Kinda like the story of the woman who bled to death in the E.R. while nurses looked on...

Came across another sad story.
http://www.slate.com/id/2195851/?GT1=38001

I don't know much about hospitals, or the health care field. I only know its expensive in America, and that's because of capitalism. Everything is expensive here because it's a great business, unlike other countries where it's a necessity and kept cheap. It's only expensive here because they can make money, plus the schooling is so damn expensive that Dr.'s, Nurses, those guys who put you to sleep, have to pay off loans that are more expensive than the average home. Plus the guys at the top have to be able to afford that country club membership (elite country club, not the local one) and when you get down to it, it's just the american way.

Very sad, and very ugly...

I wonder if we'll ever get it right??

Joe out...

So long Josh....

Well, I'm sorry to have to bring this kind of news to you Dee, but here it is... Josh Childress has left the NBA.

http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=3501488

So, I guess my hoping he would come to the lakers is over and the hopes of seeing the best player to come out of stanford in 8 years or so, is over as well. Maybe the Lopez twins can light it up and we won't even miss him.

Probably not, but hopefully they still light it up.

Joe out... of the country... greece style... like the childress

Lucked out

My chief was on call last night and finished all the work that I was going to come in and do. Seriously, she is badass. Seriously needed the sleep though...Q3 is painful.

Anyhow, i joined my parents for a trip out to Riverside. My, the place has really changed. Lots of buildings...looks nice. My grandmother's lil sister just moved out there, and we owed her a visit to her new place. Her husband is an art collector. He opens museums on the side when he isn't developing real estate. Anyhow, his whole entire place is full of random shit. He is working on domestic interior design art or something snooty like that.

telephones

fans

radios

and other random stuff

The good part was, we went out to eat at claim jumper's. Man, I love that place. Yo Joe, they're biting your style. They've got a seared scallop salad. weak sauce...




-bender out

random thought

There have been a bunch of ants indoors lately. I always see a few in my bathroom and they're all over the workstations at work. They live a pretty rough life...

They risk their lives every time they go out. When they find a tasty piece of cake, they can't sit back and enjoy it. They have to take it back to their queen, or their maggot kids, or whatever baby ants are called. I mean, they get rocked for the tiniest things. If I notice an ant on my arm, it usually get mushed or flicked across the room. How much would life suck if the things I interacted in this world responded to me like that? I mean, you might get shot in my neighborhood for looking at someone funny, seriously...

anyhow, enjoying my day off.

-bender

Got one under my belt

The feeling of inadequacy is a theme that plagued me in medical school and has followed me to residency...actually, my whole life. I'm always worried that I'm a shitty intern, so I try to log extra hours. Just finished putting in a 33 hour shift, but maybe that just means that I'm an inefficient intern. My biggest concern is that I don't have the hands to be a good surgeon. I have a mild essential tremor that becomes magnified whenever I start stressing about it, then it's a downward spiral from there.

I feel like a huge burden has been lifted. I did my first appendectomy last night from skin to skin, albeit at 3am, on a teenage kid with acute gangrenous appendicitis. Was able to get through the procedure without any big problems...able to lay out suture and tie stuff down without problems. Didn't nick any bowel. Granted it was an easy case, but I feel like I needed that case to realize that it is not impossible for me to become a proficient surgeon and am not just a poser on the wards. Even with my chief breathing down my every movement, I know every time she yelled, it was meant to make me a better doctor/surgeon. Even when she called me out and told me, "you're a urologist. So grow some balls." I realized that sometimes you have to yell and call people out. This is not to be a dick. If your patient needs a CT scan in the middle of the night and the tech is too lazy to do it, you roll your patient up by yourself and make sure it gets done. If your patient has an abscess and the nurse is too lazy to give antibiotics/clarify an order - you call pharmacy, beg, do whatever the fuck it takes to make sure that you take care of your patient. They depend on you to take care of them. If it takes a few asshole phone calls and a visit to the neighborhood radiologist/nursing station/etc. to break some balls, I think I'm alrite with it as long as I can sleep in peace when I get off my shift.

Anyhow, it was another brutal night on call, but I got through it, just like I'll get through the next one. Next on my list is to learn how to dictate a proper operative report. Dictations that start with, um...we started by cutting the belly button with a knife, then we dug around to look for the appendix. Then I cut it off with a knife and then sewed up his stomach....yea, it doesn't hold up so well in a court of law as an official dictation.

time to prep for more cases tomorrow.

-bender

summertime in the nba

A lot of interesting moves being made here.

I don't really like signing baron davis. Guy is expensive and streaky. He isn't the guy who gives 100% every time. He is mentally weak and gives up early if they're down, so it's not gonna help. I would rather try to build up with a guy like kirk hinrich, who is gonna get moved since they have rose.

Brand going to philly?...hmm...sucks for the clippers now that they've brought in a PG and was willing to give everything brand wanted. Seriously, the guy has no class. Most of the guys in the nba lack class, but I don't have it either, so whatever. Anyhow, it's a great move for 76ers. They've got an awesome unselfish point guard in andre miller who'll be able to feed it to brand. Plus you've got iggy who is a legit scorer. You've got decent defense and boards with dalembeast. You've got a growing bench with willie green and thaddeus young. Looking pretty decent for the year.

Guys I wouldn't want to get. Guys like agent zero and ron artest are poison to a team. I don't like score first point guards, no matter how good they are. That's why I don't like baron davis, although he has been feeding to monta ellis. I can't believe ronny sold out and signed with golden state. They're gonna suck. Their big men are weak, they don't have davis, plus monta ellis can't defend worth a lick.

