Accepted

A long day, filled with QI meetings and an hour long ridiculous conference call ended with great news - our (my 2 co-chiefs, Hollie and Gigs, and myself) research was accepted for poster presentations at both ESPR (in Philly) and PAS (in Vancouver)! Pretty awesome way to end a long day.

Anyways - I took over service this evening - with am 80% full hospital, which means its sure to be a busy night for the residents at the hospital, and consequently a busy day for me tomorrow. But it will be nice to see patients again on at least a somewhat regular basis.

Spent the morning precepting in my future home - the peds ED. I haven't been there since before we started doing interviews in November, so it was really nice to precept again. Got to educate an adult ED resident about the classic presentation of roseola infatum, which was pretty cool. Otherwise, nothing exciting - a little croup, a little functional abdominal pain and some horrible cavities.

Last night was the State of the Union address. Again, Obama is an excellent orator, but lets see what actually happens. We heard a lot of speeches in the last year, and yet nothing has changed. I agree with what he said - "i can't do it by myself" - but ultimately he will be held accountable if things don't change. I did love it when he took it to the supreme court - and Colbert' segment of 'The Word' yesterday evening was even better.

Well, it's 10:54 and I still have a ton of stuff to do before bed- so away I go.

Another year....

Well, yesterday was my 29th birthday. I have to say that it has been a damn good 29 years. And this birthday I had my wife and 3 boys to celebrate with me! I came home from a relatively calm day at work to Sammy and Zach hiding and jumping out and screaming "surprise! Happy birthday" Best moment of the day, hands down. Benji of course, was adorable as always and actually was awake and smiling for a decent stretch.

The night was a bit rough. It started with a wide awake Benji until at least midnight. A visit from Sammy at 3. A screaming Benji at 4 and Zach up for good at 5:50. And all this after my birthday wish was more than 5 consecutive hours of sleep. Oh well.

Today was another long day at work - but I did accomplish quite a bit - so I guess that's good. Thanks to the ACGME I get tomorrow off - which will entail some shopping at Costco and finally sitting down to start work on... something. Probably my pheochromocytoma paper, perhaps grand rounds. We shall see...

Catching up on Heroes now.. only one episode back. Samuel Sullivan is an excellent villain. That's all i'm gonna say. Finished season 2 of Californication as well - great great season... again - David Duchovney is awesome in this show.

Well -off to read my daily chapter from a peds ED textbook (i know i'm so cool).

Blowing out my birthday candles with the boys

Sunday Sunday Sunday

Well, we did some spring cleaning today. Actually fixed the shelf in the boys closet that was falling down. I am quite proud of myself I must say. Also quite proud of how much crap we threw out. Amazing all the garbage that we were collecting.

And, what a great football day. First, Peyton Manning destroys the Jets after he figures out their defense halfway through the second quarter. Then, a great game between the Saints and Vikings, with a ridiculous amount of turnovers. But a great game, and I am glad that Drew Brees is going to the superbowl. That man sat on the practice squad of my fantasy football team for 3 years. I love that guy. Superbowl is in two weeks - going to Steven's house with my soon to be gimpy friend Stu. 3rd year in a row- make that a chazakah now!

What else? Read 100 pages of Black Ops last night. I just love W.E.B Griffin! Otherwise - its going to be a long week of catching up on the work I should have done today.

Here's a quick shot of Zach from last night. If you look carefully, you can see the little Africa shaped brithmark on his belly. What an adorable munchkin!

It's Been a While...

It has been longer than I would have liked since I have updated my Blog. I have to be better at that (why, I'm not sure, but I should be). It was a busy week at work - interviews, scheduling, meetings etc. etc. etc. Not an excuse, but perhaps a small reason.

I finished the book I was reading The Last Templar, and I am excited to start my next book - Black Ops by W.E.B. Griffin. I am a HUGE fan of Griffin - I've read almost everything he has written - It has all the ingredients in a story that I like. Ridiculously long series which allows for great character development, excellent action scenes and great twists.

Otherwise, I've been spending time with the family - Benji is 7+ weeks now and is starting to smile purposefully - which is nice. Zach is saying more things every day and is adorable and Sammy continues to amaze (I'm not sure he realizes he is only 4).

I've started to try to think about research ideas for fellowship, but need to focus more on more immediate deadlines (peds in review article and our grand rounds).

