The Latest from Naomi

back by popular demand ...

2010-06-29T11:27:00.003-05:00

So, I have taken a bit of a hiatus from blogging for awhile! You know how you get in the habit of doing something ... and then you get out of the habit of doing something .... Well, that's what happened with blogging for me. However, I happen to be home for a visit to Iowa for the past few days and actually had several people mention my blog to me (Thanks, Mom, Scott, & Amy) and figured I could try to give it another go :)

For the past 1.5 years, life has been good. I relocated to Denver last June to start my Clinical Genetics & Metabolism fellowship. The 1st 6 months was all Genetics and I really enjoyed it. The 2nd 6 months was all Metabolism, and while I found that I was very glad to be learning what I was learning, it is not where I see my future career going. But, fortunately, that's perfectly fine! Most people who complete this type of fellowship usually end up picking either one direction or the other and no harm done. Now, starting this July, I'll be re-focusing more on Genetics which makes me happy.

I've enjoyed Denver and all that it and the surrounding area has to offer. Now that my schedule is opening up a little bit more, I'm excited to take advantage for the rest of the summer. I have to admit, though, that everyone talks about Colorado for the winter sports (skiing, snowboarding, etc) but I really enjoy the summers better. I like hiking and getting into mountains when its not icy, or when you're less likely to be caught in an avalanche. I enjoy the really moderate temperatures to get out and bike and play tennis, volleyball etc.

I feel like this move to Denver sort of solidified my entering into life in the real world which is both good and bad. Good in that my schedule is better and I feel much more like a normal person. Bad in that with every move I've made in the past, I have had a sort of built in social network (with medical school, then residency) and felt really connected to people quite quickly. I did know some people in Denver already (Eileen & Andy, Jared & Brooke among a few others) which helped but haven't developed a large friend network like I've had in the past. I think this is the way it is for most people when they finish college and get a job but I've just delayed that transition significantly. I have not been completely socially isolated (despite my lamenting), however, I was fortunate enough to meet Ryan, whom I've now been dating for close to 8 months. (He doesn't even know this blog exists!) That relationship is going well. I've also joined a book & movie club that meets about once a month which has been really enjoyable.

So looking into the future, things look good! I'm excited for some upcoming travel to Idaho and Vancouver for some weddings as well as Toronto for a conference and Northern California/Napa for a visit to wine country. Hope this gives all of my adoring fans an update. And if 3 people read this, that will be a success!

One thing at a time

2009-03-05T20:30:00.004-05:00

Do you ever feel like "if I just get through this one more thing, then I'll finally be able to relax?" Yeah, so I've felt like that for oh, about 9-10 years. Most of its residency related, then I take on extra crap for research and that takes up a chunk of atime as well. Then there's moving and getting life all figured out for that. I guess getting through one thing at a time is what life is! Soooo ... the "things" in my life recently have been numerous. No surprise or I wouldn't be mentioning it, right?

I just finished a record-breaking month working in the ER. One day, we (not just me, of course) saw 106 children and the place averages 60 children a day. I'm not sure exactly what's going on because I don't think there is any particular epidemic or anything, its just been busier! I start to feel like when any pediatrician or family doctor in Indiana can't figure something out, they say "go to Riley!" Then we get the kids. Guess its great for learning but challenging as well. I of course, contracted a pretty bad cold towards the end of the month but that's not surprising. I don't think I've made it through a month there without getting sick, but am fortunately almost completely recovered now.

On top of that, I also moved out and closed on my condo at the end of last month! Things went better than I could have anticipated. I was really worried about having to have it on the market when I move to Denver in June. But now that's all done, I'm all moved into my friend, Jen's house holed up in her spare room with the majority of my belongings in the garage. She's great to live with, but honestly, I miss my own place.

Upcoming things on the horizon for me include completing my 4th and last neonatal intensive care unit rotation of residency this month (YEA!!!) and attending a medical genetics conference to present my research in Tampa at the end of the month. After that, I'll really start to think about moving out to Denver in June, planning to go to visit in April to find a place to live.

Though I may sound like I'm complaining, in all honesty, I'm not happy unless I'm busy so I guess I get what I ask for. I'm really pretty lucky and am looking forward to all the changes going on in the next few months. Hope you're all doing well and keep in touch.

Kenya pictures

2009-01-19T21:16:00.002-05:00

I finally got around to uploading some of my kenya pictures. Follow the link below to check them out!

http://picasaweb.google.com/njlohr/KenyaPictures?feat=directlink

It's been a good couple of weeks

2009-01-19T11:29:00.002-05:00

So an update from my last post ... it looks like Joyce from Kenya is being considered for the Gift of Life program at Riley Hospital where they will fix heart defects for children from other countries (and provide for the expenses). We're also working on getting a plastic surgeon involved to repair her cleft lip/palate at the same time. I'm really excited because it should hopefully happen while I'm still working at Riley so I should get to see her while she's in Indy.

In other news, I've told a lot of people, but maybe not everyone, but I'm going to be moving to Denver in June to start a Genetics/Metabolism fellowship at The Children's Hospital which I'm excited about. Given the poor state of the market right now I put my house on the market when I left for Kenya and I just sold it last week! Not only that but 3 other units a lot like mine were on the market before mine was but mine sold first! I credit it all to watching a whole lot of HGTV and learning how to "stage" my house :) I didn't make as much money as I would have liked but I'm not going to have to bring any money to closing and will make a little bit of money when the mortgage is paid off. In this market, I look at that as a big plus. I'll be moving in with a fellow resident who has a spare bedroom for the rest of residency.

Finally this week, I traveled to Strasburg, PA (which is near Harrisburg) to meet with a group of researchers that I've been collaborating with on a genetics project involving the Amish community. The area that I visited in Pennsylvania is in Amish country out there as well. I stayed in this adorable bed and breakfaast which even had a fireplace in the bedroom I stayed in. I've decided that will be a must in my dream home someday so that I can get ready in the morning with a fire going :) I've been working with this group via email for the last 1.5 years so it was great to finally meet with them in person. Not only that but they had some great news ... they've identified the gene that causes the new syndrome we've described in this population! It's a big victory and I think the things we've learned about this syndrome are going to impact the types of treatment and screening we choose immediately. I love genetics but one of my biggest dislikes is how esoteric it often is but I feel like with this project we may actually be able to make a different in the quality of life for these families. Now it will be a whole lot more work writing this up and submitting it to a journal. I'm also going to get to present this work as a poster at the American College of Medical Genetics conference in Tampa, FL in March.

Joyce - please help!

2008-12-22T18:26:00.006-05:00

Made it safely home! Ironically, the journey from Nairobi to Indianapolis, while long, went pretty smoothly. It was only in Davenport, Iowa where I ran into a hitch! On the drive from Indy to Ames (to spend Christmas with my parents), there was some inclement weather and icy roads. After passing multiple accidents and seeing about 5 ambulances pass me on the interstate, I decided to stop in Davenport and get a hotel rather than ending up upside down on the side of the road somewhere. I picked a hotel near the mall and got some much needed Christmas shopping done while killing time and got home without too much drama the next day. It is good to be back!

