, cause otherwise they would have sent me home by now....
Yesterday I also got to have some social time. Barb invited me over for some closet shopping! that was really great and afterwards we went to have dinner at Qdoba!!! Afterwards I did not feel like studying much when I got back home... So when I walked by the really sad christmastree that felt cold and abandoned I decided to take a away his pain (that's what future doctors do ;)) and help him by putting up a few ornaments....
Now I am waiting for the next surgery to start. Since we are already down to the on call team and there is only one anesthesiologist, who now has to take care of a kid that decided to swallow a knife, we have to wait to go back to the OR and start with our case....
Now we have one more cases. I saw the patient already on her birthday and examined her every morning since then. So I really know that patient this time and I know her history and how she did over the past days. She was born with an abdominal wall defect. All her bowel was outside and really big, so they coverd it in a little house and let it get used to being "inside" and reduced it a little every day and now she is ready for surgery and have her abdomal wall closed up! So that is really exciting and I am glad that I am on call tonight, cause otherwise they would have sent me home by now....
Yesterday I also got to have some social time. Barb invited me over for some closet shopping! that was really great and afterwards we went to have dinner at Qdoba!!! Afterwards I did not feel like studying much when I got back home... So when I walked by the really sad christmastree that felt cold and abandoned I decided to take a away his pain (that's what future doctors do ;)) and help him by putting up a few ornaments....
Now I am waiting for the next surgery to start. Since we are already down to the on call team and there is only one anesthesiologist, who now has to take care of a kid that decided to swallow a knife, we have to wait to go back to the OR and start with our case....
Montag, 22. Dezember 2008
busy weekend
... well I did get out early on Saturday. I was sent home at about 9.30 after having been sitting around for 2.5hours...
Even though I did get out so early I still did not managed to get everything done one my long list. I need a day stretcher!!!!
I tried to get rid of the cold that is slowly making it's way through my respiratory system... This weekend I wasn't able to talk much, because I lost my voice... Not much fun. That might even be the worst handycap that could happen to me - not being able to get all those words out.... I finished christmascards, worked on Christmaspresents and baked some more cookies.... We still did not get around to decorating the Christmas tree...
I did manage to read a few pages on today's surgeries though and that made me feel a lot better when I went to sleep last night.... Unfortunately I will not be in those surgeries today. We are one resident short to cover all the ORs, so I will be in one OR with only the attending. Those are not the most exciting surgeries and the surgeon is not my favorite in the OR either (not very patient), but I hope it will still be a good day.... At least I still got a voice after having presented 4 patients on rounds!!!! And that is definetely an improvement compared to yesterday!
Even though I did get out so early I still did not managed to get everything done one my long list. I need a day stretcher!!!!
I tried to get rid of the cold that is slowly making it's way through my respiratory system... This weekend I wasn't able to talk much, because I lost my voice... Not much fun. That might even be the worst handycap that could happen to me - not being able to get all those words out.... I finished christmascards, worked on Christmaspresents and baked some more cookies.... We still did not get around to decorating the Christmas tree...
I did manage to read a few pages on today's surgeries though and that made me feel a lot better when I went to sleep last night.... Unfortunately I will not be in those surgeries today. We are one resident short to cover all the ORs, so I will be in one OR with only the attending. Those are not the most exciting surgeries and the surgeon is not my favorite in the OR either (not very patient), but I hope it will still be a good day.... At least I still got a voice after having presented 4 patients on rounds!!!! And that is definetely an improvement compared to yesterday!
Samstag, 20. Dezember 2008
Cameraman/woman
Yersterday I was supped to be on call, but there wasn't to do so they sent me home and wanted me to be here for the day today.
The surgeries yesterday were pretty nice. I got to hold the camera for the entire duration of a laparaskopic cholezystectomie. Afterwards I also got to close two of the incisions!!! Lateron I wasn't quite that much involved anymore, but the omphalocele repair was still pretty interesting. The questioning sessions aren't quite as bad anymore, by now I know what kinds of questions the surgeons will ask and read that before the surgery. The review book I got really helps a lot. My big German text book is just not enough.... When I got asked the causes of Reflux I only knew one and when I read the chapter in the book last night it too only mentioned that one cause... So it is not a surprise that I couldn't come up with the other 5causes they wanted me to know!
