Quotables: Reverend Joseph Lowery

"We ask you to help us work for that day when black will not be asked to give back, when brown can stick around, when yellow will be mellow, when the red man can get ahead, man, and when white will embrace what is right."

This was one of my favorite quotes from the day, delivered by Reverend Joseph Lowery during the benediction.

Oh, Happy Day!!!!

My politics are not really a secret to those who know me well. And even those who don't know me well can pretty well figure out where I stand fairly quickly. (As a quick side note, I want to thank my dear friends - the ones who are happy to debate with me, pretty intensely sometimes, but never take it personally; if you can't handle disagreeing with me, then chances are we aren't going to be friends).

That said, I think we can all agree that a momentous occasion such as the inauguration of our new President is a once in a lifetime experience! Sure, President Obama is our first black President and for that reason alone we can all stand taller. The dreams of so many are realized today!

But I'm also so excited that issues like healthcare for all, social justice, educational equality, promotion of peace and security in a responsible way, and myriad other issues that are near and dear to my heart as a Christian and American will finally be back on the forefront of our government's collective mind. And God willing, with our government working together and our nation feeling a sense of urgency and a positive aura of hope that I haven't seen or felt in many years, we will make our nation even stronger moving forward.

God Bless our new President, our Nation and all peace-loving nations!

7 Stab Wounds

A young male was rushed to the ER recently after being brutally attacked and suffering seven stab wounds. I don't know the details that led up to the attack.

I was on call today and during a slow time, I went to the ICU where this young man was still in very critical, but miraculously fairly stable condition. He had deep cuts; 5 of them along the right posterior axillary region, 1 deep cut along the right anterior axillary region, and a 7cm laceration on the left frontal side of his head.

7cm is about -----------------------------------------------------

In the ICU, he was connected to a ventilator that was breathing for him. He had a nasogastric tube for feeding. He had an IV for fluids because he was losing so much blood that he was tachycardic (fast heart rate); the IV was also administering a medicine that kept our patient sedated and also a medicine (Morphine) to dull the pain. There was a tube inserted into his right lower thorax to drain the blood that was accumulating due to the stab wound and to help reinflate the lung after it collapsed (pneumothorax) by creating negative pressure in the thorax the way your diaphragm usually does. There was another tube inserted into his abdomen to drain the blood that was collecting there. And there was a catheter to drain his urine...but the urine was also fairly red with blood.

He had already had 4 units of blood transfused and more was on the way. They had also ordered FFP (Fresh Frozen Plasma) to help replenish the platelets and other necessary cells that help your blood clot.

He was still bleeding from his wounds.

And I, seeing my first full-blown trauma case with full explanation, was in shock. The RN (Registered Nurse - I always ask Nurses for explanations and tips on how to do procedures because they explain it WAY better than the Doctors and are usually more patient with me) asked me to do an ABG (see post below for explanation of ABG). I couldn't find his pulse at first because it was threading - coming in and out because his blood pressure was so low. I finally found it and got the blood - I found out later that his ABG levels were acceptable, a small victory.

Let us pray that he makes it through this painful ordeal.

Weight Check

A while back I wrote a "Did You Know" about the importance of losing weight in order to reduce our risk for heart disease, hypertension, heart attack, stroke and a whole litany of other terrible correlations associated with obesity.

I invited you, the wonderful readers of this blog, to join me in the journey of weight loss - something that is more lifestyle change rather than diet. In order to stay accountable, it's time for a "weigh-in"!! Actually, my trainer does weigh-ins once a week with me...I do NOT appreciate the constant reminder that I'm either on track - or not. Of course, though not appreciated the weigh-ins ARE critical and crucial to achieving my goals.

Therefore, to jump start the process, I'll put myself out there:
Starting Weight (October, 2008): 242
Current Weight (Jan 11, 2009): 226
Pounds to Goal Weight: 27

Put your goals on paper, tell other people your goals and hold yourself and each other accountable. Hold your pantry accountable, also, by removing any foods that you know aren't going to help you achieve your goals. GOOD LUCK!

EKGs and ABGs and NGs...OH MY!

