Cruisin'

Zach and I just booked a last minute 5 day cruise leaving next Saturday. We are using it to celebrate my finishing of surgery and Zach's successful match! We got REALLY great deals and also had US Air flight vouchers so our flights were free. We leave out of Tampa and head to Grand Cayman and Cozumel with 2 days at sea. We are so excited and can't wait to relax in some warm weather and be lazy for 5 days.

When we get back I'll start my Infectious Disease elective and Zach will be hanging around the apartment with not much to do. We did some apartment searching this weekend and are considering going up in square footage since we know we will for sure be here for the next year. We've looked at some really great places including one that had spectacular views on Camden Yards. It was on the 18th floor and you looked out the floor to ceiling windows and it literally felt like you were in the upper decks of the stadium. You could see the whole field and home plate. Beautiful. And an added bonus is that it was one block from University hospital where Zach will be spending the majority of his life for the next year. During this adventure in apartment searching, we've found out that Zach's status as a University of Maryland employee had some big benefits. At one place we would get $50 off rent each month and the second place offered free parking for a year.

One more week of surgery for me and I am really ready to be done with this rotation!

And the results are in...

Unfortunately no Neurosurgery this year. But he did match at a Preliminary General Surgery position at the University of Maryland. This means that he will have a one year fixed position at Maryland (getting paid!) and next year he'll have to go through the match process again and decide if he wants to reapply for Neurosurgery or something else. U of Maryland is a FANTASTIC program and is truly the best scenario for us if Neurosurg wasn't going to work out. So we'll be in Baltimore for another year and I'll finish my electives here and then next March we'll be going through this again :( But at least we'll know where we'll be for the next year and we don't have to worry about moving.

Zach is somewhat disappointed that Neurosurg didn't work out this year but we are both strong believers that everything happens for a reason and all of this was meant to be....we're happy and really positive about this next chapter of our lives!

Oh goodness!

We find out tomorrow whether or not Zach matches!! Nervous doesn't even begin to describe the feelings....

But...

on a happier note, the good friend that I wrote about earlier this week is at home on bed rest and a terbutaline drip (medicine that will stop the contractions) for the next 4 1/2 weeks. She's doing well....just bored already of sitting around all day!

Bad day

Why are there residents out there who seem to forget what it was like to be a student??!!! I'm get tired of being treated like I am inconsequential and ignored on a team yet, always yelled at for not doing something I didn't know I was supposed to do or getting yelled at for doing something that I apparently wasn't supposed to be doing. Surgery is notorious for being rough on students but this month has been particularly rough. There is a resident on my surgery team this month that is irritating as hell. Arrogant, rude, condescending...just about every stereotypical personality trait of a surgeon that one could think of. And he decided today was a good day to be rude to me. I don't feel like going into details because I just vented to Zach for the last 20 minutes about him because he had him as a resident when he did his surgery rotation. All I know is that I worked my ass off today for nothing and he is the most unappreciative, arrogant person I've ever met.

Sometimes as a student you get really sick of the residents talking about the patients and a plan for the patients but not including you in the discussion or explaining why they are doing what they are doing. This happens frequently and then the students never have any idea what is going on with the patient, yet get yelled at for "not knowing about this patient!"

On top of all that, I am on call tomorrow and have to work with this particular resident again :(

I don't try to complain much on this blog but today was a pretty crappy day and that fact that I have to go back tomorrow is painful to think about right now....

Prayer Request

Just wanted to ask for prayers for a couple of my really great friends. She went into pre-term labor today at 32 weeks and is currently in the hospital on steroid to build up the baby's lungs and also medication to stop the contractions. Last update from here is that they are doing well, just anxious and scared....

I'm post call today and spent all last night in the OR doing cases. I was exhausted this morning when I got off at 8 and slept until about 3 but still feel groggy and sleepy. I've enjoyed surgery a ton but am ready for it to be over and to move on to something different.

Insert Jeopardy theme song here...

1 week until Match day! Ugh!

So instead of thinking about it today we had a nice relaxing day at the spa using the package that Zach got me for Vday. We got a couples massage for 45 minutes and both the ladies who did our massages told us that we had the tightest shoulders and would both benefit from a 75 minute session in 2 weeks, so....sign me up! We scheduled another session in 2 weeks and I can't wait. I knew that I held most of my tension and stress in my neck and shoulders, so it wasn't a surprise when she told me that my shoulders had knots the size of golfballs in there. Apparently Zach has the same trouble and since he is going to spend the rest of his life bent over an operating table, it's probably best that he keep up with his tension now. I'm pretty excited though because I love a good deep tissue massage and this girl that did mine today was amazing!

For now though I'm headed to bed because I'm long call tomorrow... :( Only 3 more weeks left of surgery!!

Vegas baby!

We booked our tickets to Vegas this morning! Yay! I can't wait to spend a few days out there and then head to Utah for the month of May!

We went down to DC yesterday and saw the National Museum of Air and Space. It was pretty cool. I liked the "air" side better than the "space" side. I have a slight obsession with airplanes and the logistics of air travel. They had this cool exhibit where you could watch a monitor and see all the planes that were flying across the US every second. It was amazing to see how many planes are in the air at one time! We also watched an IMAX film of the international space station...Zach said it was pretty cool...I fell asleep...oops! I was tired from the night before. I was at the hospital until 11 in the OR helping put an arterio-venous graft in a lady's arm so she can have access for dialysis. The dark room at the movie in the middle of the afternoon was prime nap time!

Today is probably going to be pretty lazy which is ok by me! I do have to go buy my brother a birthday card...he turns 18 today!! Happy Birthday Dano!!! Love you brudder!