It's Raining...Pregnant Ladies!

One slow night on Labor and Delivery, one of the residents was sharing this story about one of her patients.  There was a pregnant lady who was going to be arrested for something (sorry, do not know what).  She went into the bathroom, and it was noticed she was gone for a while.  Then all of a sudden, they noticed some bulges in the ceiling.  Then all of a sudden a leg poked out, and another leg poked out.  Apparently, she had decided to make a quick escape by climbing up to the ceiling and going through the crawl space!  And somehow, along the way, she lost her hospital gown.  So after a leg and an arm poking from the ceiling, a naked pregnant lady fell down from the ceiling.  She came in with a chief complain of rule out trauma - the irony.  Note to naked pregnant ladies: don't watch too many action movies.  

Parents are The Best (PATB) #3

Email from my parents (poor brother...all by himself right now):

"Hi 

Grandpa's ceremony was held last Tuesday.  Thanks for sharing your condolence。 His ashes will be buried in winter solstice.  It may be a Chinese tradition.  Mom and I will go to see the cemetery this week.  After we accompany with grandma during those difficult time, she seems calm and peace.  We may let her go to state and stay with us after all dust calm.

We are so grateful that you can talk to Bongbong daily.  When we said goodby to Bongbong during the last pray with him before his bed, his eyes were full of tears.  He is really a good boy and we love you two so much.  Thank God bringing you two to our family.

Love you

Mom and Dad"

First Time Using the Scalpel

I was so excited! Today was the first time I got to cut with a scalpel!  Granted, they were only two tiny incisions on the skin, but I was so happy to do so!  I got to make the exit cuts for where the strips for tension-free vaginal tape goes out of the skin as seen in this picture:

It's pretty much the procedure to do for urinary incontinence (yup, I'm on uro/gyn).  Yay! So exciting!  Hm...maybe I should consider going into something surgery related if I'm so excited to cut something?

Cruel resident stories:

In honor of one of my favorite blogs: http://doccartoon.blogspot.com, I'm going to start my own cruel resident/attending stories so I remember ways to torture my future medical student.  Or not....or maybe? :P (These may or may not be my own experience).

• Attending asked me to go from one end of hospital to the other end of another hospital to get his urine testing gadget.  After walking around for 15 mins, I get back, and it turns out to be incompatible with the patient's card.  blah!
• Resident makes me leave an OR case to get his ipod connection cable from upstairs.
• Residents/attendings "borrowing" my pens.
• 1st time ever in OR case, I was made to scrub in 3 times because 1) put my hands below my elbow for a split second 2) touched some equipment with the very bottom of my gown
• Told to get lunch for my resident right when I was about to eat my own home-made lunch
• Told to fax/copy something x 100 times
• Told medical students can not call consults
• 
  

Notable NY Times article on medical student abuse

12 Medical Specialty Stereotypes/Choosing Specialty

It's old, but it always cracks me up: https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLSC7E7Cd09MG31QUiXk_6cDv1eyQHOZABgmWHy_Z_fwl9xZRxr1wfJ5aFjU7_9wOON-9cA7s4SrVH8L2W2kg9XsveZbeqGtBuZfKj-os11SjhmrVycAbV6aHEP2hJcfl1zzLZtxhyWRo/s1600-h/12+medical+specialty+stereotypes+full.jpg
Hm...maybe I'll be the Overworked b- goddess? Or the Patch Adams and Mister Rogers offspring?  How come they're so different and I'm interested in both of them?  One seems to fit my personality and baby radar, but the other is just so interesting....

Here's another hilarious choosing medical specialty algorithm from another blog: http://doccartoon.blogspot.com/2010/04/how-to-choose-medical-specialty.html
According to this one I should be peds...I like kids >2min of life, and I really don't think people meow when they see me. (More like the opposite).

In this one, it all comes down to if I hate kids or adults or neither:
https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-lzCTAEpVYXAsDUPPVGmsPEUmruajDsztxyBvk_5Yb1D7y0NSxUe0nmRoqrdqkKS9yPNjvJT_AXGY4zRVxe1bGN64ONLSGSKfV0TBCUUBiFyQbt7nHWj9tDvNsLtEvA-SenF_QTcz2gk/s1600/Specialty.JPG

PHOTOS: Healthcare in Sierra Leone

Nothing tells the story better than these pictures about the healthcare in Sierra Leone where 1 in 8 women die in childbirth, water and electricity are an inconsistent blessing, and healthcare professionals are forced to extort money from dying patients.

http://www.latimes.com/features/health/medicine/la-fg-africa-health15-pictures,0,7056478.photogallery

Alone and Ashamed

Currently doing a rotation with Dr. Wall, one of the inspirations of this article: http://www.fistulafoundation.org/press/features/alone_and_ashamed.html

"Take Mahabouba Mohammed, whom I met here in Addis Ababa. She had been sold into virtual slavery at the age of 8, raped by her master at 12 and then sent out into the bush at 13 to deliver the baby on her own. After a long labor, she delivered the dead baby herself but suffered crippling internal injuries, including a fistula.

Ms. Mohammed crawled back to the village, but the baby's father was horrified by her smell. He confined her in a faraway hut and removed the door — so that hyenas, attracted by the odor, would tear her apart at night.

This girl fought off the hyenas and crawled for a day to reach an American missionary, who eventually brought her to the Addis Ababa Fistula Hospital that Dr. Hamlin heads. Dr. Hamlin was able to repair her fistula, and now Ms. Mohammed is a confident young nurse's aide at the hospital here."

What Guys/Girls Wish You Knew

Drop the mask
Put "looks" in its place
Be a warrior
Less criticism, more support
Remember the good guy
http://www.boundless.org/2005/articles/a0001302.cfm

What girls wish you knew (to guys):
Show some respect
Be kind to everyone
Seek out spiritual guidance and accountability
Love your family
Take marriage seriously
Take initiative
Take a risk
http://www.boundless.org/2005/articles/a0001303.cfm

And...
Another hilarious (but pretty truthful) article about Why You're Not Married
Truthfully, I've been a bit selfish (oh...the career vs. family dilemma), a little self-degrading, and occasionally, a bit of a "b***" (especially if I like someone - oops).  

Memorable Ob/gyn rotation moments

• Lady with a fibroid the size of a 20wk baby + extensive adhesions to her bladder.  Probably 5+ lbs.
• "They're gonna fall!" - warning from a really nice lady with BMI of 60 who I was going to do a breast exam on.  That was a difficult exam.
• Bowel run on a woman with 3 prior C-sections and extensive adhesions.
• Missed uterine pregnancy in woman with ruptured ectopic, later came back with abortion of the uterine pregnancy. 
• Really nice family from Ethiopia.
• DELIVERING A REAL, LIVE BABY GIRL!!!
• Finding out that my resident thought I was too "intense."  Haha, still get a crack out of that one.
• Alpine ski fiasco

And my new near-favorite blog: poormd.com

A better understanding of hysterectomies: http://www.poormd.com/feeds/posts/default