One part of my trip to Kenya that I haven't written about yet is my experience with a patient on our medical team at Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital. The little girl above is an approximately 16 month old girl with a cleft lip and cleft palate (obviously) who was in the hospital for failure to thrive (failure to grow and gain weight appropriately). Despite hospitalization for 3 months, she continues to not grow. This could have been due to any number of reasons including her cleft lip and palate. The hospital staff was not equipped to perform the intensive feeding that she would require to get enough calories. While we were there, however, we noticed she seemed to sweat a lot with her feedings (that's not normal) and suspected a heart defect. We obtained an echocardiogram and yes, she has a ventricular septal defect which means she has a hole between the two lower chambers of her heart. She will not be able to grow adequately and eventually, her heart will fail because of the size of this defect. Her only solution is a surgical intervention to correct this. This will be difficult because the funding to perform this surgery does not exist under the current medical system in Kenya.

So now you know, her medical background. Joyce is a beautiful, happy little girl who was, unfortunately, abandoned at the hospital because her mother didn't feel she had the ability or resources to care for her. Joyce plays peek-a-boo, is desperately trying to crawl but doesn't have the strength since she is the size of a one month old, mimicks sounds (her favorite "word" is "gooley, gooley, gooley, gooley," loves the mobiles that hang over her crib and in general is pretty much one of the sweetest children I have ever encountered. One of the medical students and his wife (Don & Crystal) who were there during my time in Kenya pretty much fell in love with this adorable little girl (okay, I did too). They are spear-heading a fundraising effort to provide this life-saving surgery for Joyce. They have set up a Paypal account at the following address for people to contribute.

https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_s-xclick&hosted_button_id=1675225

If you have a few extra dollars to donate during this Christmas season, that would be wonderful. I assure you that all funds will be going directly to medical expenses or travel expenses related to Joyce receiving this surgery. We are still working on whether she would get this surgery in Nairobi or perhaps travel to the United States. As events progress, I will continue to provide updates on this blog. And if you have any other questions, please let me know!

A great weekend and looking ahead ...

2008-12-09T12:16:00.003-05:00

This weekend, we went to Masai Mara which is a national game reserve and the best place to safari in Kenya. The Mara is a approxmiately 500 square miles of open land where animals such as lions, leopards, elephants, many variety of antelope, hyenas, warthogs, hippos etc all reside. We saw literally hundreds of elephants and unlike our previous safari saw far more than two lions. One of the highlights was watching a group of five lionesses stalk and attempt to kill a poor warthog. It was fascinating how they worked together though spread out across a field and used strategy to try to prevent the warthog escape. Amazingly, the warthog managed to get away though we all thought he was a goner. I've always heard that warthogs are incredibly stupid though obviously the lions (and we) had underestimated this one.

As this week winds down, we're getting ready to leave Eldoret and spend a few days at the beach in an area south of Mombasa called Tiwi Beach (on the Indian Ocean). I'm excited to begin the journey home as well. Don't get me wrong, every day with temperatures in the 70s is great but I have to admit I love the seasons and am looking forward to it actually feeling like the holiday season. I'm also anxious to get back to Ames for Christmas for the first time in 3 years. This has been quite an experience. Its made me very grateful that I've had this opportunity to be here and I know its something I'll reflect upon for a very long time. Perhaps I may even return here if I feel there is something more than I can offer. Who knows?

Brave .... or Stupid ...?

2008-12-02T13:21:00.003-05:00

My friend Jen and I were walking around in downtown Eldoret today doing some shopping. Downtown Eldoret is one of these incredibly busy places where the sidewalks (that's a term applied loosely) are packed shoulder to shoulder. People walk up and down the streets as well and there are no such things as traffic lights or cross walks. Well, actually, that's not entirely true, there are traffic lights, they're just more decorative and non-functional. At some point in the near past, they installed traffic lights at several busy corners in town. Apparently, people decided that "red" meant "speed up" or just ignored them all together so after about a day, they were shut off and have been decorating the landscape ever since. Anyways, so Jen and I are standing in the middle of the street, having crossed half of it, waiting for a break in traffic. We're standing with half a dozen other people and I'm positioned just a little behind her. Suddenly, I glance over and notice the guy right next to her is oh so casually unzipping her purse. Unfortunately for him, the only thing in the pocket he would have obtained was her chapstick. However, I didn't know that either, so I proceed to lean over and shove the guy away from her. Hmmm, maybe not the smartest thing in the world but it was effective. The funny thing is, after I shoved him, he shifted over about 6 inches, but still had to wait to cross the street with the rest of us. He just sort of looked away and pretended it hadn't happened. I think he would have started whistling if it had been a t.v. show. Only in Kenya, I guess!

AMPATH clinic

2008-11-25T09:42:00.003-05:00

Above you can see both the hospital and the neighboring clinic where I spent the day out in the Teso area. I have to admit I find the outside of buildings much more beautiful here than the inside. Because the climate is so temperate, there are amazing displays of flowers and plant life around every building no matter how rudimentary. I think the Kenyan people take a certain amount of pride in their landscaping as well judging by how beautiful everything is.

The clinic itself was interesting. I was paired up with a "medical officer" who is an individual that has completed medical school in Kenya and done a one year general internship and is now out practicing general medicine. In this case, its a woman who is working for AMPATH (Academic Model for the Prevention and Treatment of HIV) who goes out and sees HIV positive patients and HIV at risk children. Its amazing because she is clearly the most senior and the most educated person out there and she goes out to this place probably once every couple of weeks. She struck me as very bright with a good foundation but hasn't had the resources or guidance to do a super thorough job. But she's honestly doing the best with she can with what she has to work with. She's actually interested in doing and internal medicine residency in the U.S. and I think it would be great if she could. What was cool about today is we started talking about some of her patients and I was actually able to offer some suggestions about evaluation and treatment that she seemed to appreciate. It reinforces how great it is to always have people to bounce ideas off of at home. The other neat part is you could tell that the people in this rural clinic ARE trying ... and are instituting this continuing medical education a couple times a month just trying to educate each other about basic medical issues. Today they were discussing asthma which is probably one of the few subjects that I feel like I could walk into a room and discuss basic diagnosis and treatment without too much preparation. We see a lot more of it in the United States than they do here but it can still be a problem. The background preparation that this medical officer had done to educate the people there was pretty much right on and I was able to add a few practical tips since we see so much of it in the U.S. The treatment they were able to do previously is very out of date as to the current thinking (1st line there was IV "adrenaline" or epinephrine) so we were able to brainstorm ways for them to be able to incorporate current treatment regimens in this rural place, including modifying a water bottle to make a "spacer" in order to better administer inhaled medicines to children and elderly adults when nebulizer machines aren't available due to lack of machines or lack of electricity. (Actual spacers dispensed in the U.S. cost ~ $50 a piece which is FAR beyond the cost reasonable for people here).

