A recap of last night's festivities is in order. But, because of all the stories coming out in the news about not disclosing too much about one's life in one's Blog (in case you run for president or become a doctor someday), I won't discuss what I did with all those strippers, hookers, illicit drugs, and porn stars last night. Instead, I'll just skim of the top. The work day was rather long. We have 3 pages of consults at the moment (which is a lot), so I have a lot of patients to see in the morning and a lot of rounding to do until late in the evening. After getting home, I sort of resigned myself to a quiet evening. Ryan had to entertain some business guests in from JAXA (the Japanese version of NASA) and Nick was studying for the USMLE Step 2, so I figured I would read and get some sleep. This was not the case.

Instead, Ryan called me from April Evans' house where they were having nicely aged cheeses and wine before the JAXA crew arrived. I was invited over and gladly joined them at April's. In attendance were several of the Boeing people along with others. (*spelling is not my strong point*) Trisha who is from Michigan was in attendance, the ever lovely TODD FOX (creator of "does tommyroshek love you" currently under construction, a member of the mytommyroshek.com® family of webpages), the fun-loving April Evans and host, Angela the psychology BS candidate at the University of Houston and neighbor from across the hallway, and Ryan Ricks of Club 1948. These are all good people, a term TODD FOX has brought back into style. We were later joined by Lisa, another Boeing employee, April's boss Bob Puckett or "Puckett" as he is often called, and the guests of honor, Kaneko-san and Doi-san in town from Japan. And now you know the JAXA Night Players. As it turns out, Boeing is working with JAXA and NASA on the international space station, and so there were meetings all week to coordinate critical events. We drank nice wine from Paris then decided to go have dinner.

We walked to dinner, held at a very nice French/Belgium place called the Montrose Cafe (remarkably located on Westheimer). There was an accordion player to greet us at the door and we all sat down at a big table in the "back room" surrounded by artwork, European posters, and a wine cellar. Ryan, Angela, Trisha, and I had Chimay beer together, then I had a lovely shrimp bisque followed by a Belgium Endive salad. The atmosphere was delightful and lively conversation was had by all. After walking back to April's house, it was noticed that someone tried to squeeze behind Ryan parked in the street. I think they might be a bit too close. But don't worry, it's a Florida resident. Must be the one of the same people who "thought" they were voting for Gore but instead voted for Bush (i.e. retarded). Here's what I mean.




Then it was off to the world famous Red Door bar/club in the uptown area. This place sort of reminds me of the Green Room in the Deep Ellum area near Downtown Dallas. The bottom level is a swanky, yuppie type area, then the upstairs is all patio overlooking the Houston skyline. I love that sort of thing. As soon as the weather gets better, this will be a perfect place to go socialize, especially during the week when there aren't too many people there. We had a good time, stayed very late without really realizing it, and then we went home.

Back at Club 1948 Ryan continued his packing in preparation for his trip abroad. He'll be traveling all over Asia from what I remember, then he finishes the trip in Japan working with the same JAXA people who were in town for this gathering. I'm sure he'll have a fantastic time. Special thanks to Ryan for providing the photographing device yesterday evening. And thanks to April for providing names and spellings.

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I saw the coolest thing on Friday night. I was at the very beautiful Rice University campus about to play tennis with cardiology phenom Cezar Iliescu when I looked to the east at the Texas Medical Center. In the distance I could see a spectacular cloud-line which represented the remnants of Hurricane Ivan. It was especially interesting, because it was at sunset, and there were several colors to see. It's ironic that something which caused so much destruction can be so beautiful form afar. Then I proceeded to get beat (again) in a three-hour, three-set marathon by the resident cardiologist. However, I did win the middle frame this time, which must be considered a breakthrough. Hey, it's a start. The rest of the evening was spent looking up the WHO classification of Lupus Nephritis.

