Happiness Archives - Page 2 of 2

Chronicles of a Friendship

February 8, 2021 No Comments

Svikki MD

The last week of January was less eventful than the one before. There wasn’t so much unsolved mystery surrounding my patients. I did end up having to transfer one of the patients out to a higher level of care hospital in the middle of the night though. We had hit the point where we were no longer able to escalate our care in our facility.

Beyond that though, I was preparing my patient panel to be handed off while I take a week off. I was supposed to be going to Brazil for two weeks for a friend’s wedding but,… you know…. the pandemic. So instead of taking two weeks off, I just decided to take off one to visit my family back in Ohio for a few days and increase my Vitamin D level in Miami for a few days. As always, I try to do everything (short of not going) to reduce my risk of exposure during a pandemic. I try to be as diligent as I am in the hospital out in the real world. That means wearing my N95 during the entire duration of the flight, sanitizing high-touch surfaces, frequent hand washing and sanitizing, and distancing myself as much as I can from others around me.

Brrrr…it’s cold out here

I thought my winter in South Dakota would be heavier than winters in Ohio. Thus far, that hasn’t really been the case. Ohio winters are unfortunately very grey. One of the first things I looked up when I was considering South Dakota as an assignment was the days of sun during the winter. Lucky for me, I found that they averaged more than they did in Wisconsin (a winter location I tend to enjoy) and way more sun than Ohio. I arrived in Ohio shortly before the snow began to come down. Nothing close to what Chicago and the North East were dealing with but it laid a pretty nice blanket over the area. I certainly got my share of winter feeling in during the few days there.

While in Ohio, I stopped by my residency to say hello. It’s crazy to me that graduation was already 5 months ago. It sort of feels like I’ve just been on an away rotation. It felt so good seeing my residency family again; the front desk ladies, the MA’s, the residents, and the attendings. I’m really fortunate that my residency is such a lovely place to return to. I know many people do not have enjoyable residency experiences. The crew in Boardman, Ohio is definitely a special group of people.

Hello Sunshine

I have visited Miami countless times. These trips started during medical school when a German friend and I would fly to Miami and stay with one of my friends in Miami. Some of those trips were pretty wild and served up almost all the components of a good rap song. My Miami Friend has become one of my best friends over the years. I can’t thank her enough for her hospitality, kindness and generosity over the years. We have met up in several places around the world and I can always count on her to be down to travel somewhere. More on her in a bit.

Miami is open

In terms of the pandemic, Miami felt quite different from the places I have been spending my time at over the last several months. People are out in clubs, restaurants and bars like the pandemic doesn’t exist. To their credit, most people I saw walking around in public places were wearing a face mask. Miami also has the advantage of the weather and outdoor venues which are safer in regards to viral transmission than being indoors at a restaurant in say, South Dakota.

However, I still avoided the masses. My friend and I were mainly at her place. We spent an early morning on the beach when there was hardly anyone else around. The Rubell Contemporary Art Museum that we visited had limited visitors. If we ate at a restaurant, it was outdoors and well spaced from other guests. The days of going to the big clubs packed like sardines has been over for us for a while now, so I didn’t really miss that former staple of a Miami visit.

Keith Haring at the Rubell Museum in Miami

It was nice to spend a few days with family and close friends after not having much of any social interactions in South Dakota over the past several months. At the same time, I look forward to returning to work tomorrow in Deadwood. I’ve only got 7.5 weeks left of my assignment in South Dakota and I am sure they will fly by.

The Web

I often like to reflect on my life thus far and the experiences I’ve been fortunate to have. This often happens when I am on trips. It’s fun for me to run through the sequence of events that led me to that particular moment, that connection with someone, or the opportunity that presented itself.

Let’s take my Miami Friend as an example. Because of her, I have had amazing life experiences, met fabulous people I now call my friends and opportunities that I would not have had without her. But what needed to happen for me to meet her?

The Origin Story

Well, when I was about 14-15 years old, my younger sister and I did a photoshoot at home for fun. I showed the pictures to my father who suggested I research local modeling agencies to see if that would be something I could pursue. The Rock Agency in Madison Wisconsin is what I found. I called them and set up an appointment with their New Faces Director. After a short introduction of the agency for all people present at the New Faces Open Call, I met with the New Faces director individually. She saw potential and had me set up my first photoshoot. [The agency owner is one of my best friends now and she has created a whole web of connections and experiences in my life as well.]

My first photoshoot was a blast. I ended up befriending the photographer and make up artist and my family’s home was used as the location for a modeling shoot a few years later. Following the first, I had another photoshoot to build up my portfolio. Then, I was invited to attend a modeling convention in New York City that summer called IMTA. It’s a huge convention with hopeful models and actors from around the United States that participate in various competitions that are judged by model and acting agents from around the world. This lead to my first modeling contract in Milan. [I met one of my other best friends on this first contract in Milan, so our friendship’s origin story is the same up to this point.]

Photographer: Jeff Wilson || Make-Up: Anja Epkes

Ciao Milano

Two years later in 2008, I was back in Milan for my second contract. I was originally put into an apartment with a bunch of girls. However, I quickly befriended one of the other models from the agency who was living in a 2 model apartment in China Town. This model was my now best friend from Miami. We orchestrated a switch between her roommate and myself so that we could live together (the agency wasn’t very happy with us when they found out we did this without telling them…oops.) We would cook together, shop together and travel to other Italian cities. After our contract, she went back to Miami and I returned to Wisconsin. The only connection we continued to have back in that era was being friends on Facebook.

This is easily where our story could’ve ended and my life would be completely different if it had. Seriously, I could draw up a whole web of how many of the major experiences in my life and opportunities that I have had would never have happened the way they did if it wasn’t for having met her in Milan.

