12 January 2006

I.V, anyone?

B/C I could do that for you. Yes, that's right, today I did smthg. actually related to medicine. Or at least to bodily fluids used in medicine. I learned how to start an I.V! After impressing the ranking medic on duty w/my ability to pierce and properly catheterize plastic tubing, he called over the lesser medic on duty (a lovely PVT who apparently doubles as the ER pin cushion when ppl. want to practice their I.V. skillz) and handed me the needle. It wasn't perfect (I would probably have killed someone if they were as slow as I was), but I didn't go through the vein, it was a good catch and no one passed out, so all in all, better than I had expected! Perhaps by the time I lv. in May I'll be confident enough to do it w/o apologizing profusely before, during, and after. I don't think that sort of blubbering instills much confidence in patients.

So my second day of volunteering was far more interesting/rewarding than the first day, during which I spent two hrs. answering the phone/doing work meant for a trained rat and three hrs. listening to the chief of emergency medicine in the ER talk abt....Well, I don't rightly remember what we talked abt. for three hrs., but we did. Actually, it was a lot of him talking and me nodding, or him debating w/some other M.D. abt. kidney stones, first-trimester spotting, and whether or not you need to order labs to confirm a diagnosis. Which I guess was pretty cool, but it basically did nothg. for me b/c he's lvng. soon to go to Iraq, which means he can't be my "mentor" or "person who gets me into med school b/c he knows someone [which he does]". Anyhow, b/t the sticking of ppl. and the dirty jokes w/the staff and hearing of stories some of the nurses had abt. their experiences in Iraq (wow.), today was a really good day. OH! And if Steve and The Rock had a baby, it would totally be this P.A. that works in the ER. He looks sort of like Steve in the face, but he may be the biggest man I have ever seen in person. Fucking H U G E , I tell you. And hot. But I always did think The Rock was hot (shut it, you).

Quote of the Day:
"Aw, man...Y'all could do that [a CT scan for a patient w/back spasms]. It ain't hard. You just push the button and get this look on your face [imagine professional, pensive gaze] so they think you know what you're doing, and occasionally look at them and look at the monitor. I'm tellin' ya, I'm thinking of going out and training some squirrels to take over for me." -- the Radiology Tech, after we told him he couldn't go to lunch yet b/c we needed a scan.


Also, in an effort to improve my "upbeat writing skills", I thought I would report that I had a little bull session w/myself the other day and managed to accomplish a good bit of mental-emotional housecleaning. Feeling much better. But I do still miss you all tons. In fact, I determined that that was the root cause of much of my distress -- I've felt rather isolated and unstimulated and that isn't likely to change significantly until I get the hell out of this town. Though Steve does have several new friends who are interesting, intelligent, and generally more quality than his usual riff-raff (haha -- Steve's reading this as I write it and is abt. to punch me in the throat), which allows me some hope for the near future. Seriously, I do like his friends and hanging out w/them should be far better than hanging out w/the cats. I was getting way too close to crazy cat lady status. Steve has enlisted his friends for knitting, tea, and Desperate Housewives, which should be amusing even if it happens only once. But I do miss you all so v. much and I daily wish I could make dinner for Stuart, Ben, and Jon w/Marion, have tea and knitting w/Clare, talk shit abt. everyone w/Daniel in a surprisingly sophisticated way (it's got to be that vocabulary of his), laugh hysterically w/Brianna (and gelatin-free cheesecake!), go for rambling walks w/Eamonn, Duncan, and Olley, or run around Charleston w/my fellow Foxy Fivers. And of course there are innumerable other memories/thgs. I miss abt. all of you and those I did not mention by name, but suffice it to say that I love you all more than ever and I can never say how happy I am to have you in my life. Thanks for everythg., dears.

OH!! And I'm such a jackass.... ELI GETS HOME TOMORROW!! I swear the fact that I didn't mention this sooner does not reflect a lack of excitement on my part, though perhaps it does denote a slight disbelief/reluctance to get overly excited *just*in*case* smthg. goes wrong and he doesn't come home tomorrow b/c we all know how these thgs. go... Esp. for me. heh.

7 comments:

jules said...

It occurred to me, upon proofreading after the fact, that my attempt at upbeat writing skills was rather more melancholy than intended. I do hope you are all clever enough to extract what was meant to be a positive-warm-fuzzy sort of thg. See. This is why I'm not all warm and fuzzy normally.

Marion G. said...

I miss you too!!!! I am trying to convince my dad to give me some of his Delta miles so I can fly out and see you for free and I can cook for you and Eli (and maybe Steve if he doesnt scare me) and we could go for walks. Wow this mental-emotional housecleaning sounds effective...maybe I should try it. I am so glad to hear Eli is finally coming home. Have fun and say hello for me!!
Miss cooking/walking/drinking tea/watching movies/slacking off/chatting in the kitchen/traveling to exotic locales/knitting with you!!!!!
oh and I updated my blog...its not that great but I hope it will appease you and keep you from burning my hoodies (I wore one to work the other day....mwhahaha!)

Anonymous said...

When you say 'you wish you could make dinner for Stuart, Ben and Jon w/Marion', I think I retrospectively join you in that.

We probably would've had some mean dinners if you could..


(see what you get for being fuzzy?)

jules said...

Ben, as I remember it, we did have some pretty mean dinners when Marion and/or I cooked for you, Jon, and/or Stuart (though sadly Stuart did not join quite often enough...). Which leads me to be rather puzzled by your comment, unless you thought I meant making a dinner out of Marion would be nice, in which case I hope you would not join me in such a proposal, retrospectively or otherwise. Cannibalism is so passe, you know.

Anyhow, I respectfully rebut your accusation of fuzziness on this point and posit instead that it is you, Mr. Cuthbertson, who are fuzzy.

Unless anyone else knows what that comment was saying and would like to fill me in. B/C, ya know, I *am* a bit slow these days, an unfortunate development I would like to attribute to my deplorable social conditions, but which is more likely due to my general lack of brightness.

Anonymous said...

And now I feel mean explaining my insult. The emphasis was on 'could'. As in, I was doubting whether you were capable of cooking dinner.

Jules, I can only remember the potato soup (which, I am prepared to accept, was good). The rest of the time my memory does not place you as prime chef. Or even chief chopper.

First class washing up though.

jules said...

Where is Jon when you need him?! B/C he would certainly testify to my cooking abilities. While I am not so good as Marion or a certain posh boy who attended La Fontainebleau, and I readily admit I am probably the worst chopper the world has yet known, I am hurt and appalled that you remember so few and think so little of my culinary creations. Why, there was QuornEggRice Surprise (Sarah still raves abt. that one!), there was stew, there were pumpkin pies and milkshakes (okay, so you weren't actually there for those, but I'm still holding you accountable), there was peanut butter and pretzels (they totally count), and, of course, there was potato soup. Twice.

Hurt and appalled, Benjamin. Hurt and appalled.

Anonymous said...

Jon would testify to the cooking abilities of Pizza Hut.

QuornEggRice Surprise. I am upset I missed that one. Maybe I should slip in your diploma from Cordon Bleugh now..

No. There's no way I can win and look like a decent human being here.

I need to make it clear to all the world (that has got as far down the page as this) that Jules does a spectacular potato soup, and I have never dipped pretzels in brine with anyone else, and lets face it, it wouldn't be the same anyway.

I offer some trivia peace:
Cumdumpster is also a song by Jack off Jill.

Write me a new entry and I swear I'll be much nicer.