Pensacola Trip 2007

On the party boat

Land ho! Let's get anchored!National Museum of Naval Aviation

View from the Pensacola townhome

Our last night there

ETK & Hubby loungin

Memorable Memorial Weekend

We're baaaa-aaack! We had a very nice weekend in Pensacola!

We avoided the crowds by completely avoiding Pensacola Beach.

But what about the white sand, waves, and sun you ask? Well, we went to other beaches. Yes, there are others around. Saturday we rented a party boat, zoomed around in it, and made 2 stops at 2 different beaches. That was a lot of fun. When then enjoyed a nice dinner on the deck at the Atlas Oyster House over looking a marina. Delicious seafood, good wine, & yummy Key Lime pie! :)

Sunday we memorialized our soldiers by visiting the National Museum of Naval Aviation on the Pensacola Naval Air Station. Then we headed to Perdido Key and before we got our beach on, we BRIEFLY got our white-trash on by visiting the famous (or is it infamous) Flora-Bama Lounge...we ate lunch, watch some sky divers land on the beach & quickly escaped to find a less crowded beach to relax on - minus the WT peeps & music. ;p We didn't get sucked in....phew! :) That night we just chilled at the townhome & grilled up some seafood.

It flew by fast, but it was fun.

Unfortunately, I am home sick today. :( In fact, I just woke up about an hour ago.

Tomorrow, I head back to clinical rotations. My last one!!! I'll be on the GI surgery service at MD Anderson Cancer Center.

I'll post pics later...

Orange Hands

Yesterday, I spent the morning on campus watching end-of-month presentations and then presented my case study on Idiopathic Intracranial Hypertension. Then went to a friends house with some other classmates for a small get together to celebrate almost being done with clinicals (& more Alli's getting old celebration). Great time! Good food! Fun stories!

THEN, I went and got my hair done. I changed my haircolor AGAIN. I said I wanted it to be chocolatey....but it is much darker than I wanted. Why does it never come out how you imagine??? Anywho, I am sure it will lighten up soon, especially since I have old hilights underneath. (I don't have any pictures yet.)

THEN, I decided that since I am heading to Florida today and I am pale as a ghost, that maybe I should do the fake Mystic Tan. This is that thing at the tanning salon where you get sprayed with tanning solution. I did it one time before some years ago, and it worked prettyy good. Well, it still worked ok, BUT apparently I didn't wipe off my hands very well (and I fell asleep before I took a shower). My hands are orange, especially the left one. :( And it makes my cuticles look dirty. GRRR! How embarrassing!!!! GRRR!!! I wonder if there is anything I can scrub them with that will help.

Things I Love

The Ellen show! I'm not much of a talk show person, but I do like to watch her show when I am home on weekdays. I think she is hilarious! I also think she is a really good person who does good deeds for others, including making us laugh and smile. She is too funny!!!

Another thing I love, primates...especially the lesser primates! She happened to have Jack Hannah in her show and he brought in the cutest marmosets. Aren't they so cute!

Ok...BACK to writing my paper!!!!

Crazy Plants

My parents got this crazy plant and cool pot for me for my bday. I absolutely love it! I have always enjoyed plants, especially unique ones.

If you are interested:

Scirpus cernuus (Fiber Optic Plant)
Intriguing tufts of glossy, thread-like leaves growing to a length of up to 12’’ with minute white flower spikes/seed heads on the tips of each leaf, the very image of a fiber optic lamp. A water lover. It is listed as a subtropic plant in most literature, however, it has proven to be quite hardy, surviving the lower teens in pots and would take lower in a wet situation I am certain. It also makes an excellent house plant, tolerating lower light as long as its feet are soggy. As a bonus, makes excellent "hair" on a planter in the shape of a human or animal head.
From http://www.worldplants.com/scirpus.htm

Thanks to my fellow classmate who emailed me this info.

Interesting Twist

Sooooooo.....