Anyways - tomorrow is championship Sunday. Jets-Colts (go Colts!) and Saints-Vikes (go Saints!).

g'night

Came home today to quite a scene - no one was screaming or crying. It was quite amazing! Even Benji was sitting peacefully in his bouncy seat staring off into space.

Not the usual ruckus I'm used to. Which was good, since i didn't get home until seven. Apparently work backs up over a 3 day weekend. The fact that I was in lectures/meetings from 8:45am-3pm and didn't get to start doing my work until afterwards probably contributed as well.

Anyways, this evening Benji was practicing his head control with some tummy time.

I just heard a song I haven't heard in a while - Starstrukk by 3OH!3. The lyrics are rediculous, but you gotta love Katy Perry's voice and it such a catchy tune. Just thought I'd share.

MLK Day

Would MLK wash his whites and colored laundry separately? These are the kind of thoughts that keep me awake at night.

Watching the new Robin Williams HBO special - its funny, but not close to as funny as his last one.

We went to the mall today, where the boys got some ice cream

After a trip to Costco and Home Depot, Alex came over to hang with the boys, who were all glad (well, both - I dont think Benji cares one way or the other yet) to see him.

I fixed the drawer to the Ikea piece we have that Zach broke on friday night, and the boys decided to help out

Got my big project on scheduled for Sunday morning. GOnna be a long day at work tomorrow so off to bed.

Quite the Busy Day

Well, my day started at 3:30am when I had to convince Sammy that it was not morning and that I didn't want to see him until "the first number on the clock says 7". Which, he actually listened to - by not coming into my room until 7:30. Of course, he wanted to play Super Mario Sunshine. That's right - we had broken out the GameCube for the first time in 3 years. Sammy loves it, and wants to play - sadly it is too complicated for him (both the game AND the controller. I guess its beyondthe hand eye coordination of a 4 year old to be adept at a 8 button 3 joystick controller.

Our morning continued with a bit of a nap with Benji - and then off to the Blooms to see the "Damn Friends"/"Damn Kids" (and hell, even some "Damn Grandkids"!). Here is a picture of Sammy and Aliza!

We then went home where my parents were waiting for us with pizza - which both Zach and Sammy scarfed down. The usual ruckus then ensued - with Sam and Zach wanting to be scared by my dad. They love it. I love that they love it. Full circle. = )

Then our friends, Adina and Ari came over with their daughter Ayelet. Haven't seen them in quite some time (outside of seeing Ari at Benji's bris for a few minutes) = so it was really nice. I broke out my grill for the first time in a year - and it was fun (and delicious!). Nothing quite like grilling in the misty rain watching the Bronx sunset.

This of course all with the background of Brett Favre demolishing the Cowboys and the Jets somehow managing to beat the Chargers. Well, the somehow includes 3 missed FGs by Nate Kaeding - who is 7/10 career in post season FGs not against the Jets, 1/5 against the jets in post season. We will see what the Jets can do against the Colts. I am very impressed with the Jets - but I don't see anyway they can go into Indy and win (then again, I thought the same thing this week). By the way - I love how not even 3 hours after the game, Nate Kaeding's wikipedia page

has a whole paragraph about his performance today.

And, at the end of the day Zach exemplified how we all felt....

Heart Attack of the Day

So, I get to shul today with Sammy and my friend Evan (4th year Ortho resident at Montefiore who used to live next door to us, with his wife Melissa and daughter Sophie) and we go to hang up our coats in the coatroom, with Sammy right behind us. I turn around - and he's gone. I ran all over the shul and couldn't find him for 15 minutes. where was he? He went down to one of the other minyanim and got some chocolate and a lollipop - blissfully unaware that I was loosing my mind looking for him. It was a feeling I would never wish on anyone.

The rest of the weekend has been uneventful so far - spent Friday cleaning and reading, fell asleep 'early' on Friday night, and after shul today - fell asleep on the couch with Benji on. my chest - the best feeling ever.

Sammy is getting quite adept at doing jigsaw puzzles. its really fun to watch him do them quickly without looking at the box. Zach's new trick is saying 'Bye'. he is so adorable. We broke out the game cube after shabbos and Sammy and I played a bit of mariokart. Can't wait till he is adept enough for us to get a Wii (which he actually asked my parents to get him for his birthday).

We have a busy day ahead of us tomorrow - going out in the morning, my parents coming in the afternoon, and friends coming in the evening for dinner. will be my first BBQ in over a year. Whoo hoo!!!.

