Humble Pie

   Well I learned a lesson I at practicum today that I didn't anticipate. I scanned a case of cholangiocarcinoma (cancer involving the bile ducts). My preceptor left me alone to scan and I was having a rough time. The liver is a big and daunting organ to scan when it's normal. When you throw in strange shapes and shades of gray you get lost. Fast. And so it was with this woman.

    My preceptor asked me "So Naomi, what are YOU going to be doing tonight." Studying cholangiocarcinoma that's what. When I had a few minutes to spare I grabbed one of the textbooks they keep in the tech room. I was looking over a section about this form of cancer and it was actually quite good. Made some notes. Got a little bit smarter. Then one of the radiologists stepped out of his office and saw me. He asked if the book was good to study from. I'd looked some stuff up in it once before and hadn't found it too useful so I told him "Depends on what you're looking for." He smiled, slightly shocked actually, let out a chuckle and said "Oh, yes."

  I realized at this moment, from a previous perusal of this book, that there was a signature at the front. I quickly flipped to it. Yes of course. "To the radiologist residents and ultrasound technicians. Gavin Low" The very doctor I'd just been chatting with. In my embarrassment I told one of the techs about my blunder. But wait. The story gets better. The tech laughed harder as I frantically turned, for a second time, to the front of the book...where Dr. Gavin Low was written once again...as one of the contributing authors. And wouldn't you just know it. He wrote the section on Cholangiocarcinoma.

   Lesson learned: When a doctor asks you how you enjoy a textbook either praise it highly or check out the references thoroughly before bashing it.

Dr. Gavin Low

Blessed are they who can laugh at themselves, for they shall never cease to be amused.

And A Little Bit Of Chicken Fried

     Life is just going by a mile a minute. Sometimes I just want to hold a moment in my hands and admire the joy of a single second. I want to memorize every sense so I can bring back these memories in the same colorful vibrancy I lived them. Everything has been so full of happiness and excitement. I wonder what I ever did right to deserve opportunities this great, people this amazing and memories this cherished. It leaves me in awe every time that it's the smallest things that seem fill my heart to bursting. A few things I've appreciated lately:

- How snow makes everything ordinary beautiful
- The little boy that held my hand today as I walked him through the hallway
- Brad Jones doing the worm while singing J-Biebs
- Hand written letters
- Finding the humor in my mistakes (sending a patient's IV pole flying to the ground and watching the terrified faces of the other patients praying they wouldn't get stuck with me scanning them next. Or when I gave Wade a bowl to make punch in...with a hole in the bottom)
- My roommates, who are amazing and clean the kitchen everyday and make me dinner when I'm starving.
- The little old man who's carotid arteries I scanned and took a million years to finish. All the while jostling his oxygen. I passed him in the hallway when the porter came to get him and he looked me straight in the eyes and sincerely thanked me. I felt awful for keeping him so long, it was a very frustrating case to work through and I definitely was not at my best in patient care but he was so kind to me.
- The little group of friends who are my home away from home.
- Finding an awesome Christmas present
-This song that Kyla and I blast in her car every weekend.

 "It's funny how it's the little things in life that mean the most. Not where you live, or what you drive, or the price tag on your clothes. There's no dollar sign on a peace of mind this I've come to know."