I Can See Clearly Now...

My last day of clinical rotations as a PA student was incredibly bittersweet.  I got to see a few of my favorite patients that I've been following for the past 13 months, suture a nasty cut closed, see a patient with a rare disease, and learn all about the wonderful world of removing toenails.  Couldn't have asked for a better last day.

Last time walking through these colorful halls...

Love this place!

Dr. Watson and his amazing wife threw me a going away BBQ after work.  If there is one thing you must know about Mrs. Watson... she is an AMAZING cook.

YUM.

Many laughs, delicious food, and good wine = fun night and many good memories.

Wine, Fireplace, Friends... Best combo.

I held it together and didn't shed any tears when I said goodbye, but I may have shed a few tears on the drive home.  It is hard to say goodbye to such an awesome group of friends, but I am ready to take the next step in this journey.

I'll miss these faces!

Gracias por todo!

As I was contemplating life and my future, the perfect song came on the radio:

"I can see clearly now the rain is gone
I can see all obstacles in my way
Gone are the dark clouds that had me down
It's gonna be a bright bright bright bright sun shiny day."

You'd better believe it.  Sun shine up ahead.  Ready or not, here I come...

Three.

T minus 3 months until this girl is a PA-C. (Actually 2.75 months now!)

Can you believe that? Three months from last Monday and I will be walking across the stage at Stanford School of Medicine to become a PA! It's starting to become more and more real that I have very little time left in my California adventure. It's very bittersweet to think about leaving this crazy life I've learned to love. But you know what I love more? My life with my amazing husband who is waiting to, as he says, "carry me over the threshold" at our home in Alaska. It will be hard to leave the sun, sand, running races, and wonderful friends I've made. But I'm not gonna lie, there are some amazing people in Alaska that I've missed having in my life.

Alaska? Get ready. I'm coming home soon. (And by ready, I mean, "Please make this the sunniest, most beautiful summer you've ever provided to the frozen, pale Alaskans who endure your winters.")

You may be wondering why I've been MIA for the past two weeks. I'm back in my surgery rotation after the paperwork "hiccup" at the hospital. That means I'm back to 4am wake up calls, 15 hour surgery days, and being on call on weekends and during the night.  Yes, I do miss sleeping past 4:30am.  And yes, I am exhausted.  But aside from the sleep deprivation and insane pressure/stress of being a surgical assist, I love being in the OR! Tuesday I got to assist the surgeon on 8 surgeries, and most other days it's been anywhere from 3-6 surgeries. There is nothing cooler than sticking your hand in a persons abdomen, helping remove a spleen from a person's body, and suturing an incision to make it as "scarless" as possible.  Plus, surgeons are always hungry and have a room full of free snacks, coffee, and tea that are replenished all day and night. And believe me, when you have an constant adrenaline rush as a new surgical assistant, you need sustenance.

Mid-Morning Snacks

Coffee, Tea, Lattes, and Hot Cocoa.
Please note that surgeons are sloppy and don't know how to throw things away.

I've surved the 1st two weeks out of the longest 4 week rotation of my life.  In the next two weeks, you will likely find me doing one of the following:

- surgery
- packing for my move to San Fran
- studying for boards
- more surgery
- studying for finals
- studying for practicum
- more surgery
- attempting to stay injury free and train for Boston Marathon...

Can I please have 10 extra hours in my day?  I ask one thing of you: please sleep at least 7 hours a night for me because that will be about 3 more than I'll be getting each night. Thanks!

Field Trips and Future Marathoners

Only at my primary care clinic site do I love Mondays.

Especially when we take field trips. My preceptor is awesome and treats us to lunch every day, so yesterday we decided to hit the road and eat out. After climbing into my coworker's souped-up Subaru, we enjoyed a nice leisurely ride to the restaurant (and by enjoyed, I mean that I may have been holding on to the seat for dear life).

Our Chauffer

Nice Parking Job...

While enjoying our delicious lunch, I joked that we should start taking walks after lunch to avoid the dreaded "post-lunch coma."  After being glared at by 6 eyes of horror and disgust, Dr. Watson said "You know, that's actually not a bad idea."  I was more than excited about the idea but I never thought they'd actually go for it.  So today, Operation Brittany Boot Camp commenced.  To prepare for the arduous event, there was carbo-loading, hydration, and stretching.  0.22 miles later (aka 2 blocks), we arrived at our destination.  It was a momentous occasion and I couldn't be more proud of my future marathoners.

Stretch those Hammys

Medical staff or marathoners?  No one knows!

It breaks my heart into tiny pieces that I have only 8 more work days in the next two months to spend at my favorite clinic in the whole world. Where else do you laugh as much as you work, have pinterest potlucks and themed outfit days, have a limitless supply of snacks at your disposal, get poked fun at from the moment you walk through the doors, and are required to eat lunch together at the dining table. Not to mention that I have the greatest and most supportive teacher in the world, Dr. Watson.

Field Trip to Home Depot 

Heart Heath Wednesday
(and apparently "stand-with-the-Tax-guy-on-the-corner" Wednesday!) 

Rainy Day Wednesday

Dress like Brittany Day

If there were ever one thing to keep me from moving back to Alaska, it would be CMDC. (Well, that and the beautiful beaches, constant sun, abundance of running races, and my awesome Californian friends....ha!). I am so grateful that I was placed at CMDC for the past YEAR and I can't thank Dr. Watson, Leyshla, and Frenchie enough for being so amazing.

I LOVE these three people.  

Fun (and slightly random) Fact Friday

I started writing this posting and it quickly became the most random, fragmented post I think I've ever written.  My excuse is the following:  (a) It's Friday, (b) it's a full "Blue Moon," (c) I'm really, really tired, (d) I can't stop thinking about Froyo (Frozen Yogurt), and (e) I just woke up from a 10 minute cat nap.  If those four things aren't enough, then I'll just blame it on my adorable pregnant patients all day with their "pregnancy brains". It's all their fault.  Speaking of which... that brings me to my first tangent.