We just found out we will have an interesting twist in our upcoming vacation plans to Pensacola. The very same weekend that we will be sun bathing 0n the beautiful white sands of Pensacola is also the same weekend that there is a huge gay pride celebration. Hmmm.... I haven't experienced one of those before. How do 3 straight couples fit in on the beaches during gay pride weekend? It'll definitely be an interesting experience.

http://www.tripsmarter.com/pensacola/archives/events/memorialgay.htm

7 things about me

1. I absolutely love being a PA student and helping others and can't wait to become a real PA-C!!!
2. I am a huge animal lover. I was an animal science major in undergrad and once had the goal of becoming a veterinarian.
3. I have lived in a lot of places. Erie, PA; Corpus Chrisiti, TX; Meadows, TX; North East, PA; Westfield, NY; Clarion, PA (college); Singapore; Ithaca, NY (college); lived outside of NYC one summer; Philedelphia, PA (first job after college); The Woodlands, TX; now another town outside of Houston.
4. I took a break halfway through college to live in Singapore with my parents and worked at the Singapore Zoo in the reptile and small mammal exhibits.
5. I love traveling, especially to tropical places. I would live in Hawaii if it was affordable!
6. Although I am not a church going person these days, I am a very spiritual person.
7. My favorite things in the world are cooking dinner, enjoying a nice glass of wine, and watching a movie with my hubby. He's my best friend and I feel so lucky to be married to him.

Tag! You're it. It's your turn now. (Thanks for the tag & idea, ETK!)

Bye-Bye Twenties. Hello Thirties!

I am now officially 30! And so I am told by EVERYONE, I am now old. LOL! But I don't feel it. Well, every now and then I definitely can tell that I am not 21 anymore. The few grey hairs, the start of wrinkles, decrease in metabolism, and the start of those tiny crazy veins on my legs are a hint.....but other than that I still feel young. :) It also helps that most people tell me I don't look thirty and would guess I am still in my early twenties. I do like to hear that. ;)

My actual birthday was Friday. I had to work 12 hours in the ER, but came home to a delcious home-cooked meal by the hubby, a yummy, beautiful chocolate cake, and awesome gifts. He definitely did too much. But I am not complaining and love & appreciate everything he did. I also got a lovely rendition of Happy Birthday on my voice mail from ETK & Baby. That put a huge smile on my face.

Saturday was my last day in the ER. I really enjoyed my time in the ED and got to see a lot of interesting things/people. I finally got to practice my suturing on a laceration (on my birthday of all days), which was one of my goals. However, I doubt I will go into emergency medicine as I said before. I really just don't want to work nights or weekends if I can help it. The NEVER working weekends may be tough, but I really don't like working nights! Anywho, I have the rest of this week to do my ER paper & presentation which is due Thursday & I haven't even started it yet! EEK! Better get to it. The next week I start my LAST clinical rotation at MD Anderson Cancer Center. I am very much looking forward to that one.

So, Sunday I had a SMALL lunch get-together at Mi Luna in The Woodlands and then some bowling at Main Event also in The Woodlands area. Since my invite was really late, most peeps already had plans, but I had a few people help celebrate. We had some great Spanish tapas food & lots of fun bowling.

So far being 30 ain't bad. Plus, I think it makes my 30-something hubby feel like I am catching up to him. ;)

Tales from the ER

Patient: My legs have been hurtin real bad, but they feel better now.
Alli: When did they start hurting and when did they start to feel better?
Patient: Well, they were hurting when I cut them off with a skill-saw.
Alli: But your legs are still there, see? (as I point to his legs)
Patient: Oh, I know that. I put them back on. Then they felt better.
Alli: Oh, ok. (not sure how to respond to that....)

Alli to the ER faculty doc: I think we need to consult Psych...

Cutie-pa-tootie!

Ian

#2 nephew @ 7 months

Is he precious or what?

Kickin' my bootie

That's what 12 hour nights do to me. See.....





Yes, that was me yesterday. Hubby thought it would be funny to take a pic of me while I was asleep......or half dead..... Very funny, hubby! And some how I apparently tore the bed apart!



Merlah apparently worried all night about where I was and so she was pooped, too. Poor puppy!

