Close Call

Yesterday started out like any other call day. I woke up early, got ready, made sure I had my call bag ready, and kissed my sleeping husband good bye. The prior night it had snowed and the side streets were not plowed, but once I was on the freeway the roads were plowed and clear.

I'm currently rotating at HCMC (Hennepin County Medical Center) in downtown Minneapolis. During the week I take a different route than I took yesterday morning. The 94 freeway has the worst traffic and even though it is a slightly shorter distance, during the week it takes longer than my preferred route. Howevever, it was 7am on a Saturday and I knew traffic on 94 was not going to be a problem.

The road was well plowed and I was moving along with the flow of traffic. I was driving in the far right outside lane. When 94 crosses the Mississippi River, the outside lane turns into an "exit only" lane for the next exit. I had forgotten this so as soon as I saw the sign I tried to get over to the other lane. I checked the next lane over but a car was there and I couldn't get over. However, when I looked back straight ahead I realized the lane I was in was no longer plowed.

Well I was going way too fast for a non-plowed road and I lost control of my car. It was terrifying as I felt my car swerve to the left and then back to right and then the next thing I knew my car was pointed in the opposite direction of traffic. I felt so helpless as my car was sliding and scared that I would either crash into the side of the bridge (there is no shoulder) or get hit by a car in another lane. Well neither happened. And by some miracle all the cars I had been riding with continued along and during the slide I was the only car on that part of the road. As soon as my car stopped, I saw a couple cars coming toward me but I had enough distance to turn my car around and continue to the hospital.

I was definitely shaken up by this experience. My heart was pounding and I was literally shaking all over. After I had parked my car in the parking garage I had to walk down the stairs and my knees were shaking so hard it was difficult to walk.

I have been in a couple fender-benders but have been fortunate enough to never have been involved in a big accident. Well, I thought for a split second that Saturday was going to be my first. I think it is a miracle that nothing happened and we (my car and I) drove away physically unharmed. Next time I pray thanking our Heavenly Father that John and I were able to travel to and from work and school safely, this phrase will have new meaning!!

My Valentine's Day Tradition

I was on call Friday night at the hospital. During my call night earlier this week I was able to get to sleep by midnight. I didn't sleep very well though because I was cold and also kept waking up about every 40-60 minutes worried I was going to sleep in and not hear my alarm. I also had dreams my pager kept going off. Well Friday one of my patients was really sick and I was up until 4:45 getting things set up for her. I went straight up to my call room as soon as I could so I could get at least 2 hours before I had to wake up again. I double checked my alarm on my phone (I actually set 3 alarms on my phone) then fell asleep.

Well, I did not wake up once and slept really well. My pager went off before my phone did and I thought it was odd but then I realized I felt too rested to have had less than 2 hours of sleep. I looked at the time and it said 8:55! I was being paged because I wasn't there for rounds! My phone accidently was turned to silent. This was so bad. Here I worked so hard all week to make a good impression on my team then I sleep through rounds. I returned the page and it was the nephrology fellow telling me where I could meet up with the rest of the team. I was so frazzled that my presentation about my patient was probably disjointed and I hadn't been able to see her that morning or check on her morning labs. This was a horrible start to Feb. 14. Fortunately my resident was so nice about it. I still don't know what the attending thought about it. Oh well... I finished up my work and notes and left the hospital a little after 11:00 am.

I came home to a clean house and a dozen beautiful roses sitting on my kitchen table. It was a nice welcome home especially after my nightmare morning. John had a couple wedding consultations but was home shortly after. We hung out for a couple hours checking email and doing nothing. Although I had inadvertently slept 2 extra hours, I still had only slept for 4 hours and I was exhausted. So we went upstairs for a nap. This was probably my favorite part of the day.

My roses

I worked as a waitress for probably 7 years before going to medical school. John and I worked together at Outback for the first 2 years we were married. Valentine's Day is the busiest day of the year in restaurants and NOBODY ever gets the day off. So we officially hate (strong word but I mean it) going out on Valentine's Day. So our first year not working in the restaurant business (3 years ago) we had no desire to go out to eat. I had class late and came home to a wonderful meal John had cooked for me. It was a total surprise. He had grilled Filet Mignon and garlic shrimp with balsamic asparagus on the side. The food was better than restaurant food. And of course a dozen roses waiting for me on the table again. He had also made me a playlist of music to listen to during dinner. It was the best Valentine's Day and so romantic. The next year (last year) I came home to find the same thing.

Well this year John told me it was my turn to host Valentine's Day. I told him I was going to be post-call so I wasn't going to have much energy to do much. I was thinking about doing take-out from our favorite Indian restaurant or something. Well, when I woke up from my nap, John had the same dinner all ready to cook. He is the best. So I guess we've created a tradition that we will carry on every year.

Our delicious dinner. Good work hubs! You are the best!

Also, I just bought new glasses! I'm excited about them since I've had the same pair since John and I were first married.

This is my "I'm post-call, don't have make-up on , but I love you anyway so yes you can try out your lighting" look.

So, do you have any Valentine's Day Traditions? What is your favorite Valentine's Day memory? I would love to hear...