Ahhhh, the life of a radiologist. It’s super enticing, but I think I would get fat, so maybe not for me.
I’ve just started my 4-week radiology rotation and have spent the beginning of this week in the chest reading area. I’ve been paired with a 1st year resident and after arriving at 9am, I observe her reading CTs and XRs of the chest, as well as performing lung biopsies. We attend conferences and lectures, and generally I am finished by 4pm. It’s smooth sailing, and she admits the 1st year residency is a breeze cause there’s no nights on your own, and the attendings have to sign off on everything that you do, so the pressure is minimal.
So far, so good. I am learning so much just from going through scans slowly with her and the attendings when they come to check on her progress. I have no idea how they pick up subcentimeter nodules in the lung periphery as fast as they do! And I haven’t seen one NORMAL chest CT yet! Everyone that I’ve seen has pathology, some really funky!! So having spent 5 years at NightHawk getting used to normal scans, it’s great to now be seeing pathology that I read about in text books.
Back to the weekend. Dave and I stayed in Saturday as we were both snotty and congested, feeling sorry for ourselves. Got dressed to go out to dinner, but collapsed in front of the telly before we could get outside. It was just such a cold weekend, and we hadn’t stopped since Dave arrived, so a night in we had. He walked 50m up the road to Subway to collect our dinner, and I was asleep by 9pm.
Sunday, feeling spritely, we trekked up to Port Authority Bus Terminal and jumped on the bus to Woodbury Common Premium Outlets. The 9.45am bus was packed with excited shoppers, chatty in anticipation of bargains to come. We didn’t leave the shopping village til 4pm, but only walked away with one purchase. We had spent 6 hours browsing and trying on clothes, stopping into cafes for ‘coffee’ (really just needing a bathroom and a warm place to regenerate), and left with one bag. Over lunch I received a phone call from Trish! It’s always great to hear from you sis!
The purchase? OMG, I got a bargain. I found a fab red Marc by Marc Jacobs coat for $130, marked down from $480! And its light, not heavy, so I would get wear out of it in Aus.
Monday I started Radiology, but had gotten free tickets for a recording of the Late Show with David Letterman. So I had to leave the hospital at 3pm to line up at the Ed Sullivan Theatre by 4pm. After 15mins of trying to get into the apartment (Dave was inside, with the keys), calling him, ringing the buzzer, he finally sends me a message saying that he’s on a conference call and can’t get off. So I have to wait at the gate for another 15mins, in the cold… aarrggghhh. I was so mad. Anyway, we both ran to the subway and made it in time to get our tickets.
Finally at around 5.30pm we get to our seats. It’s surreal being on a TV set. Dave Letterman was really funny, and the show was entertaining. We only saw one guest, as they had a guest spot left over from a previous taping that they had to fit into this episode. The guest that we got to see was Jumping Jack Hannah. Who? Dave told me that he’s America’s answer to Steve Irwin. “Great!” I thought, sarcastically.
Jumping Jack was a bit of a clueless, bumbling older man, but I enjoyed his spot as he bought out a couple of really cute animals. First was a baby brown bear that Letterman also took a shining to. He was crying like a child - the bear, I mean. It was the cutest sound, and it had the audience gushing. Next was an anteater that bit Letterman on the neck! Hilarious! The crowd and the production staff were in stitches. The only person who wasn’t was Letterman, who was preoccupied with pain, and asking about rabies. To top it off, the anteater had urinated on his jacket. Priceless!
Enjoyed at NY sirloin steak for dinner afterwards at Rosie O’Grady’s in midtown, just near the theatre. That area of NY is fun. There’s lots of theatres around and bright lights, Carnegie Hall is up the road and it’s a bit touristy, but it’s exciting.
Tuesday night I had planned to head uptown as Kelly Coutrone was signing her book at Barnes and Noble up at the Lincoln Centre. I didn’t make it however as Dave got caught on a conference call again, and I chickened out on travelling the distance alone. Instead we ended up having an impromptu night out – dinner and drinks at Redhead, a small and cozy tapas bar, 1 block west.
Now to Wednesday night, last night, one of the highlights of the trip so far. We went uptown again to the Cort Theatre and caught a performance of Arthur Miller’s ‘A View From the Bridge’, complete with Liev Schreiber and Scarlett Johansson. Magnificent! All the hype over the play here was well deserved and justified, and not just for the cast.
There’s nothing planned for Thursday and Friday night’s, yet, and I wouldn’t mind keeping it that way. New York is so fast and manic, and it’s really easy to get swept up in that. It’s part of what I love about it here, but at the same time it’s exhausting. I love it when I’m in the mood, but when I need a rest, I get the guilts about the things I’m missing.
No rest for the wicked, however! I have 3 1/2 weeks left, and have dinner reservations, Superbowl Sunday this weekend, Michelle and Andrew visiting next week, a concert, basketball games, and Mum and Trish visiting for 10 days. I may whine, but to be honest, I wouldn’t have it any other way. It's great to have all of this to look forward to.
New York never rests, and neither shall I... while I'm here ;-)
