Report of 14 May 2006
Happy Mother's Day from the Carmel library!
There are about 200 folks on my reading list, and all the mothers on there are superlative individuals. Have a great Mother's Day, gang!
Naren and Navin greeted me this am with a handmade card (very lovely) and a pair of sneakers w/ pink streaks across the top - rather pretty. Pretty soon, we'll go see some cerebral entertainment - Mission Impossible III - and then go out to eat.
It didn't take long, did it now. One of the patients I saw last week got her prescription for Xanax (a rather addictive calmative) and called back promptly, stating that her car was broken into and the prescription stolen. We have many folks like this, who will seek controlled substances using many excuses: pills were stolen from the medicine cabinet/purse, scrip was stolen from the car, scrip got inadvertently washed in the pants. Our medical director was good enough to tell me that w/ car break-ins, we need a police report before we proceed w/ any replacement business. This patient could have been telling the truth or not; I told the receptionist that the patient must see her doctor, also at our clinic, and the doctor agreed. The patient apparently wept, etc., I guess she must have thought I would simply call in the prescription, but I have a rather low threshold for nonsense of this sort. I imagine many of my colleagues on this list will have their own stories to tell.
One of Scott's young Indian colleagues, Rajesh, is posted in China and has fallen in love w/ a Chinese young woman. He broke the news to his parents 3 weeks ago after his parents' astrologer predicted doom for him, and the parents want him to break the relationship summarily and head home. He has talked to Scott some about this, and ended up calling me here in the U.S. for advice - we spoke for 45 minutes (I am rather stingy and kept thinking of how much the call was costing him). He is pretty firm that he does not want to break the relationship, and we were comforted; both Scott and I have long been of the belief that nothing is worth breaking off ties w/ one's parents; that family bonds are better off nurtured than severed (especially after kids come along) ; that no decision must be taken in haste (i.e., don't elope) - especially if one is not completely sure of one's romantic partner. So Rajesh and I chatted, and I told him to keep the communication open w/ his family always, to listen to them and work through their objections, and to make it clear that he and the young lady were quite committed to each other. She has not been hassle-free, either: she is an only child (China's policy) and her parents were terrified that Rajesh would take her away to a distant land. She has apparently since convinced them that he's a good guy, and her family is accepting of this liaison.
We used to do a lot of this hand-holding in med school: many inter-racial daters (esp the Asian-White mix) could not believe we were wed w/ the blessings of both sets of parents. Leading us to believe that we truly had some remarkable parents.
I got paid this week and nearly had to be resuscitated (first check in a year, blah blah). My colleagues at this clinic have also been wonderful: one brought me flowers from her garden and they were absolutely lovely; one offered me a home-made lunch; and several have just stopped to chat. It is nice to go to work in a fun place, and Citizens Health Center is a fun place, overall. I spent the weekend w/ my in-laws and that was a blast. Scott's mother and aunt and uncle have 2 adjoining farms and it is where the chilluns spent the last 2 weeks. These are among my favorite people in the world, and the time was spent eating and laughing. It was a soggy weekend, and we watched movies (the fairly wretched Intolerable Cruelty, and The Notebook w/ the amazingly cute Rachel McAdams, a new Naren fave) and developed Texas-sized ulcers watching the Spurs lose to the Mavericks. We also cooked and baked, which were fun things - cooking is very easy here, esp w/ crockpots.
It is nice to have the boys back w/ me. The ride back was spent playing silly games and laughing our eyeballs out. I will switch to part-time this week so that the boys and I can hang out some. Scott is holding his own in Bangalore.
It is nice to be here and get back in touch w/ friends. I've also had the great fortune of attending conferences at St. Vincent Hospital, and that helps me keep afresh on illnesses I don't normally see. The residents there are a gabby bunch (I imagine as we were) and not everyone is interested in the talks: it must be nice to think one is never going to see the illnesses that are spoken of, in the speciality one is going into. I can never have this luxury - much of medicine is still a mystery to me, and I think I must constantly keep learning in order to provide even barebones service to my patients. Some of the resident presentations have been outstanding and I have thoroughly enjoyed 'em.