The Reconnection

Luckily, it didn’t end there. It was several years later, in 2013 while I was in medical school and wanting to do a bit of modeling on the side, that I had to fill out a form listing agencies I’ve worked with. I couldn’t remember the one we were with however, so I facebook messaged her. We briefly caught up on what the other one has been doing over the past several years. In this conversation, she recommended I come visit Miami if I ever needed a vacation from medical school. In 2014, I took her up on that offer. A German friend and I visited her for a week.

Welcome to Miami

My Miami Friend had worked in nightlife for years. At the time, she was working in the hottest club there was, LIV in the Fontainebleau Hotel. You know, one of the only clubs you will find multiple rap/hip-hop songs referencing? The club that gave the world LIV on Sunday which was THE place to be seen as a rapper or hip-hop artist. Depending on the night and who was performing, the admission rate to the club for general admission was upwards of $300. The amount of money spent on bottles of champagne or just thrown in the air to make it rain was insane. Yes, she worked there.

She introduced my German friend and I to the best nights of our lives. We were introduced to all of her friends who worked at LIV as well. Having worked in nightlife for so long, she had vetted her friends so the ones I ended up meeting and becoming friends with were all awesome, kind and genuine. (Kind and genuine is not always easy to find in a setting like Miami, so I was fortunate that she had done the weeding out beforehand).

The Miami Crew

This group of amazing people not only made sure my German friend and I had nights we will never forget, but they also kept us safe. We were only ever introduced to other good people. The bottle girls, bartenders, security guards, managers, promoters and bus boys I was introduced to became my second Miami family and LIV became my second Miami home. I could walk into a full lobby of people waiting to get into the club, bypass them all and be greeted by my name by the bouncer and let in. It felt unreal.

All thanks to my Miami Friend. And it didn’t stop at LIV, the people who worked there were wildly connected to other people working in Miami which led to great nights at other clubs, comps at restaurants, sporting events and concerts. I was given the opportunity to experience Miami totally different than your average Miami tourist. I can’t even list all the artists I saw perform live at LIV of Sunday but to name a few; Drake, Lil Wayne, Chris Brown, 2 Chainz, Fabolous, DJ Khalid, Trey Songz and so many more. Thanks to the girls, I always had VIP access and drank the yummiest champagne. I’ve partied at the same table as Lil Wayne. I’m telling you, Miami was a different world back then and I am so grateful I was invited into it by my Miami Friend.

Beyond the party

It wasn’t only partying that she made possible for me, through meeting her friends and becoming friends with them myself, many experiences and opportunities started to branch off of me knowing her. After graduating from medical school, I took a year off before starting residency. My goal of that year was to work in a job that made good money so that I could travel around the world for about 4 months prior to starting residency.

Where else in the world would I go but Miami for this?! I knew the greatest people who knew the right people. With the help of my Miami crew, I secured an interview and subsequently job at the second place I worked and ultimately exclusively worked at, Hyde Beach Miami. I’ll share more about that year in particular at a later time but that year created a multitude of new connections, friendships and opportunities for me. For instance, because one of my friends in Miami invited me out to dinner one night with some of her friends, I met my now friend who helped me plan my one-of-a-kind 3 week trip to India! One of the greatest trips of my life! The web is big, my friends.

Moving on

Over the past several years, I often visited Miami as a little get away from residency. As my Miami Friend transitioned from night life to becoming a manager of an Art Gallery, my visits transitioned to a more feasible wake/sleep schedule. Many of our friends also transitioned out of night life into other careers. So instead of spending our nights in the clubs and sleeping all morning, we were meeting up with friends for brunch, visiting museums and traveling to other parts of the country and the world.

My Miami Friend was the first one to visit me in South Dakota. We met up in New Mexico for New Years last month. I’ve celebrated my last three birthdays with her; three years ago in Miami, last year in Tulum and this year, a bit belated, in Miami again. We are already contemplating when we will see each other again and look forward to the world being safe again for international travel. We have quite the extensive bucket list to work on.

There are so many stories in between that saga that I didn’t even mention. But for me, I trace all of those experiences in my life back to the moment my parents encouraged me to look into finding a modeling agency. You just never know what an experience in life will bring you, so don’t miss an opportunity to do something new, you have no idea how many wonderful consequences can emerge from it!

mfg

Food & Drinks, Happiness, Locum

Chubby Chipmunks and Busy Bison

January 24, 2021 No Comments

Hello beautiful people! I know I’ve sort of been on a bi-weekly schedule with posting but it’s been sort of busier at the hospital lately and I had two friends visiting from Wisconsin last weekend.

Svikki MD

So, after a few weeks of a fairly consistent patient census, there was finally some turn over on my list. I family-medicined (we will pretend that’s an actual verb) the heck out of them. Since many were waiting on placement, they didn’t have acute medical issues. This gave me the opportunity to adjust their medications so that their diabetes, hypertension, etc. were wonderfully controlled before they left my care. Once that was all achieved, however, I was ready for some new challenges. I got what I wished for!

A few patients currently are either badly controlled diabetics or hypertensive patients or ones where there are still big question marks in their medical picture for me… I spent a combined 6 hours chart diving on one of the patients this weekend. There are just unanswered questions and the patient is miserable… I’m channeling my inner Dr. House to try to figure out what is going on sans the narcotic addiction and callous attitude.

I’m really enjoying the close work on the floor with the nurses. I try to keep them in the loop at all times and explain why I am doing what I’m doing. It seems to be resonating well with them. This set up also allows me to take a lot more time with each of the patients and keep them educated and informed about what I am doing.