Today it was been pretty quiet so far and I hope I will get out soon... There are no surgeries scheduled and hopefully there won't be any consults until rounds with the attendings are over... Because if that is the case I could go home and finally work on some christmaspresents, help Deb with the Christmas tree, get rid of the nasty cold and maybe finally add pictures to the blog....
The surgeries yesterday were pretty nice. I got to hold the camera for the entire duration of a laparaskopic cholezystectomie. Afterwards I also got to close two of the incisions!!! Lateron I wasn't quite that much involved anymore, but the omphalocele repair was still pretty interesting. The questioning sessions aren't quite as bad anymore, by now I know what kinds of questions the surgeons will ask and read that before the surgery. The review book I got really helps a lot. My big German text book is just not enough.... When I got asked the causes of Reflux I only knew one and when I read the chapter in the book last night it too only mentioned that one cause... So it is not a surprise that I couldn't come up with the other 5causes they wanted me to know!
Today it was been pretty quiet so far and I hope I will get out soon... There are no surgeries scheduled and hopefully there won't be any consults until rounds with the attendings are over... Because if that is the case I could go home and finally work on some christmaspresents, help Deb with the Christmas tree, get rid of the nasty cold and maybe finally add pictures to the blog....
Donnerstag, 18. Dezember 2008
a better day
This morning I had a hard time getting up, the cold just doesn't want to go away.... Once I was in the hospital and had things to do it did get a little better.
At some point last week they said things will slow down before Christmas... Well I guess that not really the case... I got to leave after having spend 11hours in the hospital today and when I left they were still not finishes with all the surgeries....
Being in surgery was a lot better today, I did finally manage to read about the most common things that they operate and certain things start to come back!!!! So I didn't feel quite as stupid today. That was definetely an improvement. I did enjoy staying in surgery a lot more! I also got the opportunity to sew again! We operated a little girl, who got admitted with appendizitis. During surgery it tourned out that it was not appendizitis, but that she had a little tumor right at the beginning of her Appendix. It was fortunately just normal lymphoid tissue, which just grew a little too much. I got to watch the pathologist do the quick work up while the girl was still asleep. That was pretty neat and once we had the good diagnosis Romeo let me sew up two of the three cuts necessary for a laparoscopic appendectomy. During surgery they also let me hold the camera, cut part of the appendix with the stapler-cutter-thing and I got to hold and move around the laparoskopic pick ups to get a feeling for them. It is really not that easy and I can understand why they say that who ever is good at playing computer games is good at doing laparoscopic procedures! So this was overall a pretty amazing surgery and very exciting for me!
At that moment I was glad that I am the only student there right now... because there was no body else I had to fight for going in there.... :)
At some point last week they said things will slow down before Christmas... Well I guess that not really the case... I got to leave after having spend 11hours in the hospital today and when I left they were still not finishes with all the surgeries....
Being in surgery was a lot better today, I did finally manage to read about the most common things that they operate and certain things start to come back!!!! So I didn't feel quite as stupid today. That was definetely an improvement. I did enjoy staying in surgery a lot more! I also got the opportunity to sew again! We operated a little girl, who got admitted with appendizitis. During surgery it tourned out that it was not appendizitis, but that she had a little tumor right at the beginning of her Appendix. It was fortunately just normal lymphoid tissue, which just grew a little too much. I got to watch the pathologist do the quick work up while the girl was still asleep. That was pretty neat and once we had the good diagnosis Romeo let me sew up two of the three cuts necessary for a laparoscopic appendectomy. During surgery they also let me hold the camera, cut part of the appendix with the stapler-cutter-thing and I got to hold and move around the laparoskopic pick ups to get a feeling for them. It is really not that easy and I can understand why they say that who ever is good at playing computer games is good at doing laparoscopic procedures! So this was overall a pretty amazing surgery and very exciting for me!
At that moment I was glad that I am the only student there right now... because there was no body else I had to fight for going in there.... :)
Mittwoch, 17. Dezember 2008
my first surgery
I am sorry if you all have been waiting for daily updates over the past days, but there is just not much time... I need a day stretcher!!!!
