Time Marches On

I can't believe how time has been flying lately! I finished up my transplant surgery rotation on Saturday after another exciting week involving a few liver transplants, a kidney transplant, and an organ harvest. I think the most difficult part was sewing up the empty little body of a toddler after her organs were harvested. Yet, I was also able to see how her healthy liver gave new life to another young girl. Tomorrow I will begin the marathon that is general surgery at Ben Taub, the county hospital. Over the weekend, I was able to relax with friends. I went to Morning Glory with Teresa at City Centre (above)- a posh, up-and-coming shopping area in northwest Houston. On Saturday night I went out for drinks with Amy, Aaron, and Javier. As you can see, roomie Javier and I are looking more and more alike everyday!

May your days be merry

After finishing up my emergency medicine rotation (which I loved), I started in on transplant at St. Luke's. Within minutes of joining the service that will be my home for two weeks, I got to see the end of an adult liver transplant. I was even trusted to staple half of the abdomen! Then mid-week I saw a pedi transplant from beginning (prepping the donor liver and the patient with biliary atresia) to the end (watching re-perfusion and the Roux). Pretty cool stuff. On Friday night I got to scrub in on an organ harvest, which was such a special experience. I was very lucky to have space at the operating table with the heart team working furiously in the chest and my team digging into the abdomen.Over the past couple weeks, I have been able to make a few social outings. I had lunch with Lutherans in the med center (fellow med and grad students). Though I didn't finish the book, I went to the Rice young alumni book club at Mockingbird Cafe. Finally, I celebrated Lulu and Josh's engagement at Sushi Raku (hosted by mutual friends and newlyweds Amy and Aaron). The only really low point lately was locking myself out while my roommate was out of town. The upside is I because great friends with my wonderful neighbors. The downside is that was $100 in locksmith fees I am not getting back. Sigh. Guess who just bought a hide-a-key with a combo lock?For my day off this weekend, I tried to get into the holiday spirit. With three generations of Braud women (Brandi, her mom, and her grandmother), I tackled the Houston Ballet's Nutcracker Market for the first time. I made a few little purchases and enjoyed the hustle and bustle of seasonal shoppers. Sadly, I didn't get any quality Christmas shopping done, but I did feel a bit more joyful and merry.The evening closed with a Houston Symphony Pops concert. The theme was "One O'Clock Swings!" The symphony teamed up with the University of North Texas' One O'Clock Lab Band to perform some jazzy numbers. Though this was not my favorite show of the season, I really enjoyed Stardust and the Duke Ellington medley. Of course, it was nice to return to normal and have Brandi and Peter join me for the show.

A Little of That

For the past two weeks, I thoroughly enjoyed working in the county hospital's emergency department. Baylor started a new emergency medicine program, and I was lucky to have rotated through the service with truly amazing attendings. I had several 8- and 12-hour shifts filled with quite a variety of patients. I had the opportunity to suture (on a real, live patient for the first time!), insert a urinary catheter (I'm sure the allure of this will fade rapidly), insert an NG tube (in a very combative HIV+ patient), perform a pelvic exam (good prep for my ob/gyn rotation in the spring), staple a guy's head (the attending insisted that we didn't need local anesthetic), and more!I also became intermittently nocturnal. It was tough to try to sleep during daylight, but I had some tricks up my sleeve. On the night before my 7pm-7am Halloween shift, I stayed up late for a midnight showing of Rocky Horror Picture Show with Sarah. I've been meaning to go for about seven years now, and I am glad I finally made it to the ridiculously risque show. Quite eccentric! I don't think I'll be renting the movie in my spare time, but now I am kind of in awe of Tim Curry.In a sad break from tradition, I went to see the latest Pops concert without my built-in dates, the Scullys. Interestingly, I wasn't alone for long because headliner Chris Botti called down a group of high school trumpeters to take their empty seats in the front row (Brandi and Peter's unknowing contribution to the future of music... the boys left gasping that it was the best night of their lives!). I was incredibly impressed with Mr. Botti- one of People's Most Beautiful who had the coolness of Sting with a hint of a David Bowie smirk. All the after-show hubbub prevented me from getting one of my standard post-show meet-and-greet photo ops, but Botti did sign my CD-DVD combo pack. It was a fun night but could have been taken up a notch with my symphony sidekicks (who will hopefully get to enjoy their signed DVD at home as a consolation).When I wasn't sleeping or seeing patients or show-going, I tried to be a model citizen. I voted early (please take note, Bristol Palin). I recycled. I did laundry. I cleaned my room. Pretty impressive, eh? I also went to the Menil for a book signing. Amy, who works at the museum, totally hooked me up for this swanky shindig. We heard a few readings from Art and Activism, the literary collaboration on the lives of John and Dominique de Menil. Some of the contributors were present to sign the book. I still need to get Amy's signature because she had a hand in the publication as well!

A Little of This

Rice celebrated homecoming on October 17 with an array of festivities: tailgating, a football game, and an alumni dinner at the Hanszen Masters' house. Because I was studying for my neurology final, I had to settle for merely a taste of each, which proved to be great study breaks throughout the day.It's pretty funny that I never once tailgated at Rice while I was a student, yet the parking lot was hopping with a chili cook-off, various vendors, and rowdy students/alumni playing games like beer pong in broad daylight. While I was studying at Rice's Fondren library I checked the progress of our game vs. University of Houston. Much to my surprise, we pulled off a win in Bayou Bucket Classic with a respectable score of 34-31. Way to go, Owls! Finally, I sneaked away from the books to grab some yummy food and great conversation at the alumni dinner (above).During my last week of neurology (translation: last week of getting to work at 9am), I enjoyed three days in a row of breakfast with Amy! Crave Cupcakes in the Rice Village had a promotion that was too sweet to pass up: free coffee and a cupcake! Thankfully, they made breakfast-friendly cupcakes like zucchini walnut and apple streusel. It was a tasty way to start the day! The week ended with my neurology final, which wasn't nearly as painful as the NBME subject exams aka the "shelf" at the end of each rotation. I really enjoyed my neurology rotation and working with Dr. Evans- a Rice and BCM alum who specializes in headaches.I recently saw the musical Shrek for the first time. The costumes were AMAZING! The songs were fun and the storyline was exactly what you would expect from the movies. The traveling production brought a great set, an entertaining Donkey, and a hilarious Farquaad. I was a little disappointed with Shrek's voice and the disrespect of people around me (cell phones ringing, flash pictures, getting up and down during the show, talking, etc.).Another show I had been looking forward to for weeks was the Jason Derulo concert! One of my favorite spin instructors loves to play his songs (like Ridin' Solo and In My Head), so naturally, Amy and I were pumped up! We ate dinner at a fancy restaurant with Aaron beforehand and then got our groove on at Warehouse Live. I have to admit, I don't think I have had that much fun at a concert in a long time! Afterward we acted like the teenage girls we never were and waited backstage to see him after the show. Despite waiting for like an hour in the rain, our efforts were not rewarded, and we reluctantly went home.