4 days...

Alright people, I'm exactly 4 days away from the craziest thing I've ever done. That's right, AIDS LifeCycle starts on Sunday, June 1. DH and I went on 2 great training rides this weekend, both in central park, which were wonderful.

So, here's the deal. I fly out on Friday morning, land in San Francisco Friday afternoon. Orientation day is Saturday and then we ride out at 6am on Sunday! 7 days later we land in LA, either bruised and battered or whole and exhilerated! I'm hoping that I'm the latter, although I'm sure that I'll be at least partially bruised and battered. Ouch, my butt hurts already.

For everyone who reads this, all 4 of you, please cross your fingers/pray to your god(s)/do rain dances/whatever it is that you do for me to survive the next week. I'm really, super excited about doing this ride, but I'm totally worried about my body's ability to survive this ride.

WISH ME LUCK!

Title 9K - Boulder, CO

Smithies and Wild Women - a perfect combination

Yay for weekends off! I spent this past weekend in lovely Colorado with JB and it was great! I love, love, love being out there because it's such a nice break from my hectic life in NYC. The weather is beautiful, the atmosphere is laid back, and I get to wear all of the dri-fit clothes that I want without anyone thinking that I'm a dork. What could be better?

So I got there late Friday night after almost missing my connection in Dallas (for like the umpteenth time, I sprinted through the Dallas-Forth Worth airport). So, we hung out on Friday night and stayed up late chatting like the girls that we are and then went hiking Saturday morning. A nice, little morning hike straight up a mountain! It was crazy, but amazing. We then drove up to Denver and spent ridiculous amounts of money at REI on our way to Boulder.

I just have to say that I LOVE Boulder, CO. It is the coolest town ever. Very much like Northampton, but the people are all in better shape and there aren't as many lesbians. Even without all of the lesbians, I greatly enjoy it. So, we spent Saturday night bumming around Boulder and then got up on Sunday and ran a 9K! That's right people, I ran a 9K. It was great. I loved it.

So, now I'm back in NYC missing Colorado already and already planning my next trip out there to be fun and outdoorsy with Nurse JB.

So, now the run down for my last 2 weeks of training for ALC.
Today: OFF - I can barely walk thanks to the 9K yesterday, and I haven't seen my boo all weekend, so tonight will be movie and wine night inside.
Tomorrow:
Run: off
Swim: still searching for a pool
Bike: must bike, must bike, must bike - if it's sunny, then I'll do at least 4 laps in CP - if it's not sunny, then at lest 1.5 hours spinning at my fancy gym
Strength: abs and back (always, abs and back...)

Exhuastion

Oh, lord I'm soooo tired. Work is kicking my a** and training is kicking my a** and all I want to do is sleep!

Yesterday, we were triple booked at one point and my last patient of the day was a total doozy! Oy vey.

OK, just the training run-down for now - I'll do a longer post later.
Run: Off
Bike: loops in CP - will hopefully do 4 loops, which is 24 miles, plus the 6 mile ride up to CP and back... so that's... 36 miles! Woot!
Swim: Off
Strength: Abs and some serious back work

Motivation please!

OK, time for more motivation.

I took yesterday off from training, because I just got my certification test date, and it's in a week, and I'm freaking out and really needed to study. But that counts, right? I work out my body and my mind. Also, on Monday, I ran 3 miles instead of 2 and did abs until I wanted to puke. Go me.

Today's training:
Run: Off
Swim: still no pool
Spin: 1 hour (with mucho hills)
Strength: more abs, legs

Also, NurseJB got me super excited about this thing called Nia (google it). So, I'm going to try to find a class around here. Poor Kasey, I'm turning totally psycho athletic on him... at least it make me look good. ;-)

Tri training

OK, so to help with my motivation (especially because it's going to be raining ALL week), I'm going to start blogging my training log. May it be inspiration to the rest of you as well.

Countdown:
AIDS Life Cycle: June 1 - 1 month to go
My first triathlon: October 10 - 5 months to go

Today's training:
Bike: off today (grabbed the wrong shorts this morning)
Run: 2 miles
Swim: off - still need to find a pool; also, I think that I should finish ALC before I start swimming, let's focus on one thing at a time people
Strength: Abs and upper arms. Check out the awesome ab workout on: http://www.womenshealthmag.com/fitness/get-rock-solid-abs

Wish me luck!