I’ve only ever been a patient myself once when I badly sprained my ankle. For that, I was only in the emergency room, not even an admitted patient. I can only imagine what it feels like to feel so little autonomy while in the hospital as a patient. Thus, I try to involve my patients in my decisions so they know what’s going on and can give their input. I realize this might be easier for me to do with a max census of 10 patients in a critical access hospital, but I think it is so important to try to do this well.

It resembles Veggie Straws!

As I said, I had two friends visiting from Wisconsin last weekend. They have been super conscious about COVID and frequently get tested so I felt it was a reasonable risk to take having them come visit. The county they live in is pretty strict with COVID regulations. It was a bit of a shock to them as soon as they crossed into South Dakota and stopped at a gas station to find that they were (unfortunately) the only ones wearing masks.

Since I still don’t trust doing anything here that involves being around other people, we headed over to Wyoming the first day to check out Devils Tower.

Located only an hour drive from Spearfish, Devils Tower is a large geologic feature that juts up from the earth surrounded by prairie. It is a sacred structure to Northern Plains Native Americans. It’s apparently one of the most famous rock climbing destinations in Northern America. Much of its origin is agreed on but there are still aspects up for debate in the scientific community. It is formed from rare igneous rock and is the largest example of columnar jointing in the world!

We walked the trail around the base of the structure. Along the way, we hypothesized about its formation, the wildlife, and the surrounding area. The comical thing was that after posing a question, a posted sign along the way would answer the question we had just posed. At some point we made it a game to guess what the next sign would tell us.

Where are the bison at?!?

We did a quick pit stop in Deadwood on our second day so that I could show them the historical downtown main street. I had bought them some local chocolate truffles as a welcome gift and they enjoyed them so much, we stopped by the store for them to buy a stash to take home. The place is called Chubby Chipmunk. I was gifted a few truffles upon my arrival at the hospital. They proudly told me that these truffles have been featured in the gift bags at the Academy Awards! They are really good chocolate truffles and look so pretty!

Check out all their yummy truffles here!

After their chocolate shopping spree, we headed to Custer State Park. The road took us past Crazy Horse Memorial. I stopped and gave them the cliff notes version of its history and purpose. I was so excited to show them Custer State Park. After the amazing time my friend and I had there in November, I felt this was the perfect South Dakota location to take them. The Wildlife loop was a bit of a misnomer this time. Not…a…single…bison!! Not ONE! And let’s be honest, that is the number one animal you want to see. The white-tailed deer may have entertained my friend from Miami, but these Wisconsinites didn’t care about seeing deer.

Luckily, after more than half the drive, we came upon the herd of formerly domesticated donkeys! This time, we got out of the car and hung out with the herd a bit. They were more interested in my car as a salt block and promptly got to work licking it all over.

That was basically all the wildlife we saw… donkeys and deer. Not exactly what I had in mind but they enjoyed the pretty landscape nonetheless.

Veggie Vikki

I have been a vegetarian since I’ve been 9-years-old. Granted, my parents weren’t thrilled at first. I was held hostage at the dinner table until I had a bite of chicken. Luckily, that didn’t last long. People are often intrigued as to why I’m a vegetarian. What about all the delicious burgers, steaks, etc out there?!

I’ve never craved meat. As a 9-year-old, the treatment of the animals was a big factor (and still is). My favorite animal growing up was a pig! I collected about 100 stuffed animal pigs…that didn’t make bacon enticing to me. A few years later, I started getting really interested in the environment. I changed things in my day-to-day to be more eco-friendly. Learning about how many resources a pound of beef uses was mind-blowing. A few years after that, learning about how meat can negatively impact your health just continued to underscore my decision. I’ve never missed it and never craved it.

The transition

A bit over a year ago, I finally made the switch to be as vegan as possible. I don’t like labels. I understand why humans use them, they organize the world around us without getting caught up in details. However, I am still not a fan. I think it’s best to live a life that is kind to your body (you only have one unless you believe in reincarnation) and the world around you as much as possible.

A per-definition vegan would not eat honey since it’s an animal product. However, I still consume honey. I believe in its medicinal benefits besides it just being my preferred sweetener in tea. I will also have the occasional sweet treat which is not always truly vegan. But other than that, I have cut out all dairy products and only eat eggs rarely. If I do, only if they are from happy chickens (pasture-raised and preferably from a farmer I know). My justification there is that chickens lay eggs regardless. If they are living happy pasture lives, my impact is minimal on their lives. (I’m sure there are vegans out there that would disagree with me, and that’s ok. Again, that’s why I’m not a fan of the label.)

Being a vegetarian and traveling has never been easy, but I’ve never starved. I will get full off of sides any day. India was truly the nicest place to travel as a vegetarian. Trying to be vegan definitely ups the ante when trying to find meals outside of the own home.

Dinner time!

The thing I started doing during residency occasionally (on a resident salary) and have increased to fairly consistently now, is using Purple Carrot. Like many meal prep delivery services out there, you pick your meals and all the pre-portioned ingredients are delivered to you. No food waste! Dinner was my favorite part of the day during residency. My then-roommate and I would cook together every night and enjoy a freaking delicious meal together. Now that I am alone in SD, the meals are both dinner and the next day’s lunch! I still enjoy the process of cooking. Last week I made this eggplant Florentine with tofu ricotta and chickpea pasta…delicious!

My intention is not to try to convert anyone to veganism. I’m aware vegans have a bad rep for that. But maybe, take some time to analyze what nutrients (or lack thereof) you are putting into your body. Food is medicine. Your body can only be as healthy as the food you give it to run on. Also, if you don’t know how many resources a pound of beef or a gallon of milk uses and how that impacts the environment, do a quick internet search. Even just reducing the amount of meat you eat or dairy you consume by a little will do your body, the animals, and the environment real good.

