Intro

I thought that I would start out by introducing myself and explaining a little about why I suddenly decided to start a blog.

I don't have a theme for this -- it really is simply that I recently have discovered a number of my friends have blogs and reading theirs has made me think, "Hey, I could write a post about this... or that..." at increasingly frequent intervals.

Now, the title. First, "pets." Pets because I really can't live without those furballs. I don't have any of my own right now, but my parents have 4 -- 2 dogs and 2 cats -- including one 12-week-old puppy. Most of my funny stories from my childhood involve my pet-siblings (only child). My parents tend to guilt-trip me into visiting them by pleading "but your cats miss you sooooo much...." or "the dogs really need someone to take them to the park..." You get the picture.

Second, "posts." Eh, this is there for the purposes of alliteration and the fact that this is a blog of random things.

Finally, "medical mysteries." I am soon to embark upon my residency in Emergency Medicine at the New York Presbyterian Hospital Cornell/Columbia. There are plenty of medical mysteries in Emergency Med... and tons of crazy stories (really, why does anyone go into EM if not for the stories?). It worked in the title, pulled in that whole "soon to be doctor" thing. I'm not so good at the catchy/creative thing, so hats off to Rob for coming up with the title after only about 30 seconds of thought!

On to the second aspect of this post... about me. I am a born 'n bred New Yorker -- I love this city. I "techically" grew up on Long Island. Minor technicality. I was actually born in the same hospital that I will be doing my residency. By the time I was 18, I was sick of high school students getting plastic surgery and driving BMWs, so I escaped to Chicago for four years. That taught me two things. 1) Midwesterners are the nicest people in the world. I had culture shock because they were so much nicer than New Yorkers. 2) Chicago is COLD. Not just "brrrr," but "holy-shit-my-hair-has-become-icicles-and-I-have-tears-streaming-down-my-face-'cause-my-eyes-are-involuntarily-tearing" cold... Chicago and I didn't agree. I came running back to NYC and medical school at Cornell. Also jokingly referred to as "citibank medical college" because the chief donor to the college is Sanford Weill of Citibank fame.

The arduous process of choosing to go into Emergency Medicine involved numerous side trips into music, relationships, sailboat racing and a summer in Tanzania. Primarily. Plus a pure hatred of insurance companies, outpatient medicine and being woken up at all hours of the night. I want to treat whoever comes through my doors. I want to take my salary and at the end of the day go home without worrying. When I eventually have kids I want to know their names. Yeah, that would be a good start. Names at least. During my first year of medical school we had a lecturer who was a surgeon. His wife had just delivered their sixth child. The surgeon was ecstatically happy becuase this was the first delivery he had actually made it to. I know that I don't have a choice but to be at the birth of my children, but that comment put a lot into perspective about medicine for me. Not only that, but I vowed never to marry a surgeon.

I think that's all for now. As promised by the title, I will leave you with a picture of the newest baby, Deka. She is a 12-week old Rhodesian Ridgeback (post on ridgebacks to come) but in this photo, she is 8 weeks old. Also, she has fallen into that pool... twice.