Sunday, January 29, 2012

Cardiothoracic surgery = Baller

Cardiothoracic surgery at the Palo Alto VA. Open heart surgeries, helping with the venous graft is awesome. I'm really loving surgery so far. It's the first rotation where I'm not groaning immensely at the absurd hours I have to wake up. Probably because there's no time to groan! It's 0 to 60 in 5 seconds on surgery.

Still running despite the crazy hours. My rule: if I get home before 8pm I run. Ran 9+ miles today, felt good! But it always feels good to run. I think my coronary vessels were happy about it too. They also appreciated the kale & white bean soup I made for dinner. 

Monday, January 23, 2012

Who would you give your kidney to?

Transplant surgery is incredible. I saw a living donor kidney transplant, which is  a win-win because no one needs to die and the person still gets a new kidney! I would definitely donate my kidney if the situation every came up. Now, thanks to the strong immunosuppression drugs (thanks tacrolimus, the infamous IL-2 inhibitor!), you  only need to have the same blood type to donate your kidney. Amazing.

What was even more impressive is that the surgery to transplant the new kidney took under 2 hours! Transplant surgery is really impressive, including the doctors, nurses, PAs, pharmacists and of course the patients, and the altruistic donors.  It takes a TEAM to get someone a new organ!

On to cardiothoracic surgery. Great first day, should be an exciting two weeks! I somehow got two of the most intense surgical specialties, really enjoying it so far.

In other exciting news, I think I've just about beat the cold I've been battling, went on my first run in a while. Felt SO GOOD.

Tuesday, January 10, 2012

Surgery!

Started my surgery rotation this week. Transplant surgery, Cardiothoracic, and General surgery. Wish me luck!

Sunday, January 1, 2012

Happy New Year!

Finished reading 50/50 by Dean Karnazes, I liked this quote he found by Darwin: " It is not the strongest of the species that survives, nor the most intelligent, but the one most responsive to change"

Something to keep in mind as we make our resolutions for 2012!