Saturday, November 28, 2009

best quote ever

Over a pre-Thanksgiving dinner:

Aunt
Joey, do you know what cousin Yen does for her job?  She delivers babies.

Joey (9 years old)
[looks a little puzzled, cocks his head to the side]
In a box?

Yen
[looks a little puzzled, cocks her head to the side, and bursts out laughing]
Yeah, just like the mailman.

Happy Thanksgiving to all!

Tuesday, November 10, 2009

Strange maladies

So, breaking out in hives several times a week for several months now has not been fun.  Let me rephrase that.  It's been hell.  I finally gave in and made an appointment with an allergist, which was both helpful and not. 

The allergist, who was very nice, and her nurse, who was just as nice, both kindly explained to me that I was there to answer a bunch of questions and have some (as in ten tubes full) blood work, and, in the end, they may never find out why I am breaking out in hives and that I will still need my antihistamines.

I guess I should know by now that medicine is not the cure all that everyone thinks it should be.  But I have to admit that I hope that after ten tubes of blood testing for everything from kidney disease to lupus to thyroid dysfunction to allergies to everything from nuts to latex to plums and everything in between, that they would find something.  So far, all they've found is that I'm deficient in Vitamin D.  I could have told you that... no milk + no sun = Vitamin D deficiency.  Duh.  Somehow, I don't think that Vitamin D deficiency --> hives.... unless I slept through that lecture in medical school (which is a good possibility).

Oh well, until the day I can be off of Atarax or Benadryl, I will take my Vitamin D supplements.

Saturday, November 7, 2009

Late night projects

Why is it that I decide to reface a clock at midnight?!  And that explains why I'm still up an hour and a half later and why I am so grumpy in the mornings. At least I don't have work tomorrow.  Yay!

Friday, November 6, 2009

Hmm...

I saw pictures of my a cruise trip my aunt and uncle took and my 5 year-old cousin is wearing a surgical mask in all his pictures because he was afraid of catching the flu.  At first, I thought it was hilarious.  After further thought, I think he may be onto something.

Tuesday, November 3, 2009

Catching up on sleep

So you know, I don't get much sleep.  I was really good my intern year, where I went to bed religiously at around 9, sometimes 10, so that I could at least get 7 hours of sleep.  Now, I'm lucky if I get 7 and it's more like 6 hours.  Granted, I feel like I'm doing well, but it's always bad news when someone tells you that you can't really catch up on sleep.  I mean, am I destined to be cognitively slower for the next 2 years and 8 months AND for however long it takes me to recover from being sleep deprived.  I mean, really, who can "bank" 10 hours of sleep a night? 

This is my favorite quote from the article:
"The scientists found that the "recovery" sleep did not fully reverse declines in performance on a test of reaction times and other psychomotor tasks, especially for subjects who had been forced to sleep only three or five hours a night."

What does that say when you sleep zero hours a night, like last night?

Sunday, November 1, 2009

Contagion

I got my H1N1 vaccine last week... really, I was secretly hoping that I would get H1N1 before I got the vaccine because it would mean a mandatory time off until I was asymptomatic.  And yes, residency is bad enough that I would rather have the flu than come into work.  I have dreams of being forced to stay at home and sleep. 

Calling home

Today, I went to the farmer's market and was so excited to be enjoying the beautiful weather and to get there early enough to get some beautiful orchids (albeit, I was post-call, but that's another issue altogether).  However, in the excitement of picking through broccoli rabe or no name pluots, I somehow lost my phone. For a moment, I was delighted because it meant that I could finally get a new phone... then it hit me that I would somehow need to get everyone's phone number again.  EVERYONE'S PHONE NUMBER.  The anxiety hit me and I walked around the farmer's market, asking the vendors from which I had bought produce if they saw a phone.  No luck. 

Long story short, a woman found it and when my friend called my phone for me, she answered and said she would leave it at Starbucks.  I am now reunited with my phone. And delighted. But I will still get a new phone.