Alternate universe

Life has been on super speed lately...which is what surgery usually is. It's funny how much I light up being in the OR and how much fun I have in the hospital yet I go home and it is like *enter sound effects* craaaasssh! I have been so tired. Going home means watching 1 show to numb my brain (thank you abcfamily), reading up for the OR cases or clinic or conference or presentation or proposal or....etc for the next day. But I am getting a little sad that in 3 days, I'll be done with my rotation. I have been in an alternate universe where surgeons say please & thank you, scrub nurses love and want to help medical students (I was seriously convinced that part of the scrub curriculum had a class "How to haze the medical student"...) but the biggest thing is I have truly enjoyed every single attending, resident etc I have worked with. I really like it here which is interesting because when I step outside of the hospital walls...I'm still in Alabama.

But I have gotten 1 night of cocktails in (yes one night...woot) , 1 day of an awesome farmers market (I miss home!! Farmers markets aren't the same without M..I miss M...so much) and of finding some awesome boutiques. It may be bad for my budget if I actually lived here.

Tomorrow is a big day as I get some big news so I spent the past hour gazing at some beautiful artwork online to help get my mind off of it. I found this awesome artist whom I really just fell in love with: Omar Ortiz from Guadalajara, Mexico. Maybe I have a thing for Mexicans?

It's nothing jaw dropping when you look at the common van gogh remake & the overdone feminine naked back scene...yet I'm fascinated enough that I looked at more of his work.




All of his art seemed to mainly involve naked women so I'll just stick to posting this one.
I like this one. I'm not sure this would work in my living room...or even as my facebook cover however.

Storm before the calm

My friend Nazi & I decided to do our very first acting internships (in our preferred fields...I did an internal medicine one already... ruled out internal medicine for sure) AWAY from our home school. Kind of BOLD but I tend to do the unexpected and rage against the norm. We started off by driving 24 hrs from Burlington, Vermont to Birmingham,Alabama...through stormy weather. Like crazy stormy weather which would turn out to be a perfect metaphor for my first week. We arrived at 6:30 am in time to get dressed and make it to our 8am orientation. Let me tell you, finding a new place, learning a new electronic medical record (or even getting the access) and trying to figure out how the team (I'm on surgical oncology) works while trying to make a good impression and be helpful is well...stormy. One of the residents told me that UAB is "very sink or swim", they throw you out to sea and you chose one. Well I felt like I was sinking and I needed floaty devices! My mind was like turned off, I was still exhausted from the drive and lack of sleep. Yet needed to prep and be up & out by 4am....so Monday & Tuesday (and Weds & Thursday...) I failed at any pimping questions. Like I knew NADA. I was in a total brain fog and full of Triple F's (Franki Filter Fails).

But on Wednesday I went into the OR for the first time. It was like yoga for me...all the nerves settled and my heart stopped racing and it was the band-aid that I just needed to riiiiip off!Zeeeeennnnn. I was so happy I didn't break sterility or do something utterly stupid.

By Thursday I was looking forward to a day in the OR and boy did I get my wish: 7am-8pm straight in the OR! I left tired, body aching and hungry... but I was happy. Like seriously, y'all won't believe how happy I was after 13 hours straight!!??!!(I'm in the south ok...y'alls are easy to catch, just like the common cold). The OR is where I really relax, I feel I can be myself and I feel I can be good without trying too hard or faking it and I leave happy and want to back in. Most importantly,I think it may really just be what I love....Either way I think I ended my first week thinking; finally maybe the storm is breaking

This beautiful painting by Samantha Keely Smith really captures my week. I love it.



Well I have today off (one day off a week). Nazi & I started celebrating and exploring Birmingham, AL last night...but that my friends will have to be a whole 'nother blog post :)