BufBloPoFo09 Day 14

Well, it's been fun ladies and gents. I've had a blast participating again in the BufBloPoFo. I really enjoyed reading what everyone else had to say. I can't wait for next year.

BufBloPoFo09 Day 13

So last year around this time P posted this. It was about he upcoming GI Joe movie.

Not much has changed about our position. I'm am nervous but cautiously optimisitic about the treatment that a classic from my childhood will get. Other than the photo that P posted, there are a few other things that encourage me.

Arnold Vosloo is playing Zartan.

Brendan Fraser is also in it.

Every movie with those two in it has been awesome.

BufBloPoFo09 Day 12

My advice for parents:

Don't jump for every single cry the baby makes. Babies need to learn to calm themselves. We didn't respond until Alyssa cried for at least 30sec to 1 min and now she sleeps all night long.

Make discipline a priority and don't back down. If you threaten a punishment and then don't follow through, then your child learns that there aren't consequences to their actions.

edited 6:48 AM 3/26/09 to fix a minor typo.

BufBloPoFo09 Day 11

So in this pic, I am in the OR. That's why I'm in my scrubs/hat. I've got my mask on because they had started opening the equipment for the surgery and I needed it to be stable. The picture's a little fuzzy because I took it with the iPhone.

I'm on call and I can't really post more.

BufBloPoFo09 Day 10

Who inspires me?

I think I'm going to talk about the physician who inspired me to go into medicine.

Her name is Asha Kumar, MD. She is an ophthalmologist who specializes in corneas/corneal transplants. She also does general practice ophthalmology, which is how I met her. I first saw her as a patient when I was about 5 or 6 years old. She was the first female doctor I ever met. She has a thriving solo practice and managed to have/raise what appear to be well-adjusted children.

I've pretty much wanted to be her from the moment I met her. I even went to medical school thinking I was going into ophthalmology. And she's never let me forget that I changed my mind :)

Understanding our Neighbors to the North

The key to friendship with such a wonderful nation as Soviet Canuckistan Canada is understanding. Understanding requires knowledge.

I present, therefore, everything you never needed to know aboot Canada.




Here's a shout-out to the team of How I Met Your Mother, who have just about the greatest attention to detail of any show on television. For more examples, see here, here, here, and here.

BufBloPoFo09 Day 9

"If you had a million dollars, besides buying John Merrick’s remains for your husband, what would you do?"

That was the question posed to me by Mike. Yep folks, I had the honor of being talked about by the BufBloPoFo09 organizer.

So here's what I'd do:
- pay off the house and start looking for a bigger one
- new car for the husband
- start a college fund for Alyssa
- give some to a family member going through some rough financial times
- pay off the student loans, credit cards, all debts
- invest the rest

Oh yeah and I'd start eating Kraft Dinner (instead of the Wegman's brand).

BufBloPoFo09 Day 8

Today I'm supposed to talk about Silly Rabbit... . This is the blog that is below mine on the sidebar at Royal Toybox and according to Mike I'm supposed to:

Alright, enough of this lazy stuff, time to get those creative juices flowing. Take a look to the right over there and you’ll see a list of the “BufBloPoFo 09 Participants”. It’s pretty, isn’t it?!? Look at them all! Okay, now find whichever blog is below yours and talk about that dude. If you know them, tell us how you met. If you don’t know them, talk about something you read on their site. Whichever it is, end your post by asking that person a question. (That last part maaaaaaay be important later on...),

So I don't know Michelle in person. I have noticed a theme running through her posts. She is a new mother of a baby boy. It sounds as though she's having fun being a mom and breastfeeding. Don't worry, the clustering goes away (and if your lucky they do it in the early evening and sleep all night). The sleep comes back too. Also, I'd like to tell her that the next time Alyssa gets a diaper rash, I'm trying her method; it seems like good advice.

Here's my question for Michelle:

Now you've been a mom for a whole three weeks now, how are you adjusting to motherhood and is it everything you had expected?

BufBloPoFo09 Day 7

So today I get to pick the topic. So I'm going to talk about what I've been doing the last few days.

I was on call on Wed. I got to work at 6:30am like usual. I worked first in the dental clinic (doing sedations) then the OR, then OB, then back to the OR. I did get to eat lunch and dinner (dinner was around 5pm). I got home at 4:45 am yesterday. I slept until 8:30 and got up for the phone call telling me I didn't need to come in to work. I went back to sleep, and my pager went off at 11am. The holding area never got told I was off work, so they wanted to know where I was. I got out of bed then and did very little during the day (paperwork, eating, shower). When P got home with the baby, we went grocery shopping.

I am on call again today. I hope it's a better night.

BufBloPoFo09 Day 6

Today i'm talking about my first apartment. It was located in the Raintree Island apartment complex. It was 875 square feet, had two bedrooms, one bath, a smallish kitchen (we could put a table in it and still work), a living room and a balcony. We lived there for a little over a year. The smaller of the two bedrooms was affectionately known as the junk room and was essentially filled with the stuff we needed but couldn't really find a good place for. As apartments go it was pretty nice. There were 12 apartments in our building. We had access to a gym, pool, baseball diamonds (generally used by our neighbors to play Cricket) and a large community room we could use to throw parties if we wanted.