On Monday I was on call again and we had surgeries till 12.30 at night. Some of them were really interesting, but it was definetely a long day... But the most exciting thing on Monday was that I got to do what I gave up on Saturday to have some social time. I got to do my first surgery - cut skin open and all that. I didn't expect that to happen, I just went to the OR to assist, but then the attending handed me the scapel and said "you have to cut from here to there, go" So I did. It was pretty amazing!!! I loved it! I really enjoy participating in the surgeries, but not having time to read things, revise anatomy and then not being able to answer questions is just so frustrating... Once the attendings have told me what they wanted to hear it is coming back, but that is a little bit too late... Today I tried to read a few chapters and look up some anatomy, but that didn't go very well, because the doctor's lounge is not necessarily the most quiet place in the hospital - discussions, tv, phone calls.... I will keep looking for the perfect place to read and look things up. Maybe I can find it. Now at least kind of know what they will be asking and I know what to look up before the surgery, which might just mean that I can't go into all surgeries, but have to pick a few that I can then prepare for.
Yesterday I left the hospital after conference in the morning and I slept most of the day to get rid of a cold that I cought in the hospital... (what a suprise, considering that I am in a children's hospital....) I did feel a lot better today, even though it is kind of bad when you feel your nose tickle and can't do anything about it because you're scrubbed up....
Tuesday is Tim and Deb's Meemaw and Pawpaw night and I did make dinner yesterday, because I was home most of the day. Everybody really liked my pasta and fruitsalad, even though I was a little worried, because the ingredients were a little different and the consistence of the sauce didn't turn out to be quite as usual... But it did taste the same! And I was told that the best compliment was that Meemaw ate all of it!
Today was not a particular exciting day. I went to the hospital, got to the floor by 5 and had to look for patients that hadn't been seen yet by any resident... Which is kind of annoying when I get in in the morning and have to spend the first 15-20minutes looking for patients that noone had seen yet. It hadn't even helped that I did talk to the residents the day before telling them who I wanted to see the next morning.... But today I was finally told where I can start each morning without anyone having been there yet. That will make the start each morning a little less stressful!
Overall it is a great experience, I just wish I had more time to be prepared better and more storage in my brain to keep all the English terms in there as well as the German ones.... I'd love to see all the surgeries because I do learn so much watching, but I unfortunately can't, because then I will not be well enough prepared....
On Monday I was on call again and we had surgeries till 12.30 at night. Some of them were really interesting, but it was definetely a long day... But the most exciting thing on Monday was that I got to do what I gave up on Saturday to have some social time. I got to do my first surgery - cut skin open and all that. I didn't expect that to happen, I just went to the OR to assist, but then the attending handed me the scapel and said "you have to cut from here to there, go" So I did. It was pretty amazing!!! I loved it! I really enjoy participating in the surgeries, but not having time to read things, revise anatomy and then not being able to answer questions is just so frustrating... Once the attendings have told me what they wanted to hear it is coming back, but that is a little bit too late... Today I tried to read a few chapters and look up some anatomy, but that didn't go very well, because the doctor's lounge is not necessarily the most quiet place in the hospital - discussions, tv, phone calls.... I will keep looking for the perfect place to read and look things up. Maybe I can find it. Now at least kind of know what they will be asking and I know what to look up before the surgery, which might just mean that I can't go into all surgeries, but have to pick a few that I can then prepare for.
Yesterday I left the hospital after conference in the morning and I slept most of the day to get rid of a cold that I cought in the hospital... (what a suprise, considering that I am in a children's hospital....) I did feel a lot better today, even though it is kind of bad when you feel your nose tickle and can't do anything about it because you're scrubbed up....
Tuesday is Tim and Deb's Meemaw and Pawpaw night and I did make dinner yesterday, because I was home most of the day. Everybody really liked my pasta and fruitsalad, even though I was a little worried, because the ingredients were a little different and the consistence of the sauce didn't turn out to be quite as usual... But it did taste the same! And I was told that the best compliment was that Meemaw ate all of it!