I’ll continue to share little aspects of how I try to live a healthier, more eco-friendly life. It’s never meant as a sermon or me wanting you to feel bad about choices you make. I just truly believe many people don’t contemplate the impact their food choices have on themselves and the world. I come from a place of genuine concern for peoples health and the health of our planet. Please don’t hesitate to ask questions if you have them or share the ways you are making your diet better! I’d love to hear what you’re doing!

mfg

Happiness, Locum, Travel

Santa Fe Shananigans

January 10, 2021 2 Comments

Well… we’ve all made it into 2021. So much has already happened in the last 10 days…. take a chill pill 2021, no need to show off. No one is expecting you to outdo 2020.

New Years in Santa Fe, NM

I spent a couple of days in Santa Fe with a few girlfriends and the finance of one of them. As we are still in the midst of a raging pandemic, we took certain precautions to reduce our risk of exposure as much as possible. Everyone was either tested 48 prior to arrival or they had already had COVID and recovered. I wore an N95 mask for the entire flight time. Since this is what I wear when I am dealing with actual COVID patients on a daily basis, I felt this would keep me adequately protected during the flight.

Desperately needed a nap after waking up at 3:45 AM to get to the airport.

We rented a beautiful Airbnb a bit outside of downtown Santa Fe. We all wore something shiny and ordered take out for New Year’s Eve. Several intense rounds of Uno were played before we rang in the new year. We were all in bed about 20 minutes after midnight. We all had a long traveling day behind us and they wanted to leave early to go skiing.

While the others went skiing, I stayed home with my friend’s dog and fox. Yes, you read that correctly. My friend has a pet fox. I binge-watched Bridgerton on Netflix and read the book I’ve been waiting to have some time for, “Uncomfortable Conversations with a Black Man” by Emmanuel Acho.

A day downtown

On one of the days, my friend and I checked out downtown Santa Fe. New Mexico has admirably implemented several restrictions to help stop the spread of Covid. You have to wear a mask when walking around, even outside. On our last day, we had time to kill and wanted to check out the Albuquerque Zoo… it was only open to New Mexican residents!

Entrance to Museum of Contemporary Native Arts

Almost all of the museums were closed but we did manage to get some of the limited tickets for the Museum of Contemporary Native Arts. My favorite exhibition was probably “Indigenous Futurisms: Transcending Past/Present/Future”. The artists combined traditional Native American artforms with the subjects of Star Wars, Startrek, and the likes. Check out some pictures on the website by clicking here!

Most of the shops were open. We browsed through Native American made jewelry, pottery and artwork. There were so many beautiful things. If I actually had a house to outfit with things, I probably would’ve bought a piece of the intricately painted black & white pottery.

Santa Fe is VERY artsy. Many of the shops are also galleries. Then there is Canyon Road, just a few blocks from the main street. It apparently has over one hundred galleries, boutiques and restaurants in one-half mile. The road is filled with colorful sculptures and artwork!

The adobe-style buildings are quite visually pleasing. I recommend coming back during warmer weather however because, without any greenery or blooming flowers, the scene is quite monotone. I’m sure the main square is a great place to spend time in a warm, post-pandemic time.

Svikki MD

Back at work, things have been relatively slow this past week. Overall, the system seems to be less full. The number of COVID patients in the large hospital was down substantially. Many of the smaller surrounding hospitals either had only 1 or no COVID positive patients. That is really nice to see considering healthcare is still wary about the aftermath of Christmas and New Years’. We aren’t quite out of the window of that surge but the trend looks good right now. During a meeting, we were told that South Dakota had vaccinated the most people per capita compared to all other states in the nation! Considering how hesitant a majority of the out-and-about public seems about following safety guidelines, that was great to hear.

Uncomfortable Conversations

I was contemplating starting to share insights from my time as a model and how that has positively influenced my life, but then this week was just so crazy in American history, and having just finished my book, I wanted to speak about the book real quick instead.

For those of you who haven’t heard about this or haven’t watched the YouTube episodes, please do! Emmanuel Acho is a former NFL player of Nigerian descent. During the protests this Spring/Summer, he started making episodes called “Uncomfortable Conversations with a Black Man”. I eagerly awaited his new episodes week after week.

In them, Emmanuel sits down with various people to discuss “uncomfortable” topics related to being black in America. He has an episode about interracial couples, interracial adoption, a conversation with the NFL commissioner, one with Chelsea Handler, and an episode where he sits down with the police officers from the Petaluma Police Department in Petaluma, CA. Any a few more! {Click on the hyperlinks to see the videos!} As you can imagine, each of these conversations can touch on many subjects. The cool thing is that he creates a safe place to talk, to ask questions, and does so with an open heart.

My Life

Growing up in a small town in Wisconsin, we did not have a lot of racial diversity. You could count the number of black students in my high school on one hand. My experience was a bit different from my peers as I had a bit more exposure to different cultures. I myself was an immigrant and traveled frequently. I also have a love for other cultures and people who are different from me. Learning about other people’s cultures is one of my favorite things. Admittedly, I didn’t find myself immersed more in American black culture until I moved to Germany and ended up befriending a lot of the American basketball players overseas on contract. I learned a lot from them. Then, when I moved to Miami for a year, I learned more!

I’ve dated a few black men in the past and so the episode Emmanuel did about interracial couples was especially interesting. I could relate to a lot of the internal struggles Lindsey Vonn spoke on. There is so much we are afraid to ask or talk about because we are afraid to offend or come off the wrong way. But if we don’t ask, we can not truly learn. You can read all the text books on a topic but it really becomes real when you live it. I have made mistakes in the past and I have learned from them. Through asking questions, being observant and willing to listen, I have learned how I can be a more respectful, understanding person/friend/partner and ally.

Get started!

