yet another disappointment...

Please allow me to geek out for a moment here - I just beat the newest Metroid game. It was great, but way too easy and way too short (I beat it in only 13.5 hours). I guess the anticipation made it impossible for the game to live up to my expectations, but I don't deal well with disappointment. It makes me want to...kill. Or actually just write a strongly worded letter. More that. Oh well.

So I had another day at the clinic yesterday, and it was a long one. My uncle has been sick for a few days, so they had to reschedule a bunch of people to yesterday. It's always interesting how much information you can get from a patient the second you set eyes on them. One lady was obviously in serious pain (she was pacing the exam room when we opened the door), and even I could tell immediately that she was having radicular pain down the right side (probably C6 or C7, judging by the way she was cradling her right arm) - it just really shows you how important basic observation skills are in conjunction with a little bit of practical knowledge. This lady was also interesting in that she was perhaps the most aloof of any patient I've met so far. Some people are ecstatic when they hear that they are going to have surgery - they are relieved to know not only that their pain is real, and has a name, but also that there is something that can be done about it. Others, like this lady, are just so scared by the prospect of surgery that they need a little time to work through it. Often, it seems, these people are the ones who have only recently started to experience their symptoms, unlike the people who endure them for a long time, and then finally decide to do something about it. I've heard the spiel so many times by now that I can watch the patients intently as the surgery is explained to them. I've already learned so much about the nuts and bolts of the exams and such that now I'm less confused by everything, and am able to focus more on the patients and how the are feeling throughout the process. It's really rewarding, but also pretty heart-wrenching at times. A wonderful old lady came in yesterday, just about 81 years old, and she had a lot going wrong with her. She knew as well as we did that there was really nothing that could be done to help her back pain because she had too many other problems going on. She just wanted to hear it from a doctor she had known for a long time and trusted. It wasn't long before she was crying tears of frustration, and we all couldn't help but get choked up. My uncle did a great job of trying to making her laugh, and I (like a putz) awkwardly offered her a tissue. She's a great old lady, and she's got a lot of fight in her yet. And she can still definitely light up a room with her smile.

In slightly less depressing new, I went to Yellowstone National Park and the surrounding areas over Labor Day weekend. I'll try to get some pictures posted in the next few days - hopefully some of the many pictures we took of the Grand Tetons will turn out. Really spectacular stuff. I had no idea all of that was even there, and I'm really grateful to have been able to see it. Plus, my uncle and I had some pretty deep conversations throughout, which was good.

BTW, my mom sent me this, and I watched it with my aunt this morning - we were both in tears from laughing so hard. Richard Simmons is a spook, and the Who's Line is it, Anyway? guys are amazingly good sports. Good for a laugh, if an uncomfortable one.

Oh, and I think the Chiefs play this weekend, meaning that at long last, football has returned.