The Non-Negotiables

Today I ran for the first time in over a year.  And before that, I starting running briefly for the first time in two years. Believe it or not, I used to be a lot more consistent. I've always loved running, but around the time I quit the first time (almost four years ago to the day), I had started to develop some knee pain, which was attributed to some underlying hip/lower back muscle imbalances that I had developed from advancing my distance to aggressively. This was about two months prior to my first big race - a half marathon I had been training for all winter with some close friends. I was devastated when I was told to stop running, and had a hard time getting excited about other forms of aerobic activity, so eventually I just gave up on regular exercise altogether. Looking back, it's not a great excuse for stopping activity altogether, but in the context of my other life stressors and priorities, I allowed it to happen. Then about a year ago, a physiotherapist told m...

Everything is better in pediatrics. Maybe that's my bias come out, but honestly I think medicine for little people is generally better. Let me give you an example:  Adult with a cold? Gross - get a tissue. Don't infect me. Little baby with a cold? Oh so cute! Let me suck your boogers out with a special little instrument designed specifically for the purpose! But still don't infect me (I'm a pediatrics resident, guys, I don't have a death wish!). I've been thinking about this lately because I spent the last month working with the surgery department at my hospital, and it has been so much more fun than adult surgery! Long hours? Yes. Sore feet from the operating room? Double yes. Not exactly my forte, as a medical resident in a surgical group? Yes again. But the patients are really adorable, and sometimes I get to prescribe popsicles. And one of the surgeons asks every child before they have their surgery what type of band-aid they want. Twe...

Dear Friend, Today I woke up at work, not for the first time - more than a little groggy, and aware that I still need to perfect my overnight bag for days when my shift keeps me there until morning. On such days, I almost never put on make-up. It's not really a big deal, but sometimes it feels like it actually is. As a resident, there's a lot of opportunity to appraise yourself, and after a night on the wards with less than optimal sleep and plenty of decisions that had to be made and potentially some tough situations that had to be navigated, or anxious and sometimes irate parents that had to be met with...sometimes after those nights, my ability to appraise the significance of a few facial blemishes is...shall I say skewed? Last night really wasn't too bad at all actually. I slept five hours, which is almost unheard of, so it was just my usual personal insecurities that I had to tackle as I looked in the mirror, grateful to have remembered my toothbrush but irked at t...