If you have been watching the social movement and have wondered how you can be more informed, I highly recommend Emmanuel’s book! It is easy to read through, gives examples of many great resources to further your learning if you so wish, and makes you look at your own way of living, and hopefully encourages you to make some positive changes. It is not intimidatingly dense and reads as though you were indeed having a conversation with Emmanuel.

It’s called uncomfortable conversations. I didn’t find them uncomfortable because I was so eager to learn and hear the conversation. My culture has a not so distant horrific history. What I admire about Germany is its openness about what happened, its emphasis on teaching it, and in doing so, hopefully preventing it from happening again. The USA could learn a thing or two from Germany on how to deal with its own horrific history.

Acknowledging your country has a problem doesn’t mean you can’t still be super proud to be from that country and love it for all its goodness. It makes your relationship with your country more real if you acknowledge the flaws. If you are only looking at the pretty surface and pomp and circumstance, your relationship to your country is comparable with that of you and your celebrity crush. You can’t truly love something until you love it for all it is.

Small things add up too

I can’t give up all my time to immerse myself in the civil rights movement of America or drop everything and enroll in African American Studies (although if you are currently in college and have the option, do take a class!). There are also many other critically important issues I am passionate about and am trying to learn about and support including international healthcare and the climate crisis. However, I can try to find things I can improve on or learn in my daily life. Emmanuel’s book was a great choice and gives me so many sources to follow it up with. The following list is some of the things I’m doing or have done. I list them not to “brag” about what I’ve done but to hopefully inspire you to look at your day to day life and see what changes you can make.

following several sites on Instagram related to the BLM movement and antiracism. This gives me little doses of information while scrolling through my feed.
trying to be more aware and support black businesses whenever I can
calling my black friends and having some serious conversations with them and also checking in on their well being
during my last month in residency, I organized a panel discussion with some of my black patients so that my co-residents and attendings and I (none of which are black) could have some real talk conversations with my patients and a black surgeon about what it means to be black in a predominantly white healthcare system.
I used the gift card the Medical Education department gave us for graduating residency to bulk order bandaids in 4 different skin tones for all of our exam rooms and lab. Ever think about how those Bandaids are white skin toned by default? With about 30% black patients and many pediatric patients coming in for shots, I wanted them to have matching bandaids for their skin color.

I continue to look for ways to be a better person and citizen of this Earth daily. From where I spend my money, recycling, lifestyle, personal relationships and really just about every aspect of life. I hope you do too 🙂

mfg

Happiness, Locum, Travel

So ready for 2021

December 27, 2020 No Comments

With a name like 2020, this year really had the potential to be great. In some ways, it really was. A global pandemic brought people together on a scale that I have not seen in my lifetime. Scientists were able to make an extremely effective vaccine within a year! (They were able to move forward so “quickly” because many of the barriers that usually hold up vaccine development were lifted.) The social movements in the United States and around the world brought necessary awareness to society and will hopefully continue to bring on much-needed change. We’ve seen our lives completely turned upside down and people continue to persevere.

Hopefully, we all get through this experience with a greater appreciation of community, value for our health, and a sense to try to be better in this world. It’ll definitely be a year I don’t forget and will be telling my children and grandchildren about.

From last year’s Christmas and honestly my favorite video of my niece.

Svikki MD

Change is coming to my work schedule…again. If you’ve been following along over the past several weeks (thank you!), you will have noticed that I was reducing my clinic hours to make more time for the volume of patients in the hospital. This week, I finally had to make the move to focus primarily on hospital work.

It was getting to be too much trying to be in two places at once. There was plenty of work that needed to be done in the hospital. I’d have to jump over to the clinic in the afternoon to see patients. That also required time, follow up, and brainpower. I felt like I had to compromise my full commitment to either one side or the other.

Consequently, I spoke with the office manager and laid out observations I had made over the past three months. Physicians and nurses alike seemed frustrated. Doctors in the office were interrupted while with their clinic patients due to calls from the floor nurses. The floor nurses were having a hard time getting timely responses from the clinic docs. The doctors didn’t have time to take on admissions because they were busy in the clinic. However, bigger hospitals had to make room for more acute care patients. Clinic volumes were down so they didn’t really even need me in the office. The mid-levels had nearly empty schedules while they packed my 2.5 hours full.

So, moving forward, I will be solely in the hospital seeing patients and trying to keep our swing bed census around 10 patients. I’ll work in the clinic if many providers are out. However, I won’t have a clinic schedule per se.

Holidays in the Hospital

With the mid-levels out of the office for the holidays, my colleague and I were actually pretty busy in the office on Wednesday and Thursday morning. After the clinic closed Thursday at noon, I headed over to the hospital to see my 9 patients. A couple of patients were discharged home in time for the holidays.

I opened up my gifts on Christmas Eve while FaceTiming with my family. I’m pretty used to working over the Christmas holiday, but I’ve never had a Christmas where I wasn’t physically around my family. Thank goodness for FaceTime because it honestly didn’t feel lonely despite being alone.

Christmas day, I was back in the hospital seeing patients while wearing a light-up necklace my mother sent me. I’m all for bringing a little joy to patients stuck in the hospital for a holiday. My colleague invited me to have lunch with his family. The food was delicious and it was nice getting to know his wife and daughters. It was only the second time since moving here almost three months ago that I have socialized with anyone outside of the hospital setting. My colleague does wood work and made me this bowel from some local wood! I love gifts with a purpose and memory attached to them.

Hopes & Dreams

With a new year only a couple days away, I think most people become sentimental and plan for the future. I am no exception to that. Pre-pandemic, my years were filled with travel, concerts, adventures and so much fun. I’ve made a few videos over the years reflecting back on the previous year with travel videos and pictures.