Just to give you an idea of cost of living, the average household makes about 35000 Kenyan shillings a year which is about the equivalent of $470. You can see why we Americans are rich here ... I can tell you I've withdrawn more than that already from my bank account to cover the cost of travel and other incidentals in the almost 4 weeks i've been here.

On the News

2008-11-23T13:43:00.002-05:00

Well, I'm not on the news (they filmed the spots a couple months ago) but the IU-Kenya partnership is being profiled by one of the Indianapolis news stations. There are about 5 articles and they're continuing to post video clips. It's definitely one of those stories designed to tug at the heart strings but there is some good video of where i'm spending my days! The clip that profiles the medical students shows the Upendo wards where my team is based, and the orphans they show are still the same ones that I see every day.

Check out the link below and follow the links to the segment called "Compassion for Kenya"
www.wthr.com

Equator, Nakuru and Street Kids

2008-11-20T15:05:00.004-05:00

Kenya lies right on the equator and we passed from the north side to the south side on our way from Eldoret to Nakuru this past weekend. You can see me with my friend Jen who's also a Pediatrics resident from Indiana. After making this stop we proceeded the rest of the way to the city of Nakuru which is the 4th largest in Kenya. We stayed in the city but next to the city is Lake Nakuru National Park which is a great place to go on safari. I saw many animals - rhinos, waterbuck, giraffe, baboons, hyenas and even a couple of lions among many others.

The safari was a lot of fun but one of the most interesting things about this past weekend was actually the time spent talking with individual we hired to drive us to Nakuru and then through the park. He’s one of the employees of the IU house and is from Kenya. In most large Kenyan cities, Eldoret included, there is a group of homeless kids and young adults that are called “Street Kids.” You see them everywhere in busy areas of town and they usually approach you begging for food or money. Kenya doesn't have the established social system with shelters and support for homeless children that we see in the United States, so this is a rampant problem. What was so interesting this weekend was our driver, Francis, used to be a Street Kid after both his parents died when he was 1o years old. He lived for 4 years on the streets in Eldoret. He said Street Kids usually find enough food by eating spoiled food and going through the trash but when they ask for money will often just use it to by drugs. Francis was able to move beyond this past and is now a productive member of society, married with a couple of kids. I think a lot of this was in part because Dr. Joe Mamlin (basically the founder of the program I'm involved with here in Kenya) gave him a chance and allowed him to work for him. Now in fact, Francis actually has taken in two street kids whom he supports in addition to his wife and own children. It was so fascinating watching him interact with these kids as they came up and begged him for money knowing that he was in the same situation earlier in his life. Also amazing to think about what he has overcome and how much different his life is now. Plus, he was an incredibly nice guy, who, without a lot of education had a lot of inciteful and intelligent things to say about the Kenyan education system, health care, government, and culture. I really feel like the most valuable part of the weekend was not the safari but really meeting and learning from this incredible guy!

My Heart Will Go On ...

2008-11-17T11:38:00.002-05:00

and on and on and on! What I really mean is that Kenyans have this unending love of Celine Dion! Can't really explain it but all I know is that I heard pretty much an entire Celine Dion album at full volume on the streets of Nakuru at about 2 in the morning and continue to hear her songs at regular intervals. Who knew?

Will update more soon (internet access has been a little tricky lately).

Remember fording the river on Oregon Trail?

2008-11-09T12:28:00.000-05:00

We drove yesterday through the countryside to spend the day and night at Lake Baringo in the Rift Valley. Lake Baringo is a fresh-water lake known for its population of hippopotamuses (hippopotami?). We were staying at a sort of camping resort where there were tents set up on an island for visitors to come use. Really, it was more like a hotel. Yesterday we got a ton of rain at Lake Baringo which was a little disappointing but had a nice relaxing day anyways. Interestingly, the Rift Valley has a river that winds through it and it routinely floods and dries up as it drains into Lake Baringo. On the way to the resort, we had to drive our van through this area of flooding on the road where the water was moving fast and was probably 1-2 feet deep. The above was taken by me reaching my camera out of the passenger side window (steering wheels are on the right in Kenya) However today, since we had gotten so much rain throughout the day before, we were questioning if we may even be trapped! We were in communication with our driver who was watching the level of the water earlier in the day and matatus (Kenyan word for big passenger vans) were not able to make it across. Finally mid afternoon, the driver said, let’s just give it a chance to see if we can make it, otherwise we’d probably be trapped for a few more days especially if it continued to rain! So, we were all pretty nervous about this wondering if our matatu may get washed away in the current with us in it. Some of my fellow passengers even went so far as to get out their utility knives in case we needed to crack the windows to escape. The back of a ten passenger van is not the easiest thing to get out of even in good circumstances. Needless to say since I’m posting this, I made it without too much difficulty and I think we entertained the 30 or so Kenyans loitering around this crossing watching people attempt to get across. We even got a round of applause at the end :)

I am always amazed in 3rd world countries at the intersection of poverty and the modern world (globalization as some of the other people I’m with seem to call it). We drove past huts made of plywood or mud probably about the size of my living room or smaller with no glass in their windows, certainly with no indoor plumbing and their inhabitants standing outside watching us drive by while talking on their cell phones. Practically every other commercial building is painted lime green (for safari.com) or hot pink (for zain) representing competing cell phone companies in the area despite that they also don’t have the basic things we would expect to be able to run a business. We drove through the mountains and tiny villages and would still see Coke machines. Many times children would be walking down the side of the road up in the mountains wearing dirty, battered sweatshirts displaying American brand names such as GAP or MUDD jeans. I can only imagine these were acquired as people back in the U.S. cast them off as donations and somehow, these ended up in rural western Kenya. We also drove past a training center where many of the Kenyan runners train to compete professionally. These areas look no less impoverished and no more modern than anything else I’ve seen here yet turns out some of the best athletes in the world. One of the best things about running is that it really doesn’t take any special equipment. The Kenyans happen to have the unique combination of a temperate climate, a high altitude and some inborn talent and they are world-class athletes.

I am particularly struck here by the weird divide that I feel between my experience here and what Kenya is actually like. Indiana University has carved out its own little piece of the world here. Its built a compound where things are very comfortable with modern amenities including wireless internet! The buildings themselves are maintained by a full staff. They have a host of people hired to clean bathrooms, prepare meals, make sure we always have safe drinking water available and even transport us around town if we need it. When you factor in that my mom is accessing my bank account and actually paying my bills for me (thanks mom!) in the U.S, my life is even easier here than in the U.S., since most of my basic needs are taken care. It certainly hasn’t been anything close to “roughing” it. And so the existence I live here is one more akin to a boarding school or my freshman year at college. And is completely unlike the way the average Kenyan lives. I have this strange feeling I’m cheating or something. Though I have to say it is a little bit of a relief. I was worried that it would be so unlike my normal life that I might be miserable. I just feel so rich being here. Since I’m a pretty economical person I don’t like wasting money and have been known to pinch pennies on a regular basis. For instance, I haven’t been letting people help me with my luggage here because I don’t want to have to tip them. But then I see how people live here and start feeling maybe I should just do it because I obviously have so much more than they do.