Interesting...

http://www.geocraft.com/WVFossils/GlobWarmTest/start.html

My disclaimer: I don't pretend to know all the science behind Global Warming, and I don't know to what extent our damage to our Earth progresses it. I do think that politicians on both sides use the topic for their political gain. I do believe it exhists. Is it as bad as some people proclaim, I don't know. I'm not an environmental scientist, and I don't think all the doom-sayers or people who don't believe in it are either. I do believe that all us need to be responsible in taking care of our Earth. I just thought this was an interesting link, no matter what one believes.

Making the switch

Is not easy!

I have to work the 8pm - 8am shift tonight in the ER & I tried to stay up late so I could sleep in late today. Um, yeah...that didn't work. I made it to 11:30pm. When did I get so old that I can stay up late? I guess it doesn't help when your spouse gets into bed between 9 and 10pm and you want to snuggle. So, I stayed up watching Futurama & Family Guy re-runs and then some Late Night TV and then zzzzzzzzzzzz. Ima wus. And I tried to sleep in late. It was kinda late....9am. But I am going to have to stay awake until 9am tomorrow. I am definitely going to have to try to nap today.

How do changing shift workers do this? I guess they get used to it???

Thankfully, I only have 4 night shifts: tonight, Saturday night, Monday night & Tuesday night. Then no more....hopefully ever. I did one week of night shifts at the beginning of my clinical rotations when I was in OBGYN, it was Labor & Delivery....that was rough! Barely any babies those nights, it got quite boring. My one delivery that I got to do myself (with help) was during L&D days, and I saw a lot that week, including a few c-sections. Ok....tangent.

Anywho, I HOPE I will be able to get a nap in today. I may have to juice up on a lot of coffee tonight. :) Hopefully we'll be busy.

Fried & Squishy

That's kind of how my brain feels today. I guess that's what 3 12's in a row in the ER (when your not used to it) can do to a young student. Luckily I have today off to recoop & then I start some over night shifts tomorrow night. I am sure there will be some interesting things to see in the night shifts over the weekend. I can only imagine.

So far I have been on the non-trauma side of the ER, so I haven't seen any real crazy, hectic emergencies/traumas yet. Not that I wish these things on patients, but I hope this week I will get some of that experience in. I have mostly been seeing a lot of abdominal pains, shortness of breath, psych issues, foreign body in the eye, dizziness, etc. I did get to see a gunshot wound in a 17-year-old's foot. Unfortunately, it had been a few days since he received the wound & he had developed gas gangrene. Yep, he had to have an amputation. Nasty stuff. Why did he wait 2 days to get it treated? I have no idea. A lot times it is due to no insurance & no money. Very sad. Things get worse & it ends up costing more in the long run...no matter who pays for it.

Unfortunately, we also see a lot of people that aren't true emergencies. They could go to an urgent care center or just try to get an appt at a clinic. But a lot of these people don't have insurance, don't have doctors, and don't know what else to do but go to the ER. It's quite sad. It's also frustrating at times b/c then they get all mad that they had to wait for many hours to be seen. Well, it's the ER.....emergency room.....if you don't have a true emergency, you're gonna have to wait. That's the way it is. Don't these people get it?

Anwho, I am enjoying the time in the ER & am already learning a lot. I doubt I'll go into emergency medicine b/c I am not a big fan of working nights or weekends. I would prefer a more 8am-5/6pm M-F type job if I can. But no over nighters for me, please! ;)

Murphy's Lesser Known Laws

1. Light travels faster than sound. This is why some people appear bright until you hear them speak.
2. He who laughs last, thinks slowest.
3. Those who live by the sword get shot by those who don't.
4. Nothing is foolproof to a sufficiently talented fool.
5. The 50-50-90 rule: Anytime you have a 50-50 chance of getting something right, there's a 90% probability you'll get it wrong.
6. The things that come to those who wait will be the things left by those who got there first.
7. Give a man a fish and he will eat for a day. Teach a man to fish and he'll sit in a boat all day, drinking beer.
8. The shin bone is a device for finding furniture in a dark room.
9. A fine is a tax for doing wrong. A tax is a fine for doing well.
10. When you go into court, you are putting yourself in the hands of twelve people who weren't smart enough to get out of jury duty.

