An echocardiogram and a catch-up with friends

So the only reason I went to the gym today was my self-imposed two-week challenge. I told myself on Sunday that I would go to the gym 5 out of 7 days of the week. I chose 5 days so as not to stress myself out with saying that I needed to go everyday. On Monday, I was forced to stay at work a bit late and had a dinner planned with a friend already, so that was day number 1 that I had to miss and Saturday's gym hours don't mesh well with my work schedule, so I knew that would be no gym day number 2 this week. Thus, despite not wanting to go to the gym today, I went anyway to fulfill my two week challenge goal. It wasn't that bad since I just did cardio, but man, cardio is kicking my butt lately.

Anywho, today was my first day on primary care. I had my lectures for my program today (OB/GYN) nice and early - from 6-8 a.m. and then I didn't have to work until 9 a.m. I spent some time checking up on emails and then I drove over to the office and talked to Nasur for a bit. In the morning, I worked with a doctor and because I don't have the ability to document or see their schedules, I'm basically a medical student. This is good because I don't have to do much work, but bad because I feel pretty useless. Anywho, we had a patient with a bicuspid aortic valve. This just means that there are two parts to the valve when there are supposed to be three. This leads to some heart problems later in life on occasion and usually requires a valve replacement. My dad had a bicuspid aortic valve and he had his valve replaced. This condition is somewhat hereditary - if your parents or siblings have it, your chances of having it are slightly increased - not super substantially, but somewhat. Anywho, upon telling the doctor this, he asked if he could listen to my heart. I said sure and he told me he heard a grade I systolic murmur, which is like the quietest murmur ever. There are lots of causes for it - could be a valve problem such as my dad's - it could be anemia or it could be a trick of the ears ;-) In medical school, you're pretty much told that unless you're a cardiologist really listening for heart problems, it's usually missed because it's that quiet. But, the doctor said he could hear it and then scheduled me for an echocardiogram. So, I had the afternoon off to go have an ultrasound of my heart.

Now, ultrasound techs aren't doctors, so they're not technically allowed to say what they think or what they see. But, when she got to that part of the ultrasound, she showed me my aortic valve and it had the Mercedes Benz sign, meaning my aortic valve is normal, thank you very much. 

When I got home, I took a lovely nap until 6:30 p.m., got up, and then went to the gym with my perfectly healthy heart and came home and made a sandwich while video chatting with my two roommates from college. It was really lovely being able to catch up with them. We usually have a video chat every 1-2 months to catch up on each other's lives. It's always great hearing from them and knowing that I've got some friends in warmer climates if/when I need to get out of Michigan. The temperatures have majorly dropped this week - like 50s to 60s during the day and I am super jealous of their continued summer weather. I can't wait to move out of this cold state!

Lunch: leftover chicken parmesan

Breakfast today

Tomorrow I have clinic in the morning and then have the afternoon off, so I think I'll do a good hard workout at the gym tomorrow afternoon. Then I'm going to have dinner with one of the other interns at the Original Pancake House. They have chocolate chip pancakes that are to die for. I'll keep it chill by just getting them as a side item because the portion is smaller.

Also, yesterday, we went out to dinner as a program for fun and I took the bacon off my sandwich and didn't eat it. That's a HUGE thing for me because a) bacon = meat candy and b) see reason a.  But, it looked like it was really cheap bacon that had been waaaay overcooked and I didn't want to waste the calories on something so mediocre. I also didn't eat my coleslaw because that's all mayo anyway. Good for me!

Okay, that's it for me, folks. I'll catch you tomorrow.

Our friendship could drive a car

As promised, here is a post about the weekend. Because it was exhausting, the recap's going to be a bit on the skimpy side, but there will be lots of pictures to make up for it!


Friday
I got up early(ish) and worked out before heading to pick up my bestie Lisa at the Detroit airport. We have been friends since we were 8-years-old. That's 16 years of friendship. That's right, our friendship could drive a car if it were a person. Crazy!

We immediately went to lunch because we were starving and decided on Applebee's.

My meal: shrimp and spinach salad with french onion soup

Lisa's meal: Shrimp pasta of some sort

After lunch, we headed to Auburn Hills to check into our hotel. It was awesome, but a tad confusing because of the toilet:

Not only could you adjust the seat warmth, but there was a bidet for both the "front" and "rear." Neither of us were brave (or drunk) enough to try it. We'll leave it for the Europeans.

Our sweet suite

After checking in, I showed Lisa the two dresses I'd brought with me so she could help me decide. I had bought one offline way back in December for the company party, but bought it too small so I couldn't even zip it way back then. Now, I was thinking I'd try again, but I needed Lisa's help because the straps are a bit prohibitive when it comes to zipping yourself up. The other I wore in a wedding last year. Neither fit quite right. The blue one that I bought offline was a bit tight in the bust and the one I wore last year was much too big. So, we tried shopping a bit but didn't find anything before we had to go pick up Anna for dinner and Harry Potter!


For dinner, we headed to the Rainforest Café because Lisa had never been to one.

Anna

Lisa 

My clam chowda

My massive sandwich (I only ate half)

Then we headed to see Harry Potter in IMAX 3D. Woot, woot! Sexy glasses time!

We took Anna home and then attempted to go work out, but the equipment in the gym was a tad worn out. We did our best but then decided to go hang out in the hot tub because that's definitely a workout ;-)

Saturday
I woke up around 7:00 a.m. and started calling local gyms to see how much a drop-in session would cost. The answer: $20. So, around 8:00, Lisa got up and we went down to the crappy fitness area and worked out as best we could. I did some heart rate cycling on the treadmill and Lisa was on the elliptical.