Greetings from the Sausage Tree

2008-11-05T09:56:00.001-05:00

Well , made it to Kenya with relatively few problems. We missed our flight to Eldoret because we went to the wrong airport in Nairobi but caught the next one later in the day without any issues other than spending a long boring day in the Nairobi airport. We arrived in Eldoret yesterday pretty tired. We’re staying at a compound here called the IU House which is like a pretty nice dorm actually. Jen and I are sharing a medium sized room (named the “Sausage Tree” and have our own bathroom right outside the door (hot shower and everything though the water pressure is low). We had our initial orientation and spent the morning at the hospital today but then have had the afternoon off to get ourselves settled. Honestly, even just the morning made me exhausted. I think it’s a combination of the jet lag, the altitude and being in a new place and situation.

One thing I’ve been struck by here is the rampant discussion of Obama. As the election happened last night (Kenya time) multiple people stayed up through the night to watch the election results come in on CNN. I asked one of the Kenyans watching the election results what would be the benefit for Kenyans if Obama was elected and he answered, “we’d get a national holiday.” And he was right, Kenyans today are so happy that they have actually declared tomorrow a national holiday. That’s right, election of someone not actually from Kenya, not in their country has had that effect. One of the other Kenyans thought that it would be easier for Kenyans to get VISAs into the U.S. I’m not so sure that will be the case but I didn’t tell him that. People are so excited, there is even a reggae type song getting a lot of radio play called “Barack Obama.” If you’re into that sort of thing, you should google it and check it out, it’s pretty funny. The irony of this whole situation is the people of this country seem to be so proud that both a Kenyan and an African American is going to be president of the united states. However, if you look at the record, you see that Obama’s Kenyan father abandoned his family leaving a single white American lady and her white parents to raise him in the United States. So essentially, other than some sperm donation, how much did Kenya really have to do with him??? Just some thoughts (that I’ve kept to myself while here) …

Today at the hospital was interesting to say the least … there are about 48-60 Pediatric patients in 8 bed wards with beds being about 2 feet apart. There are no monitors, minimal medical equipment and disorganized or absent charting. The intern and the resident pretty much run things with attending physicians showing up a day at a time or not at all. I’ve been assigned to a team with a Kenyan intern (someone who’s had 6 years of medical school after highschool), a Kenyan Resident (someone who’s had training up through Intern year, then practiced for a number of years but is back to specialize), and a 4th year medical student from IU who seems vastly more knowledgeable than the Kenyan Intern. I did feel like the Kenyan resident was pretty competent, however. We cover 12-15 patients on our team. After we were done rounding today, one of the babies on the other unit stopped breathing and required some basic resuscitation. As we watched the infant required bag mask ventilation, became minimally responsive and started having some extensor posturing. The infant started breathing on her own again but with shallow breaths. They have minimal ICU beds here and really only intubate people that they feel very confident will be able to come off the ventilator because, culturally, they don’t withdraw support once they’ve given it. I believe this infant probably is septic, if not encephalitic (blood stream infection and infection in the brain) but so little was able to be done for her. We left her in a state such that I will be surprised if she lives until tomorrow. Its just such a different system and I’ve been encouraged by both people who have gone and people who work here currently to watch and observe initially and then try to contribute as I understand the system better. But ultimately, this system functions with or without us and there are many, many limitation which will not change by my presence here. I have to look at it as anything I can contribute with my limited knowledge is a bonus but not get too involved in taking ultimate responsibility. I sure have a lot of thinking and learning to do and will try to update this once per week to tell you what I’ve seen!

Floods, concert

2008-06-14T01:09:00.005-05:00

To all the people who have asked, I appreciate your concern, but my area of Indianapolis is fine. I haven't personally experienced any flooding which is more on the south side of Indianapolis. There have, however been some patients transferred to our hospitals because there hospitals have been flooded. Actually, though I'm mostly saddened by all the flooding that's going on in Eastern Iowa and have a hard time seeing all the places I went to college and med school experiencing so much damage. Some of the pictures have been really unbelievable!

Tonight I went to see Jack Johnson, one of my favorite singers, in concert. I've seen him once before about 5 years ago and he lived up to everything I remembered. It's just a really laid back show and he sounds every bit as good in person as he does on CDs only he added in some new music and some fun improvisation. It reminded me of the concert I saw years ago with all my friends from med school and I wish they could have been there to see him again! One very cool part at the end was that he announced that all proceeds of the concert were being donated to the Red Cross because of all the flooding in Indianapolis.

Storm

2008-06-01T22:32:00.000-05:00

There was a severe storm with some high winds, hails, and apparently some tornadoes the other night. I was at the hospital which wasn't really affected during the storm but the next day I was trying to drive home and found this tree blocking my way home. It's amazing to me that this gi-normous tree managed to split in two and fall over where just a block away, yard signs were still in place. Fortunately, there wasn't much damage in general but I thought this was pretty impressive!

Travels

2008-05-26T14:14:00.001-05:00

It's been a great month for traveling for me! After a busy Neonatal Intensive Care month in April (hence, no blogging) I'm now on my elective in Dermatology which includes a week of vacation. Additionally, earlier in the month, I was able to attend the Pediatric Academic Societies conference in Hawaii where I presented a poster of a project I completed earlier this year. I spent a couple days at the conference and ... a couple days not at the conference :) Those days I spent snorkeling, relaxing on the beach, hiking up Diamond Head and not really working too hard.

Then, this past week I spent 6 days in New York City where my friend Cari got married in Manhattan. It was the first time in NYC for me and it was a busy few days since I was in the wedding but I did happen across some of the famous things and places such as the Statue of Liberty, Times Square, Herald Square, Empire State Building, Central Park, Madison Square Garden among other things. One of the neat things for me since I read a lot and have seen a lot of shows and movies based in New York City, I now have at least a basic knowledge of the geography and layout of the city and neighborhoods. Otherwise, I spent the time with about 6 friend from med school, many of whom I haven't seen since I graduated so that was great too.

I'm going to try a new thing where I upload my pictures to some web albums and I'll include a link here so you can take a look if you'd like. Most of the pictures of people, less of the sites ...

New York: http://picasaweb.google.com/njlohr/NewYorkCityMay2008?authkey=vC3JajR8FWs

Hawaii: http://picasaweb.google.com/njlohr/HawaiiMay2008?authkey=wIAAK0OwUxk

St. Lucia

2008-03-19T23:24:00.007-05:00

It's been a long time since I updated this but I think maybe I was just waiting for something fun to report. Well, I found it! My friend Karla got married in St. Lucia the weekend before last and I was lucky enough to get to go! It was one of the most fun 3 days I've had in a long while. Some highlights included the amazing villa I shared with a few others at the top of one of the Piton mountains, the rehearsal dinner that was really a "cruise" on the pirate ship from the Pirates of Caribbean, and of course the beautiful wedding and reception on the beach. It was a small group and everyone was so welcoming including all of her husband's family who I hadn't met before so that made it really amazing too. Above pictures are the view from the balcony of my villa including a plunge/infinity pool, the group picture on the beach after the wedding including a rainbow in the upper left part of the picture over the resort and finally a little goofing off during the dance at the reception.