Good night

Another One Bites The Dust

Yep, another week of service bit the dust. And it went out with a bang - with a >13 hour day, a pmet (pediatric emergency medical team - a pediatric rapid response) and of course, a bed crunch. no fun being chief resident during a pandemic. But, the good news is - a 4 day weekend!

Sadly, this meant that today I did not get to see the boys. Well - I saw Benji of course - tracking and starting to smile. Sammy was half asleep and then made me take him to brush his teeth (ironic, no?) but I didn't see my Zachy. =( no fun.

Apparantly Montefiore is putting together a team of physicians to go down to Haiti to help with medical relief. I am proud to be part of an organziation contributing to such efforts.

well - its 1230 and i'm falling asleep typing this. hopefully the weekend will provide me with something more exciting to write about.

Argh!

I like to think that I am an easy-going guy and that it takes something to get me annoyed - but one thing that sets me off is when people try to take advantage of my residents. I say 'my residents' with all 69 pediatric residents at CHAM in mind. I do often feel like my co chiefs and I are parents of 69 kids (or at least older, over-protective siblings). We look out for them, help them through their day and try to make their lives easier any was possible. So when someone tries to take advantage of them, it really boils my blood. Over the last day or so we had to deal with some issues in that respect, so it has not been the most pleasant week.

That being said, there are certainly bigger things going on in the world - namely the earthquake in Haiti. What an unimaginable tragedy for the poorest country in the Western hemisphere. On the news they said that thirteen of the aftershocks rated a 4.0 or higher on the Richter scale. That's getting hit when you are already down. And talk about the most inappropriate comments- thank you, Pat Robertson.

Thoughts and prayers are with the millions of people affected by this horrible natural disaster.

Tomorrow I go off service and am rewarded with (!) a 4 day weekend! The longest break i have had in 10 months! Whoo-hoo! But first, a long Thursday ahead of me.

And I get to go to sleep tonight hearing this story. Lovely

I don't really have a title for today's post. Today has been a LONG day. It started at 5:20 when Sammy woke us up - and the subsequent events of getting him back into his bed proceeded to wake Zach and Benji up as well. Fun fun fun.

I never like getting to work and hearing that things that I think should have been done for patients were not done. That annoys me to no end. Today was also that day.

Oy vey.

I also don't like sitting in the room for 5 minutes with only the lecturer when we should have started lecture already. Today was also that day.

At least today wasn't the day I took the pagers home with me (that would be yesterday)

And of course, for really the first night this year, Sammy was not behaving very well and I had to raise my voice to him. I'm trying to stick to my resolution of not yelling at him, but that child knows how to push my buttons.

So, i'm off to bed early. But, to end on a happy note, here's a picture of the boys

A Great New Show

I've only seen it once or twice - but I have to say that the show Castle, on abc is a great show. The premise is a writer (surprise) who follows along a cop to get ideas for his novels - and along the way he helps her solve some crimes. of course, there is the obvious sexual tension between the two main characters, which draws for some good laughs. I guess, it's not so new - it is the second season - but its new for me.

Of course, this is nothing compared to LOST, which is coming back for its final season soon (like in a few weeks). I'm quite excited to figure out who exactly Jacob is, the smoke monster, if they get off the Island and all the other questions I can't even remember since it has been so damn long since an episode has been on. But I am excited for it to return!!!!

Right now, I'm sitting on my bed, watching Castle with Shosh while Benji naps (on his stomach!) on our bed (I mean his bed) while she eats sorbet. Boys - when you read this 10 years from now and look back and smile on all the pictures and anecdotes I put down - remember - your mom thought this was a silly idea.

The Weekend

Well, I was on service this weekend - so nothing too exciting. Got out fairly early both days - which is nice. Just a lot of RSV admitted over the weekend - actually had a difficult time finding an interesting case for my co-chief to present tomorrow morning for morning report (here on in listed as MR).

Saturday night my parents came over - which was nice.... Zach absolutley loves his "gah-mah" and "gah-pah" and Sammy loves rough-housing with my dad more than anything else (much like I did when I was his age). And Benji - well, he just likes to be held -so that worked out well for everyone. My parents are headed down to Florida tomorrow to visit my grandparents (or, as they are known to my boys "pop moishe" and Dolores) - so it was nice to see them before they left. Of course, I also had the pleasure of watching Cloudy with a chance of meatballs for the 5th time of the week. Yay.

