January 31, 2006 - The Year of the Dog…and Long-Range Pagers
PHOTOS TO FOLLOW, I PROMISE
Sometimes it is true that you can’t teach old dogs new tricks. But, what happens when the old dog can’t remember his own old tricks? It has been a while since I have taken call at the hospital. This past weekend was my first call as an attending. I remember when I was a resident and fellow, I phoned the on-call attending quite often with questions. What happens when I become that attending? I’m happy to report, all patients are alive and accounted for. It was a busy weekend, especially Saturday. Breathing is such a basic task; yet, some babies are just pretty darn bad at it.
It’s been an interesting and challenging transition from fellow to attending. I do get a different pager. I now carry a long-range pager which I carry when I’m on-call now. I get to leave the hospital while some poor sap is stuck watching shop. But, when that poor sap calls for help, I’ve got to come running, hopefully with a bag full of answers.
Chinese New Year is a great holiday. You usually don’t get out of school or work, unless it falls on a Sunday like this year. But, you get to eat yummy food, hopefully with loved-ones. Being able to take call from outside of the hospital allowed for that. I joined my parents, sister, aunt, uncle, and cousins for a Chinese New Year “snack” which was a pleasure. We so rarely gather calmly like this…everyone is usually running full speed in different directions. Despite being ignorant of the true meanings and rituals of this holiday, I enjoy it immensely. We celebrate it in Cheng-Chen style…2 to 3 courses more than anyone could possibly eat which means left-overs for me for a week. So, I guess a big part of celebrating Chinese New Year is not having to cook for a week. I love my family and I love food. It’s wonderful that the two so often fit together so nicely.
So happy new year…this year of the dog for everyone. Hopefully it will be the year of the dog for me as well.
Sometimes it is true that you can’t teach old dogs new tricks. But, what happens when the old dog can’t remember his own old tricks? It has been a while since I have taken call at the hospital. This past weekend was my first call as an attending. I remember when I was a resident and fellow, I phoned the on-call attending quite often with questions. What happens when I become that attending? I’m happy to report, all patients are alive and accounted for. It was a busy weekend, especially Saturday. Breathing is such a basic task; yet, some babies are just pretty darn bad at it.
It’s been an interesting and challenging transition from fellow to attending. I do get a different pager. I now carry a long-range pager which I carry when I’m on-call now. I get to leave the hospital while some poor sap is stuck watching shop. But, when that poor sap calls for help, I’ve got to come running, hopefully with a bag full of answers.
Chinese New Year is a great holiday. You usually don’t get out of school or work, unless it falls on a Sunday like this year. But, you get to eat yummy food, hopefully with loved-ones. Being able to take call from outside of the hospital allowed for that. I joined my parents, sister, aunt, uncle, and cousins for a Chinese New Year “snack” which was a pleasure. We so rarely gather calmly like this…everyone is usually running full speed in different directions. Despite being ignorant of the true meanings and rituals of this holiday, I enjoy it immensely. We celebrate it in Cheng-Chen style…2 to 3 courses more than anyone could possibly eat which means left-overs for me for a week. So, I guess a big part of celebrating Chinese New Year is not having to cook for a week. I love my family and I love food. It’s wonderful that the two so often fit together so nicely.
So happy new year…this year of the dog for everyone. Hopefully it will be the year of the dog for me as well.
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