Saturday was business as usual. We rounded on patients until 1:15, then I needed to spend more time on an interesting case I have. The last two days, I have been charged with gathering information that requires that bit of extra effort. Friday I somehow managed to obtain kidney biopsy results that are 10 years old from Texas Children's Hospital. The funny thing is I began that venture at 4:15 PM and was told by my fellow, third year resident, and nurse my efforts were futile so late on a Friday. By 6 PM, I had the biopsy results. Cha-CHING! Then Saturday, I stayed a few hours after rounds to obtain a medication record from a nurse in Lake Jackson. We were trying to figure out when certain medications were started and when they were stopped so we could put the entire picture together. So did some investigating and finally got in touch with a nurse who knew everything. Hopefully the information will pay off for the patient. The rest of the day Saturday was spent doing nothing. I took a nap, had Freebirds, watched TV, played cards, and worked on my school's graduation banquet. I'm excited about that whole thing...it should be a great way to finish my four years. Dr. Preskitt sent me a copy of the letter of recommendation he wrote me, and it was awesome. I am completely fortunate to have worked with him and everyone else at Baylor (have I said that before?). So now my application will be fully complete (although it technically already is), and now I start the interview waiting game. It's certainly an exciting time.

I will be bringing my camera to work this next week. I'm going to be taking pictures of some of the equipment in the hospital (but not patient information mind you, cause that would violate the HIPPA). We really don't get to see what goes on inside a big hospital and all the technology that goes into saving and maintaining life. So in the coming days I will attempt to expose you to some of that stuff. I hope you find it interesting.

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Finally, it should be noted that I have begun to play my trumpet again. This is in anticipation of Alyssa O'Reilly's wedding in October. I will be performing at the wedding, at the church the two of us grew up attending. Don Essmiller, the director of music, is mortified that I am playing as he knows I haven't played in many, many months. However, I will be outstanding in my triumphant return to music. Or maybe I'll just suck really badly. Either way, I'm very pleased to be playing again. I sort of forgot how much I tuly enjoy playing said instrument. The sound created is a wonderful thing, even after not playing for so long. Must be good fundamentals. Shout out to Vern Sielert and the countless others who have taught me so much about tumpet playing. You have given me a gift that will last forever.

Maybe you've noticed I've mentioned the weather a few times in the past few weeks. Well, yesterday evening was so nice, Ryan and I had Chipotle OUTSIDE last night. There was a nice breeze, and the temperature was perfect for some outdoors time. I still didn't get the complete "fall" feeling as discussed in previous blogs, but it's SOOOOOO close now. By chance, today is the first day of fall, when the daylight hours equal the moonlight hours. Better football weather is right around the corner.

The Cowboys won yesterday over the Cleveland Browns. I'm sure Dan McDowell of Dallas' Sportsradio 1310 The Ticket was very disappointed along with former coach Dave Campo, now with the Browns. There were 7 interceptions in the game I think. It was worse than watching high school football. However our defense was good and so was Vinnie until the 2nd half. Let's hope he cleans up his act.

After the game, Seema J. of ULTRA LIBERAL KPFT Pacifica Radio in Houston came over for a fish dinner a la Tommy Roshek. I decided to go with baked Porgy and Mangrove Snapper in a tomato, ginger, and garlic sauce. Nick was kind enough to steam the rice and vegetable medley. Ryan added lively conversation and cleaned the dishes. I think the dinner was a success, as everyone seemed to enjoy the food. I was very pleased with the outcome. Seema, it seems, is having issues trying to resolve the conflict of being a doctor and being an activist/reporter. I keep telling her it's possible to do both and that both are for the greater good of society. However, it feels like she wants to ditch medicine for radio, which I think would be a grave mistake. Radio is important, but how do you top directly saving lives?? Anyway, there was lively conversation as Seema usually provides, and I think everyone had a good time.

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Yesterday was relatively quiet. I finished my Advanced Cardiac Life Support class. So if your heart stops and a defibrillator is around, I might actually be able to save your life. Then I went over to the Baquero Gallery to see how The Maestro and Nathan were doing. They spent the day making beautiful wooden frames for some of Nathan's smaller paintings. Nathan learned the entire process from the master himself, so I'm sure it was a productive day. Of course, it probably wasn't all that fun to get up at 6:30 after sleeping 3 hours and spend the day in 100 degree temperatures. But nevertheless, I'm sure he was pleased. The rest of the evening was uneventful.

