bring on the mask & goggles

May 4, 2009

as radiohead eloquently put it,

You do it to yourself, you do
And that’s what really hurts

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

so, several months ago i was offered the choice of either:

a) covering for an intern the community hospital special care nursery for a week

or

b) covering for an intern at the acute care (“same day”) clinic for a week.

and why am i covering an intern just 1.5 months away from my 3rd (ie last) year? something about them getting in more ER time, or whatever. it didn’t really matter to me, and the choice was a no-brainer! with a start time one precious hour later (8 vs 7 AM), no weekend duties, and wayyyyy less stress, same day was obviously the way to go. i made my selection and was actually looking forward to this short stint. after all, i enjoyed same day clinic as an intern, and now with ER experience under my belt the whole thing was going to feel that much easier.

and then, along came swine flu. according to the latest table from the CDC, north carolina has not yet had its first confirmed case. but that doesn’t mean we’re not swabbing and testing every child who walks in who has had the sniffles for 3 seconds. which — as it is the height of allergy season and we all know that little kids are basically just walking tubs of snot anyway — means that we have to essentially swab every. single. kid. and deliver the same tired spiel to every (understandably, given the press) hyperconcerned family that walks through the door.

i am sure that we are going to start seeing cases. and i understand that, as one attending put it, ‘we are GROUND ZERO!’ meaning that if we aren’t testing for it, how are we going to know when it does hit the state?’ but ugh. i just don’t think it’s going to be a very pleasant week. at least maybe if i wear a mask all day i might actually make it out of there without catching something, for once. and i’ll have the swine flu to thank!

you know, the above paragraph doesn’t reflect a particularly mindful-sounding attitude.
so sue me! just kidding. at least i recognize that, right? now that the anxiety is out of my system, i am going to try to seize the opportunity to just go with the flow and embrace standing on the front lines of this pandemic. if nothing else, it will be cool to have war stories about ‘back in 2009 when we battled the swine flu!’ after all, it’s only one week. and i did it to myself.

running plans
i am happy to report that i have no hip pain status post half marathon #2. while i was a little sad that i wasn’t out there running the full, i certainly felt no regret as i finished the course (it felt hard enough without those extra 13 miles!). as i mentioned before, now that i’ve injured myself three cycles in a row, i am going to put my marathon dreams on hold for a while. maybe a very long while.

but i need something to train for! even if it’s nothing serious, i just like having goals in my future. i think will pick a late summer 5K and aim for that. it would be cool to see if i could break the 23 minute barrier (ie, 22:59!). more details about training plans to come, but i know i will pick something with only moderate mileage and probably 3-4 running days/week, such as the Furman Institute program or similar.

i think it might also be time for some of this:

but more on that later! it’s time to get ready for clinic. it takes a long time to put on the full-body protective antiviral space suit, you know.

——————————————————————–

5.3.09

workout: nada, i had to rest because of my japanese-straightened hair. plus, i suppose it’s good to recover a bit from the half.

doin’ time: a solitary martha experience of bow-tie pasta with mint, salmon, and peas. the lemon juice discolored some of the peas in an odd way; other than that, it was a nice easy dinner. i strategically cooked so that we will be eating leftovers tonight.

flossing/nail biting: back on the wagon

3 Comments

  • Reply Run Sarah March 10, 2019 at 7:29 pm

    Glad you are hip pain free! Hopefully there will be more interesting cases vs. swine flu worriers in the clinic…all that swabbing…ugh!

  • Reply Jess March 10, 2019 at 7:29 pm

    Gahhh…swine flu. Stay healthy.

    Glad your hip is pain free! That’s great after a race.

  • Reply atilla March 10, 2019 at 7:29 pm

    I personally like pasta salmon and a creamy white sauce. By the way my intern showed up on round =s with sniffles and a mask.. get real
    I felt like sending him home but violated every rule i have about making sure lazy residents have to pull their fair share, even if that means just standing around and commenting on rounds

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