Despite the global pandemic that changed so much and forced us all to slow down in our private lives, I was still able to do a few things. Pre-covid in the US, I was able to attend my Aunt’s birthday in Germany and sang a set for all her guests.

At my Aunt’s Birthday bash just before Covid hit in March.

I returned to the States to immediately start working in Flu clinics and on the COVID floor as one of the first residents to do so in our hospital. COVID changed how we celebrated our graduation from residency but we made the best of it. The late summer allowed for a brief window where I was able to visit family in Germany and take my little sister on a trip to Italy for a few days. I returned from there to move across the country to South Dakota to start my life as an attending physician.

Photoshoot with one of my best friends in Hamburg in March

Working in healthcare and at times being over-worked in healthcare, I am still very grateful for the fact that I am out here every day helping patients and have a job to go to. I have so much respect for people to go around. To the people who have been working from home for the majority of this year. The utmost respect for the (mainly) mothers that have been keeping a household running, childcare managed and continue to work through it all the best they can. I have so much respect for the teachers who are working crazy overtime to try to continue to educate our future generations. Respect is also due to all the frontline and essential workers. My gratitude goes out to all the people who have been physically distancing, wearing masks, washing their hands, making personal sacrifices, and just being respectful of other people’s wellbeing.

Italy with my younger sister in September

2021

A change on the calendar from one year to the next doesn’t automatically solve all of the problems faced in 2020. Actually, it does nothing of the sort. But it feels like a new beginning. There is so much potential for this specified timeframe of a year to be better than the previous 365 days. Many things indicate positive change: the vaccine rollout, a new administration, and continued knowledge/experience gathered about the challenges we face. On a personal level, I will hopefully be able to safely celebrate a few weddings in 2021. Our family is expanding in size in multiple ways. Although I don’t think we will get quite back to the lives we would like to fully in 2021, I do believe we will be making big strides in the right direction.

At one of my best friend’s sister’s very, very intimate wedding in May.

I hope everyone has a safe New Years and continues to be safe, conscientious and loving.

mfg

Happiness, Locum

Frohe Weihnachten

December 20, 2020 No Comments

Happy 4th Advent!

Svikki MD

Things are busy but well in the hospital. We kept our census at the hospital max or just grazing by it all week. We aren’t quite as COVID heavy as some of the surrounding hospitals but we try to offload the bigger facilities with better capabilities and care for less acute cases.

I felt a bit like a zombie for half the week. I didn’t sleep very well Monday night on Tuesday. Tuesday is my call day and I was woken up 5 times throughout the night about an admission of an acute care patient who was pretty sick but due to multiple factors, the patient stayed at our facility. I was woken up 7 times throughout the night about this patient the next night. So, after three consecutive nights of horrible sleep continuity and no chance to catch up during the day,… I looked a bit like death. Luckily, I had the patient stabilized enough by the next night that I didn’t receive any calls from the hospital throughout the night.

It really gives me an appreciation for all the rural docs out there who constantly manage their patients in the hospital and can be called at any time. Not too many jobs that essentially keep you on the clock 24/7. It also made me miss residency hour protection and resident wellness. There are unfortunately a lot of residency programs that still don’t prioritize resident wellness. My residency was amazing at this and I would’ve been given the option to go home after that 2nd horrible night and probably would’ve been sent home even if I didn’t want to after that third night.

I’m gonna get dark and real for a second

A friend of mine recently posted that she was headed into her third 28-hour shift in less than two weeks without a day off. Medicine needs to change its culture of abuse of doctors. You wouldn’t want your pilot telling you at take-off that they haven’t slept in over 24 hours. How is that ok for doctors. Its torture. And there is plenty of data to show that medical errors increase significantly after a certain length of shift. We strive to practice evidence-based medicine, it’s time we live by that too. You aren’t a big shot because you work non-stop. It’s irresponsible and torture and the industry needs to get with it. Physician burnout and suicide is very much real… things need to change. And not just for residents. Attendings need protection too.

Christmas Traditions cont.

Ok, back to some fun Christmas things!

Weihnachtsbäckerei – Christmas bakery

Of course, people bake cookies with their kids here in the USA too. The types of cookies vary some. The thing I instantly have to think of when it comes to baking Christmas cookies however is a song! It’s called “In der Weihnachtsbäckerei” (In the Christmas Bakery) and is a song I listened to so much as a child while baking with my Oma and Great-great-aunt. Rolf Zuckowski is famous for his albums of children’s songs and it seems like he has a yearly performance of this song on TV. Take a look!

My mom was so great to send me a package with her homemade cookies. I’d be lying if I said they weren’t already half gone! Maybe next year I can share some of her recipes when we spend Christmas together. That way, you can make your own little taste of Germany!

Weihnachtspyramide – Christmas pyramid

This is a traditional decoration from the Erzgebirge region in Germany.

This form of folk art goes back as far as the Middle Ages and uses wood to make pyramid structures showing imagery from Christianity or nature. The windmill at the top is moved by the rising heat from the candles. This lets the motives move within the pyramid. It’s a beautiful sight when it’s up and running. My Opa would always set one up in the living room and I remember watching the little figures go round and round in the glistening lights of the candles. I can’t wait to celebrate Christmas in my grandparent’s house again. I know exactly where the Weihnachtspyramide is stored.

You can also find huge Weihnachtspyramiden at Christmas markets! Like this one below in Hannover.

Christmas itself … we do things a bit different

In Germany, Christmas is celebrated on the 24th of December – Heiligabend (Holy Night). Presents are usually opened that evening. We have always done it that way in our household too.