Fast-forwarding to today, I resumed work on nephrology at Memorial Hermann Hospital. Upon completion I went to Target for some of the essentials (bars of soap, shampoo, soy pills, and skim milk) and had Freebirds® for lunch. Now at 1800, I'm watching my Aggies play Clemson on TBS. No score at 11:10 left in the 1st quarter. But our opening drive was nice.

Aggies ended up winning that one by a nice margin. Since then, I've been watching TV and doing nothing. Actually I'm sort of bored right now. I need to think of more stuff to do now that I don't study anymore.

Yesterday Nathan came in town to attend a David Baquero Gallery opening. After I finished day #1 of advanced cardiac life support, he left the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston and met me at home. We had dinner at Mo Mong, the greatest Vietnamese restaurant ever, then we went to the gallery around 9 PM. It was sort of how I expected, except the clientele wasn't as yuppie as I thought it would be. There were a bunch of people there drinking wine and eating light hors d'oeuvres. I forget who the gallery opening was for, but I'm sure you can find that in Nathan's Log as soon as he writes it. Anyway, we sort of looked at the paintings and drank some wine but didn't get too social, as we didn't know anyone except for Maestro Baquero. Of course the point of these things is to meet people, so eventually we got social. A cute girl sat with us while viewing one of the paintings, and we finally got to chatting. Actually I was doing most of the flirting while Nathan sort of just tried to be friendly. Eventually we were invited to some sushi place I'd never been to, but I really wasn't all that interested. The rest of the evening was spent eavesdropping on some of the other conversations and people watching. I must admit, some of the stuff I was hearing was pretty friggin weak, but hey what are you going to do? After all, it was the art crowd. Then things took a turn for the better.

We met a woman named Lisa. She kinda kept sort of quiet, but eventually Maestro Baquero introduced her to Nathan and me. One thing lead to another, and I found out that she was a non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma survivor. As the story goes, she apparently had stage IV lymphoma (told she had 3 months to live), which was cured by MD Anderson trained oncologists. She has now been in remission for three years. It was the most amazing thing. So Nathan and I became her friend and sort of hung out with her the rest of the evening.

Finally, the best part came. Somehow the conversation with Maestro Baquero switched from art to Spanish Classical Guitar. I mentioned how I needed to expand my library of John Williams Bach stuff to other classical players. I wasn't sure which genre I wanted, so he offered to play selections from each genre to help me decide. So he got out his two custom hand-made guitars and played a private show for Lisa, Nathan, the Maestro’s wife, his step-son, and me. Basically, The Maestro is probably one of the better classical guitarists in the world. Did I mention that the Maestro trained under Andre Segovia? (he's sort of a guitar legend...look him up) The music was mind-numbing. I remember the chills running down my spine while I sat there and listened to a true master play his guitar right in front my face. It basically was one of the coolest things I've ever experienced. We finally figured out what I like, so he finished the concert and promised to make me a collection the next day. The rest of the evening was spent socializing with my new friends until it was time to leave at 1:30. I got home, put a pot of coffee on, and tried to study until 3AM for my ACLS exam. Instead though, Ryan came down because Nathan and I were too loud, and we chatted about the evening. Finally I was so tired, that I collapsed in bed, only to wake up in 4 hours.

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My name is Tommy Roshek, and this here is my blog, brought to you by www.blogger.com and Nexium.

Thanks to Nathan Beach, President and CEO of NathanBeach.com, who shrank my homepage images a bit so they would fit a screen with 800 X 600 resolution. 100% of my current viewers have a resolution that size or larger and only 2% use 800 X 600, so those people will be especially happy.