Sunday was a very laid back day. Rounded - went to Costco (my favorite store) to grab a few things - and actually spent less than $100 for the first time ever! And then came home and did some work - reading about pheochromocytomas and such. Shosh took the boys with her mom (Phyllis) to go see Uncle Moishy at the RJC. When they came home Sammy and I took a walk to the bank and got some ice cream. It was then hanging out at home, doing work and cleaning up.

Bed time came early - and then Zach of course came out and played for half an hour. We finally got Sammy to sleep all night in his bed and now Zach has problems going to sleep. Oy vey - well, such is life. Benji seems to be tracking a bit more and was making some good eye contact (and maybe even flashed a social smile). All perfect stuff for his 5 week old brain. Thank you pediatric boards.

Another work week starts in the morning (well, for me I guess it continues). Good night!

Why are my kids still up?

10:22pm on saturday night and everyone is awake. I think the person closest to falling asleep is Shosh. Why are they still up? Alas - I have no time to write tonight. I'm going to go try to round up the cattle now....

My Boys

Well, I'm finally writing this at a computer where I have all of my pictures! So here they go.

Starting with the oldest - Sammy. ~ 4.5 years old - adorable, loving, very strong willed and very intelligent. We butt heads sometimes - he definitely knows how to push my buttons - but this has actually been a very pleasant new year so far. He is a very physical child - likes to wrestle and hug and wants to know that we (Shosh and I) are around. He's adventurous and daring, yet rightfully afraid of dangerous things (and bugs - which he gets from Shosh).

Zach: 19 months - Beautiful, loving, hysterical and delicious! He absolutely adores Sammy and Benji and loves playing with them. Like Sam, he is very physical - always hugging and kissing (and biting) and tackling myself and Sam. His baby speech is adorable and his mannerism are quite amusing. He is a bit manipulative and he realizes that we will at times indulge him, but his smile and laughter always seems to make everything better

Benji: - well, the kids only 1 month old - so what is there to say? He is MUCH quieter than Zach was as a baby (which we appreciate), and he is really really good looking (think Zoolander voice). He only cries for a reason - dirty diaper or hungry, and he tolerates his brothers holding him. And of course, when he falls asleep on my chest - its the best feeling in the world (until he spits up)

Well, those are the boys - many more pictures to follow. Next update will be Saturday night, after Shabbos. I start service today so the chances of me getting home before shabbos are worse than those of JaMarcus Russell winning the superbowl, er..... a playoff game. er..... throwing multiple touchdowns in a game, er... completing 50% of passes in a game? well.. you get the point

My "Little" Man

Well, there is certainly nothing little about Benji. At a mere 1 month of age he has increased his weight by >50%. What a little piggie. 12+ pounds.

The rest of the doctors appointment went well - except for the little spider monkey. He was cool when he wasn't being examined, but anytime the pediatrician made a move that even appeared as if she was going to examine him, he flipped his lid. As a pediatrician myself, I have seen the transition children make with respect to their interactions with doctors hundreds of times. It is quite interesting watching my own children make that transition. Sammy went through this same stage, but now he talks about his pediatrician at home whenever he isn't feeling well. He actually loves going to the doctor. Amazing.

Now, tomorrow, I promise some pictures of the boys. Since I have to get to work early to do a spinal tap at 8am, I'm off to bed for now.

Someday's You Got It... Some Days You Don't

And, today I didn't. Well, I continued my amazing IV run, but the procedure luck stopped there. When I was an intern rotating through the well baby nursery, the most frustrating thing was when a baby needed a full sepsis work up and I could get the LP without any issue, but couldn't get the damn blood for a culture.

Well, guess what's more annoying.....

Not being able to get the tap or the blood. 13 day old today- got pure blood on the tap, twice - and both times the needle eased in without any issue. Frustrating! and then, I couldn't hit any of the kids easily visible veins for a culture. Had to do an A-stick... man, what an afternoon. But I did get to teach someone how to do an LP - which I really do love to do. So I guess there is a silver lining to every cloud.

Oh, and I see rumors of the Mets trying to trade for Mike Lowell. just what the Mets need - an injured 30+ 3rd baseman. I'm sure now that the word is out that this prospect, Chapman, is having control issues the Mets will be all over that like white on rice. What a joke. Minaya has got to go.

NFL wildcard weekend. Sadly, Sammy is more interested in watching the same movie over and over so my odds of being able to catch any significant part of any of the games is slim to none.

