Report of 13 July '13
Hello from St. Louis!
Scott and I are here on a little weekend getaway to celebrate our 25th wedding anniversary. Big trips came earlier (Rio) and neither of us has seen St. Louis, so here we are.
The city is beautiful in parts, and decrepit in parts. As Scott and I sat outside a funky little restaurant enjoying an artsy meal, 2 guys came up and 1 wanted to know more about the restaurant. My antennae always go up at any interaction and we left the place shortly thereafter. The boys and I had been at a restaurant in Greenwood earlier this week, enjoying a meal outdoors, and a car pulled up at the traffic light, a young man perhaps 12 or 13 stuck his head out and yelled, "Hey, hope your dinner sucks!". I felt for our sons - that this comment might have been directed at us because of our skin color. But prejudice is alive and unwell in India, too, and no single area is devoid of stupidity.
Racial harmony distinguished Brazil for me. It has other ills, of course, but not racial discontent. All coexist peacefully, and the men and I never felt like we did not belong.
Work has been fine, very busy. The patient admitted with confusion - and the son dosing her Tylenol-ish med - has been discharged. The Healeys (eminent geriatricians at St. Vincent) drilled it into us that if confusion persisted during hospitalisation, there was likely an element of dementia in the person. And I said that to this family. They were fairly accepting. I also had to seriously whittle down the med list - a favorite Healey dictum - of an older lady admitted with a stomach bleed. After the med list was shortened, the lady went from her baseline belligerence to being somewhat less nasty - and that was the best possible outcome we could hope for. I kept the son updated and he was in agreement with plans.
This was my first full week off in a while, though I chose to work on Monday as the other team was short-handed. I studied a little bit, attended wonderful medical lectures at St. V, and the boys and I saw practically every new movie in town - "Despicable Me 2," which was lovely, "The Lone Ranger," which was so-so, and "Identity Thief," at the $1.75 cinema. I am starting to become a big Melissa McCarthy fan and all of us thoroughly enjoyed "The Heat." Usually, the boys and I grab a bite to eat at a restaurant after movies, and I have been privileged to be part of the chats - full of candor and opinion and humor.
The Banyan hums along, and I am kept updated on the goings-on there. Next week, the B will celebrate 20 years of existence, founded by a 21 year old and a 22 year old, who chose to handle a mentally ill woman on the road rather than do as most of us would have done - turn our backs. It is a *great* place to work.
Unw -
R
Scott and I are here on a little weekend getaway to celebrate our 25th wedding anniversary. Big trips came earlier (Rio) and neither of us has seen St. Louis, so here we are.
The city is beautiful in parts, and decrepit in parts. As Scott and I sat outside a funky little restaurant enjoying an artsy meal, 2 guys came up and 1 wanted to know more about the restaurant. My antennae always go up at any interaction and we left the place shortly thereafter. The boys and I had been at a restaurant in Greenwood earlier this week, enjoying a meal outdoors, and a car pulled up at the traffic light, a young man perhaps 12 or 13 stuck his head out and yelled, "Hey, hope your dinner sucks!". I felt for our sons - that this comment might have been directed at us because of our skin color. But prejudice is alive and unwell in India, too, and no single area is devoid of stupidity.
Racial harmony distinguished Brazil for me. It has other ills, of course, but not racial discontent. All coexist peacefully, and the men and I never felt like we did not belong.
Work has been fine, very busy. The patient admitted with confusion - and the son dosing her Tylenol-ish med - has been discharged. The Healeys (eminent geriatricians at St. Vincent) drilled it into us that if confusion persisted during hospitalisation, there was likely an element of dementia in the person. And I said that to this family. They were fairly accepting. I also had to seriously whittle down the med list - a favorite Healey dictum - of an older lady admitted with a stomach bleed. After the med list was shortened, the lady went from her baseline belligerence to being somewhat less nasty - and that was the best possible outcome we could hope for. I kept the son updated and he was in agreement with plans.
This was my first full week off in a while, though I chose to work on Monday as the other team was short-handed. I studied a little bit, attended wonderful medical lectures at St. V, and the boys and I saw practically every new movie in town - "Despicable Me 2," which was lovely, "The Lone Ranger," which was so-so, and "Identity Thief," at the $1.75 cinema. I am starting to become a big Melissa McCarthy fan and all of us thoroughly enjoyed "The Heat." Usually, the boys and I grab a bite to eat at a restaurant after movies, and I have been privileged to be part of the chats - full of candor and opinion and humor.
The Banyan hums along, and I am kept updated on the goings-on there. Next week, the B will celebrate 20 years of existence, founded by a 21 year old and a 22 year old, who chose to handle a mentally ill woman on the road rather than do as most of us would have done - turn our backs. It is a *great* place to work.
Unw -
R
posted by Renu Weiss at
8:35 AM
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