Otherwise I'm on a month in the ER which explains the few days off I had since we do mostly shift work. It's going fine and I'm liking it better than I did last year. Not too much else new to report but I'm eagerly awaiting spring and more importantly spring-like weather.

Happy New Year!

2008-01-05T20:52:00.001-05:00

I must apologize for my hiatus from blogging for the past month. You all know how Decembers can be and this one was no exception. I hope that you all had Happy Holidays. I thought of many of you over the past few weeks and lamented that I didn't send cards out but my goal next year is to do that! If you're reading this, please keep sending the Christmas cards my way because I love hearing from everyone!

For the month of December I was working in the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit taking care of some pretty sick kids. I enjoyed the challenges related to treating very complicated illnesses and children but stressed out a little bit over the on-call problems which tended to be more in depth and serious than my previous months. I learned a ton, however, and by the end of the month felt a whole lot more confident about managing complicated medical problems. Overall, I liked it better than a lot of months I've been on. Not enough to want to take care of intensive care patients for the rest of my life, but it sort of reaffirmed my interest in taking care of sick (vs. well) children. It will be nice to take care of sick kids but to know that if they get really out of control, there's a place to send them where they can be managed (i.e. an intensive care unit).

After working all month, I finally got back to Iowa for Christmas on Dec. 30! My parents were generous enough to hold off on most of their Christmas until I got back and that's where I still am enjoying both a holiday break and a week of vacation at the same time.

The part of my month not spent working was nice too. I did some gift exchanges with some friends from Indy and even got out to our Christmas Holiday party and to see the play, A Christmas Carol which is done by the local theater every year.

Finally, some New Year's resolutions! I hope that by putting them on here, you all can periodically check in on me and see if I'm actually following them.

1. Exercise, eat well, yada, yada, yada. Okay, no originality here but it's always a good thought after the holidays, right?
2. Continue my new budget! I started it about 4 months ago and have had some ups and downs with it. The first couple months went great, but the second couple months got significantly side-tracked when I had that little hit and run experience I talked about earlier. Turns out the police can't/won't do anything more and since the damage was at my deductible + the cost of a rental car when I got my car fixed, the whole $600 fell to my expenses. I guess the good news is, if I hadn't been doing the budget, I would have been in a whole lot worse shape. Anyways, so aside from that setback it's going well. And last night, I finally put the whole thing to an Excel spreadsheet so I'm going to be able to keep track of things more accurately!
3. Umm, get Christmas cards out next year!
4. Try to focus less on myself, and more on other people. I feel like in residency, it's really easy to get wrapped up in everything that's going on in my life and forget to give my tine and attention to other people, which is really what's most important. So in short, be less selfish.

there you have it, that's my last month in a nut shell. Drop me a line if you get a chance!

Happy Thanksgiving (a bit late)

2007-11-25T15:05:00.000-05:00

So I had two days off over Thanksgiving and was lucky my parents made the long drive here to spend it with me. I fixed turkey with all the trimmings and it didn't taste to bad. The rest of the weekend I've been working the 6 pm to 4 am shift in the ER which isn't my favorite but my last shift is tonight. I feel a little anti social not seeing anybody during the day and working all night.

Yesterday I felt like I had a minor breakthrough with a couple of patients. One of the challenges of Pediatrics is dealing with parents who have not very sick children but come to you wanting you to fix every little thing they perceive is wrong with their children. I saw a couple of infants yesterday whose parents came in because their kids have "nasal congestion." Now who, during this time of the year doesn't have congestion??? There was a recent movement to pull all the infant cough and cold medicines off the shelves because of some bad side effects and lack of efficacy. So basically, we can offer absolutely nothing to the parents of those kids. The break through I had yesterday is I walked into the rooms knowing I couldn't give these parents a magic pill to make the kids feel better but instead had the time to just talk and mostly listen to them for awhile. I was thrilled when they actually left happy! I mean you learn that most of the time patients/parents just want you to listen to them but sometimes you feel like people won't be satisfied until you fix their problems. In this case I couldn't do that but all three of these parents seemed pretty satisfied with the time we spent together. Additionally I discovered more information about the patients' home in that the parents all smoke which is going to cause congestion in babies because of the irritation of the smoke. Hopefully I might have made some inroads into getting them to think more seriously about quitting if not for their own but for their kids' sake.

Weddings, Hit and Run and other news

2007-11-04T21:23:00.000-05:00

Above you see a picture of me with a bunch of the residency girls at a fellow resident's wedding. That was the first of two weddings I've been to in the past few weeks. The second was for my former college roommate Beth and was just this past weekend. Have you noticed that my main social events seem to be weddings? I think I've been to five so far this year.

In other news, this weekend I had the unfortunate experience to be a victim of a hit and run car accident. Fortunately no one was hurt but it was a weird experience. I was driving along when the car in the lane to the left of me decided to merge but obviously didn't know I was there and ended up side-swiping my car. When that happened I started to pull over to the right but then noticed that they weren't pulling over, in fact, they were turning left off the road we were traveling on. So I sped up and got their license number. It ended up being just a scratch on the driver's side of my car but I have a feeling the small scratch will end up costing more than I expect. The police were able to figure out who owns the car that hit me so hopefully they have insurance and it will all get taken care of with a minimum of inconvenience.

Finally, my newest favorite song is Easy Silence by the Dixie Chics. It's not actually new but I just sort of discovered it recently. yep, i think the southern influence is taking effect as I'm generally not a fan of country music though have always liked some of the Dixie Chic's music. The song is sappy and romantic but also very pretty. Check it out if get a chance.

Back to Iowa

2007-10-28T21:15:00.000-05:00

I just returned from a week off in Iowa with my parents. It was pretty low key. I'm on a Community month this month which is where we don't do a lot of clinical work but learn about a lot of resources around the community. I did some interesting things this month including learning a little about public policy and advocacy, public health, disaster preparedness plans etc. We also are required to do a couple of projects, one with one of the community organizations and one quality improvement project for the hospital/residency. Since the month is on the lighter side of things, I decided to take Step 3 of my USMLE exam. It was a two day test this time and I think after a fair amount of studying, that it went okay. Even though it's a multiple choice test, I won't know the results for a couple months. Since I spent the majority of the month studying for the test, I kind of put off my other projects until my vacation week. So even though it was 5 days off at home, I spent the majority of the day working on the projects. I did, however, spend the evenings with my parents and just kind of bumming around. We went and watched my highschool's volleyball team play (they won and they're ranked 3rd in the state) and in general did a lot of reading too. It was nice to get away!

