The familiar

I rearranged the living room this weekend. I was trying to optimize our little space, and I managed to make enough room to allow us to add an extra piece of furniture back into the mix - our papasan chair was moved back up from storage.

And, as soon as the chair was put into place, Dory IMMEDIATELY hopped right in and settled down for a nap. That chair was her home during the four years that we lived in Iowa, and apparently she missed it. Never mind that she'd been loving our new couch and cuddling up with the new pillows on a daily basis.

And, she continues to love the papasan chair.

I thought it was quite funny and weird until I realized that I am the same. It took me a couple of weeks to adjust to our new apartment and our new/old double bed (not the queen we used in Iowa). I couldn't sleep properly until I made the bed with the pillow-top bed topper which we'd been using for the past few years.

I know what it feels like to have the comforting feel of my old bed back.

I guess that means that we really "don't" have an extra piece of furniture, but that's ok. It makes me happy to see my little Dory sleeping soundly every day.

To think or not to think.

A common practice in psychiatry, especially for a resident undergoing training in psychotherapy, is to undergo therapy themselves. The program that I am attending has an excellent training program in psychotherapy, which I am extremely excited about. It's one reason why I wanted to come here.

I was asked today, by another resident, if I plan on undergoing therapy. Many residents do - but it often comes down to cost and insurance coverage.

I thought about it on my walk home, and I realized that part of my reluctance to do so is not because of the cost but because I am afraid. I don't want to have to rehash the recent events in my life that sadden me to someone new. Katherine, my two sisters, and a few other people know about them. And they are not something that will improve with therapy.

Tincture of time is my remedy. And now and then a good cry and a kitty cuddle does the trick.

I think I'm PMSing. :)

We agree on one thing.

No pregnancy photos.

I know those are a trend now. I've seen many lovely photo albums online with both naked and clothed pregnant bellies and hands clasped lovingly over the soon-to-be miracle mound.

But, it's not for us. We both agree. I think for different reasons. I think she is not enamored by the beauty of the miracle of pregnancy. And I think I could get all sentimental with pregnancy hormones and want to immortalize such an event by a large framed photo. Which would embarrass her. So, no, not a good idea.

I did ask her the other night if we should take a "pregnancy photo" with my chip baby belly.

Maybe posting a giant photo on the fridge and the chip cupboard would help me lose it.

(Note of honesty: this post was typed after finishing a bag of chips. AAAAAgh!)

Hot, hot, hot.

Katherine was showing me her "sweat bubbles" tonight.
What, you may ask, are "sweat bubbles?" I asked that too.
Apparently, they are tiny pockets of skin that bubble up and burst, releasing saline, when she gets really hot.
I think this is strange. And unusual. I think she may once again be a medical mystery.
I need to google sweat bubbles.


Voila. I have diagnosed Katherine with the help of google and eMedicine.

"The primary stimuli for the development of miliaria are conditions of high heat and humidity that lead to excessive sweating. Occlusion of the skin due to clothing, bandages, or plastic sheets (in an experimental setting) can further contribute to pooling of sweat on the skin surface and overhydration of the stratum corneum. In susceptible persons, including infants, who have relatively immature eccrine glands, overhydration of the stratum corneum is thought to be sufficient to cause transient blockage of the acrosyringium.

If hot humid conditions persist, the individual continues to produce excessive sweat, but he or she is unable to secrete the sweat onto the skin surface because of ductal blockage. This blockage results in the leakage of sweat en route to the skin surface, either in the dermis or epidermis, with relative anhidrosis.

When the point of leakage is in the stratum corneum or just below it, as in miliaria crystallina, little accompanying inflammation is present, and the lesions are asymptomatic. In contrast, in miliaria rubra, the leakage of sweat into the subcorneal layers produces spongiotic vesicles and a chronic periductal inflammatory cell infiltrate in the papillary dermis and lower epidermis. In miliaria profunda, the escape of sweat into the papillary dermis generates a substantial, periductal lymphocytic infiltrate and spongiosis of the intra-epidermal duct."