Taking Zach and Benji to the doctor tomorrow for their 18month and 1 month check-ups. I remember Sammy at this age - when he would go to the doctor, he was like a spider monkey. the second the doc walks in the room his is scurrying up my back and shrieking. Thankfully, its a phase. if he knew we were taking the other boys to the doctor tomorrow he'd tell me he didnt want to go to school, but he wanted to go to the doctor. Kids - gotta love em.

Speaking of kids, Zach has finally started calling me 'Da Da'. For the last 3 months it has been 'La La' but I guess now that he realizes that Mommy has to feed the parasite around the clock, he best be getting on my good side! I love it.... can't get enough of it. The only thing that beats your toddler calling your name in that sweet loving way is when a baby falls asleep on your chest. priceless.

Resolution Kept! (at least for a day)

Well, I managed to make it 2 days in a row of updating this blog. Yay me. Can you believe it's 2010? I can't. I've gone almost 9 months with no more than 3 days off in a row - however, time continues to fly by. 2 new deadlines - our (and by our, i mean my co-chief residents (to protect identities, we will call them Hollie and Gigs) and myself) have arrived - grand rounds and an article due for Peds in Review. Of course, they are both due 2 weeks apart from each other. Oy vey. So much for spacing things out.

Anyone else notice it is cold? Really freaking cold? The hi for the week is supposed to be 36. So much for global warming, eh?

today was pretty uneventful - so, an amazing day. One little footnote - Zach has developed this annoying habit of not going to sleep when we want him to. Shosh puts him in his crib and he stands up and screams. Let him scream, you say? Sure, we tried that- until he screamed so much he started coughing which led to him vomiting all over himself and his crib. So he has figured out a way for us to indulge him and to get a little alone time with his mommy and daddy. Good for him.

Goodnight

The Blog is Back in Town!

Hello 2010! We have entered a new decade since I have posted anything - almost 3.5 years as a matter of fact. A lot has happened since then - I had two more kids (Zach (19months), Benji (1month)) (and of course Sammy (~4.5yrs) is doing well), finished residency, matched for a fellowship in pediatric emergency medicine at CHAM (the Children's Hospital at Montefiore) which will start 7.1.10, passed my peds boards to become a board certified pediatrician, got an article on which I am first author accepted to Pediatric Emergency Care (to be published in the future) and I am more than halfway through with my chief residency in pediatrics.

Damn, i've been busy.

I've also attempted to read a bunch of non-medical stuff - right now I am reading the Last Templar - which is entertaining. I've been listening to a ton of music - haven't gotten anything new lately -and, unfortunatley, the only movies I have been seeing lately are animated. Usually, I see them several times a week. The movie du jour is Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs. Like most of these films, it is at times entertaining, and at times annoying. On TV - I'm watching heroes and lost on a regular basis (as regular as you can be when you go almost a year between seasons) and a bit of some shows which I am finding really amusing - Modern Family and the Middle. I am watching season 1 of Californication as well . I think it has some great story lines and a good main character (i've never really liked David Duchovny, but he is excellent in this (and a Golden Globe winner because of it).Sports wise - it has been a LONG 3.5 years as the Knicks have been one of the worst teams in basketball (though had one of their largest victories ever tonight), the Raiders have been one of the worst teams in football (plenty on this in the future, I assure you) and the Mets have been one of the most disappointing teams in any sport after 2 historic late season collapses and then the disaster that was 2009. Fantasy sports wise has fared a bit better with 2 FFL titles since then and a pretty good showing in a 12 team fantasy baseball league (at least this past year), though not so hot with basketball. I've actually become quite a fan of fantasy baseball - which I am sure will lead to many posts throughout most of the year. I've also managed to (roughly) stick with daf yomi - I am 125 daf behind, but still got ~ 3 years to be all caught up.

So... what brings us here today? The new year, of course. i have decided that one of my new years resolutions was going to be restarting this blog. Why? Well, mainly because I miss writing and I don't have the time or strength to get back into my novel - so I figure this is a nice substitute. And, I'll get to show you (whoever you is) pictures and ramble on as much as I want. Besides, I wonder if my kids will be intersted in this in the future. Or will they not really care? who know....

Will this last? I hope so - Last new year's resolution was a success - though not as much as I had hoped (only lost 4lbs, was hoping for 10) - but we get another shot at that one as well.

Alas, it is finally time for bed, as the first work week of 2010 is upon us. Happy New Year!!