Procedures are a medical student's dream. They are the times when you feel like you are providing some level of patient care. They are the times you are not just running an x-ray to the radiologist to be read or looking up labs on the computer. You actually get to interact with the patient and provide a service.

EKGs: Set-up the probes on the chest and run the machine. Quite simple, actually. Then sit with one of the residents who is nice enough to give you the time of day (like mine) and interpret the results to determine whether the patient has any sort of myocardial infarction (heart attack) or any sort of ischemia (decreased blood flow resulting in decreased oxygen delivery resulting in muscle necrosis). On a scale of 1 to 5, 5 being the most exciting procedure EVER, this ranks around a 2.5 on the Fun-O-Meter.


ABGs: Acronym for Arterial Blood Gas. We basically stick a needle near your wrist where we find the pulse. Unlike a blood draw you are probably used to, where we go for your veins near where your elbow bends, for an ABG we need arterial blood. This procedure is pretty straight forward but the artery makes is tricky for us because it escapes from us sometimes. We try to find your pulse and stick the needle (picture at right) straight into it...but the artery can trick us quite a bit and we can end up with nothing. But when it does work on the first try (and you really don't want to stick a poor person too many times because these DO hurt) the pressure from the artery is so strong that it fills the test tube by itself, without us pulling up on the syringe! The Fun-O-Meter ranks this around a 3.9.

NGs: These are NasoGastric Tubes - basically a way for us to access your stomach (Gastric)...through your nose (Naso)! The tube is thread through your nose, while you are fully conscious because we need you to swallow so that the tube goes down the esophagus (which leads to the stomach) instead of the trachea (which leads to the lungs!) This is an exercise in some discomfort for the patient, as you can probably imagine! When we are done, we send a puff of air down the tube and listen with our stethoscope to the stomach to ensure the tube ended up in the right spot. Then, we order an X-Ray to ensure the tube has reached the right part of the stomach. Fun-O-Meter Ranking: 4

There are MANY other procedures: blood draws, IV access lines, and others I probably haven't heard of yet. And after doing 100s of the above named procedures, many other med students (and especially residents and doctors) get sick of them; but for the moment, I'm quite excited!

NYC Sites: The New Year Ball Drop

I continue to "live it up" in NYC - I make it a point to explore different parts of the city every chance I get. It is a great excuse to exercise (since you have to walk everywhere) and also a great excuse to get outside and enjoy being free from the confines of being indoors.

2008 has been quite the year. It is the year I transitioned from a lecture hall to a hospital station. From wearing shorts and polos to wearing shirts/ties with a white coat. From wearing no identification to wearing an ID badge at all times and a stethoscope to boot.

It is also the year that I enjoyed an absolutely stunning view of the ball drop in Times Square, NYC. A friend of a friend of a friend (really, no exaggeration) had gotten a hotel room and welcomed his friends to invite other friends. As such, I had the opportunity (once in a lifetime, really) to catch the ball drop from about the same height as the ball itself! I was warm and cozy, unlike the 1000s gathered outside in about 18 degree weather! And I had easy access to a bathroom, another amenity not available to the peons outside. Life was good in the last few hours of 2008!

A couple observations:
1. The actual ball is NOT huge the way it has seemed for the past 26 years on TV. In fact, it is downright small in person. (It is the tiny little green dot in the picture to the right; it does change colors, which is pretty cool!)
2. The distance the ball drops is NOT that exciting, unlike how it seems on TV. In fact, it is maybe like 15-20 feet.
3. All in all, I would be downright PISSED if I had spent 12 hours standing outside in that sort of cold to see the ball drop. I was quite pleased having spent just 30 (FREEZING) minutes trying to get through the blockades with my friends to get to the hotel to see the ball drop about 3 hours later.

All in all, this is definitely a ONCE in a lifetime experience. Emphasis on ONCE. I'm glad I did it but I certainly wouldn't stand outside in the cold to do it again. But I must admit, it was a great way to ring in the new year.

"Rejoice in Hope, be Patient in tribulation, be Constant in Prayer." Romans 12:12

May 2009 be a year that we all can rejoice in the hope for change that our new President promises, may we learn new and more effective ways to be patient with the things that bother us and we wish we could change, and may we be prayerful always that the Lord bless our lives and the lives of others for the betterment of all.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!