A Day in The Life

My sister did a cute blog post about "A Day In The Life", which mostly involves my adorable nephews, and I highly recommend reading it (LINK!)  I decided to do one of my own, so here goes: A Day in the Life of a Second Year General Surgery Resident.

This is what time my car says when I get up in the morning.  OK, I lied.  That's what time I left work. But 5am feels like 3:45am.

This is the parking garage at my work.  I would be lying if I didn't say that free parking in downtown Chicago is one of the reasons that I picked my program.  I would also be lying if I didn't say that I lose my car in this garage about once a week.  I've been told by multiple sources that we have the largest parking garage in all of Chicago.   But really?  O'Hare?  McCorkmick place?  I think it's a lie made up by people who lose their cars in here often and are trying to feel better about it.

This is part of the hospital complex.  The newest, shiniest part. Does it just make you want to cut someone open?  Mmm.  I love it.  Also, this is why your medical bills are so high.

This is the locker room where I change into scrubs.  You really weren't expecting this detailed of a look int my life, were you?    It's thrilling, right?

There is only one important thing about my locker: it's where I keep food.  Yum yum yum.  I guess the combination is also important, but not a important as the food.

This is pre-op, where we meet the patient before surgery.  I basically live where that other guy is standing.  Why do I love standing beside that window so much?  Well...

Skyline view!!! I'm obsessed with this view.  I take a picture of it at least once a week.

 Don't believe me how much I love this view?  Would you like to see it on a cloudy summer day?

Or a sunny summer day?

Or a kinda foggy morning? You name the condition, and I've got a picture of this skyline in it.  But moving on...

 So we wait in pre-op for everybody to be ready to start surgery.  Here's my attending waiting.  Don't be mistaken, this isn't a scene from the action-packed Gray's Anatomy, this actually happened in front of me.  THRILLING.

Finally we get to wheel the patient down the long hallway with the pretty view to the OR.  The patients are given drugs before we roll back, so they either sleep through the scenic view, or they think it is super awesome and trippy (depending which drug we give them)

Then anesthesia puts the patient to sleep in the operating room.  Two things I would like to point out about this picture.  (1) This was for a small breast biopsy that took about 30 minutes, and anesthesia has enough IV fluid hanging to do a freaking liver transplant.  Chill out anesthesia.  (2) Did you notice the artfully placed wires and lines that make it so you can't see the patient's face?  HIPPA compliant and artistically pleasing.

The OR's have an awesome BOSE sound system, that unfortunately only plays Apple products, not Droid.  So I had to find my old 80gb, 3 lbs iPod to bring to work to play music.  My old iPod is as big as my current laptop.  Or close.  And it has zero music from the past 5 years on it.  O well.

And then we do surgery. Love love love.

I made sure to include the instruments in this picture that look most like torture devices.  Mwahaha.

I always have the exact same snack after surgery- cranberry juice and graham crackers.  I steal it from the food cart meant for patients who have finished surgery.  The taste of cran-crackers (patent pending) is my favorite thing after finishing a long surgery.  It's probably disgusting, but it means I get to sit down after a long case, so I love it.

I also drink a lot of Diet Coke, which was the initial purpose of this picture.  I only noticed after I took it, that there is a jug behind it labeles "24 Urine Collection".  I hope that jug was empty.

I sleep at work every chance I get.  You can send my Doctor of the Year award via fax, email or snail mail.  If everything I have to do is done, I'm no stranger to a midday nap and I'm not a shamed of it.  There are a few keypoints I must teach you, though, if you hope to successfully take a nap at work.  Lines on your face or drool are for amateurs   To successfully sleep at work you have to look like you are doing something.  So I kick my feet up and put something that I could be reading on my nap.  Extra points if its something that I should be reading (aka a medical journal). You have to lean straight back, no resting your cheek to one side or the other, or you will wake up with lines.  And then...

.... you can just close your eyes and sleep.  If someone walks in, it's a simple as opening your eyes and you look like you are wide awake and busy studying.  Some newbies lay down on couches to sleep, but that is super awkward if your boss walks in.  You have to sit up fast, wipe away drool, and try not too look like a slacker.  But my way is magic.  Eyes close, night night.  Eyes open, study study.  I won't tell you my record for longest nap in this position, but I will tell you that its legendary.

So there you have it.  A day in my life.  I love it.