Pouf!

I was trying to post this pic with my LAST post... but my computer was being fiesty and didn't want to upload any photos that day... so here you go.

This is what the croquembouche is made of. They're like a crispy outside, soft cookie texture inside and filled with four different flavors : vanilla, chocolate, cafe mocha, or grand marnier! And the drizzle coating you see here, is CARAMEL! what's not to like? Can I get a big OUI OUI?!?! hehehe YAYYYYYY :)

Croquembouche! French, for wedding cake :)

So yesterday morning I met with the fabulous Pascal Tiseur - a real Lyonais transplant who owns 4 diferent bakery cafe locations in town. He'll be making our cake for our wedding - I say cake-for-our-wedding instead of "wedding cake" because neither Ryan or I LIKE regular cake. And the traditional French wedding cake called "Croquembouche" (translation: cracks open in your mouth... hehe) is a nice shout out to my beloved Franceland... and Ryan is getting HIS favorite desert - in the form of S'MORES as an alternative desert at the wedding as well. If you've never seen a Croquembouche, a simple google image search will give you an idea of what the tower cake compromised of little puff pastry balls filled with whipped cream look like. For my taste-test with Monsieur Pascal, he made me a PLATE of 12 puffs!!!! I ate ONE and took the rest home... and will be bringin the other ELEVEN in to work with me tomorrow, as I do NOT need puff pastries laying around when my wedding dress fitting is 3 weeks away! LOL But let me tell you, come August 14th, they are going to be worth the extra calories :) Our croquembouche will have four different signature fillings: chocolate, vanilla, coffee, or grand marnier flavored whipped cream inside each of the puffs! Who knows what flavor you'll get when you pull one off the tower at the wedding... but trust me, you can't go wrong with any of them. They're amazing! Can't wait for you all to be at the wedding in August - and maybe taste your first Crouquembouche too :) xoxo Mego

7.5 down, 2.5 more to go!

I'm updating the blog by popular (or not-so-popular- who really reads this anyway?! lol) demand, merely because I feel I SHOULD post an update since it's been 2 weeks, although - to date this rotation has been - while FUN and EDUCATIONAL... simultaneously, pretty... well... boring! haha But of course, now that I've actually put that to TYPE, I'll be reporting back next time with multiple days of gore, mayhem and my own fumbles and incompetence... For now though, things are blissfully calm. I am working a 7-days on/ 7-days off schedule in In-patient medicine. My preceptor is an older English gentleman named "Ian" (whatelse would his name be?). He is a GREAT teacher, and has an even better sick/ sarcastic sense of humor. He jokes around with me a lot, pimps me a lot, and always buys me lunch - which is SUPER nice, but also makes me uncomfortable, as he is treating me EVERY day. Really, too nice. After our first week together, he told me in his thick Manchester accent : "Meghan, I think you're practically BRILLIANT... I just don't want to see you get your ass-kicked on your boards".... with those words of encouragement and wisdom, I have set out to read the ENTIRE Washington Manual of Critical Care in my 7 days off... it's going... welll, average. Time will tell on retention! But at least I'm getting a first shot at exposure... and it'll DEFINITELY take REPEART exposures to the material to get it cemented in my little Meghan-head before I take my Boards in August. And truth be told, I've been 'balancing' (generous "balancing") between studying and getting some of the loose-ends taken care of for the wedding. 2 of the 3 girls have their bridesmaid dress. I've got a START on their gifts. The invitations have arrived - and are awaiting assembly. I have meetings with the caterer, vineyard and frenchie cake-maker in my next week off. So I've been takin' care of some FUN business on the side too :) Speaking of which, while work remains "status quo" I suppose there are some interesting 'personal life' developments worth updating! The first of which is: Ryan got approved to "separate" from the Military... this means he gets to get out of his current Active Duty contract and become a Civilian! This is what he was hoping for and we are super excited they are actually LETTING him! This way, instead of hammering out 1-2 classes/ semester as he serves Active Duty full-time, he'll be able to walk away, free and clear, and just be a "regular" civilian. This fall semester, he'll be a full-time college student for the first time in his life! We figure if he can take a 16 credit load, he should be able to take the MCAT for Med School in about 3 semesters. This exciting turn of events doesn't mean that he'll be done with the military for good (he hopes and plans to go to USHSU (pronounced: "you-shoes" - the Armed Forces university for med school in Bethesda, Maryland). If he does that, he will of course owe time in service back to the Air Force when he completes his residency. But all that is several miles down the road, for now, we're just pumped that he can buckle down and focus on school where he'll be enrolled at Old Dominion University when we move to Virginia this fall. As for me, my assignment in Virginia still stands (hence why we're driving out there!). As soon as I pass my boards ( I plan on testing ASAP post graduation- hopefully, within 14 days) I can leave for the next possible ODS (Officer Development School - get used to me talking in all these abbreviations for the next 3 years! lol) that is, the Navy's version of bootcamp for officers in Portsmouth, Maine. ODS is only 5 weeks - and thank goodness - because once I graduate, I won't be getting a paycheck til after I graduate ODS! So with THAT pressure on me to pass my boards, I better wrap up this benign post and go study. Miss and love you all! And whether I see you in my travels in the next 2.5 rotations, or at the wedding this summer, I can't wait to see you all! Know you are very missed and loved! xoxo Mego

PPS week!