Things I Love

Barenaked Ladies!

NO! Not the people, you sillies!!! The band!

Get your head out of the gutter!!!

Anywho, I have been listening to them for about the past decade ever since one of my NY girls got me hooked. I love 'em! Very talented! Quite goofy! Very cool songs!

One of the best things to come out of Canada!

If you haven't bought an album, I recommend any of them!

Perhaps start with their Greatest Hits album -

"Disc One: All Their Greatest Hits 1991-2001"

I just purchased it & it does have a lot of their bests on it!

Good stuff!

Great driving music!

Check 'em out!

Orthopedic Surgery/Sports Medicine???

So, I had an interesting experience yesterday.

I drove into the medical center to look into a possible part time/short term research position at the Bone & Joint Clinic of Houston. I was considering this only as a short term thing that I might be able to do as I finish up school, thinking it would be good experience, something to add to the resume, and get some networking in. So, I interviewed with a women about the position, and it turns out that they need someone sooner then I would I have time for (meaning before I finish my clinical rotations). BUT, she then asked me if I had time to meet & talk to one of their new orthopedists. Of course I was available! She then introduced me to that orthopedic surgeon who also happens to be needing a PA most likely around the time I will graduate. We chatted for a while about my interests/background, what he does (mostly sports medicine), & what responsibilities the PA he will soon need will have. It sounds very interesting! The PA will have clinic and OR responsibilities...lots of hands on procedures. Sounds like it could be right up my alley. So, this has peaked my interests big time. We also chatted a bit about our personal lives, to get that personal get-ta-know-you stuffs in. I got a good vibe from him & like his attitude of what he thinks makes a good practitioner....you have to have good people skills. I agree. He feels that if he can hire a PA with good people skills & who has a good upbringing, he can train them to do the rest. Anywho, I was honest with him & told him I have zero ortho experience & will not have an ortho rotation. He said not to worry. I have surgery & family medicine experience, both of which I loved....and again, he can teach the rest. I expressed a strong interest & said that I would also be interested in shadowing him in the clinic & OR in my upcoming free time if that was possible. He agreed that would be a great idea. Pretty cool, eh? Who knew that yesterday's journey would have lead to that....it was pretty much an interview for a PA job.....which I had no idea would happen. At the very least, I thought maybe going to that interview for the research job, I might acquire some networking with peeps in the medical center. I definitely turned out to be a lot more! Very cool!

So, this actually got me pretty pumped! I will definitely look at this as a possibility. As I told hubby, I am sure there will be other options that come my way (including some of the other job offers I have had) and I will carefully research all of them to see what fits me best.

Things I Love

I decided that I am going to start randomly posting

"Things I Love."

It's kinda a fun way to post about the little things in life that make me smile.

Today's "Things I Love":

STARBURST JELLY BEANS!!!!!!

Love 'em, love 'em....could eat an entire bag!

The ED

Well, I survived my first 12 hour shift in the UTMB emergency department (ED). I actually really enjoyed it. I worked with nice attendings and a cool intern (who happens to be from Hawaii). They pretty much agreed with my plans for the patients that I saw. It made me wish that had the ability to put orders in for the patients to get things moving faster. The thing that annoys me about the ER is how long the patients have to wait at times for things to get done. But that is just the way it is sometimes. I just wish I could help it move faster.

I saw various things. There were the common abdominal pains, chest pains, etc. We also had some very interesting psych patients come in, some sadly, who where acutely psychotic & screaming. One lady kept talking about "us" and "her boyfriend." We found out that "her boyfriend" lived inside of her. She also ended up yelling at all of us & that we all were watching her & would end up spending 100 years in prison. Wow, she was angry! Poor lady. It was definitely an interesting shift!

I work 12 12-hour shifts this month with some day and some night shifts and some weekends involved. It'll be a good mix.