Can't believe it's October already....

I am a blogging slacker!!! However, I have two more blog topics planned after this one so there will be lots of new stuff to come!!! I can't believe it's already October. June feels like yesterday. Here's a snapshot of what we've been up to the past few months.

JULY was a busy month in the Johnson household. Steve started his rotations with family medicine in small town Lima, OH while I was busy doing my family medicine rotation in Toledo. Steve was gone during the week but came home every weekend. We traveled to Akron, OH in July for our friends Derek and Erin's wedding.

July 29th Steve and I celebrated our 2nd anniversary!!! We had an early celebration in Chicago a few weeks prior so the night of our anniversary we had dinner a PF Changs!

AUGUST - My fabulous sister Kelli came to Ohio the first week of August!! We had a great week that included going to Wicked, Cedar Point and lots of shopping!!

All dressed up before leaving to go see Wicked!

The 2nd week of August I went to Priest Lake in Northern Idaho to spend a week on the lake wiht Steve's family. Steve was in the middle of a rotation and wasn't able to go so I went without him. I had a great week with my in-laws and our niece and nephews!!!

The beautiful lake

Me and Noah bug!

My brother-in-law Bren taking my mother-in-law Cheryl out for a jet ski ride

We ended the summer with dinner and drinks at one of our favorite places, El Camino. It was a great night before we all started our FINAL rotation!!! This is a pic of 4 soon to be successful PAs!!!! Only 74 days to go!!

We are not "Physician's Assistants"!!!

When I started this blog, I didn't intend to just post pics of us doing fun things, but it appears that is what's been happening the past few months. HOWEVER, today I have a new platform.

Today we are going to talk about the Physician Assistant (PA) profession. For those that are unfamilar, may I suggest wikipedia.com (normally I wouldn't recommend wikipedia but I have reviewed their article on physician assistants and it's accurate). In a nutshell, PAs earn a master's degree in a 24-30 month postbachelor program that is designed to mimic medical school. We take the same courses (minus histology and embryology, in most cases) and complete the majority of the same clinical rotations with the biggest difference being that we are not required to complete a residency. Those that decide to become a physician assistant don't do so because they are "too lazy to become a doctor", "not smart enough to become a doctor", or "didn't get into medical school." I put those 3 statements in quotes because they are all things I have been asked by patients in the past 6 months. Those reading this blog that know me know that I am hardworking and smart enough to be a doctor and that I would have gotten into medical school. Why did I decide to write this post you may ask. Well this post was stimulated by a few aggravating events in the past 24 hours.

Let's start with event #1. We were invited to a friend's new home last night to share wine and conversation prior to going out to a fundraising event. Amongst the crowd of 10 sitting around chatting was a couple we hadn't met before. We learned that they too were students, him a 4th year medical student and her a pharmacy student. Upon learning that I was a PA student, the pharmacy student first mentioned her disapproval of the "new" PA prescribing rights in Ohio (which aren't really new - the law was passed in Ohio 2 years ago and PAs has been prescribing medications in most other states for 30 years or so). Then she preceded to say something to the effect of "I don't really think PAs are that good." Now I strongly believe in the ability to have your own opinion, but why in the world would you share it with someone has spent the past 2 years STUDYING TO BE A PA???????

Event #2. While at the fundraiser for a medical mission trip which several medical students and PA students are going on, a 3rd year med student in Steve's class was trying to initiate conversation with me and asked "so what are you interested in?" I wasn't sure that he knew I was a PA student (most in Steve's class know me as "steve's wife"), so I said "I'm a physician assistant student and I'm not sure yet. I've liked most of my rotations including ER and surgery. The kicker is that he replied with....."well have you considered medicine?" Unsure of what he meant, I asked "you mean internal medicine?" and he said "no, medicine like going to medical school." Steve and I were both so shocked by his response, I didn't even know what to say. I'm pretty sure PAs and physicians practice the same "medicine."

Event #3. An article in Toledo's newspaper, The Blade, about the aforementioned fundraiser, said "UT students studying to be physicians, nurses, and physician's assistants...." The correct term is PHYSICIAN ASSISTANTS.....lose the 's!!

In summary, I would just like to say that I think all the members of the healthcare system are valueable. The whole hierarchy thing is ridiculous...I don't feel that my job is any more or less important than a nurse's, pharmacist's, physical therapist's or physician's. We all have necessary functions and should be working together as a team.

From the blogging slacker....

