So many good things (and some not so good) happened in 2013. But I didn't write about them. I am not sure why. I meant to. I had so many titles in my head but apparently nothing else followed. I don't have any excuses at all but feel that I cannot "move on" to this year's thoughts till I say something about last year. I do not want to be like Terry Tempest William's mom and leave a bunch of blank journals (or blog pages) for posterity. Read her book "When women were birds" and you will get what I am talking about. So here are the highlights.
Your parents have sex, get over it!
I had a lot of time during the first few months of 2013 to think about stuff and this is one of the titles of a post I didn't write. In January I had an MRI and had shoulder surgery in February - right after Kseniya and I, with some other friends, did our annual Austin marathon. I had surgery one day after getting home from Austin and spend 6 weeks sleeping downstairs on the recliner in a Lortab haze, watching late night TV when I couldn't sleep and making sure the basement spiders didn't get me. I couldn't bring myself to watch all of "The girl with the dragon tattoo" even though I read the books. The rape scene was too brutal. To be bipartisan, I watched both Fox News and MSNBC. To keep from getting addicted to Lortab, I watched Nurse Jackie. I also, like half the rest of the world, got hooked on Breaking Bad. I did not get hooked on Lortab, thanks to the nausea and itching.
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| K and I during the Austin 1/2. My boobs in this picture may appear larger than actual size. |
I couldn't run. I couldn't knit and I could barely wipe my own butt. Of course it was my right arm that was surgerized. I guess not having sex because of my arm situation and sleeping on the couch made me realize how mad I was about people making fun of anyone over 50 who even thought of sex. My grown children will not like the heading of this paragraph any more than they like the idea of parents having sex or I liked the idea of my parents having sex, but actually my parents quit having sex or even sleeping together when I was about ten. My dad was an in an accident and things went to shit between them. It was about this time my mom began referring to my dad as "Jesus Christ, Ray". My mom told me once that my dad was "a wham bam thank you ma'am sort of lover. I did not need to hear that. She seemed to tell me a lot of things I did not need to hear, the older she got. Same with my dad and his WWII stories. But they had to get them out I think.
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| I couldn't run but I could get my hair cut...in an effort to find the perfect hairdo. That was not it. That was not it at all. |
My arm got back to normal and I got back to running and knitting and vowed to not let my left arm wear out. In the general scheme of things, this surgery was no big deal. Nor was the one I had later on my left eardrum that blew up again for the third time. I woke up after that surgery insisting that the nurses in recovery look at my tattoo.
Put the lime in the coconut and mix them both together....doctor.....is there nothing I can take I said doctor...to relieve this belly ache....
Our son Dan graduated from medical school and became a doctor. Just like that...or more like 4 years of undergrad, one year of graduate school and then 4 years of medical school. We all went to Rockford - except Bill and Scarlett and Des who had started their world travels and were somewhere in Spain or Budapest. Bruce's siblings or at least two of them and their spouses surprised him and came to the graduation. Alcohol was involved as it is in many of our family gatherings. No harm was done and we had a great time and even went to a cubs game. Finally I will have to admit my baby is grown up. Wait, no I don't. Sorry Dan but the youngest will always be the baby no matter what. I wanted to give him advice but I didn't. Here's what I would have said:
"Don't ever forget to listen to your patients. You have a lot of modern equipment to evaluate your patients but they will always tell you what they have if you just look at them and listen to them and for God's sake, touch them. All my old people friends complain about being written off, like they don't matter anymore cause they are old and people think they don't have sex (okay I just put that one in there cause I wanted to mention sex one more time). They want to be touched with a stethoscope or patted on the back or anything to let them know they still matter and they are still alive. Also know you will be hurt and go home from work hurt - both by the rudeness of other professionals and the patients who don't appreciate what you do for them. You will be bothered and haunted by patients that you will remember forever. Some will die and you will blame yourself. Since you are human, you will make mistakes and those mistakes can kill someone but probably will not be the ultimate cause of their death. So just do your best, double check everything and listen to the inner voice. In the ER it is so easy to be in a hurry cause the next patient is always waiting. Don't let stuff go to your head either. Remember always that you were once a student. Listen to the nurses - some will save your ass and a few unfortunately will hang you out to dry. But you are a team and no one person saves a life - it takes a village (thanks Hillary). Take care of yourself though cause no one else will. Remember too...that the dirty person lying there swearing at you is someones mom, dad, sis, brother, etc. When people yell it usually isn't about you.
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| The Thomas clan minus Billy, Scarlet and Des :( We missed them. |
That same month Billy graduated from Washington University with an MBA. He was in Barcelona so didn't attend...nor did we. We are proud of his accomplishments too. I guess I would have the same advice for him - and for Kseniya. Do your best, touch people, and remember not to take the blame for other people's bad behavior. Be nice to old people.
In late June I went to Michigan to see my sis. We represented all of our missing relatives at the annual Bob Lake picnic and the pre picnic trip to the Rousseau Bar. It was sadly the last time I would see the wonderful dog, Willi - later this year he joined Jackie in heaven and also his beloved Siggie. Also the last time I would see and argue with Mama Meese who I wrote about in an earlier post. Willi, as Siggie always said, had a kind face and loved all his cat friends.
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| The traditional Rousseau Bar stop |
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| At Bob Lake...We only stayed a little while and then ran off to the casino where I got lucky and by that I mean I won. |
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| Willi and Mama Meese |
Dan started his first day of er residency, with his big sis to see him off and take the "first day of school" pictures.
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| First day of residency - looking hopeful and ready to save lives. |
Thus ended the first part of the year and all the good things worth remembering....and many more that I have not mentioned.
Stay tuned for part 2, which will be titled "2013 part 2: The truth isn't always a clear cow.
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