So it snowed in New Orleans today, it’s a miracle! I loved it, it was so much fun! For pictures, check out this link http:​/​/​www.​ faceb​ook.​ com/​album​.​ php?​aid=​20593​01&​l=​20846​&​id=​45708​908

Our power is out tonight. It is also happens to be a tad chilly tonight. So we thought, ‘It’s ok because we have gas heat.’ What we quickly realized is that our gas heat is controlled by an electrical device. Just one of life’s little ironies I guess.

It doesn’t help that I’ve got a project and a final exam I’m trying to work on that are due Friday. In addition, I’ve been quite sick the past few days.

In regards to that final item…I’m doing signicantly better tonight. I had a bad bought of the so-called “stomach flu” or gastritis. So my stomach is still really irritated and I’m still weak, but much better overall. Thanks for the thoughts and prayers.

Power is back on!  Entergy has been really quick around here – I’m impressed.

For those of you who are trying to keep up to date with multiple blogs, I would recommend using an RSS Reader.  You enter all the blogs you want to keep up with into a program and it lets you know when a new post is published.  I use Google Reader.  This site has some videos which help you setup and use Google Reader to keep up with your blogs.  Email me if you have any questions.

http://casesblog.blogspot.com/2008/09/video-how-to-use-google-rss-reader.html

“So, what kind of doctor do you want to be?”  This is becoming a more and more frequent question in my life.  The quick answer is that I’m not quite sure yet.  I like Surgery a lot, I really enjoy working with my hands and to have to opportunity to “do something” to help the patient.  That is not at all to say that non-surgeons do not do things to help their patients, it’s just a more hands on, interventional approach to medicine.  The main draw back to life as a Surgeon is the time and emotional requirements of the job.  

Every since I began telling people I wanted to be a doctor, I felt as if most of them were trying to dissuade me from this profession.  Many of them were doctors themselves who had become dissatisfied with the way medicine was heading.  The other main group have been those concerned with the family life impingements that life as a Physician typically bring.  After awhile it does get pretty aggravating to hear so many people try to discourage me from what I feel is one of the greatest professions in the world.

The subject was brought up again at lunch today with our friends and mentors Mike and Sue.  They have a genuine concern for Deanna and I’s relationship.  However, as I look at the world of Medicine I see no easy answer to the struggles of time management.  This struggle is shared by many in the service professions.  The struggle is what percentage of the time will my family take priority and what percentage of the time will those I serve take priority.  Perhaps what upsets me the most if the double standard by which we view this argument.  To our friends and loved ones entering a service profession we implore them to take time for themselves and prioritize their family.  However, from a patient prospective we are frustrated when we cannot access the healthcare system when we want to and we get upset when our doctor cannot be reached.

Patient perspective:

A very common problem we have in our medical world today are Obstetrician schedules.  A woman will see a certain Obstetrician for several months while she is pregnant and build a rapport with that physician only to find out that on the night of her delivery her doctor is off for the night or out of town and someone she has never met will deliver the baby.  This becomes even more of an issue when there are complications during labor and/or delivery.  Another issue that  I struggle with right now is that I am in clinical rotations between the hours of 9-5 everyday.  This makes it very difficult to get simple things done like get a brake tag, see the dentist, or access any non-emergent aspect of the healthcare system.  

Doctor perspective:

In order to try to make sure we have time for our families, we do our best to schedule nights and weekends off as much as possible.  The best way to ensure that I will be off for the night is to turn over care of my patients to another physician who will cover the night shift.  However, what if one of my patients has an emergency, this other physician who does not know my patient will have to quickly review the chart and do what they think is best.  But, what if they miss something important?  What if they enact a treatment that I don’t feel was in the best interest of the patient?  My patient trusted me to take care of them and trusted in my decision making abilities and my way of thinking.  Yet, in their time of need they were turned over to another.  Then I have to come in the next morning and catch up on what happened and deal with the repercussions.  My other alternative is to take my own call all the time and make sure that I see all of my own patients.  

People are always eternally in debt to the surgeon who spends hours saving a loved one’s life.  They often give little thought to what this situation has done to his or her own family life.  This may not be the surgeon’s only patient or the only case for the day.  Perhaps he has not seen much of his family for the last several days.  He goes home with the memory of the praises and tears of the family he just saved, but then he must face the family he has neglected.  

Both doctors and patients want continuity of care where we can take care of our patients and build that sacred doctor/patient relationship.  As a family man, I want to be there for my family and build that sacred relationship with them.  It is a delicate balance and the frustrating part is that I feel like either way I step I loose.  Is it possible to maintain my balance on the tightrope?  Or will I constantly be stepping off to one side or the other trying to minimize damages on either side along the way?

 

Please feel free to chime in with your thoughts on either side of the issue.

I started my OB/GYN rotation this week and yesterday was my first day at the hospital.  When I got there I found out that I would be on call and would have to stay overnight.  It actually wasn’t too bad, I didn’t get any sleep, but I had some great experiences.  

On my first day, I was able to witness 2 C-sections, 2 regular deliveries, some ER consults, and unfortunately a miscarriage.   The deliveries were so exciting, even more so than I imagined.  I found myself overwhelmed with joy when the baby finally came out.  It was wonderful to see the reactions on the family’s faces when they met the new addition to their family.  What a privilege to be able to welcome a new life into the world and to be able to share in that moment with the family.  I do have to say, I was surprised how much wrestling you have to do to get those little tikes to come out.  They really make both the mother and the doctor work for it!  And yes, people aren’t kidding when they say it is a very bloody procedure.  