I came back a day early and was able to do some touch up work, spackling and painting, in my bathroom because of the removal of the old countertop and sink. I also went on a Haunted Hayride last night which was kind of fun! It was one of those outdoor fields with a corn maze, a couple of haunted houses and the hay ride. So, I didn't dress up for this Halloween (I'll be on call on the 31st) but did get to enjoy a little bit of the festivities. This coming month I'll be doing an ER month so that means shift work with some weird hours but at least I'm in my own bed everynight! Nothing else too much to report...

The Saga of Big George

2007-10-10T07:43:00.000-05:00

Kelly Bienhoff visited this past weekend. We were in my office/guest room and were folding up the bedding when we noticed Big George (a large, hairy spider) scuttling across the floor. We both shrieked and neither of us had any shoes immediately available. However, my TI 85 graphing calculator (a rather bulky, heavy calculator) was at hand so I threw it on Big George. Big George proceeded to push the calculator off himself and scurried under the couch. We folded up the rest of the bedding and then looked under the couch and poof, Big George had disappeared. It appeared he had some sort of magical powers. The rest of the weekend we pondered as to the whereabouts of Big George as he was nowhere to be seen. As Kelly packed her bags on Sunday she even wondered if it was possible that Big George had crawled in to her things and he may turn up in Kansas City! I thought it was very possible and proceeded to put him out of my mind ... until this morning. I walked out of my bathroom (in my bedroom) after showering this morning and noted some quick movement across the room along the baseboard. AHA! It was Big George, he had simply moved across the condo instead of flying to Kansas City. Fortunately for me and unfortunately for Big George, I did have a sandle at hand and proceeded with great vigor to dispatch Big George to his next life. (it took 3-4 very good thwaps). I then used about 6 kleenexes all wadded up to pick up Big George (so as not to actually feel the dead Big George inside them all) and sent to him a watery grave with a resounding flush. So ends the saga of Big George.

The Home Improvement Continues

2007-10-02T09:21:00.000-05:00

Post call and I arrived home to find the tilework done in my kitchen and both bathrooms. You're looking at the kitchen above. I LOVE the tile and am happy I decided to do the diagonal lines in the kitchen. The contractor I hired had laid all the tile which I'd seen and then finished up when I was working yesterday, so the grout color was a surprise. I picked out a color which I thought was more of a dark gray/brown and ended up getting the light gray which you see above. Too late to do anything about it now. I guess the good news that as it gets dirty, it will only get darker, right :) I also got a new vanity top and faucet for my bathroom which I think looks nice. The previous whas a tan linoleum top but it's now white marble and the faucet is brushed silver matching the rest of the fixtures in the bathroom.

New-ness

2007-09-12T20:00:00.000-05:00

Not too much going on with me but I thought it was high time for an update ....

First things first, I finally decided to sit down and make an actual budget. I've always prided myself on being responsible with my money but was especially motivated to recently either acquire some more or figure out a way not to spend so much when my college friend Karla sent out her save the date cards for her wedding in .... St. Lucia! Wouldn't that be a lovely place to spend a few days in March? I think so, too. This year I was excited because since I'm a 2nd year resident I am now qualified to do some moonlighting for extra cash. This was great until a couple of weeks ago, our program announced that our malpractice insurance does not cover us doing this anymore so there went that opportunity. Since I can't realistically pick up extra cash any other way, I decided I'd have to put some limitations on my spending and save some money that way. I'll let you know how it goes ...

Second, I have recently become addicted to Sweet Tea. Sweet tea is iced tea that is, surprise, sweet and seems to be something fairly popular in the southern half of the country since I don't recall running across it in Iowa at any point. Now I wouldn't consider Indianapolis in the "South" although it surprised me greatly to learn I'm closer to Kentucky than I am to Chicago. That being said, there is sweet tea around here and is one my favorite beverages of choice. There's a chain of restaurants/delis called McAllister's which makes particularly good sweet tea so if you ever see one, I highly recommend it.

A Blissful Day Off

2007-08-28T20:38:00.000-05:00

Due to the requirements in residency, it's mandatory that we have 4 days off a month. Normally we're able to work this out and get the four days to fall on weekends but this month because of the number of residents I was working with, I had to go in pretty much every weekend. Instead, I was forced to take a day off during the week and that was today. I saved it for the end of the month and it was wonderful. I didn't do anything exciting ... just worked out, got my oil changed, and watched a movie. But when you have so few days off, it makes you really, really appreciate it. I felt like I was on vacation today! So all you people out there who work 5 days a week and have the weekend off every weekend, enjoy it for me! Maybe someday, I'll get there again ....

Toilet debacle

2007-08-20T20:00:00.000-05:00

So, here's a word to the wise for everyone. If you're going to attempt to repair your own toilet, make sure it's not leaking and make sure the valve for shutting the water off doesn't break. Oh, and it doesn't hurt if you don't have carpet in your bathroom as well. So that's what happened this weekend. Water leaked everywhere and because some idiot (not me, it was there when I bought the place) thought it'd be a good idea to put carpet in the bathroom, the carpet wicked the water right through the wall and into my living room and hallway. Now the plumbing job only cost $50 to fix but all the equipment to dry out the wall costs significantly more. You can see above the way they had to drill into the drywall and place tubing to suck out all the water. Crazy. Well, you learn a little bit every day, right? They ripped out all the carpet in the bathroom so I'm going to be buying some ceramic tiles sometime soon and it should look a lot better after that.

Shaking your booty vs. Drawing on a booty

2007-08-11T22:39:00.001-05:00

So I'm on call as we speak with my friend Marcie and we're just admitting a girl with some butt abscesses (i.e. pockets of infection on her butt). She's actually doing pretty well, just needs some IV antibiotics and then will go home. However Marcie and I were just lamenting that fact that instead of going out dancing on a Saturday night and shaking our booties that instead we're stuck in the hospital and are having to draw on a girl's butt or booty (Mom, that means butt) to document the spread of the infection. Sigh ...

Busy weekends

2007-07-29T20:17:00.001-05:00

Update on Harry Potter! I finished the book in about 13 hours and it was very good. I was very satisfied with it with a few exceptions. I won't give away any spoilers for those of you out there who are still reading it but you'll have to check back and see for yourself how many of my predictions were right. It's kind of sad now though that there will never be another Harry Potter book. It really is a unique phenomenon being able to read a series of books as its being written and be there for the last one.

This past week, the Indianapolis Tennis Championships have been going on which were formally known as the RCA Championships. (apparently RCA stopped giving enough money or something) It's one of those tennis championships that I used to watch on ESPN when I was in highschool. It's pretty cool to now actually be able to go and watch the professional players in person. The big names at the championship this year were James Blake and Andy Roddick, both of whom I saw play this week. Unfortuantely, they both lost in the semi finals. I wasn't able to get a great picture personally so just had to make due with this one from the internet :) The weather was beautiful during the week, pretty much perfect for playing tennis and then got a little hot on the weekend.

