Postcards from the Tip of Insanity

Okay so I have about three posts to write today… maybe I’ll get to all three today

Let’s start with the good stuff!

I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving! I spent it with most of the people I love so it was a great day. Coach spent the day with me at my aunt’s house and then at my dad’s family for dessert. He actually got to meet my dad! My dad is an interesting character to say the least. He has his own tax business so he’s broke at this time of year. He lives with his mom. Yes, I know how sad it is to be over 60 and living with your mommy… but that’s my papa and I love him anyway. Dad talked poor Coach to death but he was gracious about it.

My wonderful Coach took me shopping on Friday. Thursday evening he said the words nobody likes to hear “I need to talk to you about something”. I was prepared to hear about how I screwed something up that I didn’t know about. He held up one of my shirts that has a hole in the shoulder and told me how he hates to see me in rags. I was all prepared to get defensive (hell, I am in school and I have NOOOO money) when he tells me… “so I’m taking you shopping on Friday”. It was the sweetest thing ever. He was actually hurt when I didn’t see anything I liked at the first couple of stores. The smile on his face when I started slinging things over my arm was priceless! It wasn’t the fact that he took me shopping that had me thrilled but rather the thought behind it. We had a fabulous day shopping and lunching and just hanging out. He got a gang of stuff for himself too so I didn’t feel as bad about spending up all of his hard earned loot.

Saturday we shopped again (shoes and a new coffee table this time) and then went to one of those “dinner and movie” theaters to see Deja Vu. I hadn’t been to the theater here but I went to a similar place in Dallas. Great movie plus good food plus a wonderful companion made for a perfect Saturday.

Sunday… more shopping. Well some returning of things that didn’t fit or didn’t look as good on as they did in the store… then picked up some more drawers for my stuff (we’re still trying to shove my stuff into our small space).

So needless to say.. I’m pooped and he’s broke!

So I decided not to write about the ER yet… got a bigger fish to fry (as my momma would say). A much more serious issue

I am spending the next month on a Women’s Health rotation. I really enjoy working with women (especially younger women). Men are a little more difficult for me, mostly because I get very little practice because most men hate to go to the doctor (please encourage the men in your life to take care of his health… duck tape and ‘tussin will not cure everything)

I spent yesterday in the Women’s HIV clinic. Enlightening to say the least. It’s sad that 25 years after the first cases of HIV, we are still operating on stereotypes and fear. If you are gay.. HIV is for you. If you do drugs.. HIV is for you. HIV is still the “other people’s” disease despite the fact that YOUNG MINORITY women are the fastest growing population contracting HIV.

Let me draw y’all some pictures:
1. Patient A: 27 year old PREGNANT African American woman who has had HIV for the past 5 years. She does not drink, does not smoke, has never used IV drugs. She was in a monogamous relationship for years when she found out as part of her pre-natal screening. She has all of her teeth, she is not skinny… in other words she does not look like “Pookie”.

2. Patient B: 16 year old African American woman who recently found out she has HIV. She too is pregnant. She was raped at age 14 but this does not seem to be the source of her infection. She has engaged in risky sexual behavior possibly as a reaction to her rape. She is a bright, vibrant young woman .. she does not look like “Pookie”

3. Patient C: 68 year old African American woman. The source of her infection is unknown. She is a grandmother living with HIV and raising her children.

I could go on and on and on about the beautiful young women I met in the clinic yesterday. But what I want you to take home from this is that HIV affects women like me, like my sisters, like my mother, like my grandmother. It is not a punishment, it is an INFECTION. Get tested and like we learned from Diva In Demand GO GET THE RESULTS. If you have someone in your life who is affected by this disease (and we probably all do, whether we know it or not), look out for them, encourage them, help to dispel the myths because you can’t look at a person and tell if they have HIV. If you are having sex with someone other than yourself… get regular STD testing (every 6 months) because you never know!

Wow… can’t believe it’s been this long since I’ve written. Life has been a little busy but that’s no excuse.

I’m mostly all moved in with Coach. Things are wonderful. It is sooooo nice to move as a unit with another person. Not that we don’t have our rounds. We certainly had a row last weekend. He got mad because he was talking to me about something “Important” and I quit talking to him to talk to my guy friend who lives in another city. He got hurt because he felt neglected. The fight didn’t last that long because I understand him and I came to realize that the “important” subject was what upset him. He still has a hard time believing that I am so into his baseball team. He gets scared that he is letting me into the things that are most important to him. Not that he doesn’t think I love him but having somebody support you can be scary.

I’ve also been on a couple interviews for my residency program next year. Two down, seven to go. Liked the first two programs alot but they all seem nice on interview day.

So I figured I would tell you guys a funny. So Coach was at work the other day and he was doing outbound calls [this is at his 2nd job for a HR processing company]. This woman is spelling her name and she does the usual D as in dog etc etc and then she says… K as in cat. Hahaha!!! She was dead serious! That was too much for me. There are some special people in this world

This is my last night in the ER. I have a few stories to share. I promise to do so soon soon soon.