I-40 Storm

Why is it when I don’t want it to snow, it does and when I would love for it to snow, it doesn’t.  Oh well :).  Today was an interesting day and nothing like I thought it would be at the beginning of the month.  I ended up leaving Memphis at 7 am and driving to Knoxville arriving at 2:30pm.  Not bad time considering I saw two wrecks on the way.  Yep, it was an interesting drive filled with ice, sleet and snow.

What I had planned was to wait for my exam at 10:00 am and then leave.  What a wonderful surprise when I found out school was canceled.  I was able to stay just ahead of the storm and get to Knoxville for the Wilderness Medical Elective starting this weekend.   I’ve been getting gear and am really excited it is finally starting.  My adventure for the month started a bit early with my drive back.  Below are photos I took from my trip back.  Yes, that is between 1/4 and 1/2 inch of ice coating the front of my car.

Enjoy the photos and keep reading for my month in the Smoky Mountains.

Nothing to do with medicine but. . .

I was reading some of the news today and saw an ad for the US census in a language other then English.  I don’t know why this bothered me so much but looking into the ad further I discovered the Census counts every person in the state (legal or illegal).  We should know these numbers but unfortunatly this is used to calculate representation.  That is wrong.  Only citizens (i.e. legal residents) of the U.S. who are of voting age should be counted to determine representation.  Ugh, why do our representatives and judges have to be so stupid.

Site upgrade and an interesting anecdote

Well, I’ve almost worked out all the upgrade bugs and just need to wait for the final version of PivotX 2.1 to be released.  The old RSS and Atom feeds are now working again and all I have left are a few template upgrades which shouldn’t take to much of my time.  

An interesting aside, I must be doing a good impersonation of an MD.  Yesterday, when I was leaving LeBonheur Children’s Hospital I was stopped by a mother walking with her child who asked, “May I ask you a question?”  Naturally, I replied, “Sure.”  I guess I need to start expecting what came next, especially when wearing my white coat out of the hospital when she asked, “What can make my feet feel numb and tingly?”

I was taken back by the question, especially because of the context.  We were on the sidewalk, I was a total stranger and she had just finished smoking a cigarette.  I stopped for a moment with many diagnoses swirling in my head and replied, “There are a lot of things that can cause that, you should talk to your doctor.”

This happened to me one other time, in my 2nd year, when I was walking down Madison Ave. after a SPED (more on that later).  A man stopped me and asked, “Is a temperature of 106 high?”  After a few quick questions I found out his son had been taken to the ED at St. Jude’s Hospital and he received a phone call telling him to come because of the high temperature.  I assured him it was high and made certain to emphasize he should get there as quick as possible because it sounded like he wanted to decide if he had time to make a stop on the way.

I often marvel at  how a white coat garners so much trust from complete strangers.  But that is a topic for another post . . . after I get everything done I need to today.

How Blessed am I

Often I find myself seeing life from only one perspective, one set of eyes, one viewpoint. It is so difficult to step back and see our lives through the eyes of others. To realize our lives are not everything we think of them. That our trials and tribulations are really not as bad as we might make them out when talking to someone else.

Driving back to Memphis this past weekend, I was struck with an odd sensation. One I’ve not experienced in a long time. I really saw my life from another’s viewpoint. All of the sudden I realized how many exciting adventures I’ve had over the last three years. I realized I’ve taken so much for granted. I’ve seen so many things, visited so many places and met so many new people but have never taken a step back to enjoying the journey.

Well, on my drive back last weekend I looked out my window across the barren fields. At the beautiful sunset and the majestic views only to think, “I’ve seen this before.” Yes, I’ve seen it many times, but not because of my several trips to Memphis. No, I’ve seen it in the opening scene of many movies as the main character rides a bus across this great country. Yes, I’ve seen it setting-up the main character’s big adventure over and over. All of the sudden I realized that I am that “main character” living that “big adventure.”

As those thoughts swept over me, I was very humbled to think of all those times I was jealous of other’s lives. To think of the impatience I’ve often felt when praying or studying or just plain dreaming. I wanted so much more even while in medical school, the greatest adventure of my life so far. Yes, I found myself covetous of others dissatisfied with my life.

I have written all this to say, all of us are blessed. We live in the best country in the world. We not only have life and breath but most importantly freedom. We have everything we need to live the greatest adventure of our lives if we only allow ourselves and recognize it. Yes, I’ve had an amazing 3.5 years so far and look forward to sharing many of the amazing experiences as I recount all the blessings poured on me in the upcoming year.. So stay tuned to read about the greatest adventures of my life.

A New Year; A New Resolution

Well, it is a new year and after successfully completing my resolution for last year, I’m shooting for another. Consistent updates to my blog. It is amazing how working ~80 hours a week makes you realize how much time is wasted in a given week. It helped me realize how so many things whittle away time in frivolous pursuits and make my new resolution for the year. Yes, I’m purposing to limit those activities and replace them with productive stuff (like writing (on this blog and other things), read non-junk stuff (sorry espn, not as many visit), etc.) I’ve had some great experiences over the last year and had many great memories. I’ve finally figured out what post-graduate training I want to do when I graduate and everything seems to be coming into a clearer focus.

The first task on my plate is for this weekend. I’m still running a really old version of Pivot and want to get it upgraded to the latest 2.1 beta. I’m using 2.0 on some other sites and really like what I see. Now for the hard part in upgrading my blog template for 2.x series.

Otherwise, for the first time this year – I’d like to say, “Welcome!” Stay tuned for updates about to my blog about my life and where I’ve been the last two years. Lots of writing material I hope you’ll find encouraging and interesting.