Well, I'm two weeks into my pediatric rotation and learning A TON. I never knew how LITTLE I knew about babies until I started having to examine them in the pediatrician's office! I now possess the knowledge that most women my age already know: how often a baby eats/pees/poops as well as many other less-well-known tidbits like to how to check for congenital defects and inborn errors of metabolism. I feel really old and really young simultaneously on this rotation. The new parents that are nearly 10 years younger than me make me feel old and also young because I haven't been managing all that they have been managing in their lives. Hearing the stories of parents struggling with feeding problems, behavior issues and tantrums gives me even more respect than I already had for parents!
I seem to like to put together lists of things I've seen on my rotations to help remind myself of all that I didn't know or hadn't seen:
- Eczema--lots and lots of eczema. I'm beginning to think no baby can escape the first few months of life without it!
- Ear infections
- Viral upper respiratory infections that do not need antibiotics --there's tons of that going around
- A bunch of 2-3 day old infants
- developmental hip dysplasia
- Infantile jaundice
- Anaphylaxis requiring the baby to get an ambulance ride to Children's Hospital
- Tons of skin rashes (diaper rash, contact dermatitis, baby acne, erythema multiforme)
- Umbilical hernias
- Cute, cute cute babies!
Surprisingly I haven't been puked on or spit up on even but I have been coughed on countless times, been given tons of high fives, been given wary looks as I approach a kiddo with stethoscope and been covered with chalk-handprints because someone thought it was a good idea to put chalkboards in the exam rooms for entertainment purposes ;). I've been enjoying it a lot. Fortunately, nothing too dangerous or any real sick kids have walked through the door (except for the anaphylaxis I mentioned above) but even the healthy kids are taxing my brain to make sure I'm not missing something that's crucial to their development.
Next week marks that last week of my outpatient experience. I get to spend a few more days in the clinic but also get to spend 2 days in the new born nursery at UW. I'm super excited.
Last weekend I started to come down with a sore throat and muscle aches, but it was supposed to be close to 55 degrees and sunny so I decided not to let the cold-symptoms stop me and went on a hike with my friends from med school, Danny and Claire.
We hiked to a place called Mason Lake on Snoqualamie pass area. It was about 3.5 miles into the lake.
Then, once we got there, the sun had moved behind some clouds and we thought it was too chilly to stop and eat lunch at the lake
So we decided to press on to summit Mount Defiance which was another 2-2.5 miles to the top.
It turns out, as we were hiking along we hit snow and about 1.5 miles from the top. Danny and Claire were hiking in old beat up tennis shoes without any traction and the incline started getting much steeper. It was ok getting up the hill without traction but we started to get concerned about going DOWN the hill without any traction, so we had to call it quits early before we reached the summit which apparently had amazing views. This was when we got REALLY cold -- we think it was about 35 degrees and windy at this point and our hands were frozen!
So, on the way back down from Mason Lake we stopped to enjoy the perfectly glorious views (but apparently not as glorious as the views at the summit)
We tried to get Mt. Rainier in the background of a selfie but it turned out we needed help from a fellow hiker to get it into the shot.
Check that view out! Now, imagine it in real life, blown up and more magnificent than a photo can do it justice.
Our hike down was pleasant but it did start to get cold. It was 55 and sun in the city but up in the hills it got kind of windy and chilly--I was ready for some hot cocoa when I got back to the car! Thank goodness Tom tossed me a beanie and a pair of gloves before I left the house--I was thinking I wouldn't need them! To think in February I even considered hiking without gloves and a hat...
This was the waterfall we passed early on in the trail. It was like June/July trail conditions until up above Mason Lake. I couldn't believe it!
The morning after that hike I not only had sore legs but my sore throat was raging and I had sinus congestion to go along with it. It was a long week of symptoms. Finally I started to round the corner last night so Tom and I decided to mix it up a little by having a traditional camp dessert- banana boats! I don't know what made us think to do it except the fact that there were some bananas that were about to go bad...
We loaded them up with chocolate chips, butterscotch chips, caramel, marshmallows and Tom even added in some peanut butter!
And what would date night with a movie and banana boats be without some home-made popcorn! It took us about a month after Christmas to finally track down the RIGHT popcorn popper for Tom, the picky popcorn popper picker :)
The first one left too many kernels unpopped, the second one was too
prone to burning kernels, and this was was JUST RIGHT. It's complete
with some metal flaps that keep the unpopped kernels from flying out un-popped. And, the topper doubles as the serving bowl. Also, there's a little red cap that fits on the bottom of the bowl (the top of the popper while it's popping) that catches any small bits or un-popped kernels in the bottom of the bowl so you can just enjoy fully popped popcorn without any kernels. It makes Tom so happy :)
So, as I prepare for the next part of my rotation, I'm also preparing for a much more difficult schedule while on the inpatient unit at Children's. I've enjoyed this 9-5 clinic stuff (particularly because I've been so sick!).
I've been working on finalizing my 4th year schedule and I've got required and elective rotations set up in Neurology, Pathology, Neonatology, Urology, Gynecology-Oncology, Sports Medicine, Emergency Medicine, Rehab/Chronic Care and critical care (ICU). It's going to be a cornucopia of a year! And hopefully, by September of 2015 I'll know what I will be applying to residency for!
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