A quick update

Just wanted to check in and let everyone know that I am still not only alive, but doing really well. Residency is insane. There are times when I just walk around the hospital laughing at the obsurdity of everything. Here are some of the highpoints/lowpoints that are so awkward I can't not tell them:

• After operating with a surgeon I hadn't previously worked with he stopped and shook my hand and said, "welcome to the team". I didn't realize this but apparently he is really critical and tends to yell and swear a lot. He never even appeared remotely upset or bothered by me. Of course he gave me pointers but I made every cut, threw every stitch, and tied every knot myself. As I walked out of the OR I smiled and said a quiet, "booyah".
  
• When finishing my transplant rotation the secretary on the organ transplant unit gave me a huge hug. They kept telling me that they weren't going to let me leave the rotation because they're not used to residents actually enjoying the rotation and having fun with them. I tried to get them to organize a flag football game for the unit. They're hoping I go into transplant surgery and become the fellow for 2 years.
  
• One day I was rounding with the nation's leading transplant surgeon (in quantity and outcomes) for a certain organ and he mentioned a certain study and I was miraculously familiar with it and was able to discuss it intelligently (it just might be the only study I could have talked about). He said, " I can't believe you have even heard of that trial. It is incredible that you are able to have a conversation about it." I told him I was seriously considering transplant surgery and he exclaimed, "That would be great. I would really like that." It's good to have allies in the field you are considering pursuing!
• A resident pulled me aside at the end of my transplant rotation and said, "I know you feel abused and like they are giving you too much responsibility but you should take it as a huge complement. They are doing it because they trust you. Look at you, you are rounding by yourself on all of these patients in the ICU and writing orders while the other intern literally isn't allowed in the ICU unless he is with another resident. You are an awesome intern."
• While on call (about 25 hours into the shift) a nurse paged me and said, "I think this patient's trach (tube in the neck to help with breathing) fell out." I said, "What makes you think that?" She said, "I walked into the room and it was lying on his belly." This is the point where I wanted to joke around and say, "You think it fell out? If it's on his chest it's not in his neck-of course it is out." Instead since it was an emergency and she didn't know me enough to appreciate my sarcasm I just hung up and ran to the room to find a morbidly obese (around 500lbs) man lying there with a hole in his neck. If only you could have seen the rest. Trust me this job is really glamorous. FYI- he's ok now.
  
• I was told I needed to mark the site (write "yes" on the area of the body we were going to operate on) on a kidney donor and since I had no idea where specifically they make their incisions in that surgery I just put a large "yes" on the proper side and she freaked out. It wasn't where she thought the incision would be and I told her that I wasn't sure where the incision would be made. At that point she lost all confidence in our surgery team and was seeming to regret her decision to give up a kidney. It was a hilariously awkward situation where I tried to convince her that indeed I would not be the one cutting on her, I was just making a vague marking to get the right side of the body. In the end we got the kidney and so far it is working well. It is experiences like these that keep me very humble and remind me of how much I have to learn.
  
  

I am considering transplant as a career. Regardless what is becoming clear is that I do best with critically ill patients. I find myself naturally migrating to the ICUs and that is where I am most comfortable. Who knows what the future holds, but I'm getting more excited to pick a field and pursue it all out!
P.S. if you find yourself needing a liver, kidney, pancreas, small intestine, or stomach I would recommend IU very highly! They are one of the top programs in the country. People come from all over the world to have transplants done here. Who knew???