Frozen Eyelashes

My day started off with a brisk walk to work in -20 degree weather. Turns out that runny nose + tearing eyes + frosty tundra weather = bad. My eyelashes were heavy with miniscule icicles at the conclusion of my 15 minute jaunt. My layers and layers of clothing served me well, and I was not that cold on the walk in (to be clear: long underwear bottoms, pants, snow pants, Sorel boots with smart wool socks, long sleeve shirt, sweater, coat, tight hat, wooly hat, glove liners and goose down mittens. I am a walking REI advertisement). It did take me an extra 15 min to unpeel the layers, replace my sweaty underlayers with appropriate dry clothing, and make myself presentable for work.

Day 1 of round 2 was a big rough. Since today is MLK day, all the admin and clinic staff had the day off. This meant that I did not have a pager, access codes to the computers, or a wad of Bethel money (looks like monopoly money but is legit to pay for cabs around here) waiting for me upon my arrival. The holiday also meant that whereas normally a first day on the wards consists of the 2 off-going docs helping the 2 on-coming docs for the first half of the day, today my partner in crime and I were all alone to fend for ourselves.

I forgot how flustering it can be working on the wards here. I am constantly being pulled in a million directions: RMT calls, Ob patients in triage, Ob patients admitted in labor, floor patients needing a multitude of things, etc etc. It is a feat just to finish one task without interruption. So far the census is definitely a bit higher than in September, but not scarily so (yet). There are a lot more patients with respiratory disease (a few active TBs, lots of pneumonia, asthma exacerbations, chest tubes to deal with), and a lot of infants with fevers.

It is nice to see some familiar friendly faces. Everyone says, "Wow! You came back! In the winter!" I can see why the winter is not a big draw for out of towners. It really is a whole different beast this time of year. Sun rise is about 10:30 am and sunset is.... well, not sure yet. definitely before I leave the hospital. I'll have to take note of that tomorrow. Somehow noticing the sunset wasn't high on the priority list (definitely below eating and urinating which didn't happen all too much today).

I'm feeling a little drained (though better after a warm bowl of beans, couscous, salsa, and cheddar cheese - thanks, Trader Joe's Seattle!). The chocolate chip cookies I made before I left and lovingly tucked away in a tupperware helped too. My milk ice cube is almost thawed. I should have left it out a little last night but was too tired to think of it. This morning when I went to get milk for my cereal, only the top 1 cm of milk was defrosted. I poured that layer out onto my cereal whilst holding the giant milk ice cube in place with my other hand.

As I said, it's a whole other beast out here. Takes some creativity. And definitely more sleep. Speaking of...