Raising the Standards

Today was my last day on Psychiatry service at John G Stroger Hospital of Cook County.  And all I can say is what a great experience though I half think students are required to do a psych rotation to receive a full psych evaluation themselves.  Needless to say after several awkward conversations with preceptors over my 4 weeks there I think I passed.  (this was questionable after one talk I had with one of the docs about what makes people happy in life.....)  It just seems like exit day from rotation sites keeps getting better and better.

Site 1:  Infectious Disease at SJOF --> I volunteered myself for an extra weekend shift to ask for a rec letter.  Successful tactic!

Site 2:  GMF at LGH --> I got the last day off to study for my Shelf exam!  Ok... so the real last day my rotation pal and I brought mexican themed treats in for rounds (guac/salsa/chips) and it was so sad to leave but we made friends with our medicine team and better yet her and I have become close!  It was wonderful to have the chance to celebrate her wedding day with her.

Site 3:  Cardiology at Res --->  For a whole month is was me, a wonderful resident, and four cardiologists. Did I ever feel like I was in over my head at first.  Last day the docs let me go early so I could beet the traffic out of town and they offered me a recommendation letter and said please come up for lunch whenever you are back here for OB, we know you'll be hungry.  Yay! more free catered lunches for 6 weeks. (except this is over the holidays and the last thing I need is extra food then)   This med student gig isn't half bad. 

Site 4: Psych at Stroger -->  This exit takes the cake.  My delightful partner Mark and I take the last hour of our day to talk to our favorite psychiatrist there.  As an aside she LOOVVVEEEDDD Mark.  And I can't blame her.  Turns out the Southerner's have it right saying ma'am and sir.  So we sit there and talked about life, other students, and our romantic relationships or current lack there of.  Dr. T seems to think at age 25 someone like me should have no problem finding a man and at first asked if I needed therapy.  (uh oh, failure on my personal psych eval!)   But then wait, when we are getting ready to leave she tells me to write down my number and email and she will be on the lookout to set me up with any potential suitors she comes across.  She then offers Mark and myself her contact information so we can write recommendation letters for ourselves and she'll sign them.  CLEARED by psychiatry

Really how often do you get an offer by your attending to hook you up with any educated potential suiters that happen to come along.... :)  

Forward to Surgery....!  I'm dreading what is about to happen to my daily life (no workouts, no cooking, no sleeping, no socializing) but so excited for the opportunities I'm certain to have!  It really is an 8 week in a lifetime opportunity.  

Rainy Days

Is Chicago ever going to see the sun again for more than a few minutes?  I'm really starting to wonder, rain again tomorrow possible!  I want to ride my bike!!!!!  And not worry about getting stuck in thunder during my runs.  2 outdoor runs this week and I got soaked both times.  It looks like I might have to be making my way back to the gym soon.   After paying for all May, June, July, and August, and now September and only actually setting foot in Exsport about 6 times I suppose I have some ground to make up.  To overcome my rainy day mood, some sunshine thoughts :)

Apple Cider Century bike ride was this past weekend.  No longer sore from riding distance in the cold and rain.  I'm not going to lie, I felt like a bad ass out there.  My sister even commented "you look so intense with your bike leg warmers" and "you really are granola."  Plus we found a lovely coffee house to warm up in after our ride

2.  Derm appt yesterday with a new doctor (Dr. Ronald Wise, you are missed) regarding my paranoia about two relatively new moles on my left cheek.  I was calmed as I was told they are probably only intradermal moles and simply need to be watched for now.  I have never been so scared about a doctor appointment before, I really was afraid I was going to walk out with plans to make a surgery date for Christmas break.  There will be no butchering of my face this year.  I'd probably have made a psych appointment with that surgery appointment had it been needed.  Call me vain that's fine

3.  Fresh Flowers sitting on my table :)

4.  A tasty beer sitting next to my computer

5.  Ahi tuna prepared to be seared and all sorts of fresh vegies and fruit to accompany it

6.  My bananas are finally ripe enough to freeze!!!!  That means plenty of frozen nanas from smoothies and banana "ice cream" the next several days.  Maybe I'll mix some of it with some pumpkin and cinnamon for a tasty fall treat!  And perhaps through in a handful of choco chips :)

7.  Tomorrow is my last day on psych.  I loved the hours and everyone and I've worked with and the physicians and the patients with the absolutely insane lives but as I've stated before, the practice of psychiatry is not my future

8.  Weekend plans with two lovely ladies!  (and the sun should be coming out!)

9.  A new free workout download from Lindsay Luv!  Here's the link courtesy of Tone it up!
http://toneitup.com/blog.php?Motivation-Monday-New-Music-Mix-5191
I promise the link somewhere in their blog entry for the day

10.  Biking tights for just 16.50 from Steep and Cheap!  So glad I didn't buy the Pearl Izumi's last week for 90!  Looks like I'll be enjoying my road bike outside instead of a trainer for another couple months.  Now if they'd just post some all terrain board bindings and/or boots as well as some all terrain skis I'm all set with my athletic gear cravings for the time being

Hi, my name is ______ and I'm addicted to ______. I've been clean for ____ days/months/years

Hi, my name is Caroline and I'm addicted to diet coke.  I've been clean for 26 days.  My longest time clean was up until age 23.  Since that time I spent about 4 1/2 months clean.  At my worst I would drink a MickeyD's XL.

