Snot and S.O.'s

I had the day off today. I felt a little spoiled as I had Friday and Saturday off as well though occupied by our intern retreat. All 34 interns had 2 days off to go hang out at a nice hotel together with our "SO's" (significant others) as they called them and each other. It was a really fun time of hanging out with each other, relaxing, and reflecting on our intern year thus far in residency and how we can work toward making the program better for ourselves, those that will come after us, and for our patients. Aaron also enjoyed hanging out with the other SO's and learning that random post-call confusion (see prior post) is common to most interns, haha. I feel better knowing that I am not the only one who wakes up thinking I need to make meatloaf for my patients.

So back to today. Two things on my mind. The first is motivated by a recent bad cold I've had since last Thursday. My nose was constantly running all weekend (and still is) and someone told me I should try to avoid blowing it, because then i would just produce more snot to fill in the room I'd just created. Now this came from another doctor, and it sorta makes sense, so I (the dork that I am) did a literature search about it. Couldn't really find much, although there is research that shows blowing your nose forcefully can create high pressures that forces the snot backwards into your sinuses and may lengthen or worsen your illness, so you should plug one nostril at a time and blow gently. I've been trying to limit my nose blowing, but sometimes you just can't help it. I'll see what else I can find.

Second thing on my mind as I was reading at a coffee shop relates to my anal retentiveness. Sometimes I find it hard to read things for fun. I feel like i should spend my spare time reading journal articles and text books to become a better doctor. I know that I do need to take time for myself, but I also know that I will be a better and more knowledgeable doctor the more I read, so therefore find myself sometimes feeling guilty when I am not reading enough. What struck me though is that I don't have the same guilt about not spending enough time in the Bible or in prayer. I know I should spend more time doing these things and know that I will be a better Christian and person in general if I do, but sadly I don't feel that same weight on me. Maybe it is because of the freedom we have in Christ or maybe because my patients in front of me are a more acute reminder to be better. Regardless, I hope that my drive to be a better doctor by reading more also turns into a drive to be a better person and Christ-follower by spending more time doing the things that will help that! A 46 day belated New Year's resolution I suppose.