Today I had a viewing of the movie of Intolerable Cruelty starring George Clooney and Catherine Zeta-Jones-Douglas-Rexroth-Doyle-Massey. This is another Cohen Brother® invention of greatness. I sort of thought the first 30 minutes or so were slow, but then the movie takes off in usual Cohen fashion giving you 70 minutes of superb comedy and drama. What did I just write? I feel like I'm Matt Ellinwood or something (translation: I feel sorta gay). It's a great movie, go see it. This is yet another outstanding film I've seen this summer, continuing my streak. Next up, Lost in Translation as soon as it's available.

Also, Most Exalted One Doctor Kimberly Dean Anderson has challenged members of Club 1948 to try and define certain words that describe females. Here is upon what we decided:

Cute-implies size and personality (either tiny cute or has a pretty face but a bit overweight and needs to lose some pounds cute)

Attractive-used to tell (objectively) a girl that she's pretty without hitting on her

Gorgeous/Stunning-jaw drop; girl-next-door look; an innocent hotness

Beautiful-implies personality, one step below gorgeous physically

Hot-has slutty undertones to it, more about physicality

Slut-dirty manwhore or dirty tramp; can apply to any race or gender

[Then I asked our panel to comment if these terms can apply across generations.]

"After 55, they're just OLD" --Nick


In conclusion "beautiful" implies the greatest descriptor a girl can have and is used to describe a woman worth marrying.

Comments are welcome. Click below.

Let's start this thing off by acknowledging that someone from LBJ Hospital visited my website at 4:41 AM this morning. Since I'm in Dallas, I don't know if Nick was on call last night, but let's all hope that was the case. Cause if someone else from LBJ is checking out the website at that hour, we all need to be very afraid.

Friday

I spent most of the day in Houston. Work was interesting, as I've been cleared to put in the next temporary dialysis catheter. It would be way cool if I can do a few of those to get some experience. Then I went home, packed up my stuff, and sat around for a while. In typical Tommy fashion, I waited until 8 PM to leave for my 9 PM flight out of Hobby Airport. However, this late departure was cause for greatness. Leaving my door at 8 PM put me in Houston's Parking Spot at 8:20, on their shuttle, through TSA security, and at my gate by 8:30 PM. Then I had 15 minutes to read my new book for good measure. How's that for timing in America's fourth largest city? And in looking up the web address for The Parking Spot's hyperlink, I found a 5% off coupon which I will now use this evening. Genius! Upon arriving in Dallas, I chatted with my parents who picked me up and then proceeded to The Zen Bar in Addison for some Apple Martinis and conversation with Adam Manson, Tony Rucker, and Jon Stanley. I sure took a lot of shit for having such a frou frou (pronounced frooouuu frooouuu) beverage, but it really hit the spot and was tasty, so what are you gonna do? Then I went with Adam to meet with some friends at The Outer Marker for a post-firing gathering, which was a mistake, so I went home.

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Saturday

Today began with coffee followed by lying in a raft on the pool. It was The Ticket's Football All the Way Convention in Arlington, so I got some nice radio diversion for a Saturday. Then it was time to watch A&M football and a lovely 31-0 win over Wyoming. Following football was a trip to Houston's the restaurant. This place really is superb. I've never ever had anything on their menu that wasn't outstanding. We had salmon appetizer followed by a crab cake and this Thai noodle salad thing. The highlight of the evening was this exchange initiated by my dad with a neighboring table (consisting of a mom, dad, and two beautiful children):

Tom: If your son had a mustache, he'd look just like his Dad! How did you do that??

Random Table Mom: I'm not really sure...[pointing to her husband]...he did it. And I was asleep.

To which our table burst out in laughter. I almost started crying I was laughing so hard. When the little boy (must have been 3 or 4) saw me laughing, he burst out laughing, maybe harder than I was laughing. Such a rare moment of genius with random people will always get a mention in this here blog. I should have asked the mom for her info to see if she'd like to make other guest appearances here. What an outstanding moment.

The rest of the evening was spent watching the lowly University of Texas Longhorns struggle against the unranked Arkansas Razorbacks. I watched the 4th quarter at Cory Sutker's house in Plano with Tony and Julie Dubin-Sutker. Texas ended up winning, but only by two points--the result of the Arkansas long snapper putting the ball over the punter for a first quarter safety. What a beating.