Today was not a particular exciting day. I went to the hospital, got to the floor by 5 and had to look for patients that hadn't been seen yet by any resident... Which is kind of annoying when I get in in the morning and have to spend the first 15-20minutes looking for patients that noone had seen yet. It hadn't even helped that I did talk to the residents the day before telling them who I wanted to see the next morning.... But today I was finally told where I can start each morning without anyone having been there yet. That will make the start each morning a little less stressful!
Overall it is a great experience, I just wish I had more time to be prepared better and more storage in my brain to keep all the English terms in there as well as the German ones.... I'd love to see all the surgeries because I do learn so much watching, but I unfortunately can't, because then I will not be well enough prepared....
Montag, 15. Dezember 2008
second tour through urban KY
Saturday was a prettz short working day. I could have gotten out right after rounds were over at 8.00, but I decided to stay to see some surgeries. I finally left the hospital around noon even though I have had the chance to operate on my first abscess... But I figured those come in often and I should make sure I also got some social life!!!! And Deb, Tim and I did! We went back to Maker's Mark - this time for the guided tour with a tasting at the end. It was great. We got to try the freshly fermented stuff (tasts like beer), the freshly distilled white dog and the aged bourbon. When we were all standing around the big fermenting barrels I was wondering what they would do if someone just stuck their finger in... well, I found out - nothing, they tell you to do so!!!! At the end of the tour I got to dip my own bottle (but I would not have been able to dip 20/minute like the workers their do - it is no easy!) Tim and Deb also arranged to get me an official Maker's Mark embassador certificate, it was read to me and I even got a pin... Some people have beer with the head a tiny state and other's get to taste bourban with an Embassador ;)
On the way back we drove through Hodginsville, which is the town where Abraham Lincoln was born. We stopped at his birthplace and saw the little cabin he and his family used to live in. Unfortunately there were constructions going on, because next year will be an anniversery...
For Dinner we went to a German restaurant in Louisville. Tim and Deb had "Gluehwein" for the first time and I have to admit the food is pretty good there. So if any one of you wants to get an idea of what some typical German dishes taste like, I can recommend you go there!
Sunday was a pretty easy going day. I finally got to sleep in! I managed to catch up with all of my families and in the evening we started to put up the christmas tree. Not knowing what I would get myself into I wanted to help Deb, do some of the things she still had on her never ending list... Putting up almost 400little Lights on a Christmas tree is definetely not easy for someone who usually only puts up 24 lights.... Fortunately Tim and Steve took over at the end, otherwise I would probably have spend all night struggeling...
On the way back we drove through Hodginsville, which is the town where Abraham Lincoln was born. We stopped at his birthplace and saw the little cabin he and his family used to live in. Unfortunately there were constructions going on, because next year will be an anniversery...
For Dinner we went to a German restaurant in Louisville. Tim and Deb had "Gluehwein" for the first time and I have to admit the food is pretty good there. So if any one of you wants to get an idea of what some typical German dishes taste like, I can recommend you go there!
Sunday was a pretty easy going day. I finally got to sleep in! I managed to catch up with all of my families and in the evening we started to put up the christmas tree. Not knowing what I would get myself into I wanted to help Deb, do some of the things she still had on her never ending list... Putting up almost 400little Lights on a Christmas tree is definetely not easy for someone who usually only puts up 24 lights.... Fortunately Tim and Steve took over at the end, otherwise I would probably have spend all night struggeling...
Samstag, 13. Dezember 2008
My Old Kentucky Home
I finally got out at 9.30 this morning. I managed to get almost 4 hours of sleep in the on call room, which was pretty good. I was still tired during the lecture we had to attend in the morning. It was interesting, but I did have a hard time following... A doctor from Hopkins was there to talk about craniofacial reconstruction.
In the afternoon Tim and Deb took me to Maker's Mark. We wanted to go see my barrel (a princess' drink), but we got there too late for the tour and they also told us, they don't know where they store which barrel. We wandered around the place a little and when we got to the distillery a supervisor came by and offered to give us a private tour - being German in America does have some advantages.... ;) He showed us around the distillery, which was extremly cool. On the way back we drove to Bardstown to see the place where Forster got inspired to write "My old Kentucky home" (the state hymn). It is a really neat place. We did the candlelight tour. People had dressed up in costumes and told us all kinds of interesting facts about the old house and his owners. They had two people singing Christmas carols and Christmastrees in all of the rooms. It was really neat. Some of the beds were really scary and I am glad we don't use those kinds of furniture anymore. Unfortunately there was no picture taking allowed inside... In the kitchen they offered Bourbon cake (and chocolate cake) and apple cider. It was a really neat tour! We also got to see the moon when we got back out, the brightest full moon for the next 8years!!! It was bigger and brighter than usual!
