This year we are seeing a lot more actual patients. It is really interesting, and when you see, touch, smell and talk to a person with a condition, it seems to be much more memorable.
I thought I would just take a few notes of when I see these patients, to help me remember, and to plot my development in understanding the massive field of medicine.
Some of the conditions I have seen this year include atopic dermatitis, bullous pemphigoid, Multiple Endocrine Neoplasia-1, Pityriasis Rubra Pilaris and mycosis fungoides. You may or not be able to tell from that list that my clinical coach for this block is a dermatologist. We have put much effort into elucidating the subtleties in the differential diagnosis for erythroderma.
This past week we saw a patient with Hidradenitis Suppurativa. This is such a horrible disease of the skin in which it is so badly chronically inflamed by a form of acne that over time, scars, tracts and comedoes form such a disfiguration of the skin that it looks like someone had recovered from massive burns. Often the skin remains ulcerated and open. The chronic inflammation often precedes development of cancer. This patient was 43 but it looked like he was in his 60s. It is so severe it destroyed his life.
I won’t be able to forget that for quite some time. Hopefully I never will. If I do, I can maybe look back at this to remember.
Since you can’t just come visit me every year, I wanted to let you all see where I’m living now. It has been good to find a place that works for me and be grounded again.
The place is kinda like a townhouse, with a parking garage below, and walk up doors to 6 units, I am unit 5. I am living with a guy named John, who is originally from New Zealand, and has lived in Tasmania and New South Wales for the last few years. Our bedrooms are on the first floor, and the living room/kitchen is upstairs.
It’s nice to have air conditioning and a big open kitchen. The gas range is something I really love too, and one of the little things I missed from my old house.
Without much more ado, I’ll let you see it for yourself. Just follow the link for a video.
It’s been a while since I have made an update, but I have been busy trying to settle into my new home. I am loving it and it is so good to finally have a place that is somewhat permanent.
For the last ~3 months I have been a nomad. Without a permanent home, coasting on the good hearts of my friends and family. Now that I have found a place, I realized that I was so anxious to just live normally that I did just that. I am getting quite comfortable, even though I haven’t completely set up things yet. There are things that I need to do right now, or they may never get done!
I also don’t have internet at home. I have a connection through my cell phone, which is pretty handy, since I don’t have to march over to the hospital to check one thing, but it’s a little restrictive too, since it is bandwidth limited and a little touch and go for staying online sometimes. That should be fixed some time this week, if all goes well.
It’s Mardi Gras here today, which isn’t a real event down here that I’ve noticed. I’m at the hospital because we had PBL this morning and now we are just chilling at the library waiting for Pathology at 2:30.
I took a bit of a camera tour on the place a few days ago. I’ll put it together and put it here to let you all know where I’m living soon.
Finally, I have found a place to live. After going through a ton of different combinations and arrangements, it looks like one is going to work. The place is really close to the hospital, and the Green Bridge, it’s practically right between the two. I am going to be moving in soon and I’m very happy about that. Not that it hasn’t been great to relive the dorm life.
Thanks for all your support and encouragement. I will hopefully take a few photos of the new place and show it around when I get settled.
He was 24. He looked just like one of us. He took too much heroin that time.
A few days ago I watched the movie ‘Gran Torino’ with a few friends. I had a good time and it was fun and relaxing to go out, but the movie was terrible. The characters were walking, talking stereotypes, with their volume turned up 125%. Nobody acts like that. Even people who think those things don’t act like that. People who DO think or do those things, don’t turn around after a week and behave in the opposite manner.
There were a few ideas that were forced too hard as well. The whole church-hater-ending-up-a-Christ-like-sacrifice figure seemed like it was crafted with a blunt instrument.
Throw on top of that a few terrible child actors and Clint Eastwood trying to solidify his reputation as the old gravel-voice, and it was just not worth it. Just my thoughts.
These are a few more photos from Australia Day and the fireworks.
It was a fun day.
It was green, and I think it had a white stripe running it’s length. It was maybe two centimeters in diameter and about 1.5 m in length. It was on the boardwalk between the lecture hall and the Green Bridge. I tried to take a picture of it, but it was gone before I could even get close.
Just a part of life here…
The National Holiday of Australia is today, and everyone goes out and wanders the parks and paints Aussie flags on their faces.
I cruised around with some friends this morning, had lunch downtown, and am now headed to Lisa’s parents place for a barbeque.
Here are a few photos from my wanderings. The old churches are right downtown, and the ferris wheel is new to Southbank.
How am I going to get to the hospital in any sort of respectable condition? It’s a 45 minute walk away from here, and you guessed it, my umbrella is buried deep in storage somewhere.
I doubt the photo will show the true tropical downpour that I am about to march through.
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