Now this is something I take somewhat as a joke but half seriously too.  I really am addicted to Diet Coke.  I just hear someone opening a pop can and I itch for and crave a dc so badly.  It's not just the caffeine or being thirsty.  I've tried replacing it with other beverages with no success.  Sure diet coke might not be so bad for you, though it is far from good.  Entirely synthetic, all fake sweeteners (no wonder I can't tone my lower abs.... jk)  And like a true addict I try to make excuses like... two of my best friends drink a lot of it, or I'll just have one after a long run as a reward for getting through 14, 17, 19, etc miles (I was marathon training), or I'll just have one a week to keep me satisfied.  Let me tell you folks, it is a blessing that it is not something more serious that I crave or I might be in big trouble.  Sometimes that one a week is enough and yes it was always as a study reward to a study break to go get one.  I never keep it in the house.  Well I severely relapsed while on my cardiology rotation.  The kitchen in the office was stocked, I could have as many a day as I wanted although I never exceeded 1.  Or I could get fountain cokes from the cafeteria because my wonderful resident always put my meals on his card.  Aside, he also encouraged my habit!  rude!  But enough about my silly minor addiction.  Diet coke may make me run slower, feel not so hot, and have to burp but there are far worse things in life

I'm currently rotating at Cook County Hospital in the outpatient psych clinic.  I'm sure you can imagine the crowd drawn to a county psych unit.  Yes its exactly what you think and yes, I am very thankful for my sheltered and safe life.  I've never personally known real abuse, extensive drug addictions, real killings, real shootings, real violence, etc.  Some of the patients I've seen hardly bat an eye as they tell me about the time they tried to kill their best friend or how growing up their mother would give them Valium telling them it was a vitamin and then proceed to sexually abuse them.   This is only skimming the surface.  While I well know drugs and alcohol are never the answer and never have been for me I can almost empathize with why these people turn to drugs.  And this is coming from someone who is sunshine and flowers half the time and have a list of "coping" / "de-stressing" methods that could fill pages.  While I want to run away from my situation temporarily here and there (and so physically run I do) I've never NEEDED to find a true escape and an altered mentality just to face the pain of the day.

Please don't mistake this for approving in anyway shape or form the drug habits of the people in this country and abroad.  Instead next time you meet a druggie or start to gossip about someone using a substance consider for at least a moment the WHY behind the use.  I've come to realize that only about 1 in 15 of the people I've seen have started using drugs just because they were there.

While psychiatry is not where I see myself ending up in just about 21 months I have to say I will be taking a lot away from the second floor of the Fantus building.  I think some of the strongest people I know are the patients I've met who have remained clean from their drug of choice and all others for years and years and are day by day working to continue to beat their addiction despite the world many of them are surrounded by practically encouraging them to fall back into old habits.  I never actually want to walk a day in any of their shoes but I value immensely the insight each pt has given me into my own life and the appreciation I have for where I have come from, what I am doing, and where I have the potential to get to.

Big Shoulders

The Big Shoulders 5K Swim: a Lake Michigan-size test of guts, determination and fortitude amidst the chilly, windswept waves. 


Fresh-water, long distance swimming: an event in a hostile environment at which humans are not supposed to excel, and yet excel they do. While most of Chicago and the sane world sleeps on the first Saturday after Labor Day each year, tough competitors take on Lake Michigan's currents, turbulence and temperature inversions, just for the sake of saying they have "big shoulders". Every swimmer that comes to the Lake that morning, starting with a jittery stomach and swimming with guts, finishes with a personal version of the title "Champion".


A couple months ago my friend April talked me into the above event.  Well, this morning it happened with us in participation.  Water temps 64 degrees and of course we, and most other swimmers were without wetsuits.  It was cold, there was no visibility, I thought I wasn't going to make it right after the start.  But then swimmers spread out and things got moving.  Other than feeling numb for most of the swim it was a good experience that I hope to repeat along with the 998 other swimmers.  Can't wait for next year!

finish line

after several days of big waves a calm lake for the  event!

panoramic at Ohio St beach pre race 

brrrr pre swim

And the elite swimmers are off!

Ready to swim!!

Done!!!

Pizza Pizza!

Supposedly I owed a good friend of mine dinner... I'm not sure what from.  I think maybe cover a couple cab rides?  So here's the result, homemade create your own pizza.

