Report of 28 May '08
Hello from the Carmel library -
This is a great place to be.
We are well, and the Weiss men are getting set to wind up their visit on 1 June. I will stay on here and work until 9 August.
Last week, I got to round on the inpatient service at St. Vincent with Dr. Robert Love, brilliant clinician and mentor, and that was absolutely energising. He tolerates a lot of questions, and that has been most enlightening for me.
Lots of fun interactions last week. We watched our beloved Spurs beat the Hornets at the home of Carolyn Scanlan-Craighead and her husband, Will. They are wonderful, hospitable, warm people with great senses of humor, and the evening was fun. The next evening, we had dinner with Brenda and Jim Hillman; Jim used to be the manager of medical education at St. Vincent, and Brenda is a nurse. She is also an excellent cook and we ate until we burst. Their company is a complete treat, and we had a great time. On the 23rd, we got together with our friend Scott Semester's parents, Barb and Jim, and Scott, and that was also a fabulous meal. A ton of food, and chocolate, and some scintillating company; the boys enjoyed themselves also. Barb gave us a goodie bag on our exit, and it had more chocolate and cookies! A memorable evening. We met our friend, Olivia Fondoble, and her fun parents when they came into town for the Indy 500; Olivia took us out for dinner, which was so kind. She'd also sent us, prior to this generous act, t-shirts commemorating her alma mater Kansas's win in the NCAA basketball finals; and a giant box of clothes, trail mix and candy. We almost fell over in delight. We spent a day down at the in-laws' farm, with Scott's entire family, and a fun time was had with this irreverent crew. We ate, and drank, and laughed. We were sorry that Danica Patrick did not win, though I loved her spirit and temper.
Yesterday, we spent the morning with Mary Remster. Mary and Sam are great friends of ours from the days when Mary and I volunteered for Special Olympics together. Sam died at the end of April. Mary and we reminisced together, with some laughter, some tears, and plenty of good memories. As Mary said, Sam loved our sons, and always had treats for them when they visited. When the boys acted up last year, Sam sent them a strong note, stating that he believed they could do very well in school and that they'd better not let him down. It was nice for the boys to get some affirmation from far away. We missed Sam, and still do. Mary handed over several of his possessions to the men, including some of Sam's very nice clothes. She wept when she did so. We are honored to have some tokens of Sam's memory.
Work was fine. I saw a patient with "Aryan Nation" tattooed on his neck. I remember an episode of the TV show, ER, where the Black surgeon, Benton, had to operate on a patient with (I think) a tattoo saying "Ni---r." He had a tough time with that. So did I with this man. The prudent thing would have been to shut up and finish the visit, but Prudence ain't my name, so I ploughed into an inquisition. I asked him about the tattoo, asked him if the organisation wasn't one of those that wandered around beating up Black people (he said No, he'd got it in prison as part of a gang), and then I concluded the visit stating that I was not about to judge his beliefs, but that we would send him to an ENT surgeon, whose expertise he needed. It was disconcerting to know that this chappie was only there because he needed my help, and had he run into my beige sons or me anywhere else, his treatment of us might have been different. On discussing this encounter with one of the nurses, she mentioned that the Ku Klux Klan had phoned her stepfather on a recent recruitment drive, soliciting membership; he had declined, but it was all a mite senseless. Yes, this last incident happened this century.
We saw "Prince Caspian" on Navin's request, "Indiana Jones" just because it was there - and enjoyed both. We dropped Naren off to see "Harold and Kumar II," as he is such a fan of Kal Penn, and have exhausted the stock of good movies available in this town, on the big screen. I say, what's with the ruddy airlines and their supremely erratic service? Because of this, my sister-in-law, Diane, and I have to drive the men to Philly to catch their international flight. Two of our friends, in the last 6 months, have missed their international connections due to domestic screw-ups. It's difficult to think that in the efficient and orderly U.S., *airlines* are now unreliable and error-prone. Enlighten me, please.