Type of guys I want for the Lakers...I want a young healthy point guard with post-season experience. Your boy farmar was choking all over the place, and fisher is getting old. Guys I like...usually...hinrich, andre miller, devin harris, chris paul...not too many guards out there actually. Next, we need big men who can defend and hold their ground. I'm thinking timmy D, a young big ben, tyson chandler, big guys. Next I want odom to stop being a retard - no early stupid fouls, nothing dumb. I like the rebounds and when he takes it to the hole. I'd be happy with a shane battier, or even a peja. Perimeter guys who can shut down the shooters and knock down the open looks.

I'd avoid at any cost high injury guys - i.e. baron davis. We need to dump chris mihm once he starts getting minutes. Lets see how the new season rolls.

-bender

Say it aint sooooo......

Ronny Turiaf.... heart and soul... signed an offer sheet with the Warriors... 4 years 17.8 mil. What a fucker.... not sure if I want the lakers to match, don't know what to think, or feel.... so confused...

summertime in the f-dub

So, It's warming up here, well... nothing compared to LA warm, but warm enough to get your pits wet. I'm here on my laptop, messing around with the desktop. I decided to dabble a little with Vista, and got more than I bargained for. Lot of software isn't compatible with vista drivers, and I'm not one to abandon certain luxuries for the sake of having the "new" stuff. So I'm here, reloading the desktop with the XP SP2 that dell was so nice to provide me with when Kim and I purchased the PC. Hmm... yeah, I know I'm boring but I figured I should try and post whenever I can.

What do you think about all the nba free agents so far? Pretty insane ehh? Brand a Sixer, Davis a clipper? Hmm I wonder what the odds that the Lakers can sign Childress, that'd be sweet. I have been playing nba 2k8 a little. I think you are right, as much as I love Farmar, the guy misses every single layup, even wide open on fast breaks. It's ridiculous. I mean can you imagine how he feels, if he ever plays the game, and is missing stuff like that? I bet he writes a death threat to Sega or TakeTwo, whoever makes the game now. I can only imagine it'd be like playing a cooking video game, using myself, and not being able to make a bean and cheese burrito. Hmm.. probably a horrible analogy there, but whatever, I've never been good at that comparison stuff.

So I hope everything is going good in LA. Kinda sucks that it took you 9 years to get back there, and when you did, I'm up here now. How's that for irony... oh well. I guess I got one extra reason to go to LA now whenever I can.

So I was watching Rocky Balboa (again) and just getting all worked up (as I usually do when watching it) when I sat there and reflected upon it. What makes me (us) love the character so much. I think it's because its the ultimate feel good story. A guy who is down on his luck, not smart, not ambitious, just traying to stay afloat. Once he gets there, he never really changes, still the nicest guy, polite, just tries to do the right thing. As he ages, he's still dumb as dogshit, but so wise... if that makes any sense.... well I guess the reason I love it is, cuz in someway... I hope I can be that guy, no matter how far I get, I do the right thing, I stand up, go toe to toe and no matter how hard I get knocked down, I get back up. The only bad part is, I always get sentimental when he's giving his speeches... damn you rocky, get me right there... everytime.

Joe out..

getting through it...

Yo rabbit, I can never find yo ass. Stopped by the micu to look for you while I was doing post-ops. Anyhow, I'm getting through this month the way I usually get through stuff like this. Putting my nose to the ground and reaching for my ankles. So far I haven't gotten a wink of sleep on my nights of call except for the morning after call when we present to the attendings. Seriously, I can't stay awake in front of these guys. I get the impression that I'm not gonna get a good eval from them.

It's been a pretty rough month. My service is supposed to be a sink or swim service. For most of the time, I feel like I've been sinking. My chief has been good about trying to make me a better doctor/intern. She looks out for me and the 2nd year and I get along really well, so that's been nice. We all come from such different walks of life. My R3 is a persian, classy gal. Buys extra houses, family throws lavish $300k parties. It is so beyond me that we are worlds apart. Super nice, but we're pretty different. The R2 is a prelim guy who is busting his balls so that he can get a formal position in a residency program. General surgery makes no pretense about being hard nosed. We get the daily you've got to lean against the wind speech and the glory days of the chiefs pounding out 1500 cases each year. I feel like such a surgical loser. My attending told me to get a hair transplant and asked my R2 if he loves being a perpetual prelim when he answered a question wrong. Q3 in a general surgery service is rough.

The environment is definitely not as warm and friendly as cow-town. I'm missing that a lot. Moos, a davis grad has been looking out for me. I guess I'm pretty lucky. I'm surrounded by good people...it's just rough to stay focused in this place. I've already lost it a few times and am wondering if I'm gonna get written up. The system is so frustrating...nose to ground, pray that I become a better person/doctor.

-bender

Don't be a tool

hey joe, I think it'll work out. 2014 is when I finish my residency, so it'll be all good. The only thing is, after watching the Hulk, I'm not so sure what brazil is gonna be like. Anyhow, sorry about this boring ass post, but it's gonna be a totally medical post.

Damn, this call is the first time I got pissed off after reading a note. I'm on an emergency/non-trauma surgical service. I live and breathe appendix and gall bladder problems. Anyhow, we had a patient with choledocholithiasis, and eventually developed gallstone pancreatitis. GI did an ERCP and supposedly got rid of the stones. However, the total bilirubin kept going up and our patient started looking as yellow as a banana. We kept bugging GI to do another ERCP because clearly the patient's ducts were still obstructed. Then obnoxious 4th year medical student left a note stating "the patient appears fine. Her pancreatitis has resolved...it takes a week and a half for the lipase to come down. You should really try to treat the patient, rather than just treating labs." Oh my freaking gosh. I wanted to stab that kid. First, he has no idea what we're trying to treat. Second, you just don't write condescending lame ass notes, even if you're a hot-shot attending. Damn kid.

-bender is annoyed