Things are keeping busy here in the maritimes.  I went to PEI two weekends ago, and to Fredericton last weekend.  Both lovely trips and I will write more about them at a later date.

My lifestyle here in Moncton has taken a drastic change, and it's the purpose of this posting to tell you all why.

Firstly, I'm now doing emergency medicine.  So far, it's been good fun.  I was stitching a lady's finger up (power tool incident), and she was telling me about a fashion designer named Simon Chang.  She is now proudly sporting a Simon Chan original bit of stitching on her finger.  As an incidental thought, it occurs to me that if I were to buy Simon Chang clothing, I could remove the 'g' and have personalized items.  My genius is a burden sometimes.
Anyways, the real point of the story is that in emergency medicine, I only get three shifts a week.  This has given me much more free time.

Secondly, ALL my housemates have left.  I'm living all alone for the next 3 weeks.  Previous to this, the longest I've ever spent by myself is a weekend back in OAC when my parents and sisters went off somewhere and left me to practice piano.  Already the isolation is affecting me.  I never close the bathroom door and don't use my vocal cords at all outside the shower.

The bottom line is that extra free time + lack of distractions is gradually making me more eccentric.  I fiddle at odd hours, I take rambling walks in the surrounding neighourhood, I watch muchmusic video countdowns.  And my housemates just left this past Sunday.

If a medical student goes crazy in Moncton, and nobody is there to hear it... does he still make a noise?

That made no sense, even to me!

simon

It's 3am. We just did an emergency laparotomy followed by a small bowel resection. I had my hands in some poor fellows intestines. Truly a trippy feeling.

Earlier today, I tied my first one handed tie on a person. The first time I tried it, I froze up and forgot what to do. Luckily, I went outside and practiced on my pants before the next case.

This weekend, I finally made it out to Fundy national park.

On Saturday, some of my classmates from McMaster and I went for an extended (5km) hike along the shore. That evening we went to St. John, where we feasted at Suwanna, a Thai restaurant of grand quality. Who came on this trip?

Mike- He's from just outside Fredericton and is spending his entire summer elective time there. He was an engineer in a previous life. Big, tall friendly guy who sings with me in the Gospel choir at McMaster.

Charisse- She is doing a month of internal medicine in St. John. She went to Western before Mac, and does Kung Fu. I did latin dance with her this past year.

Usha- Also doing internal in St. John. She went to UT where she studied neurscience. Her performance at one of our more recent Improv nights was truly loopy.

It was wonderful to see my classmates again, although in truth I have not left them long at all!

On Sunday, I went with my housemates to Hopewell Rocks and then again to Fundy national park, where we did a short hike to a waterfall. On this trip:

Kate- Going into 4th year at Dal med school. She played varsity basketball. She was the 'big man' in the paint. And you can tell.

Genevieve- Going into 5th year med school in Ireland. She's got 3 sisters and a brother, and her dad's a sheep farmer. My primary tutor in Irish slang.

Connor- Also going into 5th year in Ireland. A sci-fi nerd to the max. Has seen all Star Trek episodes and is the only one outside my friends at Queen's who watches Farscape (another sci-fi show).

There was surprisingly little overlap between the two days. The weather was sunny on Sunday, but I really don't think the overcast of Saturday was detrimental to the experience at all.

If I can figure out my digital camera, I'll endeavor to put some pictures up.

Nothing too exciting in the hospital. I saw some fistula creation (It's when you stick a vein to an artery in your arm so you can do dialysis), and a pace-maker insertion. I'm hoping I'll get to see the trauma side of general surgery before my elective is done.


simon

Today, I went with the vascular surgeon I'm following around (Henceforth to be referred to as Dr. Poopy-pants. explanation to follow.) to Sackville for a day of surgical fun.

Sackville is really a beautiful little town, and I wondered as we drove past Mount Allison how my life would be different had I chosen to pursue higher education there instead of in Kingston.

The hospital is very small and had a very nice fountain in a courtyard at it's centre. By far, the most unique feature about this hospital was the fact that it's nursing staff seemed to be the happiest, funnest bunch of nurses I've ever met. The spent the breaks telling stories about the tricks they use to pull on the mean nurses. Tricks that involved laxatives and corpses. A crazy bunch.

Throughout the days cases (lap. cholecystectomy, hernia repairs, and vericose vein removals.), an easy-going and relaxed atmosphere was maintained by all.

