Report of 10 June 2012
Hello from our living room and the Taber table (i.e., the table lent to us by the Tabers) -
It is hot outside, but certainly not as hot as Chennai, and there is a breeze which always makes the ambient temp bearable. I am, however, sitting in airconditioning.
We are well, and hope the same with you. In our residence now, the long curly hair in the bathtub is no longer just mine, the hairbands and ponytail holders are not mine. The long-haired wonder, our 2nd son, is back. (The other long-haired wonder, our 1st son, is not yet here.) I tend to comb my hair on our balcony as it sheds, so I disavow all restroom floor hair with zeal.
Work is wonderful. Rehab'ing patients is good, and the pace is bearable. These folks are complicated at baseline, and I have to investigate 3 different sources (the med list, labs, patient/relatives) in 3 different places for info on their condition, so I am grateful for a little time. One of the patients took a turn for the worse last week, after being told he was not going home and would be going to an extended care facility, and I was preparing to leave for the day when it happened. Our very competent charge nurse grabbed me in passing, and on assessing the patient, I thought he had aspirated (mouth contents going to the lungs, instead of the stomach); it felt good to be right there to assess the situation and decide the treatment option, instead of at the other end of a phone line. In this case, we had to send the patient to the hospital, as we have no ICU or conventional, acute-care hospital amenities. We do, however, have outstanding nurses and therapists (as do all the locum places I have worked at), and it is a privilege to work alongside these folks.
One of our female patients had been getting feistier in preparation to going home, and I liked it. One day, I was bending over to speak to a different patient, and I felt something land on my rear end; I whirled around and saw that it was Ms. Feisty who had planted a kick on my rear. I burst out laughing, and she said, in response (I guess with acceptance that she had not been chastised), "You know, I want to work here." Had it been a male patient, I think my response would have been different: I have a visceral anathema - brought from younger days in India - to being in close proximity to strange men.
We saw "Prometheus" yesterday and I enjoyed Mr. Fassbender's performance; I am biased, however, because I quite love the man. I made a similar comment at work about a colleague/Denzel/any man du jour, and our secretary started to look very concerned about my morals. (Married, not buried, and I will always enjoy a good view.) Scott suggested that I be careful what I say, and at this point, I must say I am grateful to all of you for tolerating my comments about the opposite sex and for knowing that I have as few plans for running away with a poster of Chris Hemsworth/Hugh Jackman/Suriya (the closest I'll get to those men) as I do anyone else.
I spoke to my Dad last week and that was wonderful. He was preparing to honor a colleague on having received an award - my Dad is an excellent speaker and gets asked to quite a few such events - and he said he was listed in the invite as "pre-eminent." As he demurred, and spoke of the skill of younger surgeons and physicians with their powerful Internet skills, I told him he was indeed eminent, that the fine art of a history and physical exam was fundamental to all of medicine.
We also spoke to Naren, on the speaker phone, and will Skype tonight. He had just finished acting in a play. He also writes now for magazines, and writes quite well.
My friend, Sid, and I had lunch last week and that was nice. Sid is a bright administrator, and overall good guy, and it was good to get his take on work and life and family.
We saw "The Intouchables" today, about a disabled man and his caregiver. Though the flick was panned for racially stereotyping the Black caregiver, we enjoyed it immensely. We are sorry that the Spurs are out of the tournament - they are and always will be our beloved team - but the Thunder is fairly likable.
Unw -
R
It is hot outside, but certainly not as hot as Chennai, and there is a breeze which always makes the ambient temp bearable. I am, however, sitting in airconditioning.
We are well, and hope the same with you. In our residence now, the long curly hair in the bathtub is no longer just mine, the hairbands and ponytail holders are not mine. The long-haired wonder, our 2nd son, is back. (The other long-haired wonder, our 1st son, is not yet here.) I tend to comb my hair on our balcony as it sheds, so I disavow all restroom floor hair with zeal.
Work is wonderful. Rehab'ing patients is good, and the pace is bearable. These folks are complicated at baseline, and I have to investigate 3 different sources (the med list, labs, patient/relatives) in 3 different places for info on their condition, so I am grateful for a little time. One of the patients took a turn for the worse last week, after being told he was not going home and would be going to an extended care facility, and I was preparing to leave for the day when it happened. Our very competent charge nurse grabbed me in passing, and on assessing the patient, I thought he had aspirated (mouth contents going to the lungs, instead of the stomach); it felt good to be right there to assess the situation and decide the treatment option, instead of at the other end of a phone line. In this case, we had to send the patient to the hospital, as we have no ICU or conventional, acute-care hospital amenities. We do, however, have outstanding nurses and therapists (as do all the locum places I have worked at), and it is a privilege to work alongside these folks.
One of our female patients had been getting feistier in preparation to going home, and I liked it. One day, I was bending over to speak to a different patient, and I felt something land on my rear end; I whirled around and saw that it was Ms. Feisty who had planted a kick on my rear. I burst out laughing, and she said, in response (I guess with acceptance that she had not been chastised), "You know, I want to work here." Had it been a male patient, I think my response would have been different: I have a visceral anathema - brought from younger days in India - to being in close proximity to strange men.
We saw "Prometheus" yesterday and I enjoyed Mr. Fassbender's performance; I am biased, however, because I quite love the man. I made a similar comment at work about a colleague/Denzel/any man du jour, and our secretary started to look very concerned about my morals. (Married, not buried, and I will always enjoy a good view.) Scott suggested that I be careful what I say, and at this point, I must say I am grateful to all of you for tolerating my comments about the opposite sex and for knowing that I have as few plans for running away with a poster of Chris Hemsworth/Hugh Jackman/Suriya (the closest I'll get to those men) as I do anyone else.
I spoke to my Dad last week and that was wonderful. He was preparing to honor a colleague on having received an award - my Dad is an excellent speaker and gets asked to quite a few such events - and he said he was listed in the invite as "pre-eminent." As he demurred, and spoke of the skill of younger surgeons and physicians with their powerful Internet skills, I told him he was indeed eminent, that the fine art of a history and physical exam was fundamental to all of medicine.
We also spoke to Naren, on the speaker phone, and will Skype tonight. He had just finished acting in a play. He also writes now for magazines, and writes quite well.
My friend, Sid, and I had lunch last week and that was nice. Sid is a bright administrator, and overall good guy, and it was good to get his take on work and life and family.
We saw "The Intouchables" today, about a disabled man and his caregiver. Though the flick was panned for racially stereotyping the Black caregiver, we enjoyed it immensely. We are sorry that the Spurs are out of the tournament - they are and always will be our beloved team - but the Thunder is fairly likable.
Unw -
R
posted by Renu Weiss at
3:24 PM
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