October

Another month has come and gone in my residency. This past month, I have been in survival mode, just trying to keep up on things at work.

In October, I was rotating on trauma surgery. This meant 4am wake up. Work from 5:30 am to usually 6pm daily. I had a day off two weeks ago, I believe. Of course, I did have a vacation for a week at the beginning of the month. But, all work, no play makes Sam a dull boy. This past month has stunk too. I think I find solace in griping, however. I also find myself cussing a lot more. They're just words to me, but clearly they do have a vigor to them for which other words cannot suffice.

Of note from the past month...


...At one time, I was taking care of two alleged murderers at the same time. Both were continuously monitored by county police, to be arrested upon my discharging them from the hospital. It's hard to treat a person who killed someone who is complaining of pain. Sympathy is in short supply. On the other hand, far be it from me to not acquiesce to every wish of someone who isn't afraid to kill. Had another patient who took on some prison guards. Not gonna cross him either, although he's probably wishing he was in the hospital right now rather than under the careful watch of some pissed off prison guards.

...I haven't been outside much. Probably a total of 2 hours over the last 21 days.

...I worked overnight the night of the time change. As much fun as those of you who are recreational sleepers had on Saturday night, it sucks when you're up and working, and you watch the clocks turn back.

...My PlayStation 2 stopped playing discs yesterday, eliminating two forms of entertainment for me--games and DVDs. This comes just after signing up for Netflix. All I've got now is network television (no cable).

...which means I get far too many celebrity news shows and infomercials.

...Law & Order, any version, is fantastic.

...Is my last name really that tricky? I get phone calls at work from many different nurses during the day, meaning that I must answer to many versions of my name. "Carr" has been the most common. There's always the hesitant attempts, too--"Ca...Car...Carr-y??"

...This is also complicated by the fact that one of my supervising physicians is named Khare (pronounced Car-ee), but looks like "care," which is how my last name is pronounced.

...Great to hear from old friends. Drop a line if you can.

The Party

Well, this has turned out to be quite the reunion. Welcome to old friends who are stumbling into my little cyber world. Thanks for making contact.

Had a week off for vacation. Went to Dallas to visit my family. Also celebrated the 1st birthday of little Sam Thomas, my namesake. It's very sad, really. You can tell how much pressure he feels to live up to the name because of how much he craps his pants when I'm around. He's a tender little guy. Still wets the bed.

Actually, he's one of the sweetest kids you'll ever meet, without a doubt. Here he is/we are:



Got to see my nephews, David and Peter, who are Will and Allison's children. They also have one on the way. Three kids within 3 years...they're not Catholic. Pete's walking now. David's using sentences and is fascinated with fans.



And, here in KC, are Caden and Emery, Jake and Amy's children, who I get to see nearly every week. Sweet kids.
Here's Emery:





And...here is me at Halloween last year:

Dr. Caire's TV prescription

I watched one of the first episode's of Grey's Anatomy, chuckled at it, not with it, and have not watched much of it since. Since I don't have cable, I am reliant upon network television for entertainment, and have thus gazed at a few clips of GA again--repeat chuckling and huffing and puffing.

I'm not so cynical to think that TV medical dramas should be strictly adherent to reality. Rather it shouldn't since a great deal of it, from my experience, is mundane and not relative to the general public. But there's a limit to what I can take.

And here's an article from MSN discussing it.

I have started watching ER, and it has some stuff I can really relate to. But the amount of crazy cases you see in the hour is more like the amount you might see in a month.

My life in medicine is some combo of the pain the residents feel on ER, and the dumb butt feelings of the residents on Scrubs (as well as some of the humor).

So those I can sidle up to the remote and watch. The others are stretching it.