So I haven't blogged in a week, because I've been too busy enjoying trailer park life with the Bears at the Elks Lodge. We were back on campus all last week for our "PPS Week" - which is just a fancy acronym for a weeks worth of seminars on professionalism, resume writing, and various pertinent topics in medicine. It's actually kind of enjoyable - well, the sitting still for 8 hours is hard to get used to again (can't believe we did that EVERYDAY for the first 12 months of our education!)- but the plus side is, versus the school year, there's no homework or studying once class is dismissed! So it's just show up for face-time, and punch out and go play shuffle board and drink $3 (strong) mix drinks at the elks with the bears! :) I start my next rotation on Monday, but I don't yet have my schedule. I've heard through the grapevine though, that it's a 7 days on/7 days off schedule- which would ROCK! I spoke with my preceptor earlier in the week and he seems like a very nice British gentleman. I'll have more to blog about once the new rotation starts, but for now I'm just dividing my time between the gym and playing with the bears! Just wanted to check in with my loyal followers and say, all is well, and more adventures to come! xoxo Mego

Obession!

So my latest infatuation is with the new One-Sweep eyeshadow from L'oreal. Let me tell you, it's AMAZING! I got the purple version - shown here - for brown eyes. It actually works just like it says it will! ONE SWEEP and your make up is DONE! No more base + lid contour + liner + highlighter... nope... you get ALL those steps in one. And the color combo is really complimentary. This stuff shaves 5 minutes off your make-up time in the morning. I was skeptical- yet intrigued- when I first saw these advertised. But now that i've tried it I'm a believer and I'll be going out to get one or two more of them. Best $5 I've spent in a LONGGGGG time! :) I highly recommend you add it to your Target shopping list this weekend.

arfarf

LOVE MEGO xo

Irish we are...

... Irish we be! This is among many little fond memories I have of Saint Paddy's day (or hell... a TUESDAY) growing up with my Dad singing "I've been warshin' my arse in da Liffey... I use it as my personal biffy!..."

Awwww yes, the one day where the whole world gets together and drinks to honor my crazy Irish family and all their ancestors, current members and would-be-destined-descendents... Growing up in the Goff/McKenna house meant lots of Irish pride... claddaugh rings, necklaces, earrings at every 1st Communion, graduation, 16th birthday etc... and lots of trying to avoid going to church with our adorable and faithful mother (I now wish I went EVERY Sunday with her), and of course lots of drinking, swearing, story telling and temper tantrums. Such is to grow up in an Irish household. And I wouldn't trade it for the world!

I've been to Ireland several times and I cannot wait to go back! This Saint Patrick's Day my thoughts turn to the fact that I haven't travelled to Ireland ... or Europe... or out-of-the-country for that matter, since I returned from Franceland in Fall of 2006! I need to break this streak asap.

In honor of St. Paddy's and Europe, and my amazing irish Family, including our Patriarch Steve Goff and our ties to the Aussies... and all the drinking that is associated with ALL of those things... I'd like to offer my latest (CHEAP) wine obession: Anthropologie Australian Shiraz... I got it on sale for $11 at Safeway and it is big, jammy and delicious and WAY more valuable than it's bargin price implies. If you see it in a store near year, swip it up! You won't be disappointed!

Slainte! And Erin Go Braugh! xoxo Meghan (name translation: Irish derivative of the Greek name Margaret; means "strong one" or "pearl".)

The Natural Way...