Sunday

Lazy Sunday. I slept in, woke up, had some coffee, and did the pool thing. Then I watched the Cowboys lose to the Vikings (which really wasn't a bad loss...I thought it was a pretty good game actually), and got on a plane to Houston. Shout out to Southwest Airlines, the greatest airline in the world. And a shout out to The Parking Spot, which is a very cheap and very efficient way to park your car when you go on trips. Now I'm home, my clothes are in their rightful place, the cats have been petted, and it's time for bed.

Let's talk about fall. For those of you in Texas, I mean the time when high school football is in full swing. For the rest of the country, I mean the season (as in spring, summer, FALL, winter). I walked outside today at 7:00 PM to get my sun tea that was brewing on top of my 2000 Eddie Bauer White Ford Explorer. As I smelled the cool evening air, I sort of got that fall feeling for the first time in 2004. I think fall has special significance for anyone who was involved in extra-curricular activities at a Texas high school or college. For me, fall will always be associated with Friday night football, marching band, parties, great times, school getting back into swing, and friendships. In college fall was about walking to class without sweating, Saturday football, and sitting on the patio with a Shiner Bock. Anyway, there's a distinct smell to fall. Maybe it's distinct, because the temperature is low enough that the concrete isn't burning anymore, and the air isn't on fire. It's the same every year. Today wasn't that day, but I know it's close. It will probably happen more towards October when that first cool front hits town and temperatures are in the 70's. I can't wait for that day each year, because it reminds me of the happy times of youth. Luckily, those happy times are still here, but now they are different as things are when you get older. I really sort of miss the high school and college days. I had a wonderful high school experience, which I think isn't the norm for most people. College was four-year summer camp, so what's not to like about that? Oh well, those days are gone, but now I have blogger to record those memories permanently. I think that's nice.

In other news, it seems J.J. Pearce High School has new corporate sponsors. Why in shit does my alma mater have corporate sponsors? I think Janie Heard is getting an e-mail. Shout out to IPS Advisors, Inc. and Auerbach, Albert, & Gold, LC. I was alerted to this new situation by nathanbeach.com, where there is a posted picture. I will make my own photograph with my digital camera when I return to Dallas this weekend. I think I'll take lots of photographs, because I didn't have my camera all last month when I was working at Baylor. Now the camera is back, and that means it's time for pictures.

Just saw the movie The Cooler starring William H. Macy, Alec Baldwin, and Maria Bello. It's about a guy who's job is to stand near hot tables at the casino and cool them down. Apparently his luck is so bad it rubs off on the winners in the casino. I really enjoyed the film. It's an indy film and nicely done. Maria Bello is very charming, Macy is outstanding as usual, and the same for Baldwin. I would suggest that you go see the movie on DVD if you get a chance.

The World Cup of Hockey is in full swing. Today was a quarterfinal match between the United States and Russia. Thinking about the World Cup of Hockey always gives me goosbumps. I think back to the summer of 1996 when I had just graduated high school and watched that entire tournament with my Dallas buddies. I'll never forget how we beat Canada in the final. It was absolute greatness and forever vaulted ice hockey to the top of my favorite sports to follow and watch. Now that the tournament is back, I find that my enthusiasm is dampened a bit with the recent Olympic performances of the United States. However, after watching our team play one of the finest hockey games I've seen in many, many months, I'm back on board. Our team was outstanding including the stellar play of Mike Modano (four assists) who's line including Keith Tkachuk (four goals) and Bill Guerin (two assists) owned Russia this evening. The guys played with passion and guts, which is all most fans ever wanted. Winning is good, but playing with determination is best. The Americans did that tonight. America kicks ass!

Late Last Night

Just got back from seeing the movie Garden State (1:05 AM) with Ruth. It was written, directed, AND stars Zach Braff of the sitcom Scrubs, another wonderful production. This guy is probably a genius, and I have a feeling this film is the start of an outstanding writing career. The movie is absolutely fantastic. You could see it with your parents. I have this beautiful string of seeing first rate movies this summer. It's just so great to walk out of a movie totally refreshed and excited about living. Kinda how I feel after I walk out of a Wes Anderson picture. This was a very nice emotional piece that all of you need to go see.

