Weigh-in Wednesday and a GI system recalibration

Today I was postcall, which means I came home filled with hopes of productivity and then napped instead. I took my mom's dog for a walk after I woke up to get some exercise in without going into an intense lactic acidosis with a harder workout since my GI system is slowly coming back to life and I didn't want to push it. I saw a dermatologist this afternoon and had some little vascular lesions on my nose buzzed and then came home and spent some time with the kiddos, had dinner, did bed time, and am now updating you, my adoring fans.

I also did a weigh-in today and am a bit disappointed that my GI distress didn't result in more of a loss.

0.4 pounds down from last weigh-in

Tomorrow I'm in clinic, which means I'm back to the walking pad, which should be good. It's at a 5% incline though (and isn't adjustable) and so I do get really sweaty when doing that workout. I've ordered a desktop fan to help with that. It's supposed to arrive tomorrow, so here's hoping that I'll be less wet at work. < I'm leaving that statement right there because I think it's perfect and you will not tell me otherwise.

Today's eats:

Lunch

Other part of lunch

The oh shit, I'm hungry but I have somewhere to be protein

Same as above

Beef pot pie - it looks yummier not in its ziploc

Dessert - not from 2023, don't worry - this was probably an inappropriate test of my GI system

Let's see if I can keep up the food photos while working! And let's also hope I don't explode from drinking egg nog like an idiot.

Napping, selfies, and snacking

Oh man, guys. Yesterday I made the mistake of napping in the afternoon when I had 6 a.m. lecture today. My nap was awesome, but I could not fall asleep until like 2:30 a.m. and then had to wake up by 5:00 a.m. to get to work by 6. Not cool. I was very le tired this morning. Like couldn't even think about putting in my contacts tired because I would likely scratch the hell out of my cornea or miss my eye or poke my eye out - you know, real world problems ;-)

So, anywho, I had a lovely day at work and then came home and napped hard. My intention was two hours - turned into 4+. Oops. And then I hit up the gym and had a pretty legit workout. I easily beat the elliptical and then came home and studied a bit. Now I'm freezing my butt off in my apartment thanks to the ridiculous Michigan weather and even more ridiculous wind, pushing the cold in through all the cracks. My apartment was a chilly 61° when I got home. And even though I turned the heat on to 68°F, the heat is primarily working in the living room, so I'm camping out here while I blog and watch the Arrow. I'm hoping my office/bedroom while be warm enough once I go back to bed.

In other news, I hit up the grocery store yesterday while I was hungry, which was a rookie mistake. I bought some of my favorite pretzels as well as some chocolate, which I really didn't need. I basically turned the chocolate and pretzels into meals the last two days, which was a mistake. Buuuut, I've already turned it around. Go me! Hitting up the gym, hydrating, and not snacking just to snack. Tomorrow I'll log calories and take photos of all my food just for you/mostly for me. 

Some photos for you to hold you over until tomorrow:

Breakfast for my day of surgery

Scrub selfie (they really do nothing for your shape)

This upgrade took foreverrrrr

But look at the new colorful thinking thing!

I think that's about all I've got for now. Tomorrow I have clinic in the morning. I intend to hit up the gym after clinic, get some good studying in, and then head back to work (I have a 4:45 p.m. to 11 p.m. shift). I'll cut myself off from eating around 8 p.m. so that once I get home I am able to hit the hay and get some good sleep so I can study like a maniac all weekend. My test is on Monday (and Tuesday)!

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.

Project Runway as Motivation

So, today in my mailbox was a note informing me that the roof had been fixed. Thanks, landlord. Pretty sure I figured that out yesterday after a day's worth of banging. A note a day before the fixing rather than a day after would have been more appreciated. Obnoxious.

In other news, today was mildly productive. I got up, did questions, and then realized it was waaaaay too humid and that I was already sweating. Thus, I really wanted to shower. But I didn't want to shower before the gym. What a waste. But my ankle was giving me some pain, so did I really want to go to the gym? But I wanted to watch Project Runway and it's so much more productive to do some cardio and watch Project Runway. So, in the end, my intense desire to watch Project Runway won out and I headed to the gym. I did the elliptical without any issue and really think the doctor who told me to stay off it was on something. If it's not bothering me, wouldn't increased circulation help it heal faster? I mean I'm not a doctor (yet - 266 days!), but it seems dumb to only allow upper body exercise if things like the elliptical don't cause pain. 

In other news, I took a nap today because around 4:00, I was struggling to stay awake. Ever since I sprained my ankle, my sleep has been crappier and of a shorter duration, so my nap is justified. After my nap, I did some questions and got ready to go to dinner with my friend Christine. In planning our dinner destination, we figured out it was restaurant in GR, which is essentially an excellent way to go to expensive restaurants, try a limited menu, and pay waaaaay less than you would ordinarily. We ended up choosing Charley's Crab, which is right on the river and was beautiful. We had a good time catching up and the food was pretty good (read: not that great, but I blame that on the limited menu). 

Other than that, I've done minimal studying today. I'm going to do a few more questions and read over some ethics pointers and then head to bed. Christine and I are going to hit the gym around 9, so I'm hoping to be up around 7:30 to do some questions, eat a little something and then be super productive!

Gym fuel

Looking good

Post-gym re-fuel

Still swollen

Can totally see my veins in my non-sprained left foot

So swollen

Dressy ankle

Dinner with Christine

Today's positive: going to the gym despite not really wanting to

Morning nap!