Rain rain go away

RAINY Monday. Blech.

My whole plan today was to get up early, go to the gym, and then be at work by noon. And it was ruined all by the rain! Because g-d only knows, nothing de-inspires me like the rain. Instead, I bade Kasey farewell at 7:45am and then fell back asleep with my kitties until 10:30! That's right people, 10:30. And then I didn't even get to work until 1pm! Good thing my first patient wasn't until 1:45....

Goal for this week: go to the gym and do not be de-inspired by the rain. 5 weeks 'till ALC!!

The Daily Run Down:
Cups of coffee: Grande, vanilla, skim latte - must start ordering smaller size...
Number of truly insane patients: None, I got a very cute small child instead. Yay!
Number of times I reassured myself I was in the right profession: None, I told myself that I wouldn't die while biking 545 miles through California instead. Oy.
Number of times I purelled my hands: So many, so many
Thought about wedding? Yes, but only for a second, while reading about Heather and Thaddeus' wedding. Which is, of course, insane. Can you believe they got married?
Favorite patients: My little 2-year-old with an ear infection. So cute with his little cornrows. His mother is a different story...
Best chief complaints: "I have a hole in my tonsil". "My stomach hurts and then I have panic attacks". "I fell in the street and think I broke my wrist, but I really don't want an xray".

Today was a good one... probably because it included lots of free food! Any day with free food is good for me. Morning staff meeting with breakfast (provided by a rep, of course), and then afternoon luncheon (provided by a rep, of course). But yummy yummy yummy.

The Daily Run Down:
Cups of coffee: 2 in the morning, followed by 2 glasses of coke... ouch.
Number of truly insane patients: At least one. Apparently, he was a city worker and got fired and then sued the city for a wrongful termination... and won! And now, he's back at his job, but he needs a letter for every time he's out sick. AND, he's got a chronic venous condition. So, he accosts me the hallway to ask for a sick letter cause he was out all last week. And then he kept me (in the hallway!) chatting for like 15 minutes. I don't have time for that. Oy.
Number of times I reassured myself that I was in the right profession: Um... mostly during the staff meeting. How did I end up in such a badly run organization??
Number of times I purelled my hands: Sooo not enough. I have a horrible blister on my pinky because of biking, and it stings like a mother every time I touch it. Ouch blister. Eeeww germs.
Thought about wedding? No.
Favorite patients: None really interesting today... Seriously, the best part about today was the food. No joke.
Best chief complaints: "Forms" - so boring, so easy. "Referral" - so boring, so hard. "I have something to give you" - so confusing.''

Happy Friday!!

Spring in NYC

It's finally spring here in the concrete jungle, and I've decided to celebrate by taking a "mental health day". For those of you who don't know the concept, a "mental health day" is when you call out sick to work, even though you're not sick, just to recoup and recover and regain some of your mental health. That's today for me.

I really do love my job, but it's been stressing me out recently. I always have heard that the first year of being an NP is the hardest, because you feel as though you don't know anything, and you're constantly afraid of making mistakes, etc. etc. And that's true... but I feel as though my greatest stress really comes from my boss. I love the doc that I work with, but my medical director drives me up a wall! And I'm still not officially hired, which means that I really don't have a leg to stand on if I complain. And while I like my patients, I can already see how doing primary care for the rest of my life would be unbelievably boring. I'm already sick of seeing diabetics and hypertensives each and every single day. 

The more I think about it, the more that I really want to go into adolescent health or HIV care. The problem is that I can't really figure out which one of them I like more. And I'm scared that I missed the boat by not applying for that HIV fellowship, although I think in the long run, this year (at least) of primary care experience will be good for me. If only I can not let my medical director drive me insane!

Anyway, on to my mental health day. It's gorgeous here in New York today, so after enjoying my coffee and blogging, I am planning on gearing up and going for my first outdoor bike ride on my new bike. I'm still deathly afraid of my clippy pedals, but one must do what one must do, and I have to learn to ride this freaking bike before June 1, or I really will die. 

Less than 6 weeks to the ride!! Here we go...