Today

Today started with a call to Priscilla Saldivar to ask her about Emergency Medicine programs for Seema. Priscilla is always very willing to help me out, which is always reciprocated. So we have a nice relationship that way. Plus she's a sweetheart and funny, so you really can't go wrong on that account.

Then it was off to Ruth's lovely apartment to pick her up for the Astros game and $1 hotdogs. The game was very nice, especially since the roof was closed creating a comfortable viewing experience. Plus, $1 hotdogs dude! Shit, if Travis ever found out, the place would go out of business. The Astros won 11-2, continuing their big streak as the Rangers continue their downward spiral. Oh well. You gotta love the Rangers though...they have been unbelievably awesome this season. The Astros will probably choke as usual if they make the playoffs, so no expectations there either.

Then we decided to enjoy the rest of the day outdoors. We went to the local tennis court for some ball-hitting. Ruth has some nice tennis skills. Then I dropped her off at her place ending Ruth Weekend. I'm very pleased with our "quality time" the last few days. She's a totally amazing girl by my account, so I plan on more of the same in the coming days. Nice work TODD FOX.

Ryan got back from his Vegas Vacation this evening. He seems to have enjoyed the weekend. Apparently there was A LOT OF DRINKING AND GAMBLING, which is what you're supposed to do out there from what I here. So it's nice to have him back. Maybe his cats will stop shitting on my bathroom rug now.

Finally, props to my sister Carolyn. We're currently playing gin at yahoo games, and I mentioned how I want her to see Napoleon Dynamite and Garden State. So what does she do, she starts quoting Napoleon Dynamite lines. ABSOLUTE GREATENESS! I'm so pleased that she saw the film and enjoyed it. We always seem to enjoy the same comedy in films dating back to our hours of watching Spaceballs, Ferris Bueller's Day Off, or more recently Anchorman. Now she needs to see Garden State, and her 2004 summer movie schedule will be complete.

Last night, one of the cats vomited in my room and one urinated on the toilet paper hanging from the roll in my bathroom. At least the animal had the courtesy to urinate on the toilet paper and not on the rug (which I'm cleaning anyway). Then the orange cat refused to stop crying outside my room, so I let him in and he summarily bit my in the nose causing it to bleed. Now I have a lovely one-inch scratch on the right side of my schnoz. Hopefully I won't get toxoplasmosis or a Pasteurella multocida infection. Today I'm giving the orange cat the cold shoulder in punishment. Or maybe I'll give him to the Chinese restaurant down the street.

In happy news, there was cooking of the dinner which I hadn’t done in quite a while. Ruth "seems like she should be living in San Diego" Pearce (remarkably the same spelling as my high school) came over, and we had the now famous Macadamia Nut Crusted Hog Snapper with Mango Stuff; salad mixed with walnuts, feta, apple, and balsamic vinaigrette, and bread. I was very pleased with the results. We had lovely conversation and such, and ended up watching Saturday Night Live and Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back.

I think I'm sort of really happy that I'll have time to do fun stuff this year. In fact, I think I might join Ruth at Dietrich's to do some "light" reading. I have a super book called "Current Therapy in Nephrology and Hypertension, Fourth Ed." by Richard J. Glassock, so that sounds like a hoot.

What I'm really waiting for is Louis de Bernieres' fifth major installment called "Birds Without Wings". His other work (which I haven't read and didn't know about) is called "Sunday Morning at the Centre of the World" about his life living in London. It's only 80 pages, which doesn't really qualify it for a major novel. However, as soon as I finish "Birds" I'll have "Centre" ready and waiting. I really have no idea how I'm going to deal with all this free-time. It's almost exactly like my "year-off" after graduating college before entertaining med school. All I have to do is work during the day and have fun at night. There's virtually no reading, studying, or worrying about tests. Damn, this is going to be great. I need to find a softball league!

