But I continue learning

2005-04-02 - 9:14 p.m.

And now--what you've all been waiting for--before and after pictures of my gums! Woah, is this exciting stuff or what? And yes, for those of you who think looking at pictures of my mouth is less than exciting, I'm only going to post links to the pictures. I actually have three sets of pictures. I have pictures from the night before the surgery, the day after the surgery, and last night (post-op day 16). Gums: pre-op, POD1, POD16. And just for fun here's the roof of my mouth: pre-op, POD1, POD16. Hmmm...I'm not entirely sure that was worth the several thousand dollars I shelled out for it...

Today I had the day off of work and I decided to take a little road trip out to Whidbey Island. I hadn't been there since I moved to Seattle and I've been wanting to go, but the last little bit of inspiration that finally got me out there was a used book sale at the Freeland Library. So I drove up and caught the Mukilteo-Clinton ferry over to Whidbey Island, wandered around Fort Casey State Park a bit, drove back down to Double Bluff Beach, bought seven books at the sale in Freeland, walked down to the beach in South Whidbey State Park, walked across the bridge at Deception Pass, had a latte in Anacortes, and then meandered my way back to Seattle through the Skagit Valley Tulip Festival stopping to pick up a few things at Target in Northgate before arriving back home. And wow, that was my entire day in one sentence. The weather partially cooperated--it didn't rain too much and it wasn't all that cold, but it was gray, cloudy, and very windy. Here's a picture of the very famous bridge at Deception Pass:

Yesterday after work I went out to dinner with RCG. For some reason I just can't get excited about that guy. Our evening together was perfectly pleasant, but that was about it. I drove over to his place and then he drove me to a tasty Italian restaurant in Ballard called Lombardi's. The food was really good. It also happened to be pretty much kitty-corner to Mr. Spot's Chai House, which is where I first met the singer. RCG asked me what I liked best about Seattle so far and I told him I like the way there are so many opportunities to be active--lots of parks and bike trails and close proximity to oceans and mountains and what not. Then I added that I also like how there are so many shows to see, both big and small, and pointed out Mr. Spot's and told him I'd seen a really good show there once. After dinner RCG suggested heading over to Mr. Spot's to check it out. There ended up being some jazz group playing that wasn't very good. Plus it was really loud so RCG and I couldn't really talk and there wasn't anywhere to sit. It was a very different atmosphere from when the singer was there.

At work yesterday I was able to attend an honest-to-goodness, epi-pumping, blood-spattering code. At first I was really nervous. My hands were shaking and I was having a bit of trouble actually pulling the meds. But after a few minutes I was able to calm down and just do it. You know, I think pulling the meds may actually be easier than being the scribe. It seemed like the job was much more focused--all I had to do was concentrate on the meds. When the code leader called for something I prepared it and handed it over. The scribe has to watch everything. Of course I had Blinky right there by me in case I needed help (I didn't much) so that could've given me a bit of extra confidence, but I think it'll be all good after I have a bit more experience so that I know where everything is actually located in the cart instead of having to search around for it.