thoughts... because i'm too tired to form sentences

i'm still reeling from the aftermath of being in the NICU last month and now taking care of heme/onc patients mostly by myself.

1. next saturday, i'm going home to california.

2. for my next vacation in april, i'm planning to LEAVE THE COUNTRY. it's been too long.

3. a couple weeks ago, i called 911 because i saw a man waving a gun around right off Lake Shore Drive and... no one picked up!

4. i just watched "Friends with Money." i loved it. not quite as good as "Lovely and Amazing" however.

5. it's sad when friends move away...

6. i'm devastated that i scheduled my vacation during the Chicago International Film Festival this year and will thus, be out of town for almost the entire thing. :(

7. now that i'm getting a regular paycheck, i think i'll donate to my alma mater.

8. babies are beautiful. i saw my cousin's new baby today. he has the chubbiest cheeks i've seen in a long time.

9. i hate that it's getting so cold here... and i hear that it's going to be a bad winter.

10. i can't wait for Halloween! (usually i can't stand the idea of adults who love Halloween but my program director whom i worship, is a huge Halloween fan, and thus, i might be coming around)

procedures

This is my very last week in the NICU. THANK GOODNESS. I feel like I am just barely surviving this month... last week had its exciting moments. I successfully intubated my first preemie baby! I'm 1/3 now. I also put in a UVC (umbilical venous catheter). And... did a spinal tap, that looked like a champagne tap but microscopically had 83 red blood cells. I suppose that's one of the few things that I've enjoyed about my NICU rotation... the procedures are kinda cool. Especially when you get them successfully.

Yasmin was in town this past week! We had a Reunion at Le Lan, where we enjoyed exquisitely prepared food. My only criticism is TOO MUCH COCONUT. It was just like old times, except even more special now that we don't have the luxury of hanging out all that often.

OMG

Dog of the Day:

My sister has been submitting Britten's information and picture for EVER for this website. And guess what! Click here. Isn't he the cutest?!?

me and the construction workers...

I've been getting up at 5am since I've started in the NICU (neonatal intensive care unit). This means that when I'm walking to work, it's still pitch-dark and the only people I see around at that insane hour are the construction workers who are working on Comer II. That makes me sad. For them, and me.

Needless to say, I've been working hard in the NICU. I calculated my hours and I'm up to 94 hours last week. Not only is that technically illegal by 14 extra hours, but it's an insane amount. It's a brutal rotation because we have tons of micro-preemies that were born at 24-26 weeks and weigh only 500 grams. I've heard we have one of the largest NICUs in the country so this also means we have over 60 beds. When we're on call, there's only the fellow, the senior resident, and me. Plus we're running back and forth to labor and delivery to catch/resuscitate the babies. PAIN!!

But I still managed to have a fun weekend, despite being on call. Friday night was Dr. Kahana's wine-tasting party at her beautiful house in Lincoln Park. She had food catered from Fox and Obel, and the pink wines kept flowing. :) I was reminded how lucky I am to have the COOLEST, most brilliant program director in the country (I'm convinced) and to be surrounded by people who really care about us, not only as residents but as people. How mushy. :)

Yesterday I went to Vinny and David's wedding at the Palmer House Hilton. It was a traditional Jewish/Indian wedding, which you can imagine, was VERY interesting... I'd say it was the most unique wedding I've ever been to, and probably will ever be to. It was fun and weird at the same time to see the ENTIRE department of medicine there.