Unw -
Renu
There are about 200 folks on my reading list, and all the mothers on there are superlative individuals. Have a great Mother's Day, gang!
Naren and Navin greeted me this am with a handmade card (very lovely) and a pair of sneakers w/ pink streaks across the top - rather pretty. Pretty soon, we'll go see some cerebral entertainment - Mission Impossible III - and then go out to eat.
It didn't take long, did it now. One of the patients I saw last week got her prescription for Xanax (a rather addictive calmative) and called back promptly, stating that her car was broken into and the prescription stolen. We have many folks like this, who will seek controlled substances using many excuses: pills were stolen from the medicine cabinet/purse, scrip was stolen from the car, scrip got inadvertently washed in the pants. Our medical director was good enough to tell me that w/ car break-ins, we need a police report before we proceed w/ any replacement business. This patient could have been telling the truth or not; I told the receptionist that the patient must see her doctor, also at our clinic, and the doctor agreed. The patient apparently wept, etc., I guess she must have thought I would simply call in the prescription, but I have a rather low threshold for nonsense of this sort. I imagine many of my colleagues on this list will have their own stories to tell.
One of Scott's young Indian colleagues, Rajesh, is posted in China and has fallen in love w/ a Chinese young woman. He broke the news to his parents 3 weeks ago after his parents' astrologer predicted doom for him, and the parents want him to break the relationship summarily and head home. He has talked to Scott some about this, and ended up calling me here in the U.S. for advice - we spoke for 45 minutes (I am rather stingy and kept thinking of how much the call was costing him). He is pretty firm that he does not want to break the relationship, and we were comforted; both Scott and I have long been of the belief that nothing is worth breaking off ties w/ one's parents; that family bonds are better off nurtured than severed (especially after kids come along) ; that no decision must be taken in haste (i.e., don't elope) - especially if one is not completely sure of one's romantic partner. So Rajesh and I chatted, and I told him to keep the communication open w/ his family always, to listen to them and work through their objections, and to make it clear that he and the young lady were quite committed to each other. She has not been hassle-free, either: she is an only child (China's policy) and her parents were terrified that Rajesh would take her away to a distant land. She has apparently since convinced them that he's a good guy, and her family is accepting of this liaison.
We used to do a lot of this hand-holding in med school: many inter-racial daters (esp the Asian-White mix) could not believe we were wed w/ the blessings of both sets of parents. Leading us to believe that we truly had some remarkable parents.
I got paid this week and nearly had to be resuscitated (first check in a year, blah blah). My colleagues at this clinic have also been wonderful: one brought me flowers from her garden and they were absolutely lovely; one offered me a home-made lunch; and several have just stopped to chat. It is nice to go to work in a fun place, and Citizens Health Center is a fun place, overall. I spent the weekend w/ my in-laws and that was a blast. Scott's mother and aunt and uncle have 2 adjoining farms and it is where the chilluns spent the last 2 weeks. These are among my favorite people in the world, and the time was spent eating and laughing. It was a soggy weekend, and we watched movies (the fairly wretched Intolerable Cruelty, and The Notebook w/ the amazingly cute Rachel McAdams, a new Naren fave) and developed Texas-sized ulcers watching the Spurs lose to the Mavericks. We also cooked and baked, which were fun things - cooking is very easy here, esp w/ crockpots.
It is nice to have the boys back w/ me. The ride back was spent playing silly games and laughing our eyeballs out. I will switch to part-time this week so that the boys and I can hang out some. Scott is holding his own in Bangalore.
It is nice to be here and get back in touch w/ friends. I've also had the great fortune of attending conferences at St. Vincent Hospital, and that helps me keep afresh on illnesses I don't normally see. The residents there are a gabby bunch (I imagine as we were) and not everyone is interested in the talks: it must be nice to think one is never going to see the illnesses that are spoken of, in the speciality one is going into. I can never have this luxury - much of medicine is still a mystery to me, and I think I must constantly keep learning in order to provide even barebones service to my patients. Some of the resident presentations have been outstanding and I have thoroughly enjoyed 'em.
Unw -
Renu
posted by Renu Weiss at
10:38 AM
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