2 Awesome Things

A couple things happened today that totes made my day.

1. I ran into MM on my way to work.

It's tough both being residents and sometimes having completely opposite schedules. BUT, when we're lucky, and those shifts happen to be opposite on a weekend, because I get to go into work an hour later, MM and I will run into each other by the elevator in our building, and we have a quick hug/kiss/howareyou in the hall.

Michelle Au talked about this public rendez-vous between her and her husband doc in her book This Won't Hurt A Bit.

Fun read. Buy it here.

Who would have thought an extra five minutes could be so crucial??

2. An attending doctor got distracted by my ring.

I was casually talking to a consultant today, and mid-sentence, he points to my left hand and exclaims, "Whoa-ho!! Look at THAT!" I blush and thank him, adding that my wonderful fiance picked it out himself.

Attending: Well it's beautiful!
Me: Thank you!
Senior resident: Yes, and her fiance is a resident too.
Attending: Well does he rob banks on the side??
Me: Not that I'm aware!

So good job, MM! This baby is getting attention from everybody!!

Yay! What little things make your day?

Venue Hunt: Thank Goodness for Google Maps

Because MM and I didn't have a strong preference for a particular day for our wedding, we figured we would start by finding a venue we liked, and scheduling the wedding around that.

Not being very familiar with wedding venues around Chicago, I've turned to the Interwebz to help start my search. From a variety of sites (I'll go into this later), I've managed to put together a decent sized list of places to choose from. But we can't very well drive around to all 10+ places, can we?? I was looking for a way to narrow down our list in attempt to save time, gas money, and consequently, our sanity.

Enter Google Maps.

That little orange man is a God send.

I typed in the name and location of one of my prospective venues into maps.google.com, and clicked "Street View". Lo and behold, this is what pops up across from said venue:

In case anybody forgets a wedding present?

Say whaaaa?? Call me a snoot, but I'd rather not gaze out the window of venue on my wedding day and see a Home Depot. Just sayin. Cross that one off the list!

Oh, and it gets better. Next venue I type in, and scroll around to see what's across the street:

Cue all the "Wedding = Life over" jokes, guys

O_O. UM, NO. Weddings + Dead people = NO THANKS.

So the hunt continues!! Any other helpful recommendations for wedding venue searching?

Things I did today

1. My first dictation summary. ("The, ummm...patient...um....had......")

2. My first chest compressions in a code. And the guy had ROSC AKA came back to life!! I am told this doesn't happen very often.

3. Made beer can chicken.

Things I didn't do today:

1. Wedding planning.

That's okay, I have time, right??

Wedding Planning: First things first!

Okay, so that last post was decidedly un-wedding-y.  On a brighter note, MM and I have decided on the length of our engagement!

As soon as we got engaged, we got barraged with the typical series of questions: "When is the big day??" "What are your wedding colors??" "Are you going to hire David Tutera??"

(Okay, so that last one was really only one particular wedding-show-obsessed friend.)

Well, with our crazy medical resident schedules, and having to request a full year's worth of vacations about a year in advance, we aren't able to tack down one particular day just yet. But we have an approximation!

2 years!

O_O <-- that is the usual look we get after we say this. But 2 years makes sense to us. It gives me enough time to plan a wedding during residency, and gives all of MM's family some time to relax after a busy wedding season next year (FOUR total!!)!

Is a two year engagement really that crazy??

Intern Year: My first death pronouncement.

Sleep inertia: it's that feeling of haze and sluggishness that lasts for up to thirty minutes after being awoken from sleep.

It's exactly what I feel during my first week of intern year, one night at 3:00 AM on the phone with my senior resident.

"Hello?" I try not to sound too groggy.

"Have you ever done a death pronouncement before?" My senior resident also sounds very sleepy.

"No..."

"Well we're going to do one. Meet me on the third floor."

In the hospital, when someone dies, a doctor needs to examine the patient, make sure they have indeed passed away, then pronounce the death and call the family and the patient's primary doctor. A very emotionally grueling role, one that can be made even more agonizing if the room is filled with sobbing/yelling/crying family members.

For better or for worse, this patient is alone. She was already on hospice, meaning it was already decided by her and her family that her care would focus primarily on comfort, rather than curing or treating her illness. It was only a matter of time.