I'd say tonight has been lovely. I'm just sitting here watching Startrek The Next Generation reruns on the Spike TV. I've been doing paperwork and other stuff on the computer while watching. Wireless internet is the greatest thing ever invented.

The greatness that is Janelle Collier has some friends who seem to be searching for her name on the vast expanse that is the Internet. So I figure I'd add her name yet again on this here blog. I'd like to add TODD FOX as well for his obligatory inclusion. And what's up with people finding my site when they search for some stupid video about Joe Theisman breaking his leg? I get like two or three hits a week from people typing similar phrases into Google. They hit my site, because I visited Theisman's restaurant in Alexandria, Virginia the day of Nick's wedding and blogged it. Oh well, now it's only going to get worse.

In other news, I received my digital camera back from the dead today. It's been repaired twice since my buddy Dave dropped it at a party. It seems to be in working order now, so I took the liberty of taking some pictures. I have included an image of my new project, the growth of an avocado plant. Nathan suggested I give this a try, so I visited the official website of the avocado, avocado.org. There you can learn about the great fruit that is the avocado...you can even learn how to grow a plant, just like I'm going to try! Alright!

My rotation on the nephrology consult service has been going remarkably well. Now the cat has crawled into my lap. Anyway, the attending, fellows, and residents are very nice, so I think I'm really going to enjoy things. Plus it appears Dr. Kahn enjoys teaching, so hopefully I'll gain some valuable knowledge about the kidney and such.

Ok, I think I can finally sort of catch-up from last weekend. We'll start with Friday which was my final full day at Baylor University Medical Center. My first scheduled case was with Dr. Preskitt and lasted about 60-seconds. He biopsied a tongue lesion. So then I walked next door to OR 23 and scrubbed in on Dr. Derrick's laparoscopic cholecystectomy. We did that, and I decided to go to clinic with Dr. Preskitt, so Intern Dan and I headed over there to see some patients. We learned a lot, and when it was over I sat down with Dr. Preskitt and asked him to write me a letter of recommendation. We had a great conversation about residency programs and surgery in general, and he told me he'd write me a nice letter. It was the best possible way to end what was already the best month I've had as a medical student.

Then it was quiet for a bit...until the month's full moon reared it's ugly head. We started with a few traumas, one went up to the OR for some repair. Then a patient in the ICU went sour on us. His chest tube was putting out a lot of blood, so I spent my time running as much blood into the patient as possible. Then he lost his pulse (twice) so CPR was required. Performing chest compressions is very tiring even if your technique is good. Unfortunately the patient did not survive. Shortly thereafter, another patient at the other end of the hospital went sour. We had to put in a central line and an arterial line to closely monitor his vital signs. Then more trauma. Then a dude came in who was drunk and high on coke who got locked out of his house. He decided he'd punch through a plate glass window to try and get back in, which tore his skin off down to the muscle. I had the lovely opportunity to sew that back in place, requiring 3 and a half hours to complete. Then call was over, and I drove home at 11:30 on Saturday morning.

Baylor truly is the coolest hospital I've ever seen. I've had a relationship with them since my senior year of high school. I have logged over 350 volunteer hours and around 400 hours as a fourth year medical student over the last eight years since 1996. It's the finest hospital in North Texas and probably one of the best overall medical centers in the country. While I have no illusions that I will end up there, it certainly was a wonderful month. I did more surgery there than I did in my three previous surgery months combined, I learned a ton about surgery and management, I received a great letter of recommendation from one of the country's top surgeons, and I met some really wonderful people last month. So hey, once again I had a wonderful time in Dallas...which is always the case.