Once we got back home I got to drink my first Maker's Mark drink... and slept well after that!
In the afternoon Tim and Deb took me to Maker's Mark. We wanted to go see my barrel (a princess' drink), but we got there too late for the tour and they also told us, they don't know where they store which barrel. We wandered around the place a little and when we got to the distillery a supervisor came by and offered to give us a private tour - being German in America does have some advantages.... ;) He showed us around the distillery, which was extremly cool. On the way back we drove to Bardstown to see the place where Forster got inspired to write "My old Kentucky home" (the state hymn). It is a really neat place. We did the candlelight tour. People had dressed up in costumes and told us all kinds of interesting facts about the old house and his owners. They had two people singing Christmas carols and Christmastrees in all of the rooms. It was really neat. Some of the beds were really scary and I am glad we don't use those kinds of furniture anymore. Unfortunately there was no picture taking allowed inside... In the kitchen they offered Bourbon cake (and chocolate cake) and apple cider. It was a really neat tour! We also got to see the moon when we got back out, the brightest full moon for the next 8years!!! It was bigger and brighter than usual!
Once we got back home I got to drink my first Maker's Mark drink... and slept well after that!
Donnerstag, 11. Dezember 2008
firsts
Well it was not the first day to get up at 3.30, but it was the first day being the only student on the service.... I got to pick which ever patient I wanted to see in the morning. After my first presentation today I was told what I should do better, which was really good!
Since I was the only student I also got to pick whichever surgery I wanted to scrub in on... so I started scrubbing in at 8 and got finally out at 6pm. It was a long day, but I got to see a lot of really great cases. We did a Kasai-procedure on a girl who suffered from biliary atresia. It was a 6hour surgery and my arm will be sore tomorrow, but only one in a million kids got that problem and therefore the surgery is not performed often. It was kind of spectacular and it was definetely worth seeing it. I also got to do my first intracutaneus suture and write the OR report after surgery! The attendings ask a lot of questions, bad questions, things I have not revised since 2nd or 3rd semester (all kinds of anatomical questions, embryology...) It definetely helps to learn a lot, but having to say I don't know after every other question makes me feel kind of bad... Especially since I know I did know it at some point.... Fortunately it comes back quickly!!!! Right now I am having my first on call night. Well see how that goes. After 3hours of prerounds and round, 10hours in the OR I now got 10hours of on call time ahead of me till we will start prerounds again... Hopefully there will be some sleeping time in there.
I've got to say, even though the first day wasn't the greatest experience, I am starting to really enjoy the time here and think I will learn a whole lot!
Since I was the only student I also got to pick whichever surgery I wanted to scrub in on... so I started scrubbing in at 8 and got finally out at 6pm. It was a long day, but I got to see a lot of really great cases. We did a Kasai-procedure on a girl who suffered from biliary atresia. It was a 6hour surgery and my arm will be sore tomorrow, but only one in a million kids got that problem and therefore the surgery is not performed often. It was kind of spectacular and it was definetely worth seeing it. I also got to do my first intracutaneus suture and write the OR report after surgery! The attendings ask a lot of questions, bad questions, things I have not revised since 2nd or 3rd semester (all kinds of anatomical questions, embryology...) It definetely helps to learn a lot, but having to say I don't know after every other question makes me feel kind of bad... Especially since I know I did know it at some point.... Fortunately it comes back quickly!!!! Right now I am having my first on call night. Well see how that goes. After 3hours of prerounds and round, 10hours in the OR I now got 10hours of on call time ahead of me till we will start prerounds again... Hopefully there will be some sleeping time in there.
I've got to say, even though the first day wasn't the greatest experience, I am starting to really enjoy the time here and think I will learn a whole lot!