The Daily Run Down:

Cups of coffee: 1 (my usual morning latte, caramel today)

Number of truly insane patients: Surprisingly few today... but my medical director is driving me crazier than my patients!

Number of times I reassured myself that I was in the right profession: Over and over and over and over...

Contact with biohazardous material? No

Number of times I purelled my hands: Not enough

Number of times I dazed out and dreamt about my wedding: None - theknot.com stresses me out...

Favorite patient: An adorable 14-month old girl with pink-eye who was screaming her head off until I started speaking to her in French, at which point she stopped screaming and started actually listening to what I was saying. And then I looked at her eyes, at which point she started screaming again.

Best chief complaints (new item requested by Julie): "I can't sleep, but I think it's because I'm anxious about my blood pressure and my niece just died."  "I've had headaches every day for 2 years, but now I am worried about them." "I want a referral to see my chiropractor. I don't think I need it, but just in case he asks for one...".  

TGIF yet again...

Yesterday was hell... that's all I'm going to say. Hell, hell, hell. But it's over, and today is Friday. Yay! Also, we're leaving tonight to go see my parents for Passover. Parents will be stressful, but getting out of the city will be great!

The Daily Run Down:
Cups of coffee: Only 1 yesterday, and 1 today. I'm trying to cut down on the caffeine in an attempt to prepare for being a triathlete.
Number of truly insane patients: I actually had a recently diagnosed schizophrenic woman at 9AM on Monday and she was enough for the whole freaking week! Everyone else has actually been relatively normal this week...
Number of times I reassured myself that I was in the right profession: Every second of every minute of the longest 8 hours of my life (yesterday)... Today is a little bit better and I'm not feeling as bitter or full of hate.
Contact with biohazardous material: Um.... not really this week. Being an NP is surprisingly less dirty than being an RN. Although I had a girl with strep throat yesterday... that was kinda gross.
Number of times I purelled my hands: I've stopped counting....
Number of time I've dazed out and dreamt about my wedding: A million and one... Now that spring is here, I've started looking at every flower stand I pass.... so fun!
Favorite patient: Probably my girl yesterday with strep throat. She had a fever of 100.5, bacteria growing in her throat, and she was still totally peppy and smiling. So cute.

I've come to a new decision in my life... I want to be a triathlete. I've been inspired by my dear friend Julie Brown and her amazing blog: http://www.trilikeababy.blogspot.com/.

Seriously, this girl does it all - work, run, bike, hike, have fun. She's my current hero.

SO, after my crazy 545-mile bike ride is over, I'm going to transition into Triathlon training. I've never been a crazy physical fitness person, but I think I'm finally coming into it. Yay for being in crazy shape in your 20's!!

Ok, now wish me luck....

TGIF

So, I ran out of time to truly finish up my post from yesterday, so I figured I would do it today. Also, cause I have no patients yet and I'm a little bored. And if I'm typing, then everyone else thinks that I'm writing notes and therefore being productive. Yay for having my own semi-secluded cubby!

Ok, time for...
The Daily Run Down:
Cups of coffee: Only 1, but it's a latte and very sweet, so I think it counts as at least 2
Number of truly insane patients: None today (yet), but I had a really crazy one yesterday, and an even crazier one the day before, so we can count those two for the week and hope that I get nice, normal patients for today.
Number of times I reassured myself that I was in the right profession: At least once already today, because my freaking company still won't hire me. That's right people, I will forever be the NP Temp. It's so frustrating! And it makes me want to smack my smarmy administrator in the face.
Contact with biohazardous material? Again, not yet for today. But I had a bleeder on Monday, so that totally counts for the rest of the week. He passed out while getting his blood drawn and smacked his head on the floor... I found him laying face down, spread eagle, in a pool of his own blood. It turned out to be an ER kind of day...
Number of times I've purelled my hands: At least 3 times since 9AM.
Number of times I've dazed out and dreamt about my wedding: None today, but those 2 hours I spent on www.theknot.com yesterday should make up for that!
Favorite patient: OK, 2 stories today, cause they're both good. The first one is that I had a 17 year old girl come in for her first pap smear, and she was wicked nervous. So, I go through the whole "Do you have sex? Do you use condoms?" thing, and then I walk her through the exam. It goes off without a hitch, and as she's leaving, she says: "I'm going home and telling my mom that I have the coolest GYN ever." Hear that? I'm the coolest GYN ever! Go me!
The second story is that I have a 4 year old girl come in yesterday for abdominal pain. So, I walk in and I ask her if her belly hurts. She says yes. And then her mom says: "Of course her belly hurts, she swallowed a penny!". I had to try really hard not to laugh. Poor thing. Hopefully it'll come out all on it's own.