That's my hon bun. A never-ending source of physical findings.
I hope one of my patients in my Thursday medicine clinic suffers from milaria crystallina.

My empathy meter increased today

I had a migraine. A horrible, awful migraine.
I don't usually get headaches, except in the context of caffeine withdrawal. And today, I only had half of my morning coffee in the context of daily strong Starbucks blends + multiple daily caffeinated sodas (which I don't usually drink but since they've been in the fridge and it's been hot.... well...)
So, by 1 pm, my head felt like a drum.
By 5 pm, since not only did I have a headache, but I had not had time to eat today as well, my head felt like it was going to explode, I felt like I was going to vomit and pass out, and I just wanted to crawl into a little ball in the corner.
But, since I was on call in the Psych ER, I couldn't.
Luckily, I ran into a fellow resident who happens to have a handy-dandy little migraine first aid kit.
It saved my head. And my night. By 7 pm, I could function normally again without wanting to die.
I am so lucky that I don't have headaches regularly.
I am so lucky that my headaches respond to appropriate treatment.
In my last month on neurology, I saw so many patients with intractible migraines.
It's good to be reminded what it feels like from their perspective.

A tour of our paint colors

Kath did an amazing job with our apartment. I came home on Friday to find that she had finished the kitchen trim, and thus completed painting our entire apartment. I helped minimally with the bedroom and living room. Today, we organized much of our remaining junk, put the kitchen back together, and went for a long walk around our new city. Providence is a lovely small city... we can walk from our very residential neighborhood to the downtown/capitol area which is only 1 mile or so away... I really am falling in love with Providence. The kitties love it too... they've all been getting along beautifully. Ty especially "loves" our new leather chair.. she's been putting her "love" all over it... aaaaaargh. But, life is good. I can't complain.


Our living room - "desert tan" with white trim.


Living room with "desert tan" color, the nice legs with which I live, and Ty, enjoying our new carpet.


Living room with "desert tan" color.


"Healing aloe" hallway, or otherwise known as pale green, green-gray... depending on the time of day and the light.


Bedroom in "seaview"


Bathroom in "gull wing gray".


Kitchen in "rich cream."

So many things...

1. We've been living on Cape Cod for 1 month now... I miss Iowa, but it's this vague thought that seems so long ago. I love the summer weather here on the ocean, and I do not miss Iowa summers. I do, however, miss Iowa peoples. :)

2. Kath has been busy, busy, busy painting our apartment. Thankfully we bought "natural" paint with minimal fumes, otherwise she'd be permanently high by now. It looks so wonderful, though... It's finally becoming "our" place. We just have to finish the kitchen, but we're actually going to be living there as of this Sunday. I'm so excited.

3. I've been an intern for a full 8 days now. I've been learning so much, and have so much to learn. Writing prescriptions for my patients at my outpatient medicine clinic really made it seem real. I can write a prescription... I'm a doctor. Crazy.

4. The kitties are doing so well with the move. They survived the car trip beautifully and have adjusted to living on Cape Cod quite well. They've been better house guests than I imagined... I don't think they'll love going for another car ride tomorrow... albeit a shorter one. I do think they'll love their new home, though. It will have their familiar furniture, and lots and lots of lovely windows.

5. I'm going to love living in Rhode Island. It has little quirks, like "extremely" friendly drivers who stop oncoming traffic to allow you to make a left turn, who let you in without hesitation in backed up traffic on the interstate, umpteen million potholes in Providence, and our little area in Providence is very neighborhoody and lovely. Coffee shops, restaurants, a boulevard with jogging/biking paths, and a very residential feel.

All in all, this move has been good. It has been everything that I imagined it will be. And Kath even learned about an outstanding art fest with >1000 artists that occurs in a little town outside Providence... Life is good.