Unw -
R
This is a great place to be.
We are well, and the Weiss men are getting set to wind up their visit on 1 June. I will stay on here and work until 9 August.
Last week, I got to round on the inpatient service at St. Vincent with Dr. Robert Love, brilliant clinician and mentor, and that was absolutely energising. He tolerates a lot of questions, and that has been most enlightening for me.
Lots of fun interactions last week. We watched our beloved Spurs beat the Hornets at the home of Carolyn Scanlan-Craighead and her husband, Will. They are wonderful, hospitable, warm people with great senses of humor, and the evening was fun. The next evening, we had dinner with Brenda and Jim Hillman; Jim used to be the manager of medical education at St. Vincent, and Brenda is a nurse. She is also an excellent cook and we ate until we burst. Their company is a complete treat, and we had a great time. On the 23rd, we got together with our friend Scott Semester's parents, Barb and Jim, and Scott, and that was also a fabulous meal. A ton of food, and chocolate, and some scintillating company; the boys enjoyed themselves also. Barb gave us a goodie bag on our exit, and it had more chocolate and cookies! A memorable evening. We met our friend, Olivia Fondoble, and her fun parents when they came into town for the Indy 500; Olivia took us out for dinner, which was so kind. She'd also sent us, prior to this generous act, t-shirts commemorating her alma mater Kansas's win in the NCAA basketball finals; and a giant box of clothes, trail mix and candy. We almost fell over in delight. We spent a day down at the in-laws' farm, with Scott's entire family, and a fun time was had with this irreverent crew. We ate, and drank, and laughed. We were sorry that Danica Patrick did not win, though I loved her spirit and temper.
Yesterday, we spent the morning with Mary Remster. Mary and Sam are great friends of ours from the days when Mary and I volunteered for Special Olympics together. Sam died at the end of April. Mary and we reminisced together, with some laughter, some tears, and plenty of good memories. As Mary said, Sam loved our sons, and always had treats for them when they visited. When the boys acted up last year, Sam sent them a strong note, stating that he believed they could do very well in school and that they'd better not let him down. It was nice for the boys to get some affirmation from far away. We missed Sam, and still do. Mary handed over several of his possessions to the men, including some of Sam's very nice clothes. She wept when she did so. We are honored to have some tokens of Sam's memory.
Work was fine. I saw a patient with "Aryan Nation" tattooed on his neck. I remember an episode of the TV show, ER, where the Black surgeon, Benton, had to operate on a patient with (I think) a tattoo saying "Ni---r." He had a tough time with that. So did I with this man. The prudent thing would have been to shut up and finish the visit, but Prudence ain't my name, so I ploughed into an inquisition. I asked him about the tattoo, asked him if the organisation wasn't one of those that wandered around beating up Black people (he said No, he'd got it in prison as part of a gang), and then I concluded the visit stating that I was not about to judge his beliefs, but that we would send him to an ENT surgeon, whose expertise he needed. It was disconcerting to know that this chappie was only there because he needed my help, and had he run into my beige sons or me anywhere else, his treatment of us might have been different. On discussing this encounter with one of the nurses, she mentioned that the Ku Klux Klan had phoned her stepfather on a recent recruitment drive, soliciting membership; he had declined, but it was all a mite senseless. Yes, this last incident happened this century.
We saw "Prince Caspian" on Navin's request, "Indiana Jones" just because it was there - and enjoyed both. We dropped Naren off to see "Harold and Kumar II," as he is such a fan of Kal Penn, and have exhausted the stock of good movies available in this town, on the big screen. I say, what's with the ruddy airlines and their supremely erratic service? Because of this, my sister-in-law, Diane, and I have to drive the men to Philly to catch their international flight. Two of our friends, in the last 6 months, have missed their international connections due to domestic screw-ups. It's difficult to think that in the efficient and orderly U.S., *airlines* are now unreliable and error-prone. Enlighten me, please.
Unw -
R
posted by Renu Weiss at
12:32 PM
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