Swimming anyone?

Decided to try to get in some sort of shape. Knees hurt when I run, ass hurts when I ride a bike. Golf doesn't count. Can't play tennis consistently enough. Since Blake has joined a swim team, figured would give that a try. Has anyone ever drowned swimming laps? Instead of sucking wind, was sucking water. The lifeguard was keeping a watchful eye on me. I think she was ignoring the toddler diving into the deep end. Did I look that bad? Do they make floaties my size?

Me? ADD?

I know I work fast in surgery- but didn't realize how fast until the other day. Had a couple of cases cancel so mentioned to the staff I was going golfing for the afternoon. They then proceed to imitate me playing golf- sprint to the first tee, swing, sprint to the ball, hit, etc, etc. Kind of funny to watch. Although in retrospect, I run at a pretty high pace during surgery. The slightest misstep gets me irritated. Guess its a product of my training- Dr. Austin used to say "PAUSE, PAUSE" every time we mishandled even a single stitch enforcing that every wasted motion was inefficient. Of course as a result, my times are a full hour shorter than anyone else doing the same cases, which I think translates into fewer patient complications. I just wonder how that is translating into my personal life? Can anyone say "minute man"?

Developed new found respect for my old attendings today. Our new partner is learning robotic surgery. She was doing laparoscopic surgery prior to joining us but we are trying to get her up to speed on robotic assisted laparoscopy. Kind of tough for her to catch up since Hector and I have done over 350 cases. Was letting her do a case on one of my patients today while I sat and guided her through the surgery. Its one thing to have patience and teach someone on a patient you don't know (I instruct and proctor on other physicians learning robotic surgery) but an entirely different thing when it is your patient. The hardest thing is I feel like I made a commitment to the patient that they would get the best care- they came to me because I am an expert in robotic surgery. Its not that Robyn is a bad surgeon- far from it. Its just that she is nowhere near as fast or good as Hector and I are. I still can't believe how my former attendings could stand there and let us fellows and residents do those cases and make the mistakes we had to make to learn along the way. For those not in the medical field, this sounds scary but that is the way every physician learns- there is no substitute for hands on practice. Have two more similar cases tomorrow that Hector wants me to let her do. I think I'll have to do half of them myself just to keep the case going, plus maybe she can learn something by watching the way I do it. I know she feels frustrated as well, she says she can do the surgery in half the time with traditional laparoscopic surgery and she probably can. I said the same things when I started. However, once you get really good at robotics there isn't anything you can't tackle and you don't get any better without practice.

On a different note- had a 19yo patient the other day that has a rare tumor. How do you convince her and her family to go along with your recommended plan when you aren't even convinced? They want survival percentages and chances that things will work- there just aren't any good randomized trials with tumors this rare that one can point to and say "this is what you need to do". The best I can do is offer by best opinion (guess) and hope for the best.

Weekend fun

Took Blake to play golf this weekend- that's what is nice about being a member at the club. I don't have to feel like I have to play all 18 holes just because I paid for them. Since we pay a monthly rate, can play as many holes as Blake wants to and when he gets tired, we go home. He is getting really good at golf- most of his shots go a good 20-30 yards. Of course he also has to practice driving the golf cart- just not over any bridges between 2 lakes (a la Jeffrey Quarles!). Kind of like his dad, good with the gas pedal, just not so good with the brakes.

Saw a patient this morning, just can't get this visual out of my mind. Seventy years old, 250 lbs, she says her hip is hurting her. Said she went dancing last weekend. Was watching some TV show and saw some girls BELLY DANCING and doing HIP HOP, and she had to try it. I'm visualizing some horrible fat MC Hammer action going on, with a little Carmen Electra (circa 2068) mixed in.