Mittwoch, 10. Dezember 2008
on my own
Yesterday I was just too tired to write anything. I barely slept 1.5h at night, because I was woken up by the noise the wind made and then couldn't go back to sleep. On top I also had to get up at 3.30 AM to make it to the hospital on time. Well I did not make it on time... -even though the roads were clear (right, who else is up and around that early...). I had trouble finding the parking lot I was supposed to go to and then ended up three blocks away from the hospital. Also before 6am all the entrances except for the Emergency entrance are closed... Well I found all that out and finally got to the floor to see patients. At 6.30 we had a quality improvement conference (for all the med students - an M&M) Those times are definetely not what I am used to. Well I am not much longer in the hospital than I was in Switzerland, but working hours were just different. And it makes you feel kind of weird, if you start feeling really tired at 10.30 in the morning.....Today was already a whole lot better, I had had 6hours of sleep and found the parking lot almost right away.... Tomorrow I might actually find it right away....
Yesterday I got to talk to a a few more people on the team, got to know the people and that made me feel much more comfortable. Being at the hospital was almost as much fun as usual (except for being really tired). Being in surgery was just great. Once I am in there and have to focus I do not feel any more how tired I really am. That's just great. After I got off I got my ID made, of course I look weird on the picture! I don't know how American's always manage to look good on those pictures..... It was the same with my High School ID! Anyway I got it know, I am official a med student at UofL.
On my way home I of course didn't find the right way right away... Even though I did have a GPS. But fortunately it told me how to get back to where I was supposed to be. Today I once again I did a whole lot better, driving around around Louisville on my own.
Now the most exciting thing about today was the special Christmas lunch for the employees! They had a choire seeing Christmas songs in the hall, Santa was sitting in a chair giving out candy to all the employees (he even had a Norton Hospital employee batch - unfortunately I did not have a Camera), people were thanking the employees for their work and then we all got so much food, two people could have eaten that: green beens, mashed potatoes, stuffing, two kinds of meat, and three deserts (fruitsalad, Pecan pie and a brownie!!!!) It was really great! But I couldn't eat it all! It was still a great gesture from the hospital!
Overall Today was once again a little better than yesterday. I am starting to feel more comfortable around the hospital. I don't get disoriented quite that often anymore. I also had to present during rounds for the first time today. I was really nervous before. It was ok, but definetely needs some improvement. The words don't come out quite as easily as they should!
On my way home I of course didn't find the right way right away... Even though I did have a GPS. But fortunately it told me how to get back to where I was supposed to be. Today I once again I did a whole lot better, driving around around Louisville on my own.
Now the most exciting thing about today was the special Christmas lunch for the employees! They had a choire seeing Christmas songs in the hall, Santa was sitting in a chair giving out candy to all the employees (he even had a Norton Hospital employee batch - unfortunately I did not have a Camera), people were thanking the employees for their work and then we all got so much food, two people could have eaten that: green beens, mashed potatoes, stuffing, two kinds of meat, and three deserts (fruitsalad, Pecan pie and a brownie!!!!) It was really great! But I couldn't eat it all! It was still a great gesture from the hospital!
Overall Today was once again a little better than yesterday. I am starting to feel more comfortable around the hospital. I don't get disoriented quite that often anymore. I also had to present during rounds for the first time today. I was really nervous before. It was ok, but definetely needs some improvement. The words don't come out quite as easily as they should!
Tomorrow will be by first night on call... I am excited to see how that will go and how much sleep I will get.....
Montag, 8. Dezember 2008
First day in the hospital
I was pretty excited this morning to start my first day and I kind of new it was gonna be the only day that I got to go in so late. I had to get some more organisational stuff done - parking permit, metting people.... But I still do not have an ID that I will hopefully get tomorrow!
