Hola amigos!

Wassup peeps! Mike and I are workin´ hard down here in Ecuador. Ok, not that hard. We did have some down time at the beach and we even took a trip to a beach for para-gliding. Unfortunately, only Mike got to para-pente because he´s a fatty. They said I couldn´t go because the wind was too strong and I was ¨mas pequeno.¨ Stupid Mike and his fat belly! But we did get some good video footage and Mike said I could pretend that it was me.

We also sampled some of the local drinks around here, most notably ¨aquadiente¨ which Mike is now referring to as Fire Water. (You´ll have to ask him).

We also made our first sand animal. It was a very impressive turtle - quite realistic. LOL. Oh yeah, I´m also a big celeb down here cuz I´m one of the only Asians. People have asked to take photos with me. But I´m refusing autographs. :)

Anyway, Ecuador is great and you really can´t beat the $1.50 lunch and the $1 Pilsners!

Hasta luego!
Jen and Mike

Riding for drugs!!

I only got a few pictures from Rusha's bike ride, but here they are. For those of you who missed it, it was a ton of fun. About 52 miles of riding bliss and 10 miles of thigh-burning hell at the end. And yes, the yellow Schwinn made the journey (you can see it in the group picture). Props to Rusha for finding an innovative way to celebrate her birthday, and for tying it to fund-raising for the PCF.

15 milliseconds of fame!

Hey, I forgot that my friends and I are famous! LOL.

Check it out: <http://sflive.publicis-usa.com/Calistoga/Media/calistoga.html>

Please, no autographs. :)

Adventures in dating, Part 2

Part 2: The physicist
So I met my second potential life partner (LOL) at Temescal today. I decided that a little Bocce Ball would be the perfect date. Unlike Bachelor #1, he was on time and didn't carry a gun. It's a sad day when that becomes my current criteria for a decent date. Anyway, he was cute and nice, but I hate to say it, my Gay-dar went off (I think it was the way he walked). I don't actually think he was gay, but the damage was already done. We did play a bunch of Bocce Ball and I was crowned the Master of the Universe at Bocce. Yeah! Then I had to call it a night. I had played with enough balls for one evening. ;)

Jen "Hope I have better luck in Ecuador" Louie

Re: Rumors and gossip

dear friends - it was me. i apologize for the tardy response - i was out of town at my high school reunion this weekend and was on call yesterday so i haven't really had time to deal with this until now. i took the post down on saturday morning before i left because there were some very strong feelings from at least one person who felt that the content of the post was inappropriate. for those who didn't get to read it, the post went into some detail about the recent losses suffered in the subspecialty departments, particularly surgery and GI, but spanning plastics, rehab, and everybody else. when i originally posted this, i did so with the intent of clarifying the reasons for people leaving, as well as what that would mean going forward. i felt that the anxiety level of the residency program was rising with each successive departure, and i wanted everyone to know more about the situation. i did not have any malicious intent in posting this content. i did not post details about anybody's personal life or any illegal activities. i tried to use language that would make it clear that a lot of this was speculation. i used initials mainly because i did not want casual web-browsers googling for "joe shmoe" to come across our blog. i intended the audience to be the PL-2 class, with the recognition that some of the other residency classes do surf our blog and that they might see it. i thought that those who have been following the blog would easily know who posted it - when i changed my screen name to "anonymous" it changed all my previous postings as well.

that being said, the post was taken down out of concern that it was inappropriate. obviously, i didn't feel it was inappropriate when i posted it, but some people have the opposite view. for those who did read it, did you feel that it crossed the line? i don't know that we have any specific criteria that we are looking for, but please post a comment if you have any opinion on this. for those who didn't get to read it, does this type of post concern you? do people feel that the post should be put back up? toned down and depersonalized some and reposted? or left off the blog?

CHOwHounds at East Ocean Seafood Restaurant

CHOwHounds - East Ocean Seafood Restaurant

Adventures in dating, Part 1

Whoa, whoa, whoa peeps. I don't know what has been happening on the blog lately, but apparently there was some controversy going down. Let's all take a step back and focus on something much more lighthearted and laughable...my dating life. :)

Part 1: The Secret Agent
So the other night I met my date out at Ben and Nick's. Bad move #1 - he was thirty minutes late. And within 5 seconds of meeting this guy, I knew it was not gonna last. In regard to my reference to him being a "secret" agent, he's actually a special agent for the government. And yes, he carries a gun...all of the time. I know what you're about to ask, and the answer is yes, I did feel his gun (Get your mind out of the gutter!!). That was probably bad move #2 - don't bring your gun on a date. Luckily, I was able to make the pain end earlier by using the ever-convenient excuse, "I'm on call tomorrow and need to get to sleep." Hope he doesn't track me down and kill me!

Jen "I vote yes on gun control" Louie

Overnight fun in the ED

Just finished my second overnight in the ED. Started out with a 12-year old male with ingrown toenails. The attending wanted to do wedge resections so I start on the digital blocks of his two large toes. The kid starts crying. Foster mom asks if I can give him something for the pain - she suggests valium because "he's going into shock!" No, actually, he's just crying. 1 toe down, 1 to go, but I pause to give him some Tyco. She finds me and asks if I can put him to sleep to block the other toe. "So... you want me to do his local anesthesia under... GENERAL anesthesia??" I didn't say that exactly but diplomatically said that we generally don't do that for local nerve blocks, the risks would outweigh the benefits, and just suck it up. I'm in the second toe when I get called to push contrast on my appy upstairs. I run up, push the contrast (thank goodness no SVT like with the first patient I ever pushed contrast on), and run down to finish the medial side of the second toe. Wedge resection by the attending then goes beautifully. Didn't feel a thing. In fact he's smiling, watching the nail get resected. Punk.

Spent the rest of the night trying to catch up on all the patients that were waiting while I was working on him. Later saw 3 adults through the night. I thought this was a Children's Hospital...?! Can't wait until tonight's shift.

rumors and gossip

so for all of us that have been anxious and/or worried about the health of the program given the alarming efflux of subspecialists from CHO, it seems that those in the know feel that the program is indeed healthy. none of the losses have apparently been all that surprising.

[the rest of this entry has been deleted]

CHOwHounds at Shan Dong

CHOwHounds - Shan Dong

life after residency

so i'm feeling out of the loop as far as post-residency plans are concerned. i know leslie matched for adolescent at stanford and fy-fy matched at baylor for allergy & immunology, but that's about it. anybody else got any gossip?

punk email of the day

a little blast from the past. the punk that kicked it all off for us....

From:
Date: 6/30/2006 9:08:00 AM
Subject: HSSSSSSS I'M HOT

Dear Colleagues,

I've been a senior now for a few days and just wanted to give you guys an update on how
it's been going so far. Number one, I AM A GOD OF THE WARDS. Number two, BRAD IS RAD.
If any of you are fortunate enough to see me in action, grab onto something because you may
just get a little weak in the knees. Stay tuned for my next update.

Greatness Out,

Brad

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