Smiling Through the Rain

Catie - I owe you a big thanks for your additions to my list. (Readers- they're in the last entry's comments). And you are so right about all of them. I'd like to elaborate on the family history. Not only do people tell me about what their spouse has (hopefully NOT genetically related) or their brother-in-law/neighbor/friend, but they also name things that are so not genetic. Such as back pain. Especially the young drug seekers. "Oh, my dad has this same bad back. He has to take morphine." Also funny is the patient who comes in for minor pain and says that they tried a friend's morphine/oxycodone/etc. and it worked really well. Ummm... yeah, it should have. I should be able to cut your flippin' arm off in clinic after taking that stuff. But you aren't getting it for your papercut. And taking someone else's narcotics is considered I-L-L-E-G-A-L . I also wanted to share a funny Aaron story. Last night I was talking to a friend on the ph...

A while back I said I was going to post on things that my patients do to ANNOY me. Well, this week it seems they have really been on their A-game at driving me nuts. So, it reminded me that I have you dear friends to vent to. So, here goes. Patients who bring so many family members with them that there is no longer enough oxygen/space left in the tiny exam room for me to co-exist. And what's funny is that sometimes they even act like I'm the one who's causing the crowded conditions. Solution : bring one dependable family member with you if you are A. unconscious. B. really old. C. worried about a bad diagnosis. (Exception: Infertility and pregnancy do not count here: I think husbands should go as much as possible.) Patients and/or family who sit on my stool. I understand if you are 95 and can not climb up on the table. But it seems the elderly always manage to get on the exam table or in the chair. I had a young man with his wife yesterday who sat...

My husband is a certified pack-rat. He likes to keep everything . His hotmail account always has about 150 e-mails at a given time even if he's read them, he refuses to throw away a single piece of mail, everything that enters his life is a "collectible", and our DVR is swamped with shows he just might watch again. (Quote: "That episode of So You Think You Can Dance had a really cool routine. I might want to watch it again.") Keep in mind that we watch a lot of shows the same day or pretty soon after, such as Desperate Housewives, Amazing Race, Bachelor, etc. (And yes, he watches all of those with me.) So those aren't even on the DVR for long. Our DVR currently contains the following: 4 hours of Grey's Anatomy The Haiti telethon (already watched it) 1 episode of Private Practice (we never watch it) 2 Real World/Road Rules Challenges 4 episodes of So You Think You Can Dance (which hasn't been on in about 4 months) The People's Choice Awar...

Aaron and I watched the telethon that was on last night raising money for Haiti and I just felt the need to comment. My heart goes out to them. I can't imagine living in the conditions they were living in before the earthquake and especially not afterwards. If something like this had happened in our country, we would have had the manpower and the machinery to sort through the rubble much more efficiently and each person who died would at least be given a proper burial. The survivors are actually dying because they don't have hospitals to take them to. The only true connection I have to Haiti is that Aaron and I traveled to the Dominican Republic (connected to Haiti) for our honeymoon and one other time since. We love it more than anywhere else. It's a beautiful country with amazing beaches and rolling hills. The poverty is incredibly sad, but somehow the citizens there look happy and peaceful. They are very warm and friendly people, and very beautiful. On our last t...

Let me just tell you what is NOT a good way to start a Monday morning. I woke up 30 measly minutes before my alarm was set to go off because my dog puked on my shoulder while I was sleeping peacefully in bed. Not only did he hit my pillow and my shirt, he also got it all over the sheets I washed YESTERDAY!!! I woke up to both the sound of vomit (lovely) as well as the heaviness of it on my shoulder. Only good news to share from this experience was that it didn't get in my hair.

First off, I owe you kind readers a sincere apology for being a terrible blogger lately. What with the holidays, "Ice Storm 2009", and the general lack of info concerning my infertility, I haven't had much to say right now. Which is really quite amazing for me and I can't tell you how thankful my husband is for the peace and quiet. So, let's catch up, shall we? First of all , nothing new on the infertility front as of now. I'm cycling perfectly and it's now been 3 months since my D&C. Some docs recommend waiting this long to try again, but sometimes nature decides that for you! We'll probably do another month on our own before we go back to our specialist to see what we might want to do next. I kinda feel like it's the same ol' story all the time right now, so I try not to bore you with unnecessary details. Next , work has been crazy busy. The first of the year... everyone gets new insurance so they come to establish care, get med refills, ...

As I was reflecting on 2009 today, not too many great feelings came to mind. We had a couple of incredible vacations (thank you, swine flu for making Mexico so inexpensive...) and I'm sure we have a lot of other things to be thankful for (slipping my mind right now). But of course what really stands out is our healthcare issues. One of the reasons it stands out is that I have a gigantic stack of medical receipts to give our accountant for taxes. Which reminds me of how much we've had done this year. And it all leads me to thinking about "stirrups", since that's where I've spent much of my time. When I say stirrups, you might think of the bone in the inner ear (also called stapes)... Or the kind we use for horseback riding... Or if you're an '80s child, maybe you think of this fashion statement... But this is what I picture. And how could I not? I keep record of my "fun little infertility" story so that I may one day torture our "hard...

Okay, so my poor little brain was apparently so frazzled from our New Years Eve craziness that I actually left out a few important details. My husband left a comment on my previous post about it, but in case you didn't read it: The perfect white carpet became important because the punch was very red. And very strong. Therefore, those drinking it might have had slightly impaired motor skills, leading to several very unfortunate spills on the carpet. Amazing how there can be 20 cups of red punch in the kitchen and not one gets spilled on tile, but the minute someone stumbles into the living room with it... We totally need to find out what carpet cleaner Mr. Host uses, because it was quite amazing. And his attitude was much kinder than mine would have been. But I guess when your guests have already been puking in your kitchen sink, passing out in the guestroom, and crying on the party snacks, what's a little punch on the carpet? And yes, beer pong was played. And yes, ...

Aaron and I have already had quite an interesting 2010 from the start. We went to our friend's house last night that we have known since undergrad. They live in a very nice house in a beautiful neighborhood. With very white carpet. This will be important. There are 13 people at this party, but with all the personality involved, you would have thought there were 50. It was Mr. and Mrs. Hostess, their 2 best friends, Mr. Host's cousin, us, and then the other guests arrived. First was "other Amber" and "Old Man". I'm guestimating that she's 27 and he's 45. And she's very tipsy already, wearing a silly New Year's hat and flashing her tramp stamp repeatedly. Aaron will note that he didn't understand how she could always be showing her tattoo but not her buttcrack. Anyways... Next in was "cousin's" new girlfriend. She's a nice girl who I really enjoyed talking to and I was glad she was there. I'm not sure if...