It was at the apartment where we had the New Year's Eve party where we ordered 5 # of roast beef for 20 people. None of the beef was eaten that night but we managed to polish off 5 bottles of champagne plus other assorted alcohol. The first guest left around noon, we started eating the roast beef around 2 and the last guest left at 9pm. That is our second most talked about New Year's Eve party.

I loved our apartment, but I couldn't wait to leave. We were on the second floor and whoever lived above us like to drop very loud things on the floor at 2am. I could never get the bedroom dark enough when I was on nights, so thats when I started using a sleep mask for daytime sleeping. Whenever I get frustrated with the house, all I have to do is remember apartment living and realize how much better it is here.

BufBloPoFo09 Day 5

Who would play me in a movie: no clue. Someone once told me that I looked like Jennifer Love Hewitt but I don't think I want her playing me in a film. I wouldn't mind if Reese Witherspoon played me.

Who would play Mike: Not really sure why I think this, but Hugh Jackman comes to mind.

Sorry for the short post today, trying to fit it in before my call today.

BufBloPoFo09 Day 4

Today I'm supposed to brag about something.

I'm bragging about my new car. I am the proud owner of a purple {Dark Crimson}GMC Acadia . It's the middle model with a few add ons. I have the back up camera and remote start added. It seats seven (and can actually hold seven adults). My 6 ft tall husband can comfortable sit in the third row (which is actually more spacious than the second row in his Jetta). Even with the third row up, it can hold a full complement of groceries in the trunk. It comes with OnStar, a Bose 10 speaker system, and satellite radio.

Today I was driving home from work and saw a physician I work with on the road next to me. He drives a Smart Car. As I was stopped next to it I realized that with my third row down, it would fit in the interior of my car.

This was the first new car I've ever owned and the first car I've ever picked out for myself. So I am bragging about my new car.

BufBloPoFo09 Day 3 - How to start an IV

So today I'm supposed to teach something. So how about something I do every day and can do pretty much half asleep.

Talk to the patient, see if they tell you that there's one spot where they always take blood from or if there's a spot where everyone tries and misses.

Put the tourniquet up and look for a promising vein.

Take the tourniquet down.

Prep your equipment - tape and dressing are open and in reach; you have angiocaths availble (at least 2 in the size you want to try, plus a smaller and a bigger one); the saline trap/iv bag with line are ready.

Wipe of the spot with an alcohol swab.

Put the tourniquet back up.

Use your non-dominant hand to hold the pt's hand/arm and pull the skin taut.

Grab the angio in your dominant hand with your thumb and middle finger (kinda like a pencil).

Insert the angio into the skin at about a 30 degree angle.

Look for the flash of blood.

Push the angio with the needle still inside another few milimeters.

Advance the angio off the needle, keeping the needle perfectly still, until the hub is at the skin.

Leave the needle in and put first piece of tape/occlusive dressing to secure.

Attach the saline trap/iv line.

Secure the trap/iv line to the skin.

Leave a loop to keep tension off the line and keep it from kinking.



See you tomorrow.

BufBloPoFo09 Day 2

Today's topic is to talk about your dream meal: the food, venue, people, etc.

I think my dream meal would be my traditional family holiday dinner (from when I was little) - pasta with meat sauce (not ground beef, the kind with sausage, meatballs, spareribs, etc), cousin Mary's hot pork, followed by turkey, stuffing, potatoes, Donna's rice, salad, veggies, homemade cranberry jelly and way too many pies for dessert.

We'd be in my current house. My parents, P's parents, my Aunt and Uncle, both of my sets of grandparents, Bucky and Donna, Louie and Mary, some of uncle Mike's kids, some of Bucky and Donna's kids, assorted family members (whoever happened to be in town) would be there with P, Alyssa and me. I've always felt sad that by the time I met Peter all of my grandparents had died and the holiday meals went from 25+ people to barely 10. I want him (and Alyssa) to know the chaos and fun of my big family holidays growing up. I miss them

BufBloPoFo09 Day 1

It's that time of year again. For the second straight year I will be participating in BufBloPoFo. The first topic: three big things in my life right now.

1. Alyssa Joy: the biggest new thing in my life is seven months old and is sitting next to me on the couch. She was born on August 5 and is the happiest baby on earth (according to me). She's almost always smiling and laughing. We've already taken over 500 pictures of her. Everything has changed since we brought her home. The highlight of my day is seeing her smile when I come home from work. We very rarely go anywhere she can't go. I love watching her explore the world and learn to do new things.

2. Work: I'm nearly done with all my training and can finally start my career. I can see the light at the end of the tunnel. In October 2009 I will be a fully trained Pediatric Anesthsiologist. After Alyssa, I focus on work. I have cases to prepare for, procedures to learn and a board exam to pass. What time I don't spend with the baby is usually spent at work.

3. BCAS: In my copious free time (yeah right), I sing with the Buffalo Choral Arts Society. I spend about 3 hours a week in rehearsals, plus a few concerts. I've spent over a decade singing with them, but I'm starting to take a more active role. I plan on running for a position on the board of directors next year. BCAS is my me time, the time I carve out for myself to relax/unwind - even if sometimes it stresses me out.

So those are my three things. Come back tomorrow for the next installment.

T-gorram-O?

One of the things I always like about the Bills is that we didn't put up with prima donna clowns.

Until now, apparently.