At the end of the day, the anaesthetist and Dr. Poopy-pants bought everyone pizza, since Dr. Poopy-pants is leaving the Moncton area in the coming weeks. We all trooped back into the OR at the end of the pizza-fiesta where I was to take some pictures of the happy group. It turns out that Dr. Poopy-pants was so nicknamed by the nurses after some iodine had stained his clothing in unfortunate locales. As I was readying to take the picture, one of the nurses suddenly burst into the room with a bottle of iodine cleaning solution and a very messy iodine fight ensued. Medical professionals are a varied bunch.

Dr. Poopy-pants also showed me how to do a one-handed square knot. I've been given silk to practice with. i also have been practicing with the ties on the top of my scrub pants. i will be a knot machine. my dad says that surgeons are in danger of becoming just a pair of hands. i think i might be ok with this.

It's 3:34am and we just finished the emergency appendectomy. It also marks my very first successful intubation! I'll remember it forever. Little boy with brown hair and green eyes, me with a #6.5 endotracheal tube. truly a moment for the ages.

i find i don't get tired while in surgery. i can't say i'm always edge of my seat excited, but if they're playing good music, there really aren't that many places I'd rather be.

It's 1:48am, we just finished doing a artery bypass operation in a fellow's leg. The man was a francophone, and I got to play the part of interpreter, first in speaking to the man himself, and then later on when I called his wife on the phone. I need to develop some medical French. I don't even know the names of most of the body parts in French!

We'll be doing an emergency appendectomy soon (ie, we're taking out a little boy's appendix). It's going to be done laparascopically (through small incisions), and I get to hold the camera.

I saw my first amputation today. We removed an unfortunate fellow's leg. Amputation is not one of medicine's more delicate arts.

I also heard my first bruit today. It was in a lumberjack's femoral artery. The lumberjack and I had a good chat. His dad and his son are both lumberjacks.

I'm still homeless for next year. My housemates and I thought we had a house, but it turns out to be a false alarm. Some other people beat us to it.

I'm currently following around a vascular surgeon. Because Moncton is smaller place, his practice encompasses much more than just vascular surgery.

Today, we did colonoscopies, varicose veins, ultrasound and an emergency surgery for a hematoma. This Friday, I get to go to Sackville, because the surgeon I'm following does operations there as well.

I saw Fahrenheit 911 with the people in my house yesterday. It makes you quite pessimistic about America. I won't know what to think if the Republicans 'win' again.

The other two guys in the house are huge Trekkies. They sit and quote Star Trek. It's crazy.

To welcome the new residents, and familiarize them with the Moncton area, an 'Amazing Race' type event was held yesterday. The Irish and I joined along for the fun. We were all placed in groups of four, and then let loose on the city. We were given a clue to start, which lead to a location where a fun and wacky task had to be performed to get another clue. It was all brilliantly run and great fun. Some of the tasks were: canoeing around a lake looking for a little blue buoy, a relay race, drinking a slushie as quickly as possible (The medical secretary brought her son along with her, and this task made him cry, it was so painful) and sliding down the 'kamikazie' waterslide at a waterpark. The game ended at one of the doctor's houses for a barbeque. My team took the game VERY seriously (They really, really wanted to win. First prize was green fees.), but we came second by literally 5 seconds.
That evening we went down to the water, to watch the fireworks, which were spectacular.

Today, in the world of medicine, I successfully inserted my very first venous line! I got it on my first try, on a little boy getting his tonsils removed. I followed this up by inserting my second ever venous line, also on a little boy about to get his tonsils out. The anaesthetist that I work with gives the kids some sedatives before they come to the OR. This makes the kids very...loopy. Drugged up kiddies are funny in an odd kinda way.

Last week, we performed a lobotamy on this cheerful old lady with a brain tumour. I had chatted happily with her in French while she was in the waiting area, so I decided to go and try and find her in the Neuro-Intensive Care Unit. I must admit, I was curious as to whether she'd remember me, what with the brain surgery and all. Anyways, I don't think I've ever been so cheerfully received by anyone in my life! Not only did she remember me, she told me that she knew that I'd visit her, and that my smile helped her through the surgery. Now I know that she was exaggerating and all(especially because I was wearing a mask in the OR), but it's still one of those rare moments where I've felt useful as a medical student.