Today's been a weird day. First of all, I forgot my pager. That's not usually an issue because no one ever pages me, so I didn't run back home when I'd realized that it was still on my kitchen table. Anywho, I had a bunch of patients to see before our 7:30 surgery and so I got to work at 6:15, which is way too early if you ask me. Then when I went to find the surgeon I stalk/follow/learn from, I found that he didn't actually have any surgeries scheduled for the morning (the one he had got canceled and rescheduled). So, I ran home to grab my pager to make sure he didn't page me telling me what else I should do. But, he didn't. In fact, he had the morning off, which meant I had the morning off - baller! I went back home after a genetics lecture to take a glorious 2.5 hour nap. Wish I could have just slept in and hit the gym, but I'll take it.

After lunch, which I got to have at home and thus save the lunch I carefully packed yesterday, I headed into the office where I got to meet some lovely patients, learn a few things, and then head home around 6. I got home and couldn't figure out what to eat and eventually heated up some leftover rice-a-roni for dinner around 7:30. Meh.

I've been studying all night and have to brush up on my colorectal stuff since I have oral exams on Thursday regarding this month's rotations. So, I'm off to do more of that. Here are some photos for you. Missing are photos of the 2 bananas I ate and the one fiber plus bar I had.

Breakfast #1

Breakfast #2 - I was super hungry this morning

Lunch (minus the banana)

Dinner

Today's positive: unexpected morning nap! Hooray!

Cat anger, outdoor naps, and home pedicures

Giving pills to a cat is worse than packing a lunch. And you guys know how I feel about packing lunches. In short: it's the fucking worst. Bailey just won't do it. He's basically like, "Oh, this is supposed to be good for me. FUCK THAT AND FUCK YOU AND FUCK EVERYTHING." Yes, my cat has a lot of pent up anger. Stop judging me. I inherited him at age 6 - these behaviors were already ingrained. 

Anywho, I reached out to facebook and was told a few helpful things: pill pockets, peanut butter + pills = cat that focuses on swallowing PB and not the pills, and compounding. My vet asked me how Bailey did with pilling and I was like hmm, Idk cuz I've never had to do it. She should have taken that opportunity to tell me that giving cats a pill is the fucking hardest thing ever. I didn't anticipate this as I grew up with dogs who took pills like it was no big deal. You just take the pill, wrap it in turkey, and voilà! The pill disappears! Fucking dogs. They're way better than cats.

Enough with my cat troubles. Today I arrived to work on time. I slept in pretty late which meant breakfast in the car (I made a bagel and ate some grapes), and then got out at 1 rather than 4, which was much nicer. When I got home, I made English muffin pizzas (which I forgot to snap a picture of), I finished making my fruit pizza (photos to come tomorrow), tried giving Bailey his pills like 1000 times, and then decided to head outside to study. I went to this track/field nearby with a blanket and started reading my EKG book. An hour later, I woke up to my phone beeping at me. Apparently, I was tired. I came home, gave myself a pedicure (because these stupid new flip flops I bought are ridiculous to break in and my feet hurt), and then watched a movie and did some studying.

Soon I'll be emptying my dishwasher and packing up some snacks for the beach tomorrow.

Photos for today (sorry, I forgot about taking pics until later):

Soak the feet first

Polished!

Half ass dinner: home made cheese biscuits - I needed to use up some cheese and my stomach was being an asshole, so I didn't have much of an appetite.

Today's positive: Having friends who are more knowledgeable about giving pills to a cat than I am. Thank you. And if anyone else has any suggestions, please leave a comment!

Also, so you don't think I'm completely useless, I did do some arm exercises at home with some weights I have, but I didn't hit up the gym. I will tomorrow though - right after my weigh-in! I'm putting the camera in the bathroom now!

Cheers. Good luck to me on my weigh-in tomorrow. Fuuuuuuck. Hooray!

Weird Day

You guys. Today has been weird. I woke up at the normal time to get ready for hospital fun and my preceptor emailed us at like 11:06 p.m. to tell us our assignments. Turns out I didn't have to be in until noon (and work until 8pm). Not cool. Wish I'd known that before I'd gotten out of bed, given that I was still pooped from the weekend. I ate breakfast, did some schoolwork, and then took a nap for like two hours.

Apparently my kitchen was pink today

I got up, got ready, had lunch, and headed to the hospital and then sat around for a half hour until the admitting doctor finally came up to talk to me. I had one consult and then sat around for a little under two hours, had one admission (which took 2.5 hours because the attending took forever getting back to me - to be fair, he was busy) and then they let me go at 7:15. 

After work, I ran to the pharmacy to pick up my prescription (since it was closed when I went grocery shopping last night) and finally got home a little before 8. Then I had some calls to follow up (landlord drama) and finally settled in to research the four different types of multiple sclerosis and put together a patient case presentation for tomorrow. Now I'm pooped. But I'm still blogging cuz I told myself I'd do this everyday in May and because I love you. Yes, you. I love you.

Photos from the rest of the day:

Lunch

Dinner (same enchiladas from last week - gotta love having prepped food when you get home late!)

Animal crackers + EKG stuff

Clearer version of EKG stuff and almonds later

And now, bed! Because I actually have to be at work at 8 tomorrow.