The day started out really well until I met the resident, who was supposed to meet me and show me around a little. Well he met me, but he never got to showing me around.... I followed him, cause he wanted me to, but never really explained anything, didn't really answer my questions and did not seem to care at all. I felt like a shadow and that was just bad. I just didn't feel comfortable being left outside the OR door without any further instructions on what was going to happen next... I did get to be in two surgeries and it seems as if students get to do quite a bit depending on which surgeon they are in with. I also already got asked tons of questions, which I couldn't always answer completely even though I had the answer in my head (but it was up there in German and did not want to come out in English....) I have to work on that.... I felt a little like experiencing Greys Anatomy live... getting quizzed during surgery, having to start work at 4.30am, doing prerounds, being on call every fourth night.... It looks like I will have pretty tough 8 weeks ahead of me, but I will try to get off for Christmas or at least get out early. After all I would like to have some social time too and not just sleep and study when outside the hospital.... I will definetely learn a lot and now after having spend 2 hours with a very nice medical student I also know more about my routine, which will make me feel more comfortable going in tomorrow. He was so nice he wrote down all the abreviations they commonly use when doing exams and writting charts, so that I will not feel completely stupid tomorrow morning. I am actually already looking forward to tomorrow, because it just has to get better. Today was such a bad day to begin with, that I can't believe it is going to be like that for the rest of the time!
Now I have to learn abbreviations and get to my assignment - reading about a disease I could have talked about in German, but went totally blank when having to talk about it in English...
The day started out really well until I met the resident, who was supposed to meet me and show me around a little. Well he met me, but he never got to showing me around.... I followed him, cause he wanted me to, but never really explained anything, didn't really answer my questions and did not seem to care at all. I felt like a shadow and that was just bad. I just didn't feel comfortable being left outside the OR door without any further instructions on what was going to happen next... I did get to be in two surgeries and it seems as if students get to do quite a bit depending on which surgeon they are in with. I also already got asked tons of questions, which I couldn't always answer completely even though I had the answer in my head (but it was up there in German and did not want to come out in English....) I have to work on that.... I felt a little like experiencing Greys Anatomy live... getting quizzed during surgery, having to start work at 4.30am, doing prerounds, being on call every fourth night.... It looks like I will have pretty tough 8 weeks ahead of me, but I will try to get off for Christmas or at least get out early. After all I would like to have some social time too and not just sleep and study when outside the hospital.... I will definetely learn a lot and now after having spend 2 hours with a very nice medical student I also know more about my routine, which will make me feel more comfortable going in tomorrow. He was so nice he wrote down all the abreviations they commonly use when doing exams and writting charts, so that I will not feel completely stupid tomorrow morning. I am actually already looking forward to tomorrow, because it just has to get better. Today was such a bad day to begin with, that I can't believe it is going to be like that for the rest of the time!
Now I have to learn abbreviations and get to my assignment - reading about a disease I could have talked about in German, but went totally blank when having to talk about it in English...
Sonntag, 7. Dezember 2008
the exciting first days
First of all, sorry that it took so long to finally get this blog started.... I already got to Baltimore on Wednesday and arrived in Louisville on Friday, but I have just been so busy meeting people and spending time with my American family that I didn't find the time to sit down and start the blog.
(I did also cut back on sleeping... which seems to be getting to me now...)
In London I got to see the new terminal 5, which is pretty cool, very open and furnished with extremely comfortable chairs and couches! You might actually fall asleep there and not wake up every five minutes.
The plane to Baltimore was half empty (here that's a good thing...). The seat next to me wasn't taken, so I actually got to sleep after I hadn't slept very well the night before, because I kept thinking about what else I could leave in Germany to somehow make the new weight limit... Well all the thinking and not sleeping didn't help. I had to pay overweight. The flight was a little bumpy, but we got to Baltimore ok (only 50minutes late...)
On my first night on American ground, we had a Mexican dinner with homemade tortilla shells! Except for the hick ups, which I got from eating the supposedly not hot pepper, it had been a perfect first dinner! The next day I got to finally see the portraits of Vivien Thomas and Alred Blalock at John's Hopkins (they came up with the surgial technique to help the "blue babies"). Since I had seen the movie "Something the lord made" I had been wanting to see those portraits....
For the night my American parents had planned a special suprise... We went to see the Radio City Music Hall Rockets with their Christmas show. It was really good. The Rockets are pretty amazing... and they got legs, long legs, really long! After having been traveling so much and not really getting into the Christmas mood yet, that was a perfect night to feel a little more christmasy....
The next morning I had to get up early again (this time on purpous) to go to Louisville. We spend the day having my first Papa John's Pizza for lunch, doing errands and getting unpacked. At night we went to see the High School state championship seminfinals in Football (Trinity vs. St. X). For everybody who is not familiar with Louisville and it's High Schools: those two are bigtime rivals! St. X did unfortunately loose the game, but the best thing about the game was, that we got to watch it from the Papa John's Box!!!! ...nice and warm and with free Pizza, while there were barly 20°F outside....