When my senior resident and I reach the room, she is laying in bed, her eyes closed and mouth wide open. My senior nods at me, encouraging me to start the exam. He had coached me on our way to her room, First you have to check her responsiveness. Say her name, touch her arm. Next, listen to her heart and lungs. You shouldn't hear anything. Check her pulse. You shouldn't feel anything. Open her eyes and check her pupils. And that's it. Write a note, then start making calls.

It was eerie. In medical school, they teach you to listen for heart beats, listen for breath sounds. With all our work with cadavers in anatomy class, it never really prepared me for the silence I hear when I place my stethoscope on this woman's chest. My senior helps me by opening her eyes so I can check her pupils. I have never been one who advocates that Oh, the soul is in the eyes, but as I stare into the blackness of her pupils with my penlight, I see nothing but emptiness staring back.

I did not know this woman, but there is still something gut wrenching about having to declare her "Deceased". As though if I didn't put it into writing, it could somehow be reversed. I sign my note.

My senior, who thankfully took the duty of making the phone calls to her family and doctor, mouths something to me as he is dialing. "Don't forget the paperwork."

I feel zombie-like as I take the sheet of paper from the nurse, and again reiterate the details. Time of death: 0300.

As I check boxes, I wonder how this experience could be different if it had happened during the day. Maybe under the cloak of night, death seems a twinge more macabre. I finish signing my name. No, I decide, it probably makes no difference.

I go back to my call room. Lie in the bed with the hospital sheets and hospital blankets, the same sheets and blankets that cover the patients' beds. They used to smell sterile. Now they smell a little like death. I fall asleep anyway.

Two hours later, when I wake up, I am a little less groggy. And, what do you know, my sheets smell sterile again.

The One with the Proposal (Part 2)

So we had gotten to the morning of our third day in Vegas. We had one more night, and I had been told that I had to pack up allllll my things and that I was being "sent" somewhere that morning.

It turns out that "somehwhere" was the Bellagio salon! MM had booked me a surprise manicure!! (Collective "awww"....NOW!) You can see where my crazy girl-brain was going with all this. Even my manicurist asked "...so is he going to propose??" ("I don't want to jinx it." I had replied.)

So I come out of my manicure with some pretty french tips, and I am ready to find out what this whole packing business was about. MM meets me in the lobby, and asks me to accompany him to our new room.

...And by room, I mean PENTHOUSE SUITE.

This photo absolutely does not do it justice, but I didn't want to bore you with real estate.

Yes, it had a living and dining area, wet bar, 2 and a HALF BATHROOMS, a sauna in the shower, and a bidet! (If you've never tried a bidet, it's....interesting.) AND to top it all off, from the 30th floor, we had the perfect view of the Bellagio fountains. ZOMG, I was over the moon.

How awesome is this view??

MM has the biggest grin on his face, and says "I think Vegas should be full of surprises."

After I have sufficiently played in every room (yes, I am that person that opens every drawer. Is that weird?), MM suggests that we have dinner in the room tonight, because of our fantabulous view. "But we should still dress up," he adds, maybe when he sees my crestfallen face at the idea of just eating in our PJs. What can I say, I am a girl who likes getting dolled up.

Our fancy duds weren't completely out of place, though--where else does room service provide you with a tablecloth, fresh flowers, and a bread basket?? Oh, and the steaks were restaurant quality as well. Highly recommended for your next penthouse stay ;)

All dressed up

A shoddy picture of our delicious room service fare

So as we ate dinner, we enjoyed the beautiful Bellagio fountain shows, scheduled for every fifteen minutes until midnight.

*Sigh* I love these fountains

Well, about halfway through dinner, the fountains broke. MM and I waited patiently for them to restart, but even upon finishing our meals, still no shows. MM called down to the front desk to inquire, and was given the flimsy answer of: "Oh, it's pretty windy. There might be another show in fifteen minutes." Another thirty minutes pass. No show. I am starting to get frustrated that we can't enjoy our view to its fullest potential, when MM just sighs and says, "Well, let's just do something else, then, but let's enjoy the view down the strip at least, for a little bit longer. Come join me at the window."

So I get up, and I face the window, with MM behind me. "So this has been a really great three and a half years with you," he starts. And my mind just starts swimming. My girl-brain thinks of something appropriate to do or say, and it comes up with Finding Nemo. Yes, you read correctly. During my proposal, I started rambling about a PIXAR MOVIE. I stammer about the crabs in Finding Nemo for a couple minutes before MM gives me a look that says "Can I finish please??"