Step 1:  make pizza dough.  I was a little worried about this one.  Every other time I've needed to make pizza dough I've needed at least 24 advance notice.  Fortunately I found a William and Sonoma Recipe needing only about 4 hours tops with mixing, rising, rolling, and rising again.  I used regular all-purpose flour considering I was expecting a guest but whole wheat flour is always an option.  Otherwise all you need is some yeast, oil, water, and a pinch of salt

Step 2:  gather your toppings and choose what you want for your pizza.  I had some of the goods at home like the EVOO, Sundried tomatoes, tomatoes, onion, mushrooms, and fresh (homegrown and organic!) basil plant.  I ran in Treasure Island for some fresh olives, fresh spinach, goat cheese, and mozzarella cheese.  I also cooked a chicken breast for topping.  Shrimp is always another great idea, just make sure they aren't too wet.  Of course there are all sorts of other toppings too, anything you can think of go for it.  Tomato pastes can be pretty easy to make too.  You can either just cook down some tomatoes and add a little bit of olive oil and maybe some chile flakes if you want spice ... thats a quick and dirty version.  There are certainly other versions.  Or just buy tomato paste to keep it simply and time effective.   Stuffed crust is always an option too.  Just make sure you have a little bit more dough to roll out than a recipe calls for.  mozzarella cheese sticks work great to roll the dough around to "stuff" but any filler will work

Step 3:  bake until edges of crust and cheese begin browning.  I'd recommend using either a pizza stone warmed in the oven ahead of time or an actual pizza cooking pan with small holes all throughout.  It helps the middle of the crust to cook evenly.  Sometimes when just on a cookie sheet the middle doesn't cook through.  However, consider my current student status I'm have a budget to work with which means limitted pans.  Some day I dream of having an iron overhead with vines to hang my copper pots and pans and all sorts of gadgets and special trays / mixers / knives / gadgets to play with in the kitchen

Step four:  serve!  I cut my pizzas with scissors.  Maybe this is a Chicago thing or just a strange habit I picked up because my "international"  ie Florida.. friend thought this was an absurd idea.
Best enjoyed with good company, outside (weather permitting), with a sunset and good bottle of wine with conversation.

no instagram art on this one :/ got lazy

Of course if you are a little worried about your own pizza making for company... don't wait for them to arrive to assemble pizzas, make a few up of your own.  Allow time so that just incase they don't turn out you can run down to the block to "Homemade Pizza Company"... ha, while I've never actually been in one of these establishments I'm tempted to several times a week.

What kind of doctor do you want to be?

Growing up I've always known I'd go into medicine to be a doctor, nothing less.  It all seemed so simple at the time.  I even thought that once I got into medical school sure it would be tough but life would be good. Afterall that's where I needed to be to get the degree I wanted.  I though no more freaking out over every test knowning that just one test could lower my grade and lose me a seat in school.  Boy was I wrong.  The first two years every test puts you in a bit of a frenzy to keep an average and you know if you blow just one that could be it for you.  Repeat the class over the summer, repeat the year, or worse yet not be allowed to return.  Board exams even worse.  Yeah, sure you'll pass and still be able to get your degree but that score weighs heavily not on becoming a doctor but taking this childhood dream one step further and determining what KIND of doctor you'll be.  Afterall, not all physicians are created equally, or are they?

Certainly, no, not all physicians are created equally, but one has to consider what they consider most important in their physician.  Is it the high board scores?  high gpa?  good communication and interpersonal skills?  good dexterity in a surgeon?  confidence in decisions and the ability to think fast?  This is something to think about.  I have my opinions and to keep it concise, I definitely don't think a high GPA or high board scores alone are enough to judge physician by.  And this is not based solely on my solid two years of believing that B's = balanced.  I'll never be top of my class on a single test and I'm more than ok with that.

So recently I've been thinking, just what kind of doctor do I want to be... since my work with St Jude Children's hospital I've been very strongly considering pediatric oncology or infectious disease.  This is certainly still a consideration but I've also opened my mind to other options.  ER, Sports med, adult infectious disease or oncology... and several others have drifted in and out.  I'm still very up in the air.  With these ideas I'm throwing around about 4 or 5 different residency ideas.... peds, med peds, internal med, ER, family med.  hmmmm I have a lot of thinking to do over the next year.  So I decided to take a little aptitude test resulting in...

1.  ER
2-7. different types of surgery / heavy procedure based specialties
8.  Nephrology  (fml... if you  know me well you know why)
10. Pediatrics
12. infectious disease
18.  Heme/onc
and finally good old #40.  Cardiology!  hahahaha this was last on the list,  especially amusing because I took this little quiz the last day of my Cardiology rotation at Resurrection Hospital.  I was not surprised at all by this result.  Most of you know my vendetta against hypertension, high cholesterol, and diabetes.  AHHHH.  Go back and read the post from somewhere around last Feb if you care to know more.

For now time to press forward and dig a little into the world of psych at Cook County Hospital.  So far so good.  Every patient different and very interesting.