One of my adoring readers told me tonight that if I didn't post something soon, she would stop reading my blog and well let's just say I'm not in the business of losing readers since I'm still not sure I have any....so Caroline, this is for you, despite that the majority of this post is old news to you. First off, I have returned to Ohio after my month in Pocatello for my OB/GYN rotation. I had a great rotation...the Dr. I worked with was awesome, I learned a lot and liked OB/GYN much more than I thought I would. I didn't realize how many surgerical procedures are done in OB/GYN and I really liked the half office time/half hospital time aspect of it. It was also nice to spend a month with my family! The weekend before my rotation in Pocatello ended, I flew up to Spokane to see Steve, who was playing in Hoopfest with some friends and his brother. After spending three weeks apart, I was really excited to see him and had a great weekend with him, friends and his family! I don't have any pics because my camera was having issues :(

However, I do have pics from last weekend. Steve and I both had a weekend off together (which I think has only happened 1 other time since we started school - not including christmas break) so we decided to head to Chicago for the 4th of July and as an early anniversay present to ourselves. We had the absolute best weekend...in fact, I'm not sure there are enough words in the English language to fully describe how great it was. We were able to relax, spend some real time together and not think about school the entire time. It felt like what I imagine other people who have weekends off regularly feel like. So enjoy the pics and I'm going to try to be a more regular blogger :)


For those that haven't been to Chicago, did you know that it is right on Lake Michigan and that you can go to the beach and play in the water and sit by the palm trees (yes...that's right palm trees in Chicago)?? I didn't when we first went there last summer but Lake Michigan and the trail on Lake Shore is one of my favorite things about Chicago in the summer. These are definitely not the most flattering pictures of me, which is why they are small but I really wanted to include them


This picture is on Michigan Ave. where we did some shopping one of the days.


Saturday we went to Lincoln Park and the Lincoln Park Zoo which is free to the public (they do get you on the $6 hot dogs though). Chicago has so many free activities in the summer which I think is so great!

P.S. I convinced my sister Kelli to start a blog. Her link is on the side of my page. She's hilarious and I assured her she'd have adoring fans.

Father's Day at the Lake

I apologize to my adoring readers that I have been on hiatus for the past few weeks. For those that don't know, I'm in Pocatello (the 'Ho') for my OB/GYN rotation. When I'm not busy doing pelvic exams, measuring fundal heights and listening for fetal heart tones, I'm hanging out with my family. I was happy to be home to spend Father's Day with my dad this year! We went to breakfast in the morning and then spent the rest of the day at the lake boating, jetskiing and wakeboarding. Thanks dad for the awesome day! Love you mean it :)

me and my dad


Bro and sis


Shawn (bro) + Mish


Dog paddling Stephanie

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My uncle and the cutest girl ever (my cousin Julia) on the jet skiing. This girl has zero fear...the entire time she kept saying "go faster."


This is her sleeping in the boat with Mr. Bear (who also needed a life vest).

THINGS I'M THANKFUL FOR

My post tonight is more of a motivational post to myself. I'm still not even sure if I have an audience out there in cyberspace, but hopefully you (and I) find this uplifting. I've had somewhat of an internal struggle the past month or so. I've been emotionally labile (more so than usual) and I've felt vunerable. I'd like to blame these feelings on Steve's rigorous study schedule but it's more than that. I'm nearing the halfway point in my rotations and I'm feeling mixed emotions about what lies ahead...close friends moving away, finding a job, the mountain of student debt about to crash on my head, etc. This should come as no surprise to those that know me..I always have and always will be a planner. So it's fitting that I would start to worry about things are that aren't going to happen for over half a year. Tonight I've decided to stop and take a minute to reflect on a few of the things I am thankful for...

Number 1 - For my husband - for his patience when I call him 10 times a day cause I'm bored, for his determination to succeed so that he can get a residency spot closer to Idaho because he knows how much I want it, for his "smothering" when he comes home because he missed me, and for telling me that I'm beautiful every day even if I don't feel like it.

Number 2 - For my family - I feel blessed to have a mom who always answers her phone when I need to talk (no matter what time it is), a relationship with my dad unlike any other father-daughter relationship I know and siblings who are also amazing friends. I'm also blessed to be a part of the Johnson family - I was lucky enough to marry into a family that I comfortably spend hours chatting, laughing, cooking, shopping, hiking, and canoeing with.

