School has been bringing me back to CT every couple of weeks; which, of course, means time for family and friends. Someone recently mentioned to me that my nieces and nephews can hardly wait until I move back... I couldn't help but think, "I can't wait to have them back"!! I miss them like crazy... my little goobers, always making my life just that much better!! To all of you little Hoffman, Dearborn, Moreau and Lipton (soon) men and women, Uncle Bruce loves you more than than you can imagine and I miss you soooo much.
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| Lily and Uncle Bruce !! :) my little misses |
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| Elsa and Uncle Bruce !! :) the rockstar... |
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| Little Lois and Uncle Bruce !! :) Sunglasses Twin...! |
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| Sammy and Elsa!! country ladies at heart.. :) |
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| Allie - such a stinkin' cutie...beatin' the heat in the pool!! :) |
The integration of technology into the professional workforce is a pretty controversial and touchy subject; however, it never fails to make me smile. Being the frequent recipient of text and picture messages at all hours of the day keeps me on the edge of my seat, and up to speed on current clinical practice. It's almost like vicariously living through all of my other critical care transport cohorts. And the amount of critical thinking and disucssion that follows is both interesting, stimulating and educational.
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This picture was sent from a ground crew friend of a patient's 12 lead ECG after transport to a cath lab center. For those of you who can't or don't read 12 lead ECG's...this tracing is...uh, concerning. Very concerning actually. Traditional and current medical therapy would call for EMS agencies to transport this patient, priority, to a facility that can treat heart attack patient's with invasive therapy. This patient was suffering from both an acute myocardial infarction, as well as a substantial electrolyte imbalance.
This was a picture sent from a flight crew friend of mine who recently attended a series of lectures called CCEMT-P (critical care paramedic). I actually received this picture on my phone right in the middle of supper; spaghetti, nonetheless!! It may be a safe assumption to say that those of us that work in this field are just a little bit wharped. Nevertheless, I immediately opened the picture message and...after a bit of zooming in and out, was able to successfully answer her question. The respective anatomy that you are looking at are the cusps / leaflets of the aortic valve (a fleshy oneway door that sits between the left ventricle and the aorta, supporting blood flow to the entire body). You can also see the ostia, or opening, of the left coronary arterial system (the blood vessels that bring oxygenated blood to the heart). Super, freakin' coool!! Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to finish my noodles, meatballs and marinara....
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| Along the boardwalk...Inner Harbor, Baltimore, MD |
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| A view from across the Harbor - Domino Sugar plant at sunset |
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| Sunset from Federal Hill |
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| Sunrise (530AM) from the helipad at JHH !! :) |
I have been able to enjoy the company of several visitors the past few weeks. Friends and family from CT, OH, IL and VT have made the stop to Inner Harbor...yielding some good photo opportunities of the local landscape.
As promised in previous blog posts, here are some pictures of the continued side-walking painting. These people are out on hands and knees, painting away, several hours a day, every day. They have covered the better part of almost 1 mile....the scenes are mostly patriotic in nature...with an obvious bit of variance...!!
August 24th, 2013 marked another annual celebration of my birth. I am pleased to report that I am still in my 20's...and feeling phenomenal! I celebrated with friends and family over several days, the highlight being a quick trip to Block Island, a personal favorite, since I was very little. An appropriate quote to summarize my feelings exactly...
At the beach, life is different.
We live by the currents and follow the sun.
We met up with some awesome people, including two very close friends, who we met by complete accident. Such a small world! Jake and Josie, you guys are awesome!!
A friend recently emailed this to me, and I think I nearly died from laughter. LUV IT!! To all my BeanTown friends... just for you!!
To wrap up another blogging session, some words from Mr. Hemingway:
Until the very next time....
