Archive for the ‘My Life’ Category
I am at the Holiday Inn in Newark, NJ, and I haven’t even gone into Manhattan yet. But I just ordered room service, and I was delighted to be able to order exactly the breakfast that I want. They had wheat toast. They had orange juice. They were polite to me on the phone. It was amazing…totally amazing. This place is run by people who actually want my business and want me to be happy with the service I get. In short, it is run by people who CARE!
If Antigua had people in it with a halfway decent attitude, it might actually be a pleasant country in which to live.
This is the parking lot of the apartments where I live. Look what that damned hurricane did!
We are getting pounded very hard by this hurricane. Supposedly it wasn’t going to hit us head on, but the latest radar that I see shows that it shifted in our direction, and looking out the window, it makes sense. The rain is falling parallel to the ground, trees are down, and things are generally nasty outside. Luckily, I am inside. For some reason the power is out and the backup generator has not kicked in. This is likely due to the fact that the wankers in charge didn’t put petrol in it.
In any case, despite the fact that we are getting pummelled like Bin Laden in Tora Bora, I am safe and so is my little dog. We are having a grand time watching the lightening from indoors. Who knows how long the internet will work. In any case, Mom, if you read this, I am totally OK. I’ll talk to you tommorrow 
.
This is far more severe than what I witnessed during Hurricane Isabel in Maryland.
I am very happy that I found my little dog. In the last week, he has gone from a malnourished, abused and terrified puppy, to a rapidly growing, bold, energetic and happy puppy.
He has already learned to fetch (he does it right about 1/2 the time). Hot dogs are his favorite treats, but I can just pick up food out of his bowl and use those as treats and he still gets just as excited. He still doesn’t like to eat from his bowl, but he is getting better about it. I got him a toy that squeaks, and at first he was afraid of it, but now he loves it.
The best thing about having this dog is that it gets me outside several times a day. When I take a break from studying, I take the dog outside to play. This is far better than surfing the net and playing mobwars.
Tonight I took him to the chip van (an outdoors restaurant of sorts), and while he was a little timid at first, he quickly got used to everyone and had a great time. He likes riding in the car! I’m going to get him a leash tommorrow and start jogging with him (I have to do something to burn off his excess energy!). This will be good for me too.
On Friday I’m going to take him to a beach bar, and I anticipate that he will have a blast playing in the sand…while I have a blast drinking carib!
Life is good in Antigua!
While driving a friend home from a late night study session, I almost ran over a puppy. I don’t know how old this puppy is, but it is in pretty bad shape. He is dehydrated and obviously malnourished.
My friend and I named him Glycine (the smallest amino acid) because he is really small.
It is still too early for any stores to be open, but as soon as one opens I will go there and get some puppy food, and I’ll try to get my hands on a lactated ringer so that I can rehydrate him. Right now he is drinking water and chewing on some beef jerky, because that’s really all I have for him.
How long before my mother reads this and calls? What will she say?
I know I shouldn’t get a dog, but…what am I supposed to do? Leave it out there and let it die???
Yes, that is right. I’m going to make an effort to post to this blog every day, or at least most days. I’ve been insanely busy, and I will continue to be insanely busy for the foreseeable future. I just haven’t made keeping a blog a priority. This has a lot to do with the fact that I had been viewing this blog as a way to keep my friends and family back in the states appraised of my life. That is easy to put on the back burner when you have nerves, muscles and molecules to memorize.
As I learn more about medicine, I become more and more concerned about the way America is headed with regards to health care policy, and with regards to the culture of medicine. Reason is taking a back seat to feel-good platitudes and emotions. It is very dangerous for this to be taking place in medicine. I intend to use this blog as a platform to discuss these issues. America (actually, the entire world) needs to wake up and take a large dose of reason. Hopefully, I can make a contribution towards this.
Later tonight I’ll post some articles that I’ve written for the AUA Pulse (the student newspaper at the American University of Antigua), and perhaps some news stories that are relevant to my interests. I’m also going to work on developing connections with other freedom-oriented bloggers around the world.
I need to come back to the USA for a weekend to pick up some drugs and textbooks and whatnot.
I was intending to go to Annapolis, because I know so many people there who it would be really nice to see. The flights there, however, are a real pain in the ass. I can’t find one that gets back before 11PM on Sunday nights, and I have to be in lab at 8AM on Monday. I am very picky about my sleep. This will NOT do.
So, I am considering New York, which has much more convenient flight schedules, and is also close enough to DC that friends will be able to visit.
Soon I will have figured this out!
Calm down, people. I am not going to be crippled for life.
Here is a little update: a lot of the generalized pain is gone, and the right shoulder is much much better. However, there are some specific areas of pain, especially on my left shoulder. The pain in radiating down my left clavicle, and down the anterior of my left arm to within a couple of inches of the antecubital region. If this isn’t significantly improved within the next week or so, I will have to go for an MRI scan. Suffice it to say, though, that I am a lot more comfortable than I was a couple of days ago.
Here is the medical report from Dr. Singh, the orthopedic surgeon who initially treated me, and with whom I will follow up:
This is to certify that Kyle Varner reported to Adelin Medical Centre on 19th February, 2008 when he gave us the history of sustaining injury to his both shoulders while restraining his friend on account of his suicidal tendency.
On examination young healthy male with stable cardio pulmonary status no abnormal abdominal or neurological symptoms were met with.
In examination of his skeleto muscular system confined to his both shoulder he had classical clinical symptoms of post traumatic impingement syndrome for which he was given treatment on conservative lines and was advised to come for clinical follow-up at Ortho Medical Associates. If symptoms persist I will recommend him to have a MR scan done to review soft tissue status of rotator cuff.
I will Kyle good clinical and functional recovery.
So there you have it. I’m healthy and I will recover well.
A good friend of mine went off the deep end a few nights ago and became suicidal. While trying to restrain this friend, I sustained bilateral rotator cuff injuries. I saw the top orthopedic surgeon on the island, and he says that I should recover without surgery. The specific injuries that he was able to discover without the help of an MRI are partial ruptures to the acromioclavicular ligament and the supraspinatus tendon. There are probably other injuries, but no way to know without an MRI.
Short story: I’m in lots of pain and as a result have limited use of my arms. But, I will be fine.
If there is no significant improvement within a week I will go for an MRI. But don’t worry, no matter what happens I’ll be OK and I’ll stay in school.