Shameless

This link is shamelessly copied from Digg.com, my favorite site for fun news.

http://photos.reuters.com/Pictures/galleries/showcases/showcase_slide.asp?storyID=632702912668906250&urlStr=/pictures/&directory=/configData/Pictures/&edition=US

Reuter's top 40 photos of 2005, with captions...truly amazing, you'll have to see it to believe it.

Happy Holidays, only hours to go ;-)

Random Pics

Where do you want to work?



Paul (my BFF who I'm staying with ;-) and his crazy friend Nancy - notice gingerbread house in foreground.



My Mommy in front of Chinaman's peak



Margrite, Rob and Lish's friend who I hiked up Chinaman's peak with...she's a little more normal than I am

CaRMs

So, just finished the horror that is the CaRMs match application. Big thanks go out especially to my dad, who was sympathetic to my last minute shenanigans and helped me edit all my letters...Paul and Heather were great as well, and Nadia, for helping me with a few of my edits as well.

So, my favorite part was my Dal application opening paragraphs...otherwise things were pretty standard. I decided to share, so here they are!

" Nicholas Wong can do backflips across a football field for 65 yards. He can climb almost any tree or small building, inevitably wins every limbo contest, and has thrown girls and children as high as 30 feet in the air. He has helped suture friends into dresses, has unsuccessfully cross-dressed (Rocky Horror Picture Show), and has watched as one of his favorite shirts was cut off from the camper whom he had leant it to (and who later revealed that he faked the head injury). He has climbed a mountain and stood on his head at the peak, has faced the onslaught of 12 children playing "“tackle Nicholas"” at a time, and has never been mistaken for a mature adult outside of medicine. He has survived through apneas and bradycardias as an infant, has lived with asthma, and stands tall despite his five foot five inch frame. He is nothing short of a medical marvel.

Why is all this important? This demonstrates his little known though finely tuned abilities, things that set him apart from the pack, skills that can be used to entertain children when they get restless (and they go from zero to restless in about ten seconds). He has worked at YMCA Camp Elphinstone in BC, Camp Goodtime in Nova Scotia, and even a Juvenile Rheumatoid Arthritis retreat. His favorite job is getting paid to play with children, and he'’s willing to volunteer when they realize he's not worth the money. He admires children with cancer, because when they feel healthy, they're happy. He knows his time isn'’t that valuable (he just spent the last year working for fifty cents an hour as a clerk), that he's pretty far down the totem pole (he'’s affectionately known as a “"scut monkey"”), but he figures he might as well have fun while he's learning. He'’s very proud that he can put children to sleep while he'’s suturing their lacerations."

OK - so I just finished endocrinology, which wiped me out, and am starting Perinatology in Ottawa tomorrow...wish me luck! I'll try to write soon and attach some more pics...hope all is well,

Nicholas

Chinaman on Chinaman's Peak!

Hey Y'all!

Sorry for the long hiatus. Just a quick post today of a pic from my Calgary journey up Chinaman's peak - enjoy!

Oh, and check out my art projects at www.artinmedicine.blogspot.com

Hope to write soon,

Nicholas

Ketchup! (catch up)

Greetings y'all!

So my week off has been relaxing - no major events, but lots of sleep, some pictures, and lots of catching up. As such, if you're reading this, and there's something I was supposed to do for you/write you/email you/anything at all, just leave a comment, email me, or something to remind me! I've been running errands all day!

So I relaxed in PEI this weekend, and took many great pics. The best though was not one I took, but one my dad took, and here it is...I like it a lot ;-)


Other than this, I just arrived in Ottawa with my bestest bud Paul. We're BFF's. He did have a couple of unusal requests. Keith's red (not so unusual), Chris Bro's TNT pepperoni (I like it too), and Solomon Gundy's pickled Herring (Just weird...I'm just glad it didn't break in the car!). I stopped on the way to visit Arlo, Leon's twin brother, and we spent the night talking about life...it's amazing, because we're both wallflowers (read: The Perks of Being a Wallflower, my favorite book ever). I'm almost done the audiobook for Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince from the drive up, and now I'm just playing with Paul's 51 inch TV, and working as his secretary (his friend Nancy just called).

