Weekend Review: Surgery Gripes, Blue Jay, & Spring Melt

This week has been nuts (hence the radio silence). Some less than enjoyable things that have happened in the past few days include:

• having to be out of the house by 5:30 am
• getting a parking ticket (because the parking office "forgot" to register my new permit in their computer system, argh)
• fainting in the OR
• having fevers yesterday and now the flu
• having the busiest 26-hour call shift ever...I lost count of how many consults we did, not to mention the ward calls about delirium, wound dehiscences, a patient who left AMA (after smoking on the ward), etc.

Clearly I don't have the stamina to be a surgeon. And that's okay. I'll happily be a tourist in surgery for these four weeks, getting a glimpse into all the interesting stuff, and then leaving it to better people to make it their career.

This week actually wasn't as bad as I'm making it out to be; here are some things that I've enjoyed:

1. surgical team -- The surgical residents make a strong team. They're smart, efficient, and pretty much run the wards independently. They're also collegial -- our chief resident buys the whole team coffee every day (sometimes multiple times).
2. nighttime commutes -- Last weekend I finished my last couple emergency shifts and one thing I'll miss is my 2:30 am commutes home. Being the only one on the road is a luxury you don't often have in a big city! Furthermore, it was fun to relax in bed with peanut butter toast before going to sleep.

   

   3 am snackin'

3. blue jay -- I spotted a blue jay this week from my apartment window! For most Canadians that may not seem like a big deal, but as B.C. is outside of their habitation range, I'd never seen one before. I was quite a bright blue compared to the Steller's Jays back in B.C. and had a more distinctive call. Some trivia: The Steller's Jay is B.C.'s provincial bird. Alberta's? The great horned owl!

   

   awful quality stalker pic

4. cattle, pausing -- Here's a nice photo from CTV news -- these cows do have quite the view!

   

   (http://www.ctvnews.ca/health/mad-cow-disease-confirmed-in-alberta-cow-cfia-1.2234563)

5. spring -- We've hit double-digit temperatures this week! That being said, the sidewalks have turned into swimming pools. And the tap water smells like a swimming pool...apparently because additional chlorine has been added to counter the spring run-off of organic material into the river.

   

   elm reflections amidst meltwater and gravel

6. windshield luck -- It's that time of year where the roads are littered with gravel and Edmontonians wonder whether they should have shelled for windshield chip insurance. Despite sustaining two hard hits from flying stones in the past two days, my windshield luckily remains intact...unlike hundreds of others around the city. Hopefully the luck will stick around.
7. an afternoon off -- My academic half day was cancelled this afternoon, so I unexpectedly got to start the weekend early :)

What was great in your week?