He continues with what I can only assume is a very romantic speech about our relationship (because I was so overwhelmed I can't remember a single thing after the Finding Nemo bit).....and as I am still facing the window, I see his reflection in the plate glass window take a step back, then get down on one knee.

I turn, and he is holding up the most gorgeous ring I could have ever imagined. "Will you marry me?" And after several seconds of bawling (yes, not just crying, but BAWLING) and fanning myself, I manage to make out "YES!!"

And this is our obligatory immediately-post-proposal picture (with champagne we had promptly ordered from room service):

Deliriously happy

Obligatory night-of ring pic

And we both lived happily ever after!




....o wait, isn't there something that comes before?? Up next: wedding planning!

The One with the Proposal

Let me start from the beginning. The beginning was about 3 years ago. MM and I had been dating for a few months at this point, and we wanted to take a vacation during our school break. We had decided on Las Vegas, seeing as how it fit nicely within our budget. It was wonderful--we stayed in Paris, watched the Beatles Cirque du Soleil show LOVE, and in front of the Bellagio fountains, MM told me he loved me for the first time. (Okay, everybody gag....NOW!)

MM in front of the Bellagio Fountains during one of the nightly shows

So when it came time to plan our vacation this year, again with a tight budget, we decided to do Las Vegas again! I was thrilled--there was so much more of Vegas I hadn't seen! So many places I had yet to stay! So many shows I had yet to watch! (And so on and so forth.)

We had found a FANTASTIC deal for the MGM Grand ($69/night, thanks to Vegas.com), which I was perfectly happy with. MM suggested that we stay for three nights, and that he would plan the first and third nights, and I could plan the second. MM decided on In-and-Out Burger and the Jabbawockeez for the first night, and I had suggested Bobby Flay's Mesa Grill and Cirque du Soleil's Zumanity for the second night. MM refused to tell me what he had planned for the third night, which should have been my first hint....

So fast forward a few months: MM and I arrive at the Las Vegas airport. I am telling him we need to figure out how to get to the MGM Grand, and ask him if there is a shuttle. MM says he will figure it out. We come down the escalators, and lo and behold, there is a suited gentleman with a sign with MM's name on it.

I am confused. "Is this the shuttle driver?" I ask, as the man takes our suitcases and leads us outside. MM has a cryptic smile on his face.

Outside, my confusion is replaced with surprise as I see where the driver is headed.

"You got us a LIMO?!?!" I shriek. (I'm sure the driver is just listening to our conversation, bemused.)

MM smiles and motions for me to get in. So I do. And I marvel at all the little amenities inside said limo, disregarding all the little signs that say "Bellagio" on it...Then we pull into the Bellagio driveway. Once again, I am confused.

"Wait, are we still going to the MGM Grand?" (I'm sure at this point, the driver thinks I am mentally handicapped.)

"No, silly. I decided to upgrade us to the Bellagio!" And upgrade us, he did. As soon as we arrived, a bellhop was there to pick up our suitcases. Yet another suited gentleman hands MM an envelope: "Your itinerary for the stay, sir."

We are ushered past the checkout lines and through an unmarked door. Inside, is a private concierge desk, and a spread of pastries, wine, and beverages like I have never seen at a hotel check-in. Still unsure of what is going on, I sit on the couch in this VIP room in a half-daze as MM checks us in.

MM tells me, "I talked to my cousin, and he got us this VIP service. Unfortunately, I couldn't get us an upgrade for our room, so we're just in a standard."

Are you kidding me?? I don't need an upgrade, I'm in the Bellagio, baby!!!! This is what I am thinking, but I am still in shock, so I just mumble my understanding and follow him up to our "standard" room. Which was still pretty damn nice.

So we spend our time enjoying the Bellagio pool during the day, and entertaining ourselves on the strip at night.

Jabbawockeez stage

Us at Mesa Grill

After our delicious dinner at Mesa Grill, MM gives me a serious look. "Okay, so tomorrow morning, I want you to pack up all your things, and I am sending you somewhere."

I try to get more out of him than this, but he is tight lipped. I am suspicious, but the next morning, I do as he asks and pack up my entire suitcase...

....and the next part will have to wait for the next post!