Loves me some ICU

I've finished my last night float in the ICU, and I'm already missing it. Mostly because my circadian clock is flipped and I can't sleep. But also because it's the most fun I have in my residency. I get to do exactly what I love to do, with little to no interference. Admittedly it's rough on the family, and I really hate leaving the house and saying goodbye to Katie and the kids. Logan, in particular, seems to have a rough go when I'm on nights. But frankly I hate saying goodbye when I am on days, and by comparison the rest of my rotations are a little like sanding my eyeballs out. At least I enjoy the nights.

Lots of great cases, rare stuff, people sick as stink, dying right in front of your eyes, their survival dependent on your actions over the next few minutes. There are several patients that would clearly be dead had I not done what I did on nights. That aspect of knowing what to do, and having the courage to do it, is characteristic of all doctors but particularly important in certain fields; ER, ICU, trauma surgeon come to mind. I love that aspect of the ICU--I am one of the few medicine docs I know that actively enjoy chaotic and high pressure situations.

There's also a lot of heartache, as it's really difficult to sit down with a family you have just met, gain their trust, and then tell them that their loved one is dying and there is nothing we can do to prevent it. That may be my favorite part of the job, however, because I'm good at it. The Grim Reaper and I are old friends, and speaking of his coming is not quite as scary to me as it is to most docs. I take special joy in helping families get through that part of life called death. It's one of the reasons I thought hard about oncology before settling on critical care.

So now it's on to med consults, which is probably the worst rotation for me outside of the CIMR outpatient month. I hate being ortho's whore. But in the words of Dr. Eric Prime Walker, "You can hurt me, but you can't stop the clock."

8 Years

Mitch and I celebrated our 8th wedding anniversary today. He was so sweet! He is working nights in the ICU right now, so we aren't seeing much of each other, and he is pretty wiped out all the time, but he took the time in the morning to stop and pick up flowers and breakfast. He brought me Shipley's doughnuts. Yum! All my favorite flavors!

Myra liked the Death by Chocolate one, but she only got a few bites. That baby was mine!

Then just after dinner as Mitch was getting ready to go to work, the UPS guy came and left THIS!Yay! Weekend sewing! I have seen some beautiful things made from this book out here in blogland, and I've really wanted it. I was so excited about it, I stayed up last night to read it, and made a pair of pants. You can check them out on the sewing blog.

Best 10 bucks ever spent!

It has been SOOO hot here already that I have had a hard time playing outside with the kids. Logan loves being outside, and I'd much rather that he run and play than watch Elmo for the 47th time. So, I decided to get a cheap pool, so that they could play in the water. Logan was all over that! He jumped right in! Myra wasn't so sure about it, but I think that may have been in part because Logan was a bit boisterous.

She preferred to hang out poolside.

Logan splashed and played to his heart's content.

And, of course, drank from the hose. All kids drink from the hose... gross

Thanks you!

Logan just said "Thank you." spontaneously, appropriately and with no prompting from me. This is a first. I guess he really appreciates pudding pops!Of course, he followed it up with a kick to Myra's chest, which resulted in a time out. Back to normal...

Duckies!

While we've lived in Temple for 2 years, and I've even taken Logan to this park several times, we finally made our first visit to the duck pond at Miller Park.

Logan wasn't so sure of it at first. Those geese were pretty aggressive! And loud! I brought some crackers to feed them, which Logan thought was cool. He's all for anything that involves throwing.

This bold gander even ate directly from my hand, but Logan wasn't up to trying that.

He loved watching them swim, and throwing crackers into the water. Splash!

On our way out there was a photo op I couldn't miss.
And while Myra slept through the duckies, she was still up for a post-park Dreamsicle. Yum!

Example

Logan has been teaching us lately about the powerful influence of example. He is quite verbal these days, and the influences from all around him are sometimes embarrassingly clear. Some choice phrases from the mouths of babes (or this babe, anyway)
"Daddy, I'm soooo cute!"
"Stupid Cat!"
"Go, man!" (usually said while driving to the vehicle in front of us)
"Shoo!" (accompanied by a kicking movement in the direction of the cat)
"Hello, Princess!" (to Myra)
"Silly Logan!"
"Speed, I am Speed." (from Disney's Cars movie)
"Try again."

"Is that so?"
"Go to your bed right now!"
"Thank you so much!"
"Whatcha got there, Logan?"
"OK, OK, OK!"
and my favorite from today - "Thank you for shopping at Walmart."

Bubba

Myra LOVES her brother and fortunately, the feeling is generally mutual. They play well together most of the time and he generally will include her in games. She always wants to do whatever it is that he is doing. So, it is no real surprise that her 4th actual word is "Bubba", which for those lacking a Southern heritage is redneck for brother. That's my girl.