choose your next sunscreen wisely...

yay for 37wks! fat is good....:) marina has inspired me to blog as this is also my very first time! exactly two weeks ago at this time i was finishing nightfloat, turning in my ID badge, and driving up to guerneville...can't believe it's been two weeks already. Residency already seems like a long time ago.....

it's nice and comfortably warm 85 deg here in SF this week. this is SF's "heat wave." i'm excited to finally be able to dig out my fun summer tanks, skirts, capris from the closet! as much as i complain about SF's eternal foggy misty windy springy days, living in the city has unfortunately turned me into a total wimp when it comes to heat....

so karen H and i are almost done with our first week of bootcamp! 5 more to go.....it's so nice to have an exercise buddy :) i'm totally getting my butts kicked. ian noticed that i was walking funny after the first couple classes and by the 3rd morning i could barely get out of bed...but i m glad for the endorphins.

okay, so i've spent way too much time on emails and browsing the internet these days. but this is interesting and certainly good to know next time when you buy sunscreen if you haven't yet heard about it:

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/07/10/BU6M11L7AG.DTL

http://www.cosmeticsdatabase.com/special/sunscreens2008/summary.php 

Time Off...

Hello everyone! Well, this is officially my first time placing a post. I log in every now and then to read what is new, but I have never actually written anything.
Sorry to hear about all the layoffs, but glad to hear that for the most part everyone else is doing well (whether you're hard at work or not).
I can't say I have been doing much myself. However, I have moved out of the Bay and have returned to the scorching heat in the Central Valley - the reason I missed out on Guerneville. We have also been working on the baby's room, which is all decked out now as we await the arrival of our baby. Tomorrow is 37 weeks!!! Baby is just putting on fat at this point and making it harder for me to deliver. That's ok though 'cause I am asking for an epidural from the start.
I'll make sure to keep you all posted. Until then.....

Fellowship

Well my first week was only a 3-day week, but here's how it went.
July 1st - Show up at 7am for the tuesday physiology lecture. They forget that I'm starting today, so I chill by myself for 45 minutes. Could have slept in. I'm on anesthesia, so later I intubate a kid and put in an IV. I remind everyone I'm not a 2nd year resident, however much I may look like one. Fill out more forms.
July 2nd - Show up to clinic, supposedly to "observe" my first AM. My first patient arrives and I realize I'm not just observing. But hemoptysis is cool.
July 3rd - More anesthesia. I'm in an LMA room. Sort of boring, but I hear lots of gossip about the hospital and the layoffs. I almost nod off in the OR after 3 consecutive mornings of getting to work at 0700. I leave work at 5:30 even though this is a light month and I'm supposed to get off at 3:30, because others are running late to review PFT's with me.
July 4th - I actually have off!!! I feel grateful. Hope you all enjoyed it as well!

Bangkok (days 1-4)

finally got into bangkok after >24hrs of travel

just some random thoughts:
- new BKK airport sorta looks like CDG with glass/cement tubular structures
- the weather right now borders between hot&humid and raining cats and dogs...
- speaking of which, not as many dogs in the streets as I remembered in 2002
- food is just as cheap (and as good) as I remembered. (wait a minute, maybe that wasn't the best observation following the previous one)
- iPhone is popular here as well. The iPod knockoffs are really obvious.
- why is it that asian people love pens and pencils? I dunno but I got my 0.4mm blue and black gel ink pens!
- Samijevit Hospital (where Tisha is "working") = opulent. There are marble floors, spiral staircases, expansive waiting areas with new chairs and couches, free bottled water. It even has a Starbucks and Au Bon Pain inside. Valets parking the BMWs and Benzes. This hospital is of course a private hospital and caters to affluent Thais and a lot of Japanese nationals. I wonder if the quality of medical care matches the ridiculously nice appearance.

photos (work in progress)
http://picasaweb.google.com/jayyeh/2008_Thailand

jay

Fellowship Update...

As expected, I'm getting worked as a fellow from the get-go. Here's how my first week went:
7/1 - Met with my program director. Discussed my summer goals, which includes starting a reflection journal. Saw one patient with her. Applied pressure therapy (strong hugs and squeezes) for the first time. It worked...until it got too overwhelming for the patient, in which he signaled by spitting on my attending. Went home in the afternoon and napped.
7/2 - Fellows orientation in the am. Got my new email address. Bicycled around campus. Got my ID badge. Kicked it with the child psych fellows at their bbq lunch (BTW, Sornya's hubby, Dan, is a 1st year fellow there so it looks like I'll be playing fantasy football next season). Listened to a lecture on how to interview adolescents. Took the CalTrain home in the afternoon and napped.
7/3 - Woke up at 9am. Checked email and did some errands. Went in the afternoon and discussed research ideas with my research adviser. Thursdays are my designated "research" days.
7/4 - Played with fireworks. Lovely fireworks.

So, I don't know what Renee's complaining about. She's got it easy. So jealous of you guys who have time off before starting bank-rolling jobs.

On a serious note: Bummer to hear about the layoffs. Hope morale's not too low. Still, I have major CHO withdrawal. Its lonely being the only fellow, and everything is so pristine and manicured here! I miss playing Frogger on MLK.

LA is too Hot!

Dude LA is too hot, I've been unpacking in 95 degree weather. And tomorrow I'll be going to Vegas were it will be 110 !!! 110 doesn't water boil at that temp. I will vaporize instantly! My mom told me I got really fat and she poked at my belly and told me to palpate for masses- I imagine she thinks I have a wilm's. All in all moving home is going as expected.
I long for the East Bay and it's eternally cool mists.
84 people fired WTF. CHO is going insane. Also juicy juice I heard the chiefs to be are Rajeev, Kensho and Vivian!
Well you all better keep blogging to facebooking or else I'll not know what goes on in Oaktown.
Muchas Smoochas
Ted
Also my brother thought it would be funny to shave the cat is the whole world going crazy!

CHO cuts 84 jobs

http://www.bizjournals.com/sanfrancisco/stories/2008/06/30/daily29.html
This is so sad; HEAL, rheum, and BERT have been cut. I wonder who/what else is being affected.

On a positive note, I am enjoying my vacation and I love sleeping in. I still need to unpack all the boxes and make my room more livable.

Just want to take a poll on what is everyone planning for the summer? I am going to be busy meeting up with all the friends whom I have neglected in the last 3 years, planning my Vegas trip/attending my brother's wedding, and fulfilling my bridesmaid duties in my friend's wedding. It is starting to feel like 5 weeks of vacation is not enough!