Today, I went for a 2.5 hour bike ride on this path that I hadn't ridden on before. It's a path that starts in the middle of the city and sort of goes south west all the way to the Indianapolis Museum of Art. It's a really nice path, sort of less known than the most popular one in the city. It's gravel and runs along a canal the entire way and also provides a fair amount of shade. For several miles along the path, it's completely surrounded by trees and you can't even tell you're in the middle of the city which is really nice. At the Museum of Art, there's a beautiful garden so we stopped and wandered around there for awhile before coming back. I've been a little burned out on running since running the half marathon so it's fun to discover other ways to keep up my exercise.

Oh yeah, and I still have to work. I'm on to a new rotation, Cardiology, tomorrow so wish me luck.

Book 7

2007-07-20T18:49:00.000-05:00

As many of you know I'm a huge Harry Potter fan and can't even begin to explain how excited I am that the Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows book comes out in 4 hours and 10 minutes ... of course I'm on call tonight and will not be able to get it until at least 9 am tomorrow (when Barnes and Noble re opens after the midnight opening). My best friend Eileen is also a huge fan and I think we're both hurrying to read it this weekend so we can discuss ASAP. I'm going to take a page out of her book and post some of my OWN predictions for the book on this blog while I'm eagerly awaiting the release (and for my call to be over).

1. Voldemort will die ... it says in book 5 that Voldemort thinks there is nothing worse than death and therefore that only seems to make sense.

2. Harry will live. I just cannnot, will not see him dying. I don't think J.K. Rowling will do that to this great character when there are better ways to end this series. (This is all despite the fact that she was reported to be sobbing when she wrote the end of the book. I think that's just being emotional at the series, not Harry being done for)

3. Dumbledore is dead. I do not think that in any way shape or form that Dumbledore is still alive but I don't think we've heard the last from him. In some way, he will be a part of this last book.

4. Snape is good. Throughout the whole series, Dumbledore has always insisted that he trusts Snape and I trust Dumbledore. 'Nuff said. (yes, Snape actually killed Dumbledore (see prediction #3 but I believe it was all part of a greater plan)

5. R.A.B. is Sirius's presumed dead brother who is not actually dead and will play a role in this book.

6. A Weasley is done for ... there are just too many of those red-headed do gooders running around and really they are a pretty easy target being so involved in the Order of the Phoenix etc. I sincerely hope Harry and Ginny end up together forever but given her daring personality and spunk, she's going to be in the middle of things in this book and just may get caught in the crossfire. Otherwise, I'm afraid any of them could get it but I guarantee it won't be Percy. (That would just be too satisfying)

Alright, that's it! We'll see in 48 hours if I'm right!

E.T.

2007-07-13T23:28:00.001-05:00

My friend Jen and I were requested to take over posts as Social chairs for the residency this year. Maybe it's because we're both a tad social :) It's a position that basically means coordinating extracurricular social events for everybody in the residency. We have a fair sum of money with which we can buy tickets to things and generally fund anything that seems like it might be fun and well, social. It's also a fun way to explore stuff to do in Indianapolis. I know it doesn't sound like the most exciting and glamorous city in the world (other than if you're a football fan) but it turns out there are some enjoyable things if you know where to look. We're doing about two events a month, one paid for by the program, one not. This month we sponsored tickets to something called Symphony on the Prairie which is where the Indianapolis Symphony plays concerts weekly in an outdoor amphitheater. Everyone breaks out picnic baskets, bottles of wine and camping chairs and has an enjoyable evening outside. (I always wondered when people used those fancy fabric lined picnic baskets that you see at department stores). So anyway, last week the symphony played a tribute to John Williams so it was great to hear the movie themes from Star Wars, Jaws, Harry Potter among others. Tonight I just got back from the Indianapolis Museum of Art which hosts movies outside on its terrace once a week. A group of us watched E.T. the Extraterrestrial which I don't think I've seen since I was 5. It's a lot less scary now ... Incidentally, John Williams also wrote the score to that! All in all, a pretty nice evening.

Hmmmm

2007-07-01T12:31:00.000-05:00

Hmmmm. I can't even comment on this in an appropriate manner so I'll just let you guys think what you will ...

So this state park is in Northern Kentucky very near Cincinnati which we saw on our way back from Hilton Head. It was a long drive with a lot of traffic jams but we made it back to Indy late last night. The trip was great. We rented a condo which was very affordable and about two blocks from the beach. There was also a pool right outside our balcony so most of our days went like this: Wake up when we feel like it, go to the pool, eat lunch, head to the beach. Our evenings were split between eating out or making something in our kitchen at the condo. we went out dancing one night, sat at a Tiki bar on the beach another night as well as staying in and playing games making our own frozen drinks. It was VERY hot. (perfect for sitting at the beach) I couldn't help but compare this to the last beach vacation I took (which was to Cancun) last year. The sand wasn't quite as white and the ocean wasn't quite as green, however there was a wonderful breeze coming off the ocean which made sitting on the beach very comfortable. The water was also very clean, not a lot of algae or debris in it. Every day the tide came in a distance of probably about 50 yards throughout the afternoon so we always ended up pulling our towels back. The tide packed the sand down pretty firmly which made the beach great for biking on but sometimes not so comfortable to lay on. I spent most of my time in the ocean but if I ever go back, would definitley invest in a plastic beach chair and an umbrella which would make it pretty much perfect. Some of my friends rented bikes one day and I rode one a little bit. There are a lot of trails around the island which are really nice.

Having never been to that part of the country before, I was amazed how lush and green everything is. Even in the populated and landscaped areas there are trees and undergrowth everywhere. Looking at the dense plant life reminded me what it must have been like when settlers first arrived to that area of the country and how overgrown it must have been. It's kind of like loooking back in time if you ignore all those shops and stores.

Overall, it was great to get away and very hard to come back. I didn't end up having to work today, fortunately but will be back in the swing of things starting tomorrow. I do, however, feel pretty refreshed and energized today which is I guess the whole point of going on vacation, right?

Hilton Head Island

2007-06-29T14:03:00.000-05:00

Hello from Hilton Head. This week has been great, very relaxing. I and 4 other friends from residency drove down here and are staying in a condo. We've been splitting our days between the pool at the condo and the beach two blocks away. We've also done a little shopping and seeing the area. It's a very nice, laid back area. It's full of tourists but that doesn't bother me. I had wanted to post a picture with this but it wasn't uploading for some reason so you'll just have to wait for those. We'll drive a 12 hour trip back tomorrow but fortunately its through some beautiful areas in the country in North Carolina and Tennessee. On Sunday I'll start my second year of residency but now in a "supervisory" role. It's a little scary with having more clinical responsibility but nice because not nearly as much paper or "scut" work as we call it. I'll let you know how it goes!

