My impression of a tomato...

Today I'm laying low.

I can't say it's because I'm sick of the beach yet, or because I've mastered surfing, or because it's terrible weather outside. Nope. It's because my belly looks like a tomato. Or maybe it looks like I had a run-in with a bully who favors the "pink belly" as his form of torment. Or, for those of you who remember, it's reminiscent of the day a few summers back that I lost the fight with the pine tree and plummeted, belly first, into the Mississippi. But whatever the analogy, I'm like a human furnace, or, my stomach is. It seems that somehow the rest of my torso was spared. So, my stomach alone is putting out heat like a blast furnace. It's funny how quickly it heats the cold shower water (because I can't tolerate any warm water) into a very steamy hot-tub-like liquid that I can't take. It's actually pretty incredible. I think there's a good chance, maybe slightly more than 50/50, that you could fry an egg on my stomach, though it would taste terrible I imagine, due to the copious amounts of aloe I've been slathering on. I guess what it boils down to is that a very white guy like myself needs something greater than SPF 15 if I want to spend and hour and a half in the sun, at least until I get a bit of a base.

Woe is me....

So here I am, on an island surrounded by beautiful beaches, cobalt blue waters and waves fit for surfing.... and I'm sitting on the Lanai (hawaiian for porch) out of the sun, away from the beach, nerding around on the computer, trying to get some schoolwork done. At least I'll have a week here after my rotation to see the island.

So I thought I'd create this 'blog' (wow, i hate that word) so I could keep you updated on my vagrant year. Should have done this earlier, I know, but better late than never I suppose. So, let me give you a bit of a recap on my year so far.

First rotation; Circleville Ohio, ER.
-I sutured more than a couple of people up, and found 3 was the magic number. It took 3 times before my hands stopped shaking. "Oh no, me, nervous? No, no...no, I've done this many times, just had a bit too much coffee. Night shift, you know...."
-80% of visits aren't emergncies....
-Really like not having to chart ANYTHING
-Very much enjoyed the ER

Second rotation; Waikiki HI, Internal Medicine.
-It's warm here, and I'm very white.... need to take the sun thing slowly, (much more slowly.)
-Need to think of the big picture, not just 'treat and street'
-Wow, I'm really missing the times when I didn't have to chart

I'll keep you updated on the rest 'as it happens.' But for now, I need to re-apply another layer of aloe.

Peace in,

CN