On the day of, we’d usually spend the day doing normal things. Since we had a bit of a hobby farm, my mornings were often spent taking care of the animals. My parents would start preparing and cooking dinner hours in advance. Dinner usually consisted of a duck/goose prepared by my dad and yummy German sides the vegetarian of the family could eat including Kartoffelklöße (potato dumplings) and Rotkohl (red cabbage). As the parents cooked, the kids would get ready for dinner by putting on something nice. The older we girls got, the more time was spent on hair and makeup.

We’d all sit together and enjoy our dinner. Afterward, we would often play board games together… just to draw out the suspense to opening Christmas presents a little more. When the time finally did come, we would gather around the couches by the fireplace and my mother would distribute the presents. After all the gifts were opened, we’d spend the rest of the evening preoccupied with our gifts before going to bed.

Celebrating on the 24th meant that we had to be pretty darn patient to see our friends again during Christmas break because they would be celebrating Christmas the next day.

In Germany, December 25th is considered the 1st holiday day and December 26th is the 2nd holiday day. In many parts, both days are considered official holidays so many people don’t have to go to work and shops are closed.

Christmas 2020

As with every year since graduating medical school, I will be working Christmas. During residency, I often offered to work Christmas because my older sister was a resident too so we would usually find one evening to coordinate as our Christmas evening. That then allowed me to take New Years’ off and do something fun for a few days. This year, I will be on call throughout the holiday as well. Once again, I’ll be taking New Years’ off. This will hopefully be the last year I work Christmas for a while. This year, I didn’t mind working because I knew I wouldn’t be traveling home. Starting next year, I want to properly spend Christmas with my family again. Being a locum physician, I have a much better chance at making that happen too.

I wish you all a Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays! Please be smart, be safe, and be kind to one another,… maybe a little extra this year while we continue to take this pandemic seriously.

mfg

Happiness, Locum

Glühwein & Kartoffelpuffer Please!

December 13, 2020 No Comments

Time really flies when you’re busy! How is it Sunday again already?

Svikki MD

I’m slowly morphing into a hospitalist. My clinic hours are now reduced to 1 PM-3 PM daily. The rest of the time I am in the hospital seeing my patients. I’ve asked for a small office to be put together for me. I didn’t want to keep occupying the nurses work stations and also needed my own space to be able to dictate and work without nursing bells constantly going off. Having an office on the floor will allow me to be close to the patients and nurses though. In all of the hospitals I worked at in Germany, the doctor’s office was on the floor with the patient rooms.

During residency, our office space was in the office building next to the hospital. That creates a lot of distance between you and your patients and staff. During residency, we’d often only be on the floors to pre-round and rounds with the attending. We would manage everything else over the phone or computer from our workroom throughout the day. That made it feel more like an office job than a clinical one. So, I am happy to be getting a little space on the floor to be amongst the action.

My census has remained pretty stable at 7-8 patients. A few of my swing bed patients feel more like acute care patients with things that have come up throughout the week. Having sufficient time in the hospital has made these changes very manageable however.

More Christmas traditions!

It finally started to snow a bit again yesterday. I find snow totally appropriate in the middle of December and welcome it. Having my tree up since last weekend and turning it on first thing when I get home has been really nice.

Christkindlmarkt – Weihnachtsmarkt

If we weren’t in a pandemic and I wasn’t in South Dakota, I’d be spending my evenings or weekends visiting the Christmas market! Germany is going into a new, stricter lockdown which probably won’t leave much room for Christmas markets this year. And honestly, it’s ok,…we can go one year without. Living in the USA, I’ve gone many Christmas seasons without visiting one and I have survived. It’s for the greater good.

Historical background

The forerunner of the Christmas market as we know it was Vienna’s December Market in the middle ages. It was first recorded in 1298, when citizens were granted permission to hold a Krippenmarkt during Advent. Open-air winter street markets were associated more specifically with Christmas in Germany, with the first Christkindlmarkt taking place a century later, in 1384. This was in the eastern hilltop town of Bautzen, Saxony. These early markets started by only selling meat but evolved to provide other everyday purchases, and eventually seasonal treats, decorations and crafts – accompanied by singing and dancing.
The Guardian – 11/29/2018

Growing up in Wisconsin, my family had the annual tradition of us all packing into the Suburban and driving to Chicago to visit the Christkindlmarkt there. I believe it’s the biggest Christmas market in the US with authentic German/Austrian/Swiss vendors. While living in Germany, we would go to the Christmas market so often after work and on the weekends. We would go to different towns to check out the different markets! Besides browsing the stands for little gifts or ornaments, there are a few must consume items.

Glühwein – mulled spiced wine! Makes you feel warm and happy inside. The non-alcoholic versions are pretty good too. It’s not just about the contents of the mug but very much about the mug itself. You pay a deposit on the mug that you would get back if you give it back. We would collect a mug each year to take home. During Medical school, we collected the glass mugs and played Glühwein-Pong with them.
Kartoffelpuffer – potato pancakes! Greasy hot potato pancakes topped with sugar and dunked in apple sauce. I am a HUGE lover of potatoes in many forms, Kartoffelpuffer is high up on the list as one of my favorite.
Crepe – very thin pancakes! Although French in origin, these are often found on Christmas markets as well. You can get them sweet or savory. I’m an all-year-round crepe lover and it’s a must when visiting France, but during Christmas market times, it’s an easy and fast snack to eat between Glühwein.
Do you have any favorites when visiting a Christmas market? Let me know what they are in the comments section below!

Family Photos

Our family didn’t do the typical American Christmas holiday card. We did however, often try to come up with a reason to dress up pretty extra for Christmas. We had a year were we all dressed up as “royals” and another year we had a Christmas Prom theme, complete with pine tree and ornament corsages and boutonnieres. As children, we’d usually be put in matching outfits for a picture. I definitely plan to continue this tradition one day with my own children.

