This week I started a new rotation at the Northwest Kidney Center. It’s a short one, only two weeks, which means I have 8 days there total. So far, I’m loving it. The kidneys are fascinating (I’m an anatomy nerd, I know) and the fact that we can artificially do their job in such a way that enables people to live up to 40 more years with a disease that used to be a 2 week death sentence is amazing! We can even use membranes within the body itself to filter blood the way the kidneys should...cool. I’ve gotten to work with three amazing dietitians who are buckets of fun, each of their offices opens to one main room where their receptionist sits, so they all just chat back and forth all day. And they couldn’t be more different! One is a speed-talking social butterfly, one is a walk-to-work hippie, and the third is a culinary mom of three eagle scouts. But they all work so well together, and have a lot of sarcastic fun doing it.
I’ve been getting to walk out on the dialysis floors and visit with patients as well, as they sit there having their blood run through a machine. It was kind of a strange sight at first….not quite used to seeing that much blood everywhere, but I got used to it. It’s quite a change from working at a long term care center. The people on dialysis, well, half of them, are so hopeful and vibrant. After all, even though they have to spend 12 hours a week hooked up to a machine, they can now live for years to come, and get to live more or less normal lives.
I got to taste all the nutritional supplements yesterday:
Some are definitely better than others.
And here is a bag of all the pills that one of the patients was supposed to take for three months. Needless to say, they didn’t, and one of the dieticians keeps all the pills in this gallon Ziploc bag so that people can truly appreciate how many pills they have to take every day.
Other non-internship news? This week has been loads of fun. On Tuesday I went to a pot luck for church and got to talk to several really interesting and genuine people. On Wednesday I fixed turkey meatloaf, veggies, and bread for Gary and Susie- I love any opportunity to break out the cookbook! And last night was another Tuxedos and Tennis shoes catering event! My community group came this time, 8 of us total. The McCleans, the Reeds, the Goetz,’ Gary, and myself. It was a fun evening of bite sized foods and good conversations.
Tomato basil soup with a bite-sized grilled-cheese sandwich!
Last night a friend of mine hosted a wine tasting party, so the usual crew went and had a lot of fun. We tasted a few wines (not all of them, because there were about 30), then the ladies all sat and had real life conversation. All my friends here are married, so when they get onto married topics of conversation, I mostly just listen. I'll need all that info someday in my life, even if I have nothing to contribute now! I appreciate their honest and open conversation.
Also, I finished reading the Chronicles of Narnia! The last book wasn’t my favorite (Voyage of the Dawn Treader might claim that title), but I appreciated the biblical references in it. CS Lewis is great about that, illustrating profound biblical ideas in a simple way.
And now, I'm off to community group. I'm still scouting out to find a new one, though it will be hard to beat the last!
Love,
Tracey
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