Number 3 - For friends both old and new - I'm blessed to still have friendships that date back to grade school (I guess I should be thankful for cell phones at this point for these friendships wouldn't be possible without frequent conversations) and I couldn't be more thankful for the close friends I have made in Toledo...I can't imagine going through PA school without them.

Number 4 - For the physical ability to run, jump, dance, walk, and everything else that I probably take for granted - I've been running a lot the past month to keep myself occupied and I love the feeling after a really tough run.

Number 5 - For the Toledo Metroparks - Toledo has a dozen or so parks scattered throughout the city with trails and trees and furry woodland creatures and lots of open space to run.

Number 6 - For a cerebrum (and I guess cerebellum, pons and medulla) that have developed over the last 25 years so that I can achieve a level of education that I am incredibly proud of and still be humbled by all that I have to learn.

Guess that's enough for tonight as the aforementioned brain is telling me it's time to head to bed. One last thing - ONLY 6 DAYS UNTIL I GO TO IDAHO!

Update Time

I haven't posted anything for a couple of weeks now, mostly because I left my camera in the back of The Cadmus mobile in New York. I'm anxiously awaiting its return in 2 weeks (Caroline - I'm also anxiously awaiting your return as well) The lack of posting is also due to the lack of activity at the Johnson house. Steve is elbows deep into board studying and only comes out of the dungeon (aka our 2nd bedroom turned office) for food, coffee and necessary bathroom breaks. When I'm not whining about Steve's studying habits, I'm doing my internal medicine rotation at an outpatient office just a few blocks from our place (the proximity has been tremendously helpful with the recent hike in gas prices -- $4.19/gal in Ohio). The physician I'm working with is a great teacher and asks me tons of questions. He makes sure to ask the toughest questions in front of the patients, which was very intimidating at first but I learning to cope. On my first day, he asked me to tell him and my patient the 11 diagnostic criteria for systemic lupus erythematosus. For those that aren't familar with the 11 diagnostic criteria for lupus (including myself), that's quite a question. I've probably only see 1 or 2 patients with lupus ever. So like the dutiful student that I am, I went home that night and memorized the 11 diagnostic criteria for lupus planning to impress him the next day with my new knowledge...unfortunately by 5pm the next day I couldn't remember them. I've reviewed them so many times now, they are forever ingrained in my overfilled brain. I have 2 more weeks of internal med and then it's off to Pocatello for OB/GYN.

If I had my camera, you'd be seeing a picture of my chalkboard that says "DAYS TIL IDAHO = 13" Yea!! I'm in need of some family time!!

The sun is finally shining in Ohio so it's time to get outside and enjoy it!!

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY MOM!

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY MOM!

The unfortunate part about living across the country from your family is that you miss spending important days like today with them. I am lucky to have such a wonderful mom who has always been there for me and who is just as much my friend as she is my mom. My mom is an incredibly strong woman and has helped me to become the person that I am today. Sorry I can't be there today but I am very much looking forward to spending June in Pocatello. I love you and hope you have a great day today!!!

THANK YOU!!

I got back from New York last night and wanted to say thank you to the Cadmuses (Cadmi? haha) for everything while I was there. Caroline is an avid blog reader so I know she will relay this message to her parents. I had a great time and came back to Ohio pleasantly plump! (Caroline's mom is an awesome cook and we had a big Italian meal every night). THANKS AGAIN! Hopefully I can return the favor if Caroline comes to the 'HO!!!

TWO YEARS TO GO!

Since we don't have kids to brag about yet, I'm going to have to spend this post bragging about my husband. Last week Steve finished his medical school classes and today was his last actual class exam. Then he takes Step 1 of the boards in June and starts his rotations in July. I am so incredibly proud of him!! He has worked so hard the past 2 years and is close to the top of his class. I am excited for him to start his rotations and to be able to apply everything he has learned. He is going to make an amazing physician. Love you babe!!

The Big Apple, Part 2

We covered some serious ground in the city yesterday (our feet are still hurting today). After leaving Ground Zero, we headed to Central Park. The park was so beautiful in full spring bloom.




The Park was just one stop on our long hike to Serendipity for their famous frozen hot chocolate. Seredipity is one of my favorite movies and I have been wanting to go there since I saw that movie.



The frozen hot chocolate was so rich and yummy!!!


We ended the perfect day by going to see Grease. Caroline and I loved the NBC show "Grease, you're the one that I want" and felt partially responsible for the picking of Danny and Sandy. The show was awesome! "Grease is the word!"

