Non sequiter!

Ok, so I realized that the last post seemed to be a little bit of a non sequester. Aka, where the hell is she? Well, I'm in Houston spending 3 months at MD Anderson in order to get more experience in Head and Neck oncologic surgery. It's a little rough- I really miss Mechen and kind of wish I didn't have to be here BUT I have to be here and it's a great opportunity. I'm at one of the best cancer centers in the world an
d that is really an amazing experience to have. Already, the cases and even the clinic patients have been really interesting and instructive. Not to objectify people's experience of having cancer but I feel that there is a lot to learn even from the unfortunate circumstances and, in addition, I know enough at this point to contribute intelligently to the treatment team even if I am also learning at the same time.

Houston is pretty nice. I've been taking yoga at Yoga Ananda, a Baptiste-inspired Vinyasa flow yoga studio. I really like it and I plan to continue both here in Houston and in San Diego. I have finally settled into a good workout routine and I'm working out 3-4 times a week. I'd like to keep up my running fitness, even if it's not quite as intense as Barry's. In addition, I've lost a little bit of weight which is great but also shows that diet is definitely the most important factor in weight management. I really hope to lost some more weight but in a healthy, controlled way and definitely not in a "ooops, not enough calories, watch me pass out in the OR." Not that I've ever done that on purpose, but I can definitely pass out in the OR like a champ.

I've also bought a DaHon fold-up bike. I love it! Mine is actually navy blue but the back rack and the portability is perfect. I'll get to bring it home and I think it's really going to be a nice addition to my bike mini-collection. It'll be great at my next duty station (wherever that might be) but it is crazy how certain next steps in my life are starting to become more clear and real as residency is starting to wind down.

Ok, off to study some head and neck cancer! I'm trying to be good so that I can have a great weekend when Mechen comes to visit! Hooray!

I'm an intern again...

Fortunately not, but oh my word, Friday night call was horrific. I was getting paged every 20-30 minutes regarding "order clarifications," which finally stopped at 11:30 p.m. And I would have slept until 4:30 except for the post-operative hematoma that presented at midnight. Fuck. So, I was up until 5 in the OR and ICU. And although I slept on a stretcher for an two hours before rounds, I was so wasted that morning. I looked like crap and not that I really care how I look at work (within reason- I do want to have a professional appearance), I really looked like a train hit me. I slept and finally felt a little better. I went to Target followed by an amazing yoga session. Then I crashed around 9 last night.

One thing I did learn yesterday is that I really like yoga. I definitely plan on keeping up my running routine, but I felt so serene after yesterday's session. Yoga is definitely the exercise that I routinely forget that I like. I usually think I'm too type A and that I'll be too bored. But I have definitely noticed that I've become increasingly less flexible and I would like to restore that aspect of fitness. I think it's especially important if I want to continue running as I get older. So, even though I don't have the most spiritually-minded approach to yoga, it's something I plan on continuing. Especially in San Diego- there are yoga studios everywhere.

Summer Vacation 2011

Mechin and I took the best trip. Despite repeatedly forgetting that we were taking it and trying to make plans for Big Bear camping over Labor Day weekend, we were, in fact, already committed to a GREAT vacation.

First, we went to Massachusetts to see my cousin get married and hang out with my family and my Dad's extended family. The wedding was beautiful, Hurricane Irene gave it an element of suspense and we danced late into the night. It was also, as the DJ said, "the sweatiest wedding ever." While not a seemingly attractive quality, it was due to tons of dancing and a ridiculous amount of humidity.

We stayed in Boston for a night and walked around the Common the next day. We ate lunch at Neptune on Monday (YUM!) and walked around the North End. Then we met Hilary for Happy Hour. Mom called and said our flight was delayed. I didn't see it on the website so I asked her to check again and she (mildly huffily) said that it was true. So, we went to Sportello and had an amazing dinner. We then leisurely returned our rental car, went to the bathroom in the airport and...got overhead paged b/c the plane was closing the doors. It turns out that Iceland EXPRESS was delayed, not Icelaindair. Fuck. So we ran to the counter waving my phone with the boarding passes, were allowed on for some bizarre reason and made it onto the plane. From counter to plane seat was 11 minutes. I have a picture where I seriously have crazy eyes from adrenaline.

Then we were in Iceland for two days, one night. We went to the Blue Lagoon, toured Reykjavik, ate lobster stew, went to the top of the Church tower, toured their arts center and stayed at a cute B&B. The next day, we went on a tour of geologic attractions- Gullfoss (amazing), Geiser and the continental drift where the original parliament was located ( I looked it up- Pingvellir). Then we had a hot dog and more lobster stew for dinner, went to the airport and left for Denmark.

Denmark was amazing. The weather was gorgeous, Mechin and my family got along so well and it was such a great balance of family time and sightseeing on our own. We walked around Copenhagen. We went to Elsinore and had the best smorgasbord, followed by a quick(!) stop at the Louisiana. The next day, we went to Roskilde and rowed around on a Viking boat ("It is not picture time!" -stern boat leader). Finally, the last day, we all went to Hven and had such an amazing time cycling and drinking beer around the Swedish Nantucket. I loved it.