Alright kids, that's it for now. Knock on wood it'll be a good Friday. Ciao!

It's a Thursday...

Whoo. Today is one of those days where I'm just d.r.a.g.g.i.n.g. And of course, it's beautiful outside! 73F and sunny, a true NYC spring afternoon, and I'm stuck in my cubby reading charts and seeing patients. Boo.

In other news, I've actually had a very productive clinical week. I'm covering for one of the physicians while she's away at a conference, so I've quite literally just been thrown in to some pretty heavy-duty clinical decisions. MRI impression what? Neuro referral to who? Luckily, my physician partner-in-crime is only a phone call away and is more than happy to step away from her lectures to help me figure stuff out.

Although this week has been a little challenging, my patients have been wonderful. I've discovered that I have a true knack for little old ladies, especially the Jewish ones. They 'love' me. And I love them! Although some of them are quite perplexed that I don't have an "official" title. "Should I call you Nurse Katz or Dr. Katz?". And then I say, "How about Ms. Katz?". They like that ok, but they all want me to be a doctor instead.

OK, time for much patient call-backs.

As many of you know, I love office supplies. When others take a walk for relaxation, I go to Staples. It's true. And I love having a job that not only allows me to have all of the typical office supplies - pens, pencils, staplers, etc. but also the really-fun-only-for-medical-people ones! Things like a stamp with my name and lisence number! And a measuring tape that lives in my pocket! And my stethoscopy (ok, so maybe not an office supply, but hey, it lives in my office, and it's a much needed supply... I think I made my argument).

However, the difficutly with these sorts of office supplies and the business of my work is that they often don't mix well. Take this morning for example. I had just come back from our (horribly long, boring, and way too money focused) staff meeting when I was sitting at my desk preparing for the rest of my day. Suddenly, out of nowhere, my phone rings, my medical directors walks in, and a stack of labs lands on my desk. Inexplicably, I am instantly tangled in my phone cord and my stethoscope while watching helplessly as my paperclips and my pile of labs slide soundlessly to the floor. All in front of my medical director, who I'm still a little scared of. Good job, Rachel. Good job.

My love for office supplies back-fired this morning. We'll try again on Monday.

My new lover

I have a new third person in my relationship. She doesn't have a name yet... nor a gender for that matter. All I know is that I'm 100% obsessed and that for 7 days in June this baby will be between my legs for hours at a time...

4th week of new job

Well, well, well. It certainly has been a while. My life took a turn for the crazy and I had to find a new job. SO, while I'm not blogging about the insanity of the gays anymore, I am now working at a private practice on the upper west side where all of the crazy Jews live. Yay Jews!



This is my 4th week of my new job, working for the first time ever as a Nurse Practitioner, and so far, so good. I mean, I'm still a temp, which sucks, but they keep insinuating that they are going to hire me permantly, which is a good thing. And I'm making way more money as a temp, so really it's fine.



In the meantime, I have to say that I love being an NP. It's so fun to be able to walk into a room and pretend that I actually know what I'm talking about. Also, I think that the patients like me, even though I look like I'm 12, which makes them not trust me as much. But they feel instantly better once I whip out my stethoscope and diagnose them with some horrible pneumonia. I know it sounds weird, but truly, it makes them feel better - about me at least. And I love ordering vaccines, especially for people who think that their vaccine-getting days were long over. They're not just for little kids people! Old people need vaccines too.



And I'm working with some great new people, including my MD mentor, who is fabulous and from Boston. From the very first day, we thought we were maybe the same person. That fact is actually yet to be determined. Could I actually be a 35 year old doctor with 2 small children? Quite possibly...