Then I did the pool thing, had lunch, and fell asleep. When I woke up, it was time to accompany Nathan to see the coolest movie of the year, "Napoleon Dynamite". Unfortunately, the row in front of us was a bunch of junior high or high school students who literally spoke through the entire movie. No, they didn't speak in just a few places; they spoke during the entire movie using their normal, loud voices. Finally Nathan told all of them to "shut the fuck up, there's a movie on" which elicited sarcasm from the group. Oh well. Most kids in big cities don't have the values kids in little cities have. I was discussing this with my parents and decided that small town values are probably better for raising kids than the non-values of big city kids. Whatever. I loved the movie, and I highly encourage you to go see it. Then Nathan, Shelly, and I went to Kathleen's Art Cafe on Lovers and the Tollway to see Kristen Ohlenforst's artwork and have dinner. The food was remarkably good, but the Fat Tire in a bottle was $5. We had an awesome time, and I remember discussing thyroid function with Shelley and Nathan. We also decided that I will soon begin a new segment on this here website called "Ask Fake Dr. Tommy" which will launch in the coming months. This will be your opportunity to ask me anything you want, medical or non-medical. Then I made my second ever appearance at the Tipperary Inn, an Irish Pub on Live Oak and Skillman. There was live music and we had a few drinks before becoming very tired and going to sleep.

>>View the PICTURES<< (courtesy nathanbeach.com)

Sunday

I don't remember anything about Sunday. I think I worked on residency stuff or something. Then I went to Baylor to drop off my call-room key and a big newspaper poster of Carly Patterson for Bridget Holden. Damn Dr. Holden was awesome; I really hope she does well in private practice. Then I visited one of my patients up on the floor who has become a friend of mine. His case was rather complicated, but he was very resilient and has done well in the post-op period. I've met and chatted extensively with his wife, daughter, and sister-in-law. They are an awesome family, and I wish them nothing but the best. Then I went to Katie Sternweis' house to gossip about stuff and have a Shiner. Then I went home.

Monday

I went straight to the pool today, took care of a lot of errands, then met Nathan Beach at a BBQ restaurant called Red, Hot, and Blue. The waitress brought me a small pitcher of Coke and something called roasted pig or something like that. It was very good. Nathan had a legume and salad. He doesn't eat meat, because he doesn't think the meat processing process is very appealing. He also left three of his paintings for me to take to David Baquero in Houston. Then I went to Compass Bank, my former place of employment. I had the opportunity to catch up with everyone including Kyle Taylor, my bestest buddy. I also got to see the ever-beautiful Lisa Todd, who apparently might be getting engaged in the near future. In addition I saw my good friend from 1997 Pam who now has a child; a cute girl named Michelle or something like that; Carolyn who's like a mom; Scotty a cool dude; Roberta who gave me my first job at the bank; Greg my boss and coolest man alive; Stewart another boss and friend who really helped shape the servicing department; Kirk the chair of the SBA department; Kim from Vietnam who now has two kids; Lawanna who's like an aunt; Rose who's wonderful; Deanna who has the coolest West Texas accent around; Trish who I love; and many others who I probably left off. They're such awesome people. It always felt like family over there at the corporate headquarters of the Small Business Administration Lending Department of Compass Bank. Really. I love all those guys. They were all very excited that I'm about to become a doctor; and they've always been 100% supportive of me. I couldn't have been luckier or prouder to have worked with many of them for so long. Then I drove to Houston.

Early Morning

I got up early this morning to make final changes to my residency application which goes out in exactly 30 minutes. This application will determine where I will be taught how to be a surgeon, so I have spent a considerable amount of time making sure it is somewhat presentable.

I start nephrology consult service today. However, the fellow didn't know when we were meeting last night, so I suppose I'll just show up after I submit my residency application electronically.

There is a ton of Baylor stuff to talk about. Hopefully I can work on that this evening when I finish work.

Wish me luck!

Mid Morning

Well, the application is verified and has been sent across the phone lines to tons of surgery residency co-ordinator's offices. I'm not meeting the nephrology team (this month's rotation) until 10 AM. Now I'm at school enjoying my first visit to our school's new Learning Resource Center. This is a place with tons of computers, books, study areas, and anything else a thriving medical student needs to learn. It's the first time in my medical school career we've had a permanent site, as the original LRC was destroyed by Tropical Storm Allison in June of 2001.

A recap of last weekend is to follow...