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