Luke and Amanda's Wedding

2007-06-23T20:50:00.000-05:00

Finally, getting a chance to post some more! I've been winding down my last month as an intern (my last call was last night!) and am getting ready to go on a fun vacation to Hilton Head South Carolina. Anyways, at the end of May, I went to my friends, Luke and Amanda's wedding in Rolling Meadows, Illinois (suburb of chicago). I know the two of them from medical school was really excited to see them as well as some of my friends from around the country. I hadn't seen Becky (on the right) since we both left Iowa City a year ago! She moved to Maine. The wedding was beautiful, the reception was a blast but probably the best thing for the wedding couple itself had been the events of the weeks before. They unfortunately did not end up getting residency positions in the same part of the country so were facing three years of long distance marriage which I can't even comprehend! But, due to some very lucky events, they found out just days before the wedding that they would actually be doing residency in the same town. They were ecstatic and I was ecstatic for them. You could tell they were both glowing on the day of the wedding.
The next day I was also able to spontaneously get together with one of my roommates from college, Beth Szafranski! It worked out perfectly because I was able to go out to lunch with her and her fiance Chris. It's so funny, I hadn't seen her in over a year, but as always, whenever we get together it's just like we see each other everyday. All in all, a great weekend. Stay tuned for more, soon!

Working

2007-06-11T21:35:00.000-05:00

Well, I'm back on a ward month and switched some calls around so I feel like i've hardly been home or had time to sit in front of a computer! Whew, it's exhausting at times. I still havn't uploaded any of my recent pictures but will hopefully get to it soon. I'm thinking this coming weekend since I actually have it off.

On to other stuff ... this will probably make sense to my more medical friends but I'm on a month right now where we take care of developmentally disabled kids. Many of you know my interest in Genetics and Genetic syndromes, so you can imagine how crazy it was when earlier this week, I actually was taking care of (all in one day, no less) patients with Cri du Chat, Prader-Willi and Lesch-Nyhan!! For my non medical readers, these are all rarer syndromes that you merely read about in med school and I saw them all in one day! I thought that was pretty cool. Yes, I'm a dork.

For those who don't know, Lesch-Nyhan disease is a really fascinating disorder where there is a build up of a certain chemical (uric acid) because your the body lacks the enzyme to prevent it's precursers. What's so fascinating about it is that children with this disease exhibit self-mutilating behaviors where they bite off their lips and fingers so much so that they often have to be restrained or have their teeth removed. It's horrifying but at the same time fascinating because it is this direct interface between a chemical imbalance and a behavior unlike almost any other disease. I'm glad I've had the experience to take care of a patient with it because it's something I know I'll never forget.

Books

2007-05-30T20:28:00.001-05:00

I just returned from a fun-packed trip which I will fill you all in shortly. I'm going to wait and try to get some pictures up to go with my stories. But I wanted to give you a complete explanation of the book part of my blog. As you all know, I LOVE to read and try to do so daily. The types of books I like are fiction, generally historical fiction but will read almost any kind of fiction. So under the Recent Books, you will see the 3 most recent books I've read and added to the blog. If you click on the book cover, it will take you to a generic link which will give you some reviews and links to amazon and the like. If you click on the part that says my library it will take you to all the books I've read and listed. On that part of the site, I've given each book a star ranking based on five stars so then you'll know how much I liked the books. Hope you readers out there find it useful!

By Popular Demand

2007-05-23T19:30:00.000-05:00

Apparently my blog is so successful that now I'm getting requests from my myriad of fans (actually, my mom) to make a post so here I go ....

I had a nice weekend in St. Louis seeing the Bienhoffs and celebrating Kelly's graduation. She's done really well and should be very proud of herself. Graduation was nice and then we had an afternoon of playing bocce ball which was a fun and unique thing to do too.

I just joined a tennis league and tonight was my first match. It's crazy to think that it's actually been 10 years since I last played any tennis competitively. Unfortunately, my debut back into tennis was not as successful as my previous tennis career (i lost). It brought back all the memories of psyching myself out, getting tentative or making just stupid shots. But the good part of all that is it takes my mind off work (which can be tough to get off the mind sometimes) and makes me eager to get back out there and improve. I felt pretty bad losing the first match I played with this new team but the rest of our team lost their matches too so it was just a good opponent. Anyways, I'll be missing the next couple weeks of matches because of vacation and work but will hopefully get back out there in June.

Laundry night

2007-05-15T20:07:00.000-05:00

So one of the reasons I started this blog was to keep people up on my life. Unfortunately my life isn't always so exciting so I'm posting tonight between the 4 loads of laundy I absolutely had to do tonight :)

This month I'm working at an urgent visit center which is great because I don't take any call and sleep in my own bed every night! It can get a little monotonous at times but I'll take it for the nice break for the schedule. Also, I get a week of vacation at the end of this month which will be great. I'll be going to Luke & Amanda's wedding (friends from med school) in Chicago and then venturing to Disney World with Eileen and her family. It'll be really nice to spend a few days with her! Also, I'm looking forward to going to St. Louis for the weekend for Kelly B's graduation. I'll give you a full update after all these fun events!

Mini Marathon

2007-05-06T08:01:00.000-05:00

For some crazy reason, I decided to sign up for the Indy One America Mini Marathon which is a half marathon (13.1 miles). My training schedule started out great in January but then I got a little off track in February and March. Oh well, I decided to run it anyways and the big day was yesterday. Luckily I had some friends who to run it with which was a big help to keep motivated (that and the other 29,000! people who completed it). The picture shows my friends Ruth, Christy and Ruth's daughter Mary. Ruth's husband was watching at about mile 5.5 and he and Mary very nicely brought us some much needed Advil (see Mary's right hand) at that point. My main goal was to complete the half marathon which I did and would estimate I ended up walking about 15 minutes of it. I feel great that it's done but am now walking around like an old woman! Some of the highlights in the Marathon was part of the course included the Indianapolis Speedway, which I've never been to before, the cups of beer they passed out at mile 10.5 (delicious but I have to say I felt a little nauseated afterwards) and the fact that the weather was pretty much perfect!

2007-04-28T18:07:00.000-05:00

Here's the upclose view of the blossoms on the trunk.

2007-04-28T18:05:00.000-05:00

So right outside my place, there's this tree which this spring I was very surprised to see produced these really pretty pink blossoms, not just on the branches but on the trunk, too. Anybody know what kind of tree this is? I've never seen anything like this but thought it was kind of cool. The weather was beautiful today and I can never resist getting outside when it's like this This kind of weather makes me feel like I'm living in Hawaii instead of Indiana!

The First Post

2007-04-24T12:24:00.000-05:00

Well, this is my first real foray into the blog .... I've realized that I really enjoy reading and seeing what my friends are up to and I feel a lot more connected to people that are far away just by doing that. But, I realized it's probably a one way feeling because I rarely have the time to update those same friends! So hopefully someone will enjoy checking this occasionally (at least I'm sure my parents will :) ) and I'll do my best to put posts up with some frequency. Also, I'll try to put up some pictures of the latest happenings in my life and am going to attach a link to library type website where people can check what books I've read recently and see my ratings. Hope you enjoy!