I’m going to head out on a little walk before snuggling into a warm blanket on my couch, lighting three candles on my Advent wreath, and watching a Christmas movie. I hope everyone is staying safe this holiday season! I’ll be back next weekend with more German and family Christmas traditions!

mfg

Happiness, Locum

Getting into the Spirit of Christmas

December 7, 2020 No Comments

It’s officially December and thus officially one of my favorite times of the year! Although Christmas looks much different this year around the world as years prior, I am still doing what I can to make it feel like Christmas time around me.

Svikki MD

My new schedule at work with hospital work in the morning and clinic in the afternoon is working out much better than what I was doing.

Inpatient

I had 8 of the 12 admitted patients on my census this week. I admitted three of them on my call day Tuesday. That was a busy day… I didn’t leave the office until 10:30 PM. My new schedule allows me to sit in on the regional hospital capacity calls. I hear about the patient numbers in the surrounding hospitals are, how many COVID patients each location has, and what the capacity of the facilities is to admit patients. In such a rural area, it’s nice to have an idea of just how hard it will be to transfer a patient if need be.

I also get to meet with the case manager, physical therapist, occupation therapist, pharmacy and nutrition daily and go through our census. I feel much more connected with the hospital staff now.

Outpatient

Now that I am only in the clinic for half a day, my schedule tends to be pretty full with patients. I still see a lot of the walk-ins (a lot with respiratory complaints), pre-operation evaluations and hospital/ED follow ups. I only have a few patients that I am following on a more regular basis. Being a locum physician that plans to switch locations every 6 months or so, I won’t ever have a whole lot of continuity with patients. That is something I’m giving up in such a setting. I quite enjoyed many of my residency patients, knowing I’d see them every couple months.

Vorweihnachtszeit

I mentioned “Vorweihnachtszeit” in a previous post when I experienced South Dakota snow for the first time. It means pre-Christmas time in German. Germans have many beautiful Christmas traditions. Let me share a few with you each week leading up to Christmas! I will preface this by saying that my family is not very religious or churchgoers. I like to say I grew up culturally Christian. Both Germany and the area I grew up in Wisconsin were mainly Christian and thus we celebrated many of the Christian holidays. As I’ve grown, traveled, and met many wonderful people and cultures, I have begun to celebrate other holidays from different religions and cultures with my friends.

Adventskalender – Advent calendar

An advent calendar comes in many forms and makes the countdown to Christmas fun every day! They were first used by German Lutherans in the 19th and 20th centuries. You can buy them pre-filled and quite inexpensively, filled with chocolate or other sweets. My favorite kind, however, are the homemade ones!

As a child, we had a large rectangular cloth that hung from the wall that had 24 little hoops on it. My mother would fill various treats or small gifts into little bags and hang them on the loops. Each day, one of us four children, would find the right number, untie the treats and share amongst the siblings.

A few years ago, my aunt made me an advent calendar by clipping little bags to a wire with numbered paperclips. I can’t wait to have kids to make advent calendars for!

Nikolaustag – Saint Nikolaus Day

December 6th is a day to celebrate Saint Nikolaus the Myra. During his lifetime (born 270 AD), he was known to have worked a lot of wonders. Nikolaus was known to be especially warm-hearted and helpful towards weaker people. He was known as a strict yet fair person (sounds pretty German to me lol). He would ask children if they had been good during the past year. If yes, they would receive a small gift. If not, they didn’t receive coal but rather were threatened to be put in a sack and carried away (…I don’t believe this actually ever happened and remained a threat).

Nowadays, children place one of their shoes or boots in front of the door on the night of December 5th to awaken the next morning to it being filled with treats, small gifts, and fruit! And yes, us greedy little kids would always look for the biggest, tallest boot we owned to put out. Again, can’t wait to have kids to continue this tradition!

Adventssonntag – Advent Sunday

The four Sundays leading up to Christmas are considered Advent Sundays. Certain branches of Christianity consider the six Sundays leading up to Christmas the Advent time. For most of Germany however, four Sundays are included. Sometimes, like this year, the first one actually happens in November. Last Sunday, November 29th, was the first Advent.

Many households will have a wreath adorned with 4 candles. Every week, an additional candle is lit. Traditionally, you might have friends and family come over for mulled wine, cookies, games and spending time together. During medical school, my friends and I would often take turns hosting the others.

As a young child living with my grandparents in Germany, I would grab a box filled with small Christmas decorations and adorn the wreath. While at the cabin last week, I collected branches from pine trees that had been cut down and made a wreath of my own out of them. I added four candles and some small ornaments and now diligently watch it when it’s lit because it looks like a fire ready to happen. LOL

My Weihnachtsbaum

I’ll talk about German Christmas trees specifically in a future post, but I did want to share the little tree I bought this weekend. I actually could have gotten a permit to cut down a tree in the Black Hills. That just seemed like a few too many steps for me this year… I’d have to buy a saw for starters. So instead, I went to Lowe’s and bought one. Remember the sweet St. Vincent de Paul Thrift Store deal I talked about two weeks ago? The box of Christmas decorations for $10? They finally had their moment.

I didn’t have my own tree during medical school but I always came home for Christmas. When I lived in Miami, I was surrounded by lit up palm trees. I never had a tree during residency. So, I’m super excited to have one this year. In the future, I hope to have my tree decorated with more personal items, but this will do for this year.

One thing I love: Clearly Christmas time. And not the commercialness of it all. I love the hanging out with friends and family part, the decorations and traditions. The gifts are just a bonus.

One thing I ate: Christmas sugar cookie… and the season is just beginning.

One thing I’m grateful for: Traditions. They make me feel connected to my family and friends despite being hundreds if not thousands of miles away from them.

mfg

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