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.