THE BIG APPLE, part 1

Caroline and I took the train into the city yesterday and made sure to take lots of pictures. After arriving at Grand Central Station, we took the subway to Canal St. (aka Chinatown) for some "completely legal" purchases. Don't worry...no drugs....only Coach purses.



On the train. Caroline lives about an hour North of NYC

After Canal Street, we went to little Italy for lunch.




This picture is from the cute place we had lunch. The name of the place meant small buffalo in Italian. There was no buffalo involved in the meal, only very good 'za.

After leaving little Italy, we walked to Ground Zero. We weren't able to see much because they have started construction on the new towers and have a fence around the entire block. However, the large empty hole in the middle of the city is somewhat erie and leaves a strange feeling in your stomach.

Our 9 hour Tri-State Journey

7:30am: Departing Fenwyck Rd. heading East


10:30am Entering Pennsylvania (btw Pennsylvania is long and boring)


3:30pm YEA!!! Welcome to NY
(Missing is the photo of the scary gas station in Snowshoe, PA)


4:30pm ARRIVAL in Hopewell Junction, NY (can you tell we are really happy to be out of the car)

NEW YORK HERE WE COME!

In approximately 5 minutes, Caroline and I will be NEW YORK bound. Pics to follow!!

The Ford Rouge Factory Tour

Monday before I took my dad and Steph to the airport, we went to the Ford Factory where the F-150 trucks are produced. It was a great experience to have with my dad!! Thanks so much for everything while you guys were here. We had such a great time!!


At the end of the tour, they have the cars that have been produced at this factory in the past 100 years. We were trying to capture them in this picture...that's why we are the size of ants. My favorite was the Thunderbird.

The Toledo Mudhens

Sunday afternoon we went to the Mudhens baseball game at 5/3 Field in Downtown Toledo. The Mudhens won and Steve even caught a baseball with his bare hand that was headed for Stephanie's head.

Outside 5/3 field

Notice Caroline's beverage in the background (that's why she is smiling)

Scary, I know :)

Long Time No Post!

The whirlwird of the trauma service is now over and I finally have some time to breathe. I put in 315 hours in my 4-week rotation.....that is almost 80 hours/week!! The rotation went really well and I learned a lot. Now I am looking forward to the downhill part of things (at least in terms of hours)...next is Internal Medicine, OB/GYN, Family Medicine and then Pediatrics. BUT FIRST...I HAVE A MUCH ANTICIPATED (AND NEEDED) 2 week break. I started my break last weekend with a visit from my dad and his girlfriend Stephanie. We had such a great time!! Here are pictures from a BBQ we had Saturday with my dad, Steph, and some of our friends.


Me and Caroline (my friend/classmate)


Steve and Mike


Derek and Erin


Steve, Mike, Lindsay and Caroline


My dad could not get enough of the golf course we live on. He borrowed clubs from Steve's friend Derek so he could do some chipping.



My dad and Steph were especially excited about "Cornhole." It's a bean bag toss game that is very popular in the midwest (only the bags are filled with "unpopped popcorn")


An intense competitor

Spring has sprung!!

As much as I like the snow, I was so thrilled to have nice weather this weekend. I went for a run yesterday and today and aside from being incredibly out of shape, it was so enjoyable. Toledo has a bunch of nice metroparks along the muddy waterways in the area that have great trails to run on. Spring also equals the opening of one of my favorite places in Toledo....the GUN BARN, which Caroline and I enjoyed on Saturday. The place is actually called Mr. G's barn and it's a family run ice cream shoppe. However it's barn structure closely resembles this place in Pocatello that sells guns and so it has been appropriately nicknamed the Gun Barn or GB. Our personal favorite is the cone (vanilla ice cream for me and chocolate for caroline) with cherry dip. Perhaps this is one of the reasons I am out of shape.

In other news, I survived my first week of surgery. The hardest part of this rotation is getting up at 4am. I'm having a hard time disciplining myself to go to bed at 10pm (in order to get 6 hours of sleep). As you can see by this post, I'm already late. I got to scrub in on a lot of surgeries this week. The OR is a very intimidating place for a newbie. For the most part, I feel like my hands are just in the way. However, I make a very good human retractor, suctioner and knot tie cutter. For those that haven't heard the story, I passed out on my first case in the OR. Thankfully, things got much better as the week progressed and by Friday I was elbow deep in intestines for 4 hours without the slightly hint of lightheadedness. I did mostly general surgery last week because the trauma service was slow, but I have a feeling there will be more trauma cases this week because the weather is getting nicer.

