Move Along, Nothing to See Here...

I can't believe how long it's been since I've posted.

After leaving the situation in the Centre of the Universe, my program just squeezed me back onto the emerg schedule for the remaining 2 weeks of the month. What I'm doing about trauma is still up in the air, but it looks like I'll be able to make up the week I missed (it was technically just one week since I originally had a week of vacation planned for the end of that block) by just doing horizontal trauma call. That basically means I'll carry the trauma pager when I have days off on other rotations. I am more than happy with that arrangement.

Emerg went fine... I'm getting a little more daring, and learning to behave less like a resident and more like a staff member with backup. There are still plenty of procedures that I'm not comfortable with (I'm on the verge of doing an LP on anyone with a headache!) but it's coming along. I'm a lot more hesitant about posting amusing cases and stories from the ER after some trouble that fellow bloggers have recently found themselves in, so I didn't have much to write about for those two weeks.

Next thing I knew I was on my way to another academic centre to do some peds ER. Thankfully not the COTU and thankfully, it's back in the emergency room. About a thousand times better an experience than the month before. And hopefully, my last far-away rotation ever. I still have two months of 'community' ER to do, but so far I'm scheduled to do one month just an hour away from home (practically commutable, if I choose to do so) and I'm hoping to do the same for my second month after the baby comes. It still sucks being in a generic resident apartment without my husband and my furkids, but I'm managing a lot better than I was before. It doesn't hurt that this is a city I've lived in before, and still have some friends and family kicking around. The feeling of familiarity helps the loneliness. What can I say? I'm a complete suck for my husband.

Being a pregnant resident still has its challenges. Working on my feet at this stage (28 weeks already) is tough-- my feet get really swollen, my back gets sore, and by the end of my shift I get cramps that make me catch my breath. All perfectly normal, so I'm not worried or anything, but it makes life difficult. Not to mention the wardrobe challenges of working in one of the only emergency rooms in Canada where the doctors don't wear scrubs. Thankfully, an absolutely wonderful person whom I barely know came to my rescue with a giant duffel bag of loaner mat clothes. It was like Christmas. Now if only I could find a pair of work-appropriate shoes that I can squish my Shrek-feet into...

I promise to find something to talk about soon. Thanks to those of you who checked up on me, wondering if I was dead.