Pumped to work out!

After our workout, we headed to the continental breakfast and then went upstairs to shower and get ready for the day. Around 10:00 a.m., we headed to Dress Barn so I could try to find a new dress for the wedding the day of the wedding. The dress from last year was a size 18, so I thought I'd try things in a 16. Turns out I needed a 14. Woooooot! What a confidence boost!


On our way back to the hotel, we stopped at Border's to check out their sales since they're closing. Lisa got a few books and I got my very first cookbook:

There were quite a few other cookbooks that caught my eye, but when each recipe required 20 ingredients (of which I'd have about 4), I decided to keep it simple. Plus, with med school, I figured this would be a good fit.


When we were back at the hotel, we did the girly things: painted our toes and nails while watching Superstar, a movie neither of us had seen in forever.

Once we were beautified and ready to go, we took the hotel shuttle to the ceremony and witnessed Ed and Liz get married. The ceremony was awesome and Liz looked amazing.

Waiting for the ceremony 

Liz in her amazing dress 

The newlyweds

After the ceremony, we headed to the pub nearby (where everyone from the wedding went) and had some empty calories drinks and some spinach and artichoke dip while we waited for the reception.

Then, it was on to the reception where we took some pictures and ate more!

Awesome door handles 

So you know, Lisa requested this photo 

Lisa and I looking good

Table 6 Awesome

My appetizer plate

By the time dinner rolled around, I wasn't very hungry. So, I had a tomato, some chicken with sauce and a bite of the beef (it wasn't very good).

Lisa enjoying her food

Me pumped to eat mine, too!

After dinner, the dancing began and a good time was had by all. Here's some proof:

Ryan putting the garter on "Kinley" 

Ryan got it pretty high up there :-)

Wedding party doing the alligator 

Dancing on my own...

We headed back to the hotel and my knees were aching pretty badly. Eight hours in heels + dancing + osteoarthritis = pain. So, I sat in the shower for a bit and let the water loosen up my knees. Then I took plenty of ibuprofen and called it a night.


Sunday
Lisa woke up before me and when I finally got up at 9:20 a.m., we headed downstairs for breakfast and congratulated the newlyweds again. Then, I coaxed Lisa into going down to the hot tub with me so I could soak my poor, battered knees.


We packed up our things and were checked out by noon and headed to go see Captain America. Awesome movie. I highly recommend it.


After Captain Hottie America, we headed to Whole Foods in Troy for lunch and a bit of shopping. I got some quinoa oats, some regular oatmeal, some chia seeds, some salad dressing, some Luna protein bars and a salad for lunch.


Then it was time to say goodbye and take Lisa to the airport. The good news is that she'll be back soon! Pwhew!


After I dropped off Lisa, I went to Plymouth to meet up with Anthony for some dinner.

Anthony with his crab cake sandwich

My appetizer feast: clam chowder and crab-stuffed mushrooms

After dinner, we walked around downtown Plymouth and took "senior pictures."

Fountain of youth!

Awesome-looking toy store 

My senior picture

Anthony's senior picture is better

Then I drove my exhausted butt home and now I'm off to bed so I can get up for a nice workout tomorrow as my knees prevented me from doing anything today.

June Challenge!

Hi all! Sorry for the lack of communication (yet again)! I went to Colorado for Memorial Day Weekend and didn't have a chance to blog beforehand (because I was laundering and packing like a maniac) or during (because we were legit busy everyday). So, here is a photo update of what Colorado was like! Then we shall move on to the June Challenge!


Day One:
Olympic Training Center

First Stop: Olympic Training Center

I'm as strong as the olympic athletes

Athletes...ooh la la 

The athletes work out 4-6 hours a day

Pikes Peak

We rode the Cog Railway up the mountain

It was a tad cramped

But well worth it!

Gorgeous

At the summit - it was 17°F

We bought donuts that were featured on the Food Network

Garden of the Gods

At Garden of the Gods

Senior Pictures!

Co's Senior Pic!

Anna's Senior Pic

Good thing we were here to hold up this rock 

We love senior pictures 

Day Two:
White Water Rafting

It was 8:30 a.m.

The river

Us with our guide

Horseback Riding

Us at Sombrero Ranch

Rocky Mountains

View from the ranch

Day Three
Denver Capital

Loving one mile above sea level

Denver Zoo

The three of us at the zoo

Cheesecake Factory

Yum!!

I hope you enjoyed all the photos! I'm missing Colorado pretty badly right now. Well, not really Colorado as much as those two lovely ladies. It was so nice to be with friends again.


Anyway, on to my June challenge. I'm hoping that it will be better than my Two-Week Challenge in that it won't be interrupted by being sick again. So, let's talk about what the June Challenge will include:

1. No dessert (I think I ate enough dessert last month for probably the entire year)
2. Work out at least 5x a week
3. Track all of my food everyday
4. Weigh in every Wednesday
5. Lose 4 pounds by June 15 and 8 total pounds by June 30

Here we go again. I'm feeling motivated. I know I can do it if I want to do it. Also, Anthony is going to do a June Challenge with me. He's going to run three times a week and find a gym at home that caters to him. We haven't set up any type of check-in, but I'm thinking we'll keep each other accountable.

If you'd like to join our June Challenge, please leave a comment below and we can continue to keep each other motivated!