Ok, time to see patients. Here it is:

The Daily Run Down:
Cups of coffee: 1 - half of which was drunk cold after lunch
Number of truly insane patients: I come across fewer insane patients here on the UWS... but they do exist, trust me.
Number of times I reassured myself that I was in the right profession: This number has grown exponentially day-by-day. I feel stupid most of the time - I'm hoping this gets better.
Contact with biohazardous material? Does potentially infected bug-bites count?
Number of times I purelled my hands: A dozen at least just this morning! My skin has started to fall off...
Number of times I dazed out and dreamt about my wedding: I've really run out of time for day-dreaming... At work, I'm too busy and at home, I'm too tired. I might eliminate this section from the daily run down. We'll see. I'll keep you posted on wedding plans though, don't worry.
Favorite patient: This story is actually from yesterday.
Little old lady (Jewish, of course): Ach, my life sucks. I have no friends and my husband died leaving me all alone.
Me: I'm so sorry. I know that must be hard.
Little old lady: Yes, yes, and I have this cough. Ach, it's horrible, and my life sucks.
Me: Tell me more about your cough.
Little old lady: You! You're a little young for all of this aren't you?!
Me: Aaaah...
Little old lady: What's your name?
Me: (writing it down for her, because we're yelling at each other). Rachel Katz.
Little old lady: You're Jewish? Ach! I feel so much better about you knowing that you're Jewish. Now, what's wrong with me and why does my life suck?

True story. Aaah, the Jews.

Today was another rough one here in gay-ville... I came into work super nauseas and then proceeded to virtually fall-asleep at my desk throughout the morning, all while trying to sound peppy & upbeat about my patients' multiple problems. Tricky, very tricky.

The afternoon picked up though w/ miso soup and dumplings... yummmy. I love living in New York, where there are always multi-ethnic cures for whatever ails you. Also, I got a perscription for my never-ending sinus infection, which is always a good thing. Better living through chemistry, that's what I say.

Also, I'm newly obsessed with blogging - thanks Colie! And I found my picture of Super Nurse. See, today could have been worse... much worse.

The Daily Run Down:
Cups of coffee: 0 - too sick this morning!
Truly insane patients: surprisingly not that many, it being a Thursday and all
Number of times I reassured myself I was in the right profession: many... most of them when I wanted to die of stomach-flu-nastiness while still at work
Contact with biohazardous material? Yes, but it was my own
Number of times I purelled my hands: not enough - lost the purell!
Number of times I dazed out and dreamt about my wedding: 1
Favorite patient: A guy called in said that he thinks that he has a hernia... so fine, he has a hernia. I go through the whole hernia thing and all he asks is: "So, this means I can't go to the gym?!". Aaah, the gays.

Super Nurse

This is super nurse. She's my hero. I aspire to her sexy, curly-hairedness and her red high heels every day... Even though I will never have curly hair and I do have red high heels, but they hurt my feet. You can see what I admire super nurse.

The day after the biggest party of the year

Today is the ultimate "day-after", especially in the kingdom of gay-dom, where all of the boys are pretty and the girls are fierce. Today was absolute insanity at the clinic: in case you didn't know, I work at a crazy health-care clinic in New York City where everyone is gay. Yes, gay... and it's not always as fun as it sounds.

Anyway, back to the craziness... Question of the day: How many people had unprotected sex on New Years Eve?? Cause they all showed up to see me today and they all had some nasty-ass something-or-other. Whoo... thank bejesus that I'm off the market and I don't need to mess with that shite anymore.

So, after about a thousand phone calls and ten gajillion patients in my office, I decided to start blogging about my crazy adventures in the land of health care in the insanity that we call New York City. Also, cause the gays are funny.

Daily Run Down:

Cups of coffee: 1 - suprisingly enough, that was enough. Pure adrenaline got me through the rest of it.
Truly insane patients: a gajillion and one, thankfully most of them were on the phone and not foaming at the mouth in my office
Number of times I reassured myself that I'm in the right profession: at least 100
Contact with biohazardous material? Yes, but only once
Number of times I purelled my hands: at least 100
Number of times I dazed out and dreamt about my wedding: 0 - too busy!

Favorite patient moment: A truly adorable, law-school, gay boy walked in and wanted to know if he could get HIV from putting his hand (his hand!) in someone else's semen. The poor thing didn't even get laid on New Year's Eve and he still is scared that he has HIV! Ahhh, the gays...