That's all I can procrastinate for now. I must finish my "History of Present Illness" - you'll see it in a future post

"No Leave a man drunk behind" - Carlos

Oblivious to the crowd of observers that was forming, the couple resumed mangling the bald flute.

Ahh, the loverly Euphemism generator

I'm officially in Med 4. Woohoo! And that means that I get to treat myself with the camera of my dreams, the new Nikon D70s with it's 18-70 mm lens (equivalent 28-105) and take fun, fun fun pictures! Of course, it's a little bigger and less potable (I like that word) than my friend Paul's little Canon SD300, but hey, who wants a little point and shoot anyway (although if anyone's giving one away, I do need one for parties).

OK, so I have my first week off in 30 weeks...wow. Just finished working with kidney patients, and most recently, poop. Nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, constipation, ah, the bread and butter of Paediatric GI.

Next is off to Ottawa, then flying to Calgary for Neonatal Intensive Care Unit - I really should learn more about that city! I am lucky that my brother's old roommate Rob is there, and Jackie's family, including Crystal and her boyfriend, are there to let me stay somewhere! The adventure begins.

OK, time to geet back to "work". Does the rat race ever end?

Sheila Bo Beila Dialized

Try this site!

http://rinkworks.com/dialect/

Put in some text, and it will change it's dialect. See below

Jive:

Yo! danks again fo' droppin' mah' Buckwheatet off last night and lendin' me dat scribblin'. Dat scribblin' be amazin'...I couldn't put it waaay down last night! Right on! I drew dat cd in dis mo'nin' and mah' clunker be sayin' dat it is "co'rupt o' unreadable".... :S I dink mah' clunker plum has some baaaad attitude :) Gots some lovely day and I'll rap t'ya later! Right on! -Sheila Bo Beila

Redneck:

Hey, thanks agin fo' droppin' mah jacket off last night an' lendin' me thet book. Shet mah mouth! Thet book is amazin'...ah c'dn't put it down last night! Fry mah hide! ah threw thet cd in this hyar mo'nin' an' mah computer is sayin' thet it is "co'rupp o' unreadable".... :S ah reckon mah computer jest has a bad attitude :) Have a lovely day an' I'll talk t'ya later! Fry mah hide! -Sheila Bo Beila

Swedish Chef:

Hey, thunks egeeen fur druppeeng my jecket ooffff lest neeght und lendeeng me-a thet buuk. Thet buuk is emezeeng...I cuooldn't poot it doon lest neeght! I throo thet cd in thees murneeng und my cumpooter is seyeeng thet it is "curroopt oor unreedeble-a".... :S I theenk my cumpooter joost hes a bed etteetoode-a :) Hefe-a a lufely dey und I'll telk tu ya leter! -Sheeela Bu Beeela

And more ;-)

Hooked on Firefox

For all you non firefox people, get with the program! There's a great little extension called Stumble, where you can click a button and it will help you find great sites that fit your preferences...when you think you've seen it all!

Here are a few recent gems:

http://windward.nodalpoint.net/doc/media/liikenne.swf
funky flash film - watch it and see ;-)

http://www.quotegarden.com/philosophical.html
quotes galore!

http://arsenal.media.mit.edu/memes/yuri_harmonica.swf
the beat box man with a harmonice!

http://backtable.org/~blade/fnord/condiments.html
new table of contents ;-)

finally, I just ran into Doctors without borders
http://www.doctorswithoutborders.org/

Happy stumbling!

Nicholas

Porn Star or my little pony?

What a great quiz - try it and see how smart you are ;-)

http://www.brunching.com/pornorpony.html

Rock on!!

Can't stop playing this game

http://www.astralwerks.com/the_golden_republic/game/goldenrepublic.htm

High score 32734 - currently sitting 428th in the world! I had some fun and left it "Candice rocks my world ;-)" See if you can top that beotch!