Trauma Surgery!

Today was my 2nd day of trauma/general surgery. I was assigned to trauma this month but since the past couple of weeks have been relatively slow in the trauma world in Toledo (lucky for the general population, unlucky for me), I'm making friends with the surgery residents to get in on as many general surgery cases as possible. I'm assisting on a laparoscopic cholecystectomy (i.e. gallbladder removal with camera) tomorrow afternoon and am very excited/nervous. Yesterday was pretty slow day and I was a little uneasy about how this rotation was going to go, but today was much better. I did my first trauma consult, made friends with the residents by offering to do one of their general surgery consults (unfortunately for me, it was a consult for a thyroid nodule/mass - not one of my "areas of expertise" - haha like I have any at this point), and did a progress note and some admission orders on a trauma patient that came in last night. In a previous post while I was in the ER, I said something about how I would rather start a shift earlier in order to get off earlier. I may be slightly retracting that statement - this morning I had to be at the hospital (a 20min drive) by 5:20-5:30 this AM for pre-rounds which meant I was kicked out of bed by Steve before 4:30am. That may be a little to early for my liking. Anyways, there's an update and I will try to post something tomorrow about the surgery.

It's the little things that make me happy!!

Because Steve and I don't have kids yet, I have to find other things to blog about. Before I try to force myself to fall asleep, I decided to post the exciting day I have planned for tomorrow!!

How great does this sound....Waking up and spending more than 15min getting ready and putting on REAL clothes to go meet Steve for a lunch date to watch the Zags! Then coming home, cleaning our disasterous house, watching the shows I missed this week online (and commercial free) and then going for a run before cooking dinner. Last but not least, cuddling up with Steve and sleeping at the same time.

I also have to squeeze in some studying time but I didn't want to put it in that last paragraph because it sounded so perfect.

The Night Owl vs. The Early Bird

I finished my LAST overnight shift of my ER rotation at 9am today (well yesterday technically) and because I slept through most of the afternoon, I am now awake at 1:30am. Through a random assignment of the student schedules, I rather unluckily received a lot of night shifts for this month. I did the 6p-6a shift last week and the 9p-9a shift this week. I quickly learned that I am not a night owl - Not because I have a hard time staying awake at 4am, but because being the Type A control freak that I am, I can't stand having my schedule thrown upside down. Getting off at 9am is bizarre - the sun is up, the radio DJs are discussing the winding down of morning commute traffic, and my husband is already at the library beginning his day. It feels unnatural to go home, put on your PJs, wash your face and go to sleep in your partially dark room. Not to mention how weird it is eating a bowl of cereal for "breakfast" at 6pm and lasagna for "dinner" at 4am. Talking to the nurses and physicians who consistently work nights, they love it and say you get used to it, but I've decided I would much rather start at 6am and be done by 6pm. In my opinion, the early bird gets the worm.

ER week 2

This week I'm working the 6pm-6am shift. Tonight is my 3rd night in a row, and then I have a 3 day break!!! The nights are better than I thought they would be. I've been going to bed around 7am and getting up around 2pm. That gives me a few hours to lounge around and get stuff done before going back at 5:30p. Nights in the ER are pretty variable. The first night was really busy and last night was the exact opposite. I had one patient from 3am-6am. Last night I got to suture!! I was so excited. One of the other medical students had actually picked up the chart but he had already sutured before so he let me take it. My patient was a 12yo boy who told me he "cut himself while playing with a knife." Why this boy is playing with knives is a whole other issue but he had a 2cm laceration over the joint of his pinky finger. I got to do a digital block, where you inject lidocaine into the nerves on both sides of the finger in order to anesthesize the whole finger and then I put in 5 stiches. I took me a while but I think they looked pretty good. The kid was really tough and after I was all done he said, "How many times have you done this before." First rule of being a student - you only admit that it was your first time AFTER you are done.

The ER is going better than my first post. The hardest part about this rotation is the adapting to each attending that you are working with. Medicine is so far from black and white and the treatments for some conditions vary depending on the situation. So I could suggest the same treatment for two patients with the same condition to two different attendings and their responses would be completely opposite. You have to learn quickly who likes this particular cocktail for migraine headaches vs. another and who likes one antibiotic for urinary tract infections vs. another because they are both appropriate treatments.

I'm off for day 3. Will post more soon!