I know, I know... I'm long over-due for a post from my Internal Med rotation here in sunny San Diego... But with all the outdoor sun and fun in San Diego, who has time to blog?!
The rotation has been great. Once again, with a week left, I find myself stunned that it's time to move again already. The past 5 weeks have been a great learning experience. The constant exposure to patients with chronic disease and med-lists miles long, has made me better at sight-recognizing generic drugs names - and for that alone- I am eternally grateful to this rotation - or WILL be greatful come PANCE time...
The majority of my patients here are geriatric... of course this means everything from 50 year olds with a touch of hyperlipidemia, to 90 year olds with multiple cardiac events, cancers come and gone, and long-term disease processes like MS, Diabetes or Parkinson's. It's been so interesting just on an observational stand point, of what one 70 year old patient looks like compared to another 70 year old patient... you can tell the miles on the tires on all these folks. Some people come in, and before I go in the room I read up on the chart and see 63 yo Female- history of diabetes, frequent UTI's, maternal history of breast cancer, in for labs and med refills... got it... Go into the room and I think "Good god you look like CRAP!" (of course I only say this in my little Meghan head - not out loud.) I use my Mom for a barometer of how old/young/ healthy people are... and maybe this isn't such a good idea because a) she's Saint Eileen and the nicest and most positive/ level-headed person in the whole entire world and b) my Mumsey is hot-to-trott, kicks butt in her daily Turbokick/ Zumba classes, eats healthy and really DOES stop at that ONE 5 oz. glass-of-wine-3-4 days-per-week rule... the perfect blend of health and does NOTTTTTTTT look like she's hitting the 6-0 mark... but some of these other people, I just think... dude, you've got 8 years to go til you're my Mom's age and you look like death munchin' on a cracker and and you'll be lucky if you MAKE it to 60...
It's sad the patients that you see in for just acute disease/pain management - when you know there's a much bigger domino falling earlier upstream (preventable!) and yet causing every other problem they have. I used to think people don't know better... but now IIIII know better... people KNOW what's good for them and what they should and shouldn't do, and the problem is 98% of the time, they choose not to do the right thing... that as a medical professional is so frustrating. You see people who are walking heart attack/stroke risks and yet can't be bothered to walk around the block for 30 minutes a day or the diabetic that can't pass up the free bagels and cookies brought into the office lunch room EVERYDAY, and yet they're A1C is 13 and they're heading to blindness and amputations... uggggg small changes would make a BIG difference.
The other thing I hear from my elderly patients a lot, is the OTHER end of the spectrum... in the form of the popular phrase "Oh I don't like to take anything..." Well, as my preceptor puts it "The goal is not to get to the end without ever being on any medication, it's to MAKE it to the end in as best shape as possible, and the medicines are the vehicle to get you there..." I cannot count how many times I see patients asking for just 3 MORE months to get their cholesterol/ blood pressure/ sugars on track "Don't put me on medicine" they plead, "I'm taking natural supplements only: Red Yeast Rice, Fish Oil, and Saw Palmentto..." What people who are supposed "naturalists" don't realize is that all these 'natural' compounds are DRUGS! I've told many a patient on this rotation "Hey, arsenic is 'natural'... and it'll kill ya faster than the simple hydrochlorathizide I want to give you ever will..."
In fact, you see this "natural" trend all over the place. In healthy and unhealthy individuals, sporty people, and old crippled grandma's... it doesn't matter. They seem to think if its not a Rx'd 'drug' it's some how better or safer. This could not be farther from the truth. Every drug - asprin, flinstone chewables, vicodin - has risks and benefits. What makes the 'natural' or 'herbal' substances more evil than the big-drug-company products they supposedly replace is that NO ONE regulates them. The FDA puts every rx'd drug through a stringent testing, human trial, clinical trial and approval process to prove it is safe, does what it says it'll do, with minimal & acceptable side-effects and interactions. The formulation must be standardized, and the ingredigents specifically listed and verified for every pill produced. No one does this for the "Women's Urinary Health" or "Men's Vitality Prostate Herbal" formulas you buy at healthfood stores or GNC... the manufactures of such products are bound by NOTHING to ensure one pill, batch or ingredient supplier is the same, consistant or reliable from one bottle to the next. And in terms of knowing what you're exactly taking... because they are un-regulated- they can get by with listings of ingredients as vague as "propritary blend... 10g"... go ahead... check a label on such a product you might already have in your own home or next time you're pursuing GNC or Whole Foods. Propritary blend could mean anything from 10% Cinnamon/ 30 % Beet Root/ 50% Apple Cider Vinegar/ 10% Dandilion root to your grandmothers sugar cookie recipe...
And the bottom line is- whether you pop an herbal "heart health" pill from Vitamin World, or an over-the-counter Tylenol PM, your LIVER has to process whatever we put into it. So your vital organ is doing work (and sometimes taking a beating) whether you THINK it's natural or an evil drug...
But try explaining this to a patient... oye vey! Thanks for letting me vent here... my apologies for the rant...
Anywho, time is winding down here and I definitely will be leaving with the overwhelming majority of my encounters being with nice, sweet (albeit really sick :( ) grandmas and grandpas. I love the oldies... they are so cute, and part of that endearment is how set in their ways they are. They'll tell ya straight up "I have a vermouth martini every night since college..." (Patient, 91)... I love it. Clearly, that must be the 'natural' way to good health and long life.
Live long and prosper... on to the next location and adventure next week... stay tuned.
xoxo
Mego