Saturday was pretty lazy. I tried to sleep in, which didn't work too well (stupid body). I started to decorate my room and finished unpacking. In the afternoon I met with Jim to get my car. I was suprised at how well it drives. It's old, but the breaks and the engine work just perfectly. It feels as if I am getting along with this car better than with the one I had in Raleigh two years ago! At first it was kind of weird to not having to shift, but I got used to that pretty quickly. The evening was pretty great! I had my first Wii-Night. Gale invited us over initially to watch a movie...but that plan changed soon. It was awesome. I had so much fun playing tennis, bowling, mario cart and I also got to meet some of the rest of the family. I hope being in hospital will leave some time for more fun nights like that. I really enjoyed that... and Gale's Chili was really tasty!
Today I baked Christmas Cookies! It is so great that you can go shopping on a Sunday... I bought a little Christmas Tree for my room, while we were actually out to get cookie ingredients.... It was another pretty relaxed day before I will be starting my rotation at UofL tomorrow... I am already very excited...... At first I will have to get some more paperwork done, but once that will be taken care of I will meet my resident....
(I did also cut back on sleeping... which seems to be getting to me now...)
In London I got to see the new terminal 5, which is pretty cool, very open and furnished with extremely comfortable chairs and couches! You might actually fall asleep there and not wake up every five minutes.
The plane to Baltimore was half empty (here that's a good thing...). The seat next to me wasn't taken, so I actually got to sleep after I hadn't slept very well the night before, because I kept thinking about what else I could leave in Germany to somehow make the new weight limit... Well all the thinking and not sleeping didn't help. I had to pay overweight. The flight was a little bumpy, but we got to Baltimore ok (only 50minutes late...)
On my first night on American ground, we had a Mexican dinner with homemade tortilla shells! Except for the hick ups, which I got from eating the supposedly not hot pepper, it had been a perfect first dinner! The next day I got to finally see the portraits of Vivien Thomas and Alred Blalock at John's Hopkins (they came up with the surgial technique to help the "blue babies"). Since I had seen the movie "Something the lord made" I had been wanting to see those portraits....
For the night my American parents had planned a special suprise... We went to see the Radio City Music Hall Rockets with their Christmas show. It was really good. The Rockets are pretty amazing... and they got legs, long legs, really long! After having been traveling so much and not really getting into the Christmas mood yet, that was a perfect night to feel a little more christmasy....
The next morning I had to get up early again (this time on purpous) to go to Louisville. We spend the day having my first Papa John's Pizza for lunch, doing errands and getting unpacked. At night we went to see the High School state championship seminfinals in Football (Trinity vs. St. X). For everybody who is not familiar with Louisville and it's High Schools: those two are bigtime rivals! St. X did unfortunately loose the game, but the best thing about the game was, that we got to watch it from the Papa John's Box!!!! ...nice and warm and with free Pizza, while there were barly 20°F outside....
Saturday was pretty lazy. I tried to sleep in, which didn't work too well (stupid body). I started to decorate my room and finished unpacking. In the afternoon I met with Jim to get my car. I was suprised at how well it drives. It's old, but the breaks and the engine work just perfectly. It feels as if I am getting along with this car better than with the one I had in Raleigh two years ago! At first it was kind of weird to not having to shift, but I got used to that pretty quickly. The evening was pretty great! I had my first Wii-Night. Gale invited us over initially to watch a movie...but that plan changed soon. It was awesome. I had so much fun playing tennis, bowling, mario cart and I also got to meet some of the rest of the family. I hope being in hospital will leave some time for more fun nights like that. I really enjoyed that... and Gale's Chili was really tasty!
Today I baked Christmas Cookies! It is so great that you can go shopping on a Sunday... I bought a little Christmas Tree for my room, while we were actually out to get cookie ingredients.... It was another pretty relaxed day before I will be starting my rotation at UofL tomorrow... I am already very excited...... At first I will have to get some more paperwork done, but once that will be taken care of I will meet my resident....
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