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And now what did you do TODAY?


morphsci

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Woke up with the cold and cough getting nastier. Tutored someone at my university for a few hours. Very bright girl. Started school at 16 and is taking 7 classes right now. I keep telling her to slow down and that losing those years really isn't worth it but she wants to finish med school before she gets wrinkles. Perhaps not so bright after all. Went to Whole Foods for lunch and enjoyed a blackened spicy chicken sandwich and an ice cold Reeds Ginger Brew. Drove up to see Julie and helped her with some Bio and Math for a couple of hours. Made a publix run for her while she studied and then made Salmon and Spanish rice for dinner with a butter/lemon/chicken broth/parsley sauce which was too runny but Julie said she enjoyed it anyways. We talked over dinner about lovely last weekend was and how neither of us like to go out to clubs/bars but as boring as we might be, we love each others company. She studied some more afterwards while I graded some tests. At 10 I had to say goodnight to drive home and tonight more than ever before I didn't want to leave her. I can't remember the last time I was this genuinely happy and content with the way my life is going. Sure there is always room for improvement but I wouldn't change places with anyone. Today was a fairly uneventful day but it felt perfect. 

 

Tonight, I also find myself missing Matt. He didn't miss a single chance to tell me to STFU and while neither of us were as close to each other as perhaps some of you were with him, he, in his own way, told me to grow a pair, stop bitching about life and change the way I did things. I make no claim to having done either but I think he would have one less reason tonight to tell me to STFU. Hope you are well, Matt. Wherever you are. 

 

I would also like to thank you all for being incredibly kind and patient with me. I have made many mistakes in the past and am sure I will make them in the future however, I am thankful for the guidance and understanding from everyone at some point of time or another. My life has been considerably better for having met you all even if only through the internet. I hope to do so in person sometime. I never got to thank Matt for his advice and wish that such a need does not arise with anyone else anytime soon but thank you. Everyone. Really, thank you for everything. 

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Tonight, I also find myself missing Matt. He didn't miss a single chance to tell me to STFU and while neither of us were as close to each other as perhaps some of you were with him, he, in his own way, told me to grow a pair, stop bitching about life and change the way I did things. I make no claim to having done either but I think he would have one less reason tonight to tell me to STFU. Hope you are well, Matt. Wherever you are. 

 

Well put, Crappy.  I think Matt would have said the same to me more than once over the last several months.  Reminds me to man up a little bit.

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Nice post, cj, and very happy things are going well for you, and you find yourself in a good place.  Yes, I think we all miss Matt, and can think of many reasons why.  Thanks for sharing, and here's wishing you continued well being as you trudge down life's road with the rest of us.

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Thanks for all the kind words guys. It has been an unbelievably good year and a half.

 

Bryan, unfortunately moving in isn't an option at least until after I finish med school. Even then, there is no surety that I will land a residency locally and might have to relocate for that. One day though, hopefully sooner than later. 

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I just crushed someone's dreams.  :(

 

Dude bought 58 acres of lakefront property with the intention of subdividing and selling cottage lots.  Realized after he bought it that it was right next to a sewage lagoon, and I just had to break the bad news to him that the local municipal council would likely not grant him a variance to let him re-zone and build so close to the lagoon.

 

He should have done his homework, but I still feel really bad for the guy.

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Went to see a hand surgeon for a problem that had been bugging me on and off for the past few years. I had seen him in 2006 about the same issue and he had suggested fusing the 5th CMC joint as it was dislocated and fractured in 1999 in India. I had fallen off my bike and broken my arm and hand but due to the localized pain in my arm, the doctors never bothered to x ray my hand so it went unfixed. Fast forward to 2006, I fell on the same hand again while playing basketball where the x rays indicated a massive dislocation - my entire 5th finger has shifted down 1 cm from where it is supposed to be all the way down to the wrist. This wasn't as apparent in 2006 as it is now as the joint has now become arthritic (I am 26...) - even carrying groceries knocks the finger out of alignment leading to blinding, shooting pain. When the PA looked at the x ray she balked and asked me if I had congenital analgesia because of how messed up the 4th and 5th CMC joints were. The physician then came in and explained that over the past 14 years the muscles and tissues in the area had essentially compensated for it by growing around the fracture/dislocation. In 2006, I was foolish enough to disregard his warnings of early onset arthritis due to the massive dislocation/fracture thinking my late 20s were a long time away. I seem to have done irreparable damage to it over the past 7 years to the point where he said that arthritis was unavoidable and that the surgery would only mitigate future pain. This is quite upsetting as it probably rules out any surgical residency for me after med school. I am right handed and my left hand is the issue but I would assume dexterity with both hands would be expected. 

 

Would be nice if the physician in India could be held accountable for negligence as I remember going back to him repeatedly mentioning the pain and deformity in my hand but instead of taking an x ray, he just brushed it off as post injury swelling. Unfortunately, any such legal action would be laughed at there as any court case will likely not be heard for at least 10 years and even after that, negligence is not punished that severely. Now I am stuck with an unavoidable surgery I can't afford with no way of making certain that the physician in India does not provide such shitty care to others. 

 

Oh well. At least I got to have cake tonight. 

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Went to see a hand surgeon ... This is quite upsetting as it probably rules out any surgical residency for me after med school. I am right handed and my left hand is the issue but I would assume dexterity with both hands would be expected. 

 

Sorry to hear that.  I was in a similar situation where an accident ruined my chances of being a surgeon.  I was a 3rd year med student riding my motorcycle around the Texas Medical Center and a car changed lanes across a solid white line and pushed me off the road, where I totally shattered my left wrist.  That happened less than an hour after I was cutting 10-0 sutures on eyeballs in the operating room while using that left hand, and the damage ruined my chances at being an ophthalmology surgeon (which I really enjoyed).  I was quite ambidextrous up to that point, before the permanent nerve damage such, and that is very helpful in a surgical career. I've got good range of motion back, but the left hand/arm has been weaker and arthritis is setting in, and the sensation has never been normal in that hand afterwards.  Interestingly, while I still had external fixation pins in my wrist and wearing a brace I was able to do a spinal tap on a small child, which eventually led me down the path of pediatrics instead.  Surgery was more exiting and more lucrative, but pediatrics was very rewarding too - kids bounce back to health a lot better than adults do.

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Sorry, CJ. There's not much I can say, avoiding pain is important, so if surgery can relieve that without much risk, why not. To be a surgeon you just really need fine function on the thumb, index and middle fingers. Partial function on the ring finger would be just enough.  Of course it depends on the surgery type you're performing but most instruments can be used with just 3 fingers, even scissors. When in doubt, think of Django Reinhardt  8)

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