1.) I have come to a conclusion.  I do not ever, ever, EVER want to be 9 months pregnant and live in Escondido. Almost every single patient that came in to the OB clinic today had the same complaint.
"I can't find my ankles" or " Is it possible for my feet to pop from the swelling?" As if being 9 months pregnant isn't uncomfortable enough, these poor women are living in 90-100 degree heat with 80% humidity.  I'm swelling up just thinking about it!

Today was a fun and busy day- feeling pregnant bellies, listening to fetal heart sounds, and talking to expecting mothers talk about coping with the horrible humidity and heat.  It is amazing to see all their discomfort and frustration fade away the moment I find the baby's heartbeat on the doppler.  They momentarily forget they no longer have ankles and can't fit their feet in shoes! :)

2.) Yesterday I had the joy of pulling a patient's toenail.  I can't decide if I should be concerned with how much I enjoyed something that is considered a torture technique!  Don't worry, the patient was thoroughly numbed with lidocaine and he said that dropping the ladder on his toe was far more painful.  After doing the procedure I looked at my feet and realized his and mine don't look all that different. Marathon training does wonders on beautifying feet! (I spared you all the joy of seeing a picture of my gorgeous blistered and toenail-less feet, I know you're bummed. Instead you get to see my enthusiasm before the procedure. Note- pt gave me permission to use this pic!)

Although it looks like I'm laughing at him, I'm trying to display my excitement. Unsuccessful attempt. 

3.) I cannot believe that tomorrow is the first day of September. When did that happen?! I have a feeling that September in San Diego is far different from September in Alaska. September is my all-time favorite month back home.  Fall colors, beautiful crisp mornings, cool trail runs, pumpkin flavored everything, crockpot deliciousness, and that all-familiar smell of snow creeping its' way closer to Anchorage.  San Diego fall?  Hm.  I don't think there is such a thing. Unless it's 80, sunny, and humid.  Is that fall? I guess I will have to wait and see.

Fall in Anchorage

Bullwinkle the Moose

Denali National Park - September

Moose Rutting Season- AKA fight over the ladies Season! 

Home, sweet home.

4.) Three-day weekends.  LOVE THEM.  I wish I could tell you that I'm going to the beach, laying by the pool, and soaking up all of the glorious "Fall" sun that San Diego has to offer.  The only thing I'll be (attempting to) soak up is the diagnosis and treatment of every disease known to man.  Doesn't that sound like a fabulous way to spend the holiday weekend?  The truth is, I'm so used to studying every waking moment that I start to get the shakes and a little anxiety when I don't study.

I'll throw in a little running as well, don't you worry. :) The next few weeks are my peak training weeks.  It's hard to believe that St. George is in just over a month! I love the tough training weeks: hills, tempo runs, back-to-back long runs on tired legs, track workouts, you name it- I'm a glutton for torturous runs. With that being said... I'm just gonna come out and say it...

I'm tired.

Luckily, the reward is a fabulous taper and a trip to see my parents and sister in St. George!  And of course... a little 26.2 :)

56 miles since last Saturday.  30 more in the next 3 days.  Let's do this. 

5.) Have a GREAT labor day week.  Please do things not labor related so I can live vicariously through you!

It's a home run!

Typical day at Centro Medico Del Carmen is as follows:

- Day starts at 9AM. We see patients according to "Mexican Time."
I do NOT mean to sound derogatory at all, but it truly is a different clock. And if you were to google the term, the Urban Dictionary would say "About an hour and 23 minutes after the designated time." It is a world of "I'm 10 minutes away" meaning "I'm leaving right after I take a shower, eat some breakfast, and then I'll be about 20 minutes away." There are many patients that are on time, so the day seems to pass very quickly!

- Snack every hour or so.  If not snacking, you can guarantee we are deciding on where we're eating for lunch.  That discussion begins at approximately 9:01AM.

- As the clock nears 12:30, the final decisions are being made regarding lunch.  At Centro Medico del Carmen, it is the most essential and life-changing event of the day.  I work for probably the most AWESOME doctor in the history of doctors, and he is so generous to treat us to lunch.  Every day.  I am the luckiest PA student ever.

- Lunch is consumed family style in the work kitchen.  Jokes are made (mostly about me and my lack of bacon or other animal products on my food.)

- A food-coma-induced siesta occurs for approximately 30 minutes while I work on chart notes that seem to stack up too quickly on my desk.

- Start seeing patients again.  Snacking begins once again.  As does the discussion of where to have lunch tomorrow.

- At roughly 5:01 PM, baseball practice commences in the parking lot.  Wait... what?!

Yes, today we decided to have a friendly game of baseball in the parking lot outside the office.  I'll have you know, I am an awesome hitter (is that what they're called?).  It only took 5 tries and the ball went so far I could barely even see it.  (And by "so far I could barely see it" I mean it went straight up and landed about 15 feet in front of me.  Clearly I need to quit running and go pro.)

If you can't tell, I absolutely LOVE my clinic.  Seeing patients is definitely not a piece of cake (although we do eat a lot of cake & other treats at work) and I am challenged every single day. But I look forward to walking into the clinic and seeing my friends' smiling faces every day.  And come on... who doesn't love baseball?!

I think she came off the ground a little bit!

Dr. Watson.  Is he doing ballet... is he pitching?  No one knows!

Now that's a swing!

Yep.  Clearly a pro.

After one of many strikes.  I mean home runs.

Don't worry, I pulled over to capture this amazing sunset.  Can't imagine a more beautiful drive on my commute!