Who will be the next America's Next Top Model?

Sorry for the delay in posts. It has been a few crazy days and I haven't had access to internet. There should be two posts going up today, this being the first.

As you should know, from now on there will be a "Sam Time" section within my blog. He has really taken to blogging with me and, since he cannot blog with me about the medical work that I do, we decided to create his own section. This section will be word for word what Sam says.

Sam Time
Dear World, 


Today I went and swam with Poppop. 

*End of Sam Time*

The end of last week was definitely interesting. We saw a wide range of patients and ailments. One of the things that I found I enjoyed more then I thought was dealing with little babies, most of which were around a year old. Going into medicine there were a couple things that I knew. I didn't want to be an OBYGN or a pediatrician. After the last few days, I've decided that if I could be a pediatrician who only worked with patients between the ages of 1 month to 3 years. I would do it in a heart beat. Most of them do not speak and they just sit there and act cute. Even when they cry and carry on, I don't seem to mind. One thing I cannot stand, which comes with this territory, is the parents. Many of them worry too much and freak out over little things. Perhaps I don't understand that because I am not yet a parent (thank God) but it just seems to get under my skin. It's also incredibly easy to tell the difference between first-time and second-time parents. The first-time parents freak out, they are so nervous that something horrible is going to happen to their child when they bump into anything or breathe.  Second-time parents on the other hand, pretty much only bring their child in if they're afraid the child might actually die. It's a stark contrast.

One particular patient that really hit home for me was Patient 21. Patient 21 is a thirteen year old female that weighs 249 pounds. From what her mother tells us, she is on a mainly carbohydrate diet and drinks a lot of "pop" or if you're from the East coast, soda. Her mother expressed to Dr. Zook and myself that she was very concerned about her daughter's weight and that she knows her daughter needs to do something. The mother did this in a way that was relatively demeaning and embarrassing for the daughter. At this point, the daughter then asked for the mother to leave the room. Dr. Zook and I tried to explain to the patient that we know it's hard but there has to be something different that she's doing. She gained 12 pound in the three months since her last visit. We suspected emotional eating to be the culprit. Patient 21 shut down. Dr. Zook asked the patient how she felt about herself and in her body. The patient responded that she hated herself. Being a girl who has struggled with her body image and weight her entire life, this was really hard to watch. These are the types of young ladies I feel the need to help. I can completely empathize with despising how you feel in your own skin. I've personally come a long way and even I have slip ups from time to time. It was clear that this girl was horribly depressed and miserable. The first piece of advice that we gave her was to start thinking of things that she liked about herself. Dr. Zook and I told her things that we, as outsiders, thought were wonderful about her. The girl showed no desire to open up. I have thought about her everyday since and am really concerned for her because I know how difficult that can be.

Patient 27 was definitely one of my more interesting patients. She is a 28 year old female that suffers from severe panic attacks and chronic pancreatitis. Pancreatitis is the inflammation of the pancreas. The pancreas produces enzymes that help digestion and hormones that help regulate the way the body processes glucose. Symptoms include upper abdominal pain, indigestion, sudden weight loss, and oily smelly stools (steatorrhea). It is typically treated by fasting, pain medications, and intravenous fluids. This patient had been put on a high pain regiment and claimed that she was put on Suboxone in order to get off of the opiate drugs. This was a little fishy considering people only go on Suboxone if they are addicts, and this particular woman seemed as if she was high. She also asked for "nerve pills" which in Kentuckian speak means Xanax or Klonopin. If this wasn't crazy enough, the following scenario happened. I had to go to the bathroom so Dr. Zook headed into the patient's room before I done. After I was done, I knocked on the door and entered the room. As soon as I entered, this patient's eyes grew really wide and she said, "I know you!". I looked at her and replied, "I'm pretty sure that you don't considering I'm not from around here." She looked perplexed and responded with, "No! I definitely know you from somewhere." I responded that I thought she had me confused with another person. Then her eyes widened again and she looked shocked. She said, "You're the girl who won that last America's Next Top Model!" I had to press my tongue to the top of my mouth to contain my laughter. I am 5'9" and weigh close to 200 pounds...... she had to be on something in order to think that I was the previous winner of America's Next Top Model. She was so adamant about this, she grabbed me by the arm and pulled me out into the waiting room to show her mom. She asked her mom who I looked like and her mom said she didn't know. The girl proceeded to state that I looked like the girl from America's Next Top Model and her mom said "Yea.... right..." Then mouthed the words "I'm sorry". As the girl walked out the door, she screamed "YOU'RE BEAUTIFUL!" Although it was one of the crazier things that has happened to me at the clinic, it was certainly the most flattering.

Until Next TIme,
~Wacko Jacko~