Thank you all for your response to my last post! I was really super-excited about the news. And as an addendum to that, I found out where I'll be for the next 4 years of my life.

*drumroll*

I'm staying right here at MCW! I'm super happy 'cause it was my top choice. I love it here, the program has a great reputation (I believe it was ranked #5 in the nation just a few years ago), I'm gonna be able to learn a lot, especially about pediatric anesthesiology. I'll be close to home, I won't have to move far from my current place, and I'm getting a sweet salary, especially compared to cost of living here. All in all, only positive things about my residency spot. So happy!

All my friends are looking forward to getting out of here, but not me. Midwest is best!

I'm back from Shanghai! Actually, I've been back for almost exactly 1 week now but since I started my Internal Medicine sub-internship the day after I got back, I've been really busy and jet-lagged since. And I have to work weekends so it's not like I can catch up then. So, here I am, writing a quick post while at work.

Anyway, I've missed a lot while I was in China because of the crappy Internet connection I had at my hotel. But it's not like I had a lot of sit-in-my-hotel-room-and-do-nothing moments; I was always out, eating, shopping, partying, etc. But still, I've missed my Arashi fixes and on my online friends. And there is no way I'm gonna be able to catch up on a month's worth of news, so if I have missed something important or just particularly interesting in your life, please tell me!

On my end, Match Week starts next Monday. So I'll find out whether I have somewhere to go in July or need to spend a week begging any program to take me by 11AM on Monday. I'm trying not to think too much about it 'cause if I do, I'll probably go into a panic attack. I'm fully prepared to scramble but I still want to cling to the hope that some program will just take me. Wish me luck!

Shanghai hijinks posts to come, once I have more time and can organize my thoughts.

I've missed both Aiba's b-day and Christmas, but I still wanna wish everyone a happy holiday season. I hope you all got lots of good food and presents, and spent quality time with friends and family.

And now that I've got my entire LJ imported here to DW, I'm gonna spend more time here. I will go back and read the most recent posts of all my new friends (HI FRIENDS! *waves*) and catch up a little. But not now because it's 2AM and I'm about to pass out.

An small intro post to come, for those that did not know me back on LJ.

This is my high school, ladies and gents:



Once I have some money, I think I'll donate.

Now the fan on my laptop is broken. I think my laptop is slowly dying, one piece at a time. And now I'm trying to find a replacement fan assembly for cheap, and getting one of my friends to help replace it for me. Gah, like I need this right now! Nothing in my life is going right.

You know that 9-hour exam I took about a month ago? I passed! *does happy dance* Yay, I don't have to quit med school. I didn't do as well as I would have liked but it wasn't horrible, either. So I'll just be happy and relieved for now and focus on the next exam.

Also got an interview offer for an Anesthesia residency yesterday. Double-yay!

I also finally got to see an open heart surgery today. It was surprisingly uneventful, which was good for both the patient, surgeons and anesthesiologists. And it turned out that even as a student on Anesthesia this month, I am not safe from pimping from attending surgeons. But I managed to answer all the questions correctly so I didn't look too stupid. W00t!

And one of my residents told me that my attending has been hearing really good things about me, and chances are, I will get a good letter of recommendation from this rotation. Also, got let out by 3:30 today, which was awesome!

So yeah, it's been a good week.

On the flip side, I've missed dinner for the past 3 days 'cause I've just been so exhausted by the time I get home that I just pass out at like 6 PM. And since I rarely eat breakfast because I'm always rushing to the hospital really early, there are times, like today, where I'm standing during a 6-hour surgery with no food in my system for over 24 hours. Not good for my health, I'm sure.

Survived my first night on call. Started with daily rounds, a day of lectures in the morning, followed by a quick H&P on a laboring patient. Then I went to my 3-hour surgery that ended up being a 6-hour surgery. And I discovered that my shoes give me good support for the first 4 hours or so, but after that, I can no longer avoid the pain in my low back and knees. When the case ended at 7 PM, I finally got to grab lunch. Yes, lunch. 'Cause I hadn't had anything to eat or drink since 9 AM.

After inhaling my burger, I had to run down to see my post-op patient again 'cause she was complaining of intense calf pain. While I was there, I missed an emergency C-section, which made me pretty disappointed. But I did eventually get to assist in a vaginal delivery, where I helped the baby come out, and then I got to deliver the placenta. That was around midnight. Got to get some shut-eye around 1:20 but got woken up at 2 AM for a consult. Went back to bed at 3 AM and woke up around 4:45 to check up on patients, pre-round, write notes. Barely got to rounds at 6:45, finished rounding by 7:50. Home by 8:10. The only good thing about being on call is the post-call day. I'm gonna nap like there's no tomorrow.

Goodnight.

I just did my first friends cut since I got this journal. So it's been well over 7 years of me just adding people and never keeping track of it.

The reasons for my cuts were pretty straight-forward. I cut people who have not posted anything in >1 year, who have not commented on any of my posts and/or vice versa, and who I honesty think have left LJ forever and completely forgot they even had an LJ. Most of who I cut are RL friends who have not posted in, oh, 3 years or so.

If you feel that I have cut you unfairly, tell me and I'll add you back. If you have been waiting for this opportunity to cut me as well, I won't be offended.