The miscarriage (or spontaneous abortion as we call it) was of course very tragic.  It was a 20 year old woman with her first pregnancy.  To make matters worse, some of the placenta and fetus was stuck inside the uterus.  After much debate with what to do – as she had some medical complications – we decided to take her to surgery and remove the left behind pieces.  This was especially tragic because she didn’t even have any friends or family to help her through this ordeal.  However, this interaction reminded me of the amazing opportunity we have as Physicians to interact with people during the most trying and vulnerable moments of their lives.  

This experience reminded me of what one of our professors told us about why he choose to be and Oncologist.  (Many doctors do not like the field of Oncology because many of the patients are very sick and dying).  He said that he actually choose to go into that field because he was able to help patients through the dying process.  He looked at it as a privilege to be the one to guide them through the process.  As another one of our professors said, “We as physicians will see death hundreds of times, whereas the average person only experiences death with a few of their family and friends.  We know what to expect and how to help them through the process.  We should not be afraid of this part of the care, but embrace it and make sure we do everything we can to be there with them and their family to help them through the process.”  

I will try to write more on this topic later.  For now, suffice it to say that I have been experiencing the “ups and downs” of medicine over the last several months.  Both of which are helping to shape me into who I will become as a Physician.  I’ll be praying for all my patients yesterday and I wish them the best.

So, for the last couple of days we’ve mainly been picking up the sticks and racking the leaves that COVERED our front and back yards. Still not everything is open and what is has limited supplies and hours, I hate that the most. You don’t know what’s open or what they will have. Some people at church this morning said that at some groceries, milk was running $7 a gallon?! Oh my! Isn’t that called price gauging, come on. Anyways, when normalcy seems like it’s ready to settle back in, what do ya know but another hurricane is uh blowin. I mean what’s the use in going back to school for 2 days after been gone a week only to be gone for another week? Nothing can be accomplished in that amount of time. It’s frustrating and not to mention financially difficult. 

I do have to say that I’m throughly impressed with the upstanding job Bobby Jindal did with preparation, execution, and follow up with all the hurricane specifics. It’s probably what a Governor should do, it’s just that our politicians rarely do what they should do. He really did a great job and seemed to stay not only sane but organized and goal oriented through the whole thing. I am proud to say that I am glad about the way things happened/ are happening. Granted he did have people before him give a demonstration on what not to do, aka Katrina, but again, thank God for someone with some sense, competency, and passion. Hooray!

Well, we are not unpacking everything just in case. We will probably go north east again as everyone and their momma usually goes west, including possibly the hurricane this time. Hope all are safe and keep us updated as well.

~Dee

We are finally home and i will make it short because we are in a hospital using the internet b/c it’s out at our house. We have water, power, down limbs, but everything here pretty okay. I hope more businesses open up soon! 

~Dee

We made it to Mississippi safely. There’s no internet at the house and sewage problems so I am at a mall using internet and the bathroom =) We found out we got electricity at our house this morning so we will probably go back tonight or tomorrow. Jr and his dad are there now cutting down a tree that fell on our porch and cleaning out the fridge, yuck! Well, more updates when I have internet again!

~Deanna

Today we found out we can go back home tomorrow, however our electricity is still off. So our plan is to go to Mississippi and spend some time at my in-laws house there until we regain electricity or we just have to go back for school or what not. I’m sure we will hit ungodly traffic tomorrow and I’m not looking forward to it but whatcha gonna do? 

 

Today we took a lazy approach, slept in and just took our time getting ready and eating. But we did manage to go see the Cathedral Caverns with one of my cousins. It was really pretty and we had a fun time. 

 

the frozen waterfall

 

the caveman (natural)

 

stalagmite forrest

 

The entrance/exit

my cousin and I resting after cave hiking

Our “vacation” in alabama ends as we pack to travel closer to home. It’s weird that we started this blog with remembering Katrina and trying to find the good in it. Then, not too long afterwards we are facing another storm. I guess that’s just life.

~Deanna

 

My goal not to watch the news 24/7 has been going pretty good and I think it has helped keep the anxiety level down. However, I do find myself feeling like I don’t know what’s going on. So tonight I have been watching trying to see what the damage is and when we can go back. It definitely does not seem like it’s that bad. They said wind damage was the worst, down trees, power lines, fences, etc. No flooding as of yet (fingers crossed). They are not letting us back in tomorrow but won’t say when they will let us back in. They said they need to clean up the wind damage, mostly the power lines because some are still live. My greatest fear was not that my “possessions” or house would be destroyed but that I wouldn’t be able to go “home,” that life would not resume as it normally did, that not many businesses would be open and those that were would have limited supplies and close early, that the city would be almost deserted, that 3 years afterwards I would still see untouched damage from the storm. I was afraid of another Katrina event. Again, it doesn’t seem to be bad but I won’t know what life will be like until we get back. 

 

Well the events of today to keep our minds off the storm consisted of taking the dogs to the state park for a hike. They really enjoyed it, they were excited the whole time and loved running around in the forrest. Then we met up with our friends Layton and Amanda and visited the lake again so the dogs could go swimming. Next we found my family members at the lake too and we went with them to see a waterfall. We ended the night no better than going to Dairy Queen for a treat with Layton. Pictures of the events follows. 

 

my little explorers checking out a cave

 

photo op

 

hiking

swimming at the lake

 

 

The sun was kinda in my eyes, oh well!

the waterfall

 

I'm not holding onto the tree to look cute, look how steep the ground is!

my extended fam at the waterfall

 

 

Well, that’s all for now, more to come as day 4 approaches.