Friday, August 16

OB/GYN: wk 1, day5

so i went to bed at 3:30am last night, thinking that today would start at 9am. but being the prepared person that i am, i took a look before i went to bed. and was dismayed to discover that i actually needed to be at a M&M (morbidity and mortality) conference, again, at 6am this morning. = less than 3 hrs of sleep. i'm kicking myself for not having checked before. (see previous entry about how responsible i am)

last day of gyn clinic. WHOOPI!!! i was able to finish this week of gyn clinic with the longest continuous stretch of pelvic exams. just finished at 5:30. even until yesterday, i wasn't exactly comfortable doing pelvic exams. but hey, now i'm a PRO! it's amazing how within just some days, something so scary can become so routine.

yours truly can now do the entire thing by himself, and know what he is doing (which is entirely different from going through the motions, pretending to do stuff, and hoping to get it over with ASAP). even though i don't like it, the exam is important. ppl's health can be determined by the thoroughness of my work. that's a rather sobering thought, and drives some of my silly giggles away.

btw, females reading this blog. there are several things that i consider very important learned from this wk:

1) PAP smears are so important. Regular Pap tests are recommended for women between the ages of 18 and 65. The Pap test is used to screen women for cancer of the cervix. very reliable for detecting early abnormal cell changes that could lead to cancer. absolutely no reason not to get your regular PAP. go get your PAP.

2) take your calcium. especially you, young women. it's gonna be too late when you're older. you need to stock up your bones with calcium so that when your babies strip you of it, you'll still have sufficient stores in you.

3) keep track of your menstrual cycle, and keep a running record, establish your baseline, what is normal for you.

****
so i did like 8+ pelvic exams today, all including PAP smears, bimanual exam, some sonography (looking for the little fetuses!!).

you know, i expected some odor. i mean, we are talking about genitalia, and the region is very close to the anus. whatever. it's there, it's expected. what i didn't expect was a CRAZY rotten fish odor from one of my patients. the smell filled my nostrils, mouth before i realized it, and i had to take a moment to stabilize. i tried to hold my breath as long as i could, and tried to sneak in a deep breath from the side when my resident wasn't looking (i don't know if she noticed. she probably did. whatever. i was in too much trouble to care). can i just say, that was INTENSE. give gyn's some credit, folks. they's some BRAVE folks, that face this EVERY DAY. wow.

i'm glad it's all over. i feel like i know the pelvic exam, and saw lots of things, so this clinic has served it's purpose.

up next this coming wk: night float.
-which apparently has the sole purpose of teaching us how OB/GYN's suffer and keep irregular hours. (cause honestly, we don't really help them much, they don't need us, and they're not particularly good teachers at 4 in the morning). so starting sunday evening, i'll be working from 6pm to 6am for this entire coming week. just as i was getting into the working life, keeping my 7am -midnight hours, they throw in this monkey wrench. they like to keep us on our toes.

the schedule:
-tonight-
1) quick work out.
2) alpha course continues.
3) i'm gonna try to make it to stan's (college friend) housewarming in the city

-tomorrow-
1) afternoon: worship team (all services) outing at miss jeehye's (amazing singer, songwriter and musician) out in long island.
2) evening: going to lamb's theater to listen to N. Korean speaker. since going to the north korean/chinese border on a missions trip is a real possibility, this would be especially sweet.

ok, have a great wkend, everyone.

(btw. if i offended any sisters in the last few blogs, i'm sorry. i've read it over and realize that it sounds as if i'm doubting that sisters/girls can do/dream things that i do, as if they are more susceptible to the guiles of the world. that's not what i meant at all. a lot of that is what I struggle through, and so worries about what my partner might go through also came up. if anything, it would be really exciting to be married to someone who is just totally passionate for God, someone that i can look at and say, "wow. why am i so landlocked?" someone that would make me strive more and more for spiritual things. man is supposed to be the spiritual leader. but that doesn't mean that women are expected to be spiritual deadbeats. i want my woman to be on fire, that i might be challenged and pushed more and more to the limit. i don't know if this makes sense. but basically, i'm covering my butt so that no sisters get mad at me. haha. ;P )

yakob at 6:02 PM

-----------------