Rock on!!

Can't stop playing this game

http://www.astralwerks.com/the_golden_republic/game/goldenrepublic.htm

High score 32734 - currently sitting 428th in the world! I had some fun and left it "Candice rocks my world ;-)" See if you can top that beotch!

Rock on!!

Can't stop playing this game

http://www.astralwerks.com/the_golden_republic/game/goldenrepublic.htm

High score 32734 - currently sitting 428th in the world! I had some fun and left it "Candice rocks my world ;-)" See if you can top that beotch!

Pregos

Ahhh...pregos on PEI. Our affectionate term for those young women who find themselves overtaken by parasites for approximately nine months, only to find a medical student with them in the delivery room who looks just as scared as they are ;-) I've had an amazing time here on the island - delivering 16 babies myself now, and even one completely on my own this past Sunday! It's great running to a delivery and having everything done before your doc gets there...

OK, so I thought I'd throw in this post, because it's my last chance to say goodbye to being young and carefree. According to the nurses, I'm allowed and encouraged to "play the field" till I'm 25, but once I hit that, I should be looking more for "the one". Well, tomorrow I hit that quarter of a century mark, so I guess my playboy days are over (I wonder when they actually began...;-)

Take care y'all, and I'll be older, but not wiser, when next you hear from me.

Can't stop shooting kittens...

enjoy...tonight's best was 1311!!

http://www.ebaumsworld.com/kittycannon.html

Bubbles!

A lighter post this time...Bubbles! I love bubble wrap, and I'm sure you will too ;-)

http://www.virtual-bubblewrap.com/popnow.shtml

Friday Night Panic

Greetings from the dark side. Herein lies one of medicine's dirty little secrets. Despite all our technological advances, research, randomized control trials, and advances in education, we still haven't learned how to keep us medical students from feeling utterly alone, panicky, and completely inadequate. Then again, this may just be an essential part of the learning process.

So Friday it hits me - I have an exam in a week, and I know NOTHING. Can't answer any questions, don't know where to start studying, nothing. Should I even be in med school? Maybe I should take some time off. I really wish I had read more/studied more/knew as much as my classmates/had someone to talk to.

The secret was most of us were feeling this way. With our A-type personalities, this is our first dose of reality. We are now assuredly never going to know all the answers, never going to be "the best" because there is no real such thing. And as we each go about our rotations, getting more and more sucked in, we feel more and more alone, and we can't believe our lives. Wake, work, "study", go home sleep. Rinse and repeat. So now I'm learning we have to find more balance, schedule in more fun, make sure that we commit to having fun.

Things I'm learning, and only hope I can pull things off to pass this darned exam, then figure out how to go from there. May this message find y'all in better shape, and if you're feeling alone, just remember, you're not really. Just put yourself out there - I'm sure there are more of us just dying for company as well.

Nicholas

P.S. Joshua Radin's "Closer" is my new favorite song...courtesy of Scrubs, episode 19, season 4 ;-)

ICU

Enough with the acronyms in Medicine already! ICU stands for Intensive Care Unit, where I am currently working, and most definitely love. It's been a while since the last post, but that's me - sporadic at best!

The excitement, the drama, ICU has it all. I've been putting in Central lines, which are basically big long IV's (intravenous lines...ones that go inside veins) in the subclavian (under your clavicle) vein that travel to your superior vena cava, the big vessel that drains blood from the top part of your body into the heart. AWESOME. And since we only see the sickest of the sick, everyone is on all the big medications you don't normally use on the floor, and everyone is relatively unstable, so there's always the tension in the air - what's going to happen next.

Having said all this, there's still the humanity side to everything. Sitting down with families to explain what's going on, discussing issues surrounding end of life and withdrawal of care, and working with the amazingly knowledgeable nurses, dietitions, physiotherapists, and respiratory therapists who are all teaching me sooo much.

What to do in the future - who knows. But ICU, and anesthesia, are looking much, much better.

Hope all your lives are proving just as exciting!

Nicholas