My Baby Girl

My lil girl is growing up so fast. It seems like just yesterday she was a tiny little thing, wiggling, sleeping, nursing, crying, etc. I can remember being up late nights to nurse her and as we lay, I'd thumb through the channels...stopping on The Cosby Show and A Different World. I didn't even know that show still aired!

Now, she is 13 months old. She just started walking a few weeks ago. She can say "Mamma, Dadda, Bah-bah (for bottle), No, Ah-ah, Dop (stop), iper (diaper)" and she can point to her nose, ears, make a 'pretty eyes' face (squints her eyes), and her fro (hair) lol.

I just love her sooooooooooooo much!

I so love clinic!

So yesterday was my first day back at my family practice clinic after a month of being away for a rural rotation and I had so much fun!

First there was a lady who after we addressed her complaints, she said how she kept clearing mucous out of her throat and she demonstrated it over and over with the most wierd sound that I just cannot put into words and she kept saying "like this" and doing it over and over again for the rest of our encounter.

Then there was the guy who pulled a muscle and told me every detail except how it happened and after I asked he finally said he pulled it during sex.

Then there was one of my patients who is always trying to get me to prescribe diet pills to no availe, bless her heart. She tells me about her eating habits and exercising and adds how she already told one of my colleagues "You know, the scruffy one!" as she gestures a beard. He grows a beard every hunting season. She makes the wierdest face and says "Did he shave that yet?" I was laughing so hard. He and I are always teasing so I've got to tell him.

Then the couple. The guy has COPD and is coughing and wheezing so I gave him a steroid shot and an updraft and as he takes the updraft he leans his head back and squints his eyes pretending like he is smoking weed and getting high and his wife is like "Stop that!!" He says how when he coughs, his forehead hurts so bad and she is like "It's probably those devil horns trying to poke through"

I love my patients. LOL. Welcome back.

Rural Medicine - LOVE IT!

So this past month, I had the wonderful opportunity to work in the rural community which I plan to practice in about 25 minutes from my hometown and I LOVED IT! I love the clinic! The staff, though small (only an office manager / receptionist, a nurse, and a medical assistant) was very friendly and helpful. The physicians that I worked with were nice and the people, and I enjoyed taking care of the patients. A great deal of the time is spent not just treating the patient, but helping them in all aspects. Not just prescribing the drug of choice, but checking if they had an insurance that would help cover, seeing if they qualified for a patient assistance program to help with costs, and / or trying to choose medicines that work for their illness and are on the $4 list - taking care of the whole patient, not just their ailment.

I am really excited about it.

I have turned in my paperwork for the job at this community clinic as they have physicians covering on different days, but no full time physician. The only issue now is that a different community under the same management became available and they are trying to get me to go there as that physician is leaving in July. But someone has a contract to start there in 1 year and if the place I want to go finds someone else, I may be left to find a different job altogether after only one year of work! (I have a rural obligation because my loan-sholarship for medical school paid a great portion if I agree to work in a rural area.) I